In 1870 there was a lot happening in our world. In our nation Ulysses S. Grant, an Ohio boy, was President. All the former Confederate States had finally rejoined the Union after bitter conflict and the process of restoring relations with our southern states, as well as the reconstruction of their major cities, railroads, and farms, was underway. Out West the Great Plains were being settled, but not without some serious problems. An Apache warrior of the Chiricahua tribe named Geronimo was waging war on settlers and soldiers in Mexico and the Southwest that would last for a decade. In Africa New York Herald journalist Henry Morton was on the trail of European explorer David Livingstone who no one had heard from for several years. In Australia the notorious bushranger (outlaw) Ned Kelly, that poor and underprivileged citizens considered to be a hero, was about to rage a personal rebellion against the establishment that would eventually end in his death on the gallows ten years hence. And in Amherst, Ohio a husky young man of 15 years had just been apprenticed in the cobbler shop of one George Faus.
Mr. Holl worked in the shop of George Faus until he was 22 and then came to Vermilion to work for Mr. Nick Wagner, then the village's veteran cobbler. At 29 George broke his ties with Mr. Wagner and started his very own cobbler shop. Holl was a man of few words. Most of the time he could be found sitting on his work- bench with a shoe between his knees, a mouthful of nails that one by one he placed between his thumb and forefinger, and with a tap-tap-tap he remedied the problem of a worn out heel or shoe sole. If ever a man had a motto to live by his would have been "Always Busy".
As an aside I'd like to add that town cobbler was an important job. Our understanding of the true importance of this position in a community has been clouded by the relative ease with which each of us can access footwear. Few of us own only one pair of shoes. Most (such as myself) may have 10 pair of shoes. There's a shoe for every occasion. And for some occasions one may have two or three types. Moreover; having our shoes repaired so that we might put another 100 thousand miles on them is unthinkable ~ not to mention undoable. But step (no pun intended) back into the early years of the 20th century and beyond, and we find that the village cobbler very literally kept citizens on their feet.
Mr. George Holl was no exception. Quietly and persistently he made new shoes and mended the old for generations of Vermilionites. For over half a century he made many a stout boot and shoe for the Lohrs, Feys, Ackermans, Alheits and numerous other families in our vicinity. More than a few of those made-to-measure shoes cost the proud owner a whopping $4.00. During the First World War the price jumped to $14.50, and afterward it dropped to $12.00. As late as 1927, when the accompanying photograph was taken, folks could still count on "Cobbler" George Holl to fashion them a pair of custom made shoes or boots for a reasonable price.
The bench upon which he sat during his work day appeared as though it had been with him for all his 57 years in the business, but Holl explained at the time that it had only been with him for 40 years. The bench was made by a local resident named Henry Ries. It would also do everyone well to understand that during all his years in the business and 40 years on that same bench Holl had only taken less than two weeks vacation.
In 1880 he had met and married Miss Eliza Lapp. From that union four girls and four boys blessed their home. And the little hammer worked overtime to feed, clothe, house, and educate that lively bunch of little people. Through time and circumstance they lost one son and two daughters. But through all those difficulties George's hammer kept tap-tapping away.
Holl's first shop was in a room with "Tinner" Smith. Later he kept shop in Bill Boland's, Will Krapp's, and the Leidheiser's place. He was forced to move several times due to fires (something that was not real uncommon in early Vermilion history). His last location was built by Mr. Liedheiser after Liedheiser sold his place to Mr. Mamouru Okagi. Liedheiser boarded up the alley next to his old place on Liberty Street and built a new shop for Holl. The new place was constructed to allow the cool breezes to waft through the place in the summer, and one that was easily heated during the winter. There "Cobbler" George Holl spent the remainder of his days "Always Busy".
(Ref: The Vermilion News; August 1927; Special Thanks to (my brother) Al Tarrant for the photograph) Published in the Vermilion Photojournal on 8-7-03
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