FRAGILE AND FLEETING : This is what the future looks like (from the past). It was just a quiet summer morning along Ohio Street in Vermilion, Ohio a few years ago. You could feel the warmth of the day - smell it rising from the pavement. I couldn't resist. I had to freeze the day for posterity. So I stopped me car, got out, and took this photograph.
It's what Vermilion is to me in the blush of summer. It's what I recall as a child.
Rising early - just before the rest of the world stirred. Just before the mortal din begins. The dew still hangs heavy on the lawns along Perry and Ohio Streets. So heavy you can (and do) follow the path of a rabbit that had earlier scurried through the yards and gardens in the neighborhood.
Once in a while (on the breeze) you catch the faint delicious aroma of bacon drifting from somene's kitchen. Somewhere a dog barks. A screen door slaps shut. A dove calls to its mate - slowly, calmly.
Those times are both fragile and fleeting - very fragile, and extremely fleeting. It's what the future looks like (from the past).
AN OLD FRIEND: It would become our home - the Tarrant Family home on the west side of Perry Street just to the south side of the NYC railroad tracks. It would later be known as 510 Perry, and later (after all the home numbers were changed) as 728 Perry Street in Vermilion.
This pic was taken by my grandfather c.1900. It was before anyone in the village heated with natural gas. And it is unlikely that there was any electricity in the house at the time either. I've no idea who owned the home at the time this photograph was taken. Our family would not inhabit/own the place until at least another 30 calendars had been tossed in the trash.
Prior to about one month ago I had never seen this photo. I did have some recollection of someone having told me that the house had once been afire. But I didn't pay much attention to that fact until I saw this pic.
Looking closely at the photo I note that there is a wood/coal burner sitting on the back/side porch of the structure. I deduce from that that the blaze was somehow related to that appliance. But I don't know it for a fact.
I have great memories of this home. In my mind those memories are a vivid as if the place still existed. But it does not.
By the 1970's the years had taken their toll on the old homestead and the family decided to allow the local fire department to use as a practice fire - and it, therefore, is no more.
Folks who forgot (or who are unfamiliar) with the general area should note the large barn-like building to the right/west of the house. The property behind the house (on the northeast corner of Ohio and Decatur Streets) was used as a brick/tile storage yard. At one time Hull (Building Supply) either owned or rented both the barn and the surrounding yard. The barn was rather large, and there were a good number of tiles stored in the yard.
There was also a barn directly behind the Perry Street house. That particular structure was more on the order of a stable/carriage barn. It preceded the day of the automobile, and was eventually torn down.
Later a large porch and a big bay window were added to the front of the home. So to were indoor plumbing, central gas heating, and electricity.
It was a nice place to grow up.
SPRING THAW '59: This beaut is the last of a series of snapshoots loaned to me by my friend Fred Wetzler. This photo (to the best of my knowledge) depicts spring thaw flooding along the Vermilion River at Vermilion River Park on the east side of the stream. The pic is marked as being taken in 1959.
Although the cottages resemble those found at the Olympic Outing Club (across and down river) I don't believe they are OOC cottages. This observation is based on the fact that the top of the valley in the background is a good distance from both the cottages in the foreground and the river. At the OOC the valley is somewhat narrower and there is not a great deal of land between the river and the top of the valley - at least not as much as there appears to be in this photo.
This snap was taken long before the Corps of Army Engineers built their damn dam across the mouth of the Vermilion River. So, as is obvious flooding was always a problem. However; the ice in the stream was never broken up as it is today to prevent severe problems during the thaws. If the ice had been broken (back then as it is today) it is highly possible that no flooding would have occured.
While flooding is forever a possibility in any flood plain - placing a barricade across the mouth of the river was hardly a solution to that particular problem.
Your tax dollars at work!
THE FAVORITE: Gadzooks! what a wonderful and priceless piece of Vermilion history is this. Last week I noted that the pic of Vermilion's Lake House on the corners of Liberty and Division/Main Streets was "probably the oldest photograph of Vermilion, Ohio in circulation" [I made note of this both in "Views" and in the Vermilion Photojournal column "Yesteryear"]. And then Alice Wakefield forwarded me this photograph of the steam tug the Favorite being built in Vermilion.
Wow!
After a fruitless search across the net for a date to put with this pic I contacted Chris Gillcrist, the Executive Director of the Great Lakes Historical Society, and asked for his help. Chris kindly furnished me the following information:
The Tug Favorite was owned by B. Parsons. It was built in Vermilion in 1894. It was a 9 gross ton vessel constructed of oak, and measured 47' by 12' with draft of 4'.
