This month in history (circa 150 years ago)
William Bliss Jolly was born in England and arrived in Ann Arbor in the mid-1850s. He spent 10 years working as a janitor for the University of Michigan, chopping wood, chasing sheep and donkeys out of classrooms, and calling students to chapel and possibly to class by ringing the campus bell. Jolly dressed more like a statesman than a janitor, and ultimately left his U-M job to become a sheep and cattle dealer, and then a butcher in Ann Arbor. He died in 1878 at age 63. He and his wife, Mary, had eight children.
— Jan Schlain, from the Stories of the Staff website. The website celebrates the history and triumphs of staff, in preparation for the U-M bicentennial in 2017.
