Fred Blanding

(1854 - 1950)

Although Blanding was born in California, his roots were in Franklin. 

His father passed away before he was born. His mother Emma Sly Blanding moved back to Michigan with her daughter Charlotte and son Fred. They lived with her parents George and Jane on the Sly farm on Franklin Road near Wing Lake in Bloomfield Hills. 

Blanding was on the baseball team at the University of Michigan. In 1909, this right-handed pitcher led the Wolverines to an 18-3-1 record! 
In 1910, "Fritz," as he was nicknamed played ball with the Cleveland Naps (Guardians) for the next five seasons. 

Like many players of the day, his baseball card could be found in a box of Cracker Jacks! A picture of the player was on the front of the card and his biography on the back. 
In 1914, he married Clara Shields of Cleveland and raised two boys and a girl. 

He was a garage manager in the 1920's in Lansing, Michigan, president of a Ford-Lincoln distributorship in Lansing in the 1930's and operated an automotive business in Roanoke, Virginia in the 1940's. 

Fred and his wife, Clara are buried in the Franklin cemetery,