Looking through Betty Trinter's book The Way It Was I found the tug listed under "Vessels Built in Vermilion" as a steam-tug built by Burton Parsons. However the name (Burton) may be an error. More than likely the "B. Parsons" as listed in the GLHS records as the owner of the tug was Burdette/Burdett (not Burton).
[Note: According to family records sent to me by Molly Milner Berdette's father was named Nelson, and his grandfather's name was Burton.]
When I received the pic I began to work it a bit in an attempt to improve it. Whether I succeeded or not remains to be seen. But in working it I inadvertantly missed a detail. I mistook a mark on the photo for an imperfection, and it was not. There was an "x" by one of the men in the photo and Alice W. opined that it likely indicated that the man was Burdette Parsons.
So, in the following photo I attempted to show ye which of the men pictured was Burdette Parsons:
Burdette Nelson Parsons was born 1855, and died in February of 1897 in Vermilion. His father was Nelson Parsons and his grandfather was Burton Parsons. Mr. Parsons died from pneumonia at a very young age (42) leaving his wife, Franc (Horton) with six children under 12 to raise by herself.
This photo, therefore, is also one of the oldest photographs I've ever seen of Vermilion. Moreover; it is exceptionally rare because it shows one of Vermilion's fist steam-tugs being constructed along the stream.
Neat!
Alice also forwarded a wonderful pic of her Grandmother, Franc, and other members of the family that I will share at a later date.
THE FATE OF THE GRANDON: Ok - so for years I've pondered the fate of Lake Erie legend Captain "Big Ed" Lampe's steam-tug the Grandon. And for years I've been writing the bio - the story - of this legendary sailor, but have been holding back because I, somehow, believe (and still believe) that the fate of this vessel is somehow tied to his fate.
Well, I know what happened to "Big Ed". But I was never sure what happened to his tug - until now.
Its end, like that of the man who molded her and sailed her, was relatively unspectacular. It goes like this:
From the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes - Great Lakes Online Index - University Libraries/Bowling Green State University:"Abandoned in 1936 above the highway bridge at Vermilion, OH, but not dropped from enrollment until 1945. Hull later dug up and destroyed."
Hey folks, this was a fair-sized boat - 59.58' x 16.42' x 7.16'. Although the hull was wood (built a year before the Favorite) it must still have been quite a navigational hazard.
Somewhere (I don't recall where) I heard that Captain Lampe had contracted with the LSE to tear down the bridge over the Vermilion River. And while about that task the bridge fell, sunk the Grandon, and Ed let it sit. Were it not for the time (the year being listed as 1936) that records show it to have been abandoned the story would fit with the facts. But the LSE didn't really get to tearing the bridge apart until, perhaps, 1938.
So perhaps the old tug, like "Big Ed", didnt' go out with any bang - just a whimper.
VERMILION SCOUTS: I don't know much of anyting about this pic except it's Vermilion's Boy Scout Troop #3 standing at the back of the old First Congregational Church next to Vermilion's old Township Hall. The steeple in the background is that of the M&E Church that once stood on the southeast corner of Liberty and Grand Streets.
This is a pic that I'll be working with for awhile in an attempt to identify some of the boys. The leader is probably Rev. Williams (that's not written in stone because I've not crossed checked it with other known pix of the Rev).
But this sure is a nice photograph. Using some of my new software plugins I was able to repair some severe tears in the original. I sure wish someone would have made some note of just who appeared in these old photos. But that's the way of it.
PODCAST #17.8: This week the Vermilion Views Podcast #17.8 brings folks up to date with a few things taking place around Vermilion this week, experiments with a new recorder, and provides the second in a series of readings from Vermilion historian Betty Trinter's wonderful book The Way It Was.
HAVE YE QUESTIONS (?): This link has been fixed. My friend, George Pearson, in Bay Village had been telling me for weeks that the link below wasn't working. I finally checked it, found him to be correct, and fixed the problem.
The question this week is from an anonymous "Viewer".
QUESTION:Who was the first (white) child to be born in Vermilion?
ANSWER: A baby boy named John Sherod was born in a cabin by the lake in Vermilion in 1809.
WHAT'S A FOOT: The next meeting of the Vermilion Area Archival Society will be held at the Community Room of the Ritter Public Library this Monday (April 9, 2007) at 7 pm. Nettie Bogart Welch will be speaking about her family (Bogart and Welch families) and life of farming in Erie County (Vermilion and Florence Townships).Nettie is a true wealth of information so don't miss it.
Everyone is absolutely welcome to attend these meetings and/or to become a member of the VAAS.
Lifetime memberships are $100. Yearly memberships are $10 a person; $18.00 a couple; and $5 for a student.Our address is:
And I need to mention the projects of my friend Bette Lou Higgins, Artistic Director, of Eden Valley Enterprises. For those unfamiliar with her work - they stage historical people/events from (and) around the State of Ohio.
A great deal of research and practice goes into these productions to make them as accurate as possible.
I will attempt to keep updates on Eden Valley' programs here throughout the year. So keep coming back.
On April 17, 2007 at 7p.m. a production of THE DONAHEY FAMILY: POLITICIANS AND ARTISTS will premiere at the Kent State Tuscarawas campus. This one act play written by Jonathan Wilhelm celebrates the life of the Donahey Family which included Vic Donahey (Governor of Ohio), Hal Donahey (cartoonist for the CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER), Will Donahey (creator of the "Teenie Weenies" Children's series), Mary Donahey (children's book author) and Gertrude Donahey (first elected woman official in the state of Ohio). This program will feature Rob Catalano and Kris Smith and is directed by Bette Lou Higgins. The performance is FREE and open to the public. For more information contact archives@tusc.kent.edu or call 330-330-3391 X 47494.The Theatre is located at 330 University NE in New Philadelphia, Ohio.
A performance of YOU CAN'T PLAY BALL IN A SKIRT! be featured at the Ashland Chautauqua, June 25-30. The Chautauqua is sponsored by the Ashland Community Arts Center and this year's theme is "Sport and Society." For complete information on all of the events (which are FREE and open to the public), call 419-281-9836 or e-mail: Ashland Arts Center
To arrange for this or any of their programs for your group, contact Eden Valley directly with your request (and/or to view a complete schedule of Eden Valley Events) visit their web page at www.edenvalleyenterprises.org.
Please take the time to visit (or re-visit) the Hope Children's Home site linked below because there are some additions there that you might find interesting. With all the bad things happening on the "dark continent" and elsewhere it's really nice to know that there are some places where the light does shine brightly. Keep in mind that the needs of Hope Children's Home are on-going. Partially due to the horrors taking place in the Mid-East the continued suffering of the peoples in Africa go virtually unnoticed by both our nation and the United Nations - and that should not be. Contributions to that home may be made to a Vermilion expatriot Larry Hohler in New York.
I need to strongly reiterate the fact that this is an on-going project. The need is forever continuing. Please think about these children. If not with your pocketbook - at least in your daily prayers.
CLASS REUNION UPDATES:This from Shirley Williams Gleason: The CLASS of '58 is planning on hosting the reunion on the weekend of July 17, 18, 19, 2008....The Committee will be sending out information this spring in regard to the plans.
The VHS Class of 1957 are planning their Class Reunion for September 15, 2007. They cannot find addresses for the following classmates: William A. Brown, Carol L. Burkle, Eddie L. Davis, Robert W. DeLong, Jim B. Henry, Alexander J. Lutz, or Neil M. Marcussen. If anyone has that information please forward it to
And I just received the following from Alice Wakefield:
"...I just established a yahoo group for the VHS Class of 1957 so we can catch up on our classmates before our September reunion..." Here are the details: The Group home page can be found at: VHS CLASS OF 1957 The Group email address is: VHSClassof1957 Go to the home page and join today!!
Bob Ferry, is heading up the VHS Class Reunion for 1987...20 years. Hither is their website: Class of 1987
I was unaware of it but more than just a few folks do use this site as a link to their respective class sites - so - here's the VHS Class of 1959's site back for your convenience too: Remember that site is located at: Class of '59 and it'll be updated it as Roger (Boughton) receives enough new pictures and information from classmates to make it worth reading. And, incidently, I received the following communique from Roger this recently. It said in part:
JUST A REMINDER: You'll also want to place on your calendar the dates for our reunion in 2009. It will be held the weekend of September 18-20, 2009. It seems like a long way off but you'll find it will be here sooner than you anticipated.
It is my understanding that some of these links are not working, or not working well. If so it is a technical problem belonging to the respective parties operating those webpages.
The Beat Goes On: The page is generated by the dreaded Macintosh Computer and is written and designed by (me) Rich Tarrant. It will change weekly ~ usually on Saturday. Bookmark the URL (Universal Resource Locater) and come back at your own leisure. Send the page to your friends (and enemies if you wish). If you have something to share with those who visit this page, pass it on. And if you see something that is in need of correction do the same. My sister, Nancy, is a great help in that respect. It only takes me a week to get things right. And follow the bookmarks. You might find something you like. If you experience a problem with them let me know. Also, if you want to see past editions of this eZine check the new archives links below.
Links to other sites on the Web
For Persons who would like to contribute to the cause (to keep these "Views" on-line you can send whatever you would like to me at the following address or use PayPal(It's fast, free, easy, and secure):
Vol.5, Issue 2, March 31, 2007
© 2007 Rich Tarrant