Vermilion Views

G.W.WHITMORE: In the latter part of the 1890's a young man by the name of Robert Whitmore came to Vermillion (note the two "els"), Ohio and started a weekly newspaper he called "The Vermillion News". The first issue was published on June 17, 1897.

Because Vermillion was a thriving lake shipping port with not just one - but two railroads running through it - Robert convinced his father, George W. Whitmore to move the family to the village. The thinking apparently was that prospects for their thriving Greensprings, Ohio furniture business would be even better in this environment.

In November of 1898 Robert abruptly left the newspaper business and his father continued with it naming H.A. Haven publisher. H.A. was George's mother "Hattie".

After 1900, when a newly married couple (Pearl and Bessie Roscoe) purchased the business from Whitmore "the entrepreneur" moved on to other things. Among them was a millinery shop and (the "Paragon") laundry business. Through the years mention of the several enterprises in which he was involved appeared on the pages of the newspaper he had helped establish.

_Forward: When I was a little boy I was always fascinated with the tales of Paul Bunyon and Babe his blue ox. Though I knew the tales were fantastic I nonetheless revelled in their beautiful exaggerations. Somewhere in those fantasies I concluded was some element of truth. Perhaps it was wispful, wishful thinking. But I could easily imagine that once upon a time in the logging camps of the great deciduous forests of North America men sat around a crackling fireplace in the evening and told tales of their days in the woodlands - each trying to better the other - and the legendary woodsman, Paul Bunyan, was born.

When first I heard of Captain Edward C. Lampe it was in a like context. Most of the descriptions of, and stories about, Lampe were second and third hand - handed down from men who lived and fished during a time Lake Erie historians refer to as “The Golden Age” of fishing on Lake Erie. As time wore on I began to hear various versions of what could have only been the same story. It was then that I began to understand that Lampe wasn’t just a man - he was a legend. Moreover; he was a real legend. It is one thing to be admired and idolized. But it is quite another to become legend.

And so did I begin to look for further information about this man. Who was he? Where did he come from? What did he really do? And finally, what happened to him? This is what I found:

On Tuesday, September 23, 1947 news of the death of Captain Edward “Big Ed” Lampe blew into the village of Vermilion, Ohio like an unexpected n’reaster. It cast its shadow across the fisheries lining the river where men of few words exchanged thoughtful glances before heading out for a day on the lake; each mutely recalling to themselves “a time when Big Ed...”. It then moved on to the Maud-Elton bar where early patrons on their way to work at American Ship and U.S. Steel in nearby Lorain were wiping sleep from their eyes and nursing Irish coffees; respectfully acknowledging the incredulous news ‘mongst their pals and anyone else who happened by. Together, both the fisherman and their blue collar brethern secretly wished it were Friday night instead of Tuesday morning so they could all raise a glass (or two, or three) for the man whose presence had always been, to them, larger than life. Somehow he had always managed to make their humdrum lives just a little less dreary. Like the Sunday funnies tales of “Big Ed’s” exploits were always something they looked forward to - in fact depended on. No matter how bad things were the stories of what Big Ed once did, was doing, going to do, or what some thought he might have done managed to make their days just a little brighter. “It just couldn’t happen. It was impossible.” But, alas, it was true. The man whose life had been the stuff of which legend is made was, indeed, dead.

The Master: Part 3 -Sometimes a Great Innovation: Well, as fate would have it Southwest Fish never got rebuilt by Captain Lampe. It wasn’t that Big Ed had been defeated by the misfortunes that befell this enterprise. In fact that was very far from the case. While fishing would always be a primary business for Lake Erie’s gentle giant other ventures and adventures beckoned. Succeed or fail he just kept on experimenting, innovating, and, of course, always working.

One of his failures concerns a time he got the idea that he could install a car (gasoline) engine in one of his boats rigging belts to it as a driver. Initially there was no problem. It worked like a charm. That is it worked until he got busy hauling nets on rough seas and neglected to bail out the water that splashed into the tug. Mixing with the oil that was always at the bottom of the boat it splashed onto the belts attached to the motor causing them to become so slippery it rendered the engine useless as a power source.

But that was simply a minor setback. During the same years that his Southwest Fish was in full operation (1920’s) he formed a company called The Lampe Construction and Trading Company. It was a stock company with capital stock valued at about 20 thousand dollars. He was President and General Manager. Some well known Vermilionites were stock holders and officers in this company. James J. Cuddeback was Vice-President, Lewis C. Blattner was the Secretary-Treasurer, and Myron P. Englebry, Otto E. Baumhart, and W.A. Steane served on the Board of Directors.

For many folks just knowing how to successfully navigate the surface of the lake in all types of weather is considered a great accomplishment. For some knowing how to find and catch various types of food fish found beneath the surface on a regular basis is an art. But very few persons know and understand what lies at the very bottom of the lake. Big Ed was a master of all those things. Following is a reiteration of an earlier observation made by this essayist:

Earlier in the century Ed

discovered what is now known as the Lorain-Vermilion [a.k.a. the Point Pelee-Lorain Ridge] dredging area - the largest source of commercial sand and gravel in Ohio’s Lake Erie waters. Moreover he was the first to produce sand and gravel from that sector. And this is where Big Ed’s innovative skill was put to practical application.

In about 1921, near the Driscoll/Parsons Fish Shanties at the foot of Sandusky Street, he built a large workboat/sandsucker he aptly called The Vermilion. It was made of strip plank cypress and bent oak frames, and was powered by JVB gasoline engines (the first of the modern marine engines to emerge from rather crude earlier engines - they were manufactured in Akron, Ohio).

The sand taken from the sand ridge by the Vermilion was used in the paving of Liberty Avenue. Joe Berry, George Parsons, and Pete Harris crewed the new craft. After a short time Big Ed increased the size of the vessel by cutting it in half and adding 50 feet to it in the middle. He later built another tug, the Peerless II ( powered by 3 JVB’s) to assist in towing the Vermilion.

Eventually Capt. Lampe moved his construction/trading company business to Lorain. But that adventure - as well as his further Vermilion adventures - will be discussed another time.

STOP 149: Earlier in the week Pam (Knittle) was kind enough to allow me to scan some of the many, many postcards she has collected through the year of the Vermilion, Ohio area. I am sorry I was unable to scan all of them. But I only had them for a day so I had to pick and choose rather expeditiously.

The above pictured card caught me eye because it shows the store (now gone) at Mitiwanga, Ohio at a time when there were very few cottages at the resort. It is rather whimsical. Note the pup by the track waiting for the next Lake Shore Electric train to come by.

Pam also told me that she has a LSE stop (I believe she said it is the one pictured) sign. She found it on the porch of the family home that sat just to the south of the LSE tracks in Mitiwanga.

Cool beans. I'll have several more Mitiwanga and Ruggles pix from her collection to showcase in the near future.

PODCAST #85: This week the Vermilion Views Podcast #85 is a virtual (video) tour of The Vermilion News office and printshop.

Also note that all the video (MP4) podcasts (where used) are done in the "Quicktime" format.

Vermilion Ohio, A Good Place to Live