_{A crack in the plans}

AN APOLOGY: The plan was to acquire and place the Ohio Historical Plaque for Vermilion born inventor Lester A. Pelton by the end of August. And everything was going well.

The marker arrived at the end of July - earlier than expected. It was to be delivered to the Vermilion Area Archival Society's home on Main Street on a Friday morning. I had other business to attend to that morning and asked that someone else be there to attend to the delivery. And then things quite going well.

For whatever reason the delivery was missed.

So - to avoid further shipment costs I made arrangements to pick-up the marker at the trucking company in Milan, Ohio the following Monday. And this I did.

When I got the marker home I unwrapped it an found (1) that it did not contain the graphic of Pelton I had requested, and (2) that it was cracked (see pic). I was concerned about the crack (it isn't big) was that it went through the plaque.

I contacted the OHS about the missing graphic and was told that the graphic I sent had not been adequate for reproduction on the marker.

I contacted Sewah Studios and was told that they could be able to repair the crack by stop drilling and re-welding the plate or they could re-cast the marker with the graphic at half the original cost. The Sewah people also told me that there would be no problem with placing the graphic I sent them on a marker.

The problem I really was that I had no way to proving exactly who was responsible for the damage to the plaque. I didn't look at it until I got it home from the trucking company. So I couldn't exactly blame them.

I have no way to explain the discrepancy between what the OHS and Sewah Studios told me about the graphic.

In any case, I didn't want a damaged marker. I didn't want the marker without a graphic of the person - whose life it celebrates - on it. And I didn't want to get into a legal "pissing contest" with either the OHS or Sewah Studios So I opted to have the marker recast at half the cost or the original and Geo and I paid for it.

This, after all, is a one shot deal - and it should be done correctly. Sewah told me the new marker should be ready by early October. I will take delivery of at at the Congregational Church and check it immediately.

So if anyone was wondering....

Wonder-no-morely...

I can see it in their faces.

FACES: Vermilionite A. D. (Albert David) Baumhart Jr. (PJ 11-13-03) was a member of the United States Congress from the 13th Ohio District from 1956 to 1960. He was a tall, dark, handsome, and very well spoken, gentleman. He was the kind of person who sticks out in a crowd. I’ve no idea whether the image was staged or natural, but the air about him was most certainly uncommon. He, in brief, looked as though he was an important person. It is not, however, Congressman Baumhart who captures attention in the concomitant photograph.

When this Vermilion News file photo of our local Girl Scouts was taken on a visit to our nation’s capitol Vermilion was still a little fishing village albeit also a strongly Republican community. (During that era those facts were not at all oxymoronic.) The Ford Motor Company had not yet become an established entity in town, and the great migration of folks from southern and eastern states had not yet begun. These facts are relative to this picture because when it was published there would have been no need to list the names of those in it. In a village of 2500 to 3000 souls all faces are familiar.

And whilst that be a fortunate circumstance for a 12/13 year old boy in 1956 or ‘57 - nearly 50 years later all the faces remain very familiar, but all the names do not. (Again I need emphasize the great import of habitually making written record of people who appear in photographs.)

Beginning with the back row (L-R) are:

Diane Fleming, Maryann Thompson (Corcino), Mary Rapprich (Scout Leader), Janice Kropf, Janet Lindsay (Hancock), Ellie Tarrant (Slocum), Mrs. Edward Fisher (Scout Leader), Zella “Butchie” Tarrant (Bolyard), Shirley Malone, Darlene Neiding, Eleanor Hollosy (Chaperone), Linda Russell, Unknown, Evelyn Todd (Wheelock), Unknown. Bottom row (L-R): Ada Greenhoe, Meredith Rapprich, Karen Hollosy, Barb Mey, Janet Watson, Janice Barthel, Linda Calvey, Cheryl Fisher, Marylou Homitz, Eva Thompson, and Marylee Russell.

In the 8-18-05 issue of this journal I stated of a 1950 aerial view of town that it was “nearly 90% of that which once comprised the Village of Vermilion, Ohio”. In this photo nearly 90% of the young ladies pictured lived in homes easily within the parameters of that photograph. Needless to say they did not stay there.

The paths their lives took after this photo froze their youthful shadows on a summer’s day in Washington D.C. in 1956 are, of course, varied. Each face brings to mind a story of interest. Some such as Janice Barthel, my sister “Butchie” Bolyard, and cousin Janet Hancock are brief. Others are still being writ. Few of those stories will be great. But all will be good. I know. I can see it in their faces.

_{Ref: Published in the Vermilion Photojournal 9/9/05.}

9/5/05
10:20 AM

_{"The photo was taken by an unknown photographer in July of 1906 behind a store
beneath the Masonic Temple on Division (Main) Street..."}

A.D. BY A.D: What follows is the first of two parts of an autobiography by Vermilion pharmacist / entrepreneur Albert David “A.D.” Baumhart (1873-1961). The text was recently acquired from his granddaughter, Brenda Baumhart Mezz, via the internet. Ms. Mezz is the daughter of former Vermilion Mayor Charles Wheeler Baumhart. She is currently in the process of writing a genealogical family book and the memoir will be contained in it. It was written by Mr. Baumhart at the request of a committee on the occasion of an historical celebration in Vermilion, Ohio, circa 1958. The photograph accompanying this column appeared with a similar story re: Mr. Baumhart in the 11-20-03 edition of the Vermilion Photojournal. The photo was taken by an unknown photographer in July of 1906 behind a store beneath the Masonic Temple on Division (Main) Street where he operated his store from about 1906 until late June of 1916. Whilst the text appears essentially as it was writ Ms. Mezz, a consummate English teacher, edited it to facilitate reader understanding. (Note: I also did some very minor editing.) In any case, this is the story of “A.D. by “A.D.”.

Part I - The Early Years: “On Aug. 18, 1873 there was born to Augustus & Margaret Baumhart the seventh child and the fifth son. That son happened to be your humble servant today. My parents were farmers and while our farm was one mile west of town our home was in town.

My father was born in Germany and came to this country with his parents at the age of fourteen years. My mother was a native Buckeye and was born in Brownhelm Township. At the age of six, I like all the other children began working by driving home each night 5 to 8 cows for milking purposes and returning them each morning to their pastures. This was done before and after school each day.

I also had several customers to deliver milk to which was conveyed to them in tin pails and at the price of 5¢ per quart or 3¢ per pint. Skimmed milk and sour milk for pancakes went free and all surplus milk was skimmed and the cream churned into butter. This dairy business was continued by an older brother after our parent’s death and upon his death in 1923 there ended sixty three years of continuous dairy business. What time I could find for play was utilized by fishing, baseball and other games similar to today’s sports.

One day while working in the garden I discovered two pigs roaming the street. Going to the barn and procuring a horse whip, I began chasing them. They ran once around the block and then ran toward the lake. When they reached the beach, much to my surprise, they plunged into the water and began making a straight line for the Canadian shore. Then my hog calling ability was brought into play, but try as hard as I could I could not induce them to return. After swimming about a mile out they both sank and it was then I got my first thrill and my first real scare of my life. Later father had two pigs to pay for. I learned later that when a hog swims the motion of its front feet causes the hoofs to cut their throats and they soon drown.

It was this same summer that I earned my first dollar. This was done by catching grasshoppers and toads to be used for bait on troll lines for catfish. I received 10¢ per hundred and when I had saved $1.25 I bought my first rubber coat known then as a [sic] gassermert. (ed. Note: this likely was a corrupt pronounciation and, consequently, hand-written spelling of the German word “wassermantel” or literally translated “water coat”.)...”

_{Ref: Special Thanks to: Brenda Baumhart Mezz and to my late friend Fred Wetzler. Published in the Vermilion Photojournal on 2/12/09}

2/8/09
10:29 AM

_{"We are such stuff as dreams are made on..."}

A.D. BY A.D. (PART 2): Following is the second of two parts of the autobiography by Vermilion pharmacist / entrepreneur Albert David “A.D.” Baumhart (1873-1961). To better understand Mr. Baumhart’s story - as well as to shed some light on history in general it may help to preface the last part of his story with a few comments: The Vermilion Mr. Baumhart refers to in this text is an amalgamation of the locale with which he was familiar at the time the events he describes happened - and those which existed at the time he wrote his story (c.1958). For instance, when he refers to “the Quigley store then located where Alheit’s...now stands” he is referring to the site currently occupied by Winterstein Realty on Main Street. And “Rathbun’s grocery” is the building just east of the current site of the Old Prague restaurant on Liberty Avenue. More notations of this nature appear in the text. In addition to this it is interesting to note that he writes that the fire which destroyed his first store “occurred about 4 o’clock”. Other histories indicate that the fire occurred at 11 p.m. that evening. Although the discrepancy is relatively minor there is no real accounting for it. Inconsistencies such as these, although infrequent, may simply serve to illustrate to us the fallibility of human perceptions. As my favorite poet, Bill Shakespeare, opined, “We are such stuff as dreams are made on...”.

Part 2 - 1881-1961“...At the age of 8 years I became afflicted with a tubercular hip and did not leave the yard again for three years. This rendered me too delicate for farm work so work was found for me in a grocery store. I was transferred to a dry goods and general store where I remained for about six months. About that time my brother opened a drug store and I became his assistant and served an apprenticeship lasting seven years. After that I attended College of Pharmacy. Upon leaving the college I went to Berea Ohio and worked in a drug store for nearly a year—salary $50.00 per month which by the way was the largest salary I ever received.

Returning to Vermilion I bought the Quigley store then located on Division Street where [sic] Allheit's Hardware Store now stands. In 1898 I made a contract with the Bell Telephone Co. to put in the first telephone exchange in Vermilion. The contract provided that I was to furnish the heat, light, office room and proper operators to handle the business. The exchange opened March 18, 1898 with nineteen subscribers. This grew rapidly until about 200 subscribers were obtained. This remained in my drug store for about twelve years.

On Dec 3, 1903 our store burned catching fire from other buildings in a frame row. The fire occurred about 4 o’clock so we had time to remove part of the drug stock. In less than an hour I had purchased the Harris drug store then located where Rathbun’s grocery now is and by seven o’clock next morning was doing business in the new location. All telephone subscribers were in working order by seven o’clock next eve.

The following spring the Lake Shore Electric Line was opened and I was made Ticket Agent and Electric Package Agent. My stay here lasted two years and then the store was moved into a part of the room now occupied by Norman Ness. [Note: this refers to one of the shops beneath the Masonic Temple on the west side of Main Street a few doors south of Liberty Avenue.] After another period of seven years, I found this room too small, so I built and moved into my present location, June 23 1916.

_{A.D.'s Store in the 1930's}

My school life was begun in the State Street brick building. Two years later I was transferred to a building known as the “Old Seminary” a frame structure of two rooms which occupied the site where the water tower now stands. The building is still in existence and is now occupied by Harry Mead the plumber. [Note: The water tower stood in Hanover Square. When it was built the school was moved to a site on the east side of Grand Street between Liberty and the railroad tracks. It was eventually razed.] Later I was transferred to the brick building again where I continued in school until the course was completed.

Although I finished the high school course, and not being convinced that I should write an oration to be delivered from the stage platform of the Town Hall on Commencement night, I quit school two weeks ere the term ended to embark on the pill rolling game. This of course was a bad mistake for it caused me to go through life without possessing a high school diploma. Imagine what would have happened to my boys should they have suggested such a procedure to me. If I remember correctly another member of our Rotary Club did a similar thing to go sailing.

I too tried my hand at sailing, but after having my feelings hurt by the mate and getting sea sick, I got off the boat after one trip when it tied up at Ashtabula, glad to return to the long hours of the drug store in preference to a life on the briny deep. The last night out was the fatal night on which the steamer “Western Reserve” went down with all hands except one.

In 1906 was married to Effie C. Washburn who passed on Nov. 1, 1918. On Aug. 15, 1921 I married my present wife, Frances L. Bullock of Cadiz Ohio. I am the father of two sons, A.D.B. Jr., and Charles Wheeler.”

_{Ref: The Vermilion News, 125th Anniversary Edition, 8-25-62; Vermilion Area Archival Society archives; and Special Thanks to Brenda Baumhart Mezz. Published in the Vermilion Photojournal on 2/19/09}

2/15/09
10:03 AM

DOG RULES

1. The dog is not allowed in the house!

2. Okay, the dog is allowed in the house, but only in certain rooms.

3. The dog is allowed in all rooms, but has to stay off the furniture.

4. The dog can get on the OLD furniture only.

5. Fine, the dog is allowed on all the furniture, but is not allowed to sleep with the humans on the bed.

6. All right, the dog is allowed on the bed, but ONLY by invitation.

7. The dog can sleep on the bed whenever he wants, but NOT under the covers.

8. The dog can sleep under the covers by invitation ONLY.

9. The dog can sleep under the covers every night.

10. Humans must ask permission to sleep under the covers with the dog.

_{"Though he was no less charming than Dave, he was considerably more capable - at least intellectually..."}

CHARLIE: THE LAST VILLAGE MAYOR: What might have been never was. It’s a tale old as the world. Was it the result of opportunities missed; opportunities that never materialized; just dumb luck; or was it all of the above? Who knows but the good Lord himself. It’s just the way “the cookie crumbled”. Or at least it’s the way it crumbled for Charlie and (I believe) for Vermilion, Ohio as well.

Charles (a.k.a. “Charlie”, “Chub”, or “Chubby”) Wheeler Baumhart became the youngest citizen in the Village of Vermilion on March 30, 1914. He was the second of two sons born to Albert David Sr. and Effie (Washburn) Baumhart. The elder Baumhart (to further smoosh an idiom to pieces) was a “pretty smart cookie”. Though a pharmacist by trade - his ambitions did not end there. When a new communication device came to town in 1901 (i.e. the telephone) he was in on it. When a new form of entertainment came to town (i.e. motion pictures) he was in on it. And when a new organization (i.e. Rotary) of professional persons was organized in the village in the late 1920’s he was in on it too. Thus, it should surprise few to know that A. D. (as most townsfolk very aptly called him) both harbored and nourished some rather lofty political goals for his boys. Yet, be that as it was, Charlie never quite went as far as he might - nor as expected.

He was reasonably good at his studies while attending Vermilion schools - graduating in 1932. But he was hardly a “distinguished” scholar. And he was a reasonably good athlete. He played, and lettered in, both basketball and football during his high school years. But he was hardly a “distinguished” athlete; and neither were the teams on which he played.

In the 1932 high school yearbook “Hi Times” the football team was memorialized with the following comment: “...As the season advanced a spirit which is not often seen in losing teams seemed to get into the fellows...” While the comment was intended to be both polite and positive the “gist” of it is inescapable. The win-loss record was not memorialized.

After high school and college Charlie worked in the Ohio State Treasurer’s Office in Columbus for a number of years returning to Vermilion in the 1950’s to help his ageing father and stepmother Frances (Bullok) operate their pharmacy on Division Street. In the meantime his older brother, Dave (A.D. Jr.) had distinguished himself as a publishing company representative, a member of the Ohio State Senate (1937 - 1940); a lieutenant commander in the Navy during W.W.II; and as a Congressman for the 13th District of Ohio (January 3, 1955-January 3, 1961).

Charlie’s political career, on the other hand, was far less stellar than that of his older brother. Though he was no less charming than Dave, he was considerably more capable - at least intellectually - than his father apparently recognized. The consequence was that he was left to his own devices to fashion a career in politics. He started at the bottom; first as a member of the Vermilion Village Council; and then as Mayor.

During Charlie’s tenure on council and as Mayor the community was on the verge of an expansion in population and, concomitantly, commerce that was theretofore and thereafter unprecedented. The positive merits of this expansion may, for some folks, be debatable. The inevitable reality was, however, that the influx of new faces and ideas from more urbane environs put an end to the “colonial-type” leadership of the past. And Charlie’s political career, as well as the pastoral ambience of the place known as Vermilion, Ohio, were forever relegated to a yesteryear few persons now recall.

Charlie died in October of 1973. He had spent the remainder of his years working for the U.S. Postal Service - walking to and from work - a newspaper tucked under his arm, and a cigar clenched betwixt his teeth. The words of that 1932 yearbook seemed to echo in his footsteps: “As the season advanced a spirit which is not often seen in losing teams seemed to get into the fellows. This spirit was shown...in the playing of the team, as a team, and not as just so many individuals.”

_{Ref: Ancestry.com; Vermilion High School yearbook “Hi-Times” - 1932; Special Thanks to Ruth Bauman Tanner.Published in the Vermilion Photojournal on 5/15/09.}

5/11/08 1:22 PM

_{Podcasts - "forever under construction..."}

PODCAST #143: This week the Vermilion Views Podcast #143 takes you on a more extensive tour of the "VV" office as the podcast is being made. This baby is 11:11 minutes long - so it'll take some time to load. Your patience will be rewarded.

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

NOTE NOTE:Past podcasts are not available in the on-line archive. They just take up too much disk space. But if one really, really, really wants to acquire a copy of a past cast it can be had by contacting me and I will place it on a disc and send it to ye for a minimal fee.

LOCAL ANNOUNCEMENTS: After giving it much thought this link has been "put-down". During the last year most of the folks who used to use this page as a bulletin board have acquired their own and, consequently, no longer need this forum from "Views". I have, however, kept links (in the links section) to Larry Hohler's "Hope Homes" in Kenya - and to Bette Lou Higgins' Eden Valley Enterprises sites. They are historically and socially relevant projects. I suggest that you visit these sites on a regular basis to see "what's shakin'".

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 links. 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.

If you're looking for my old links section (pictured) I've replaced it with a pull-down menu (visible in the small box next to the word "Go"). If you're looking for links to more Vermilion history check that menu.

_{How the old links menu looked}

Links to additional Vermilion Ohio pages: Vermilion Ohio Historic Pix History of Linwood Park Vermilion Visitor's Advisory (Satire) Gore Orphanage History The Lester Pelton Story The Wreck of The Niles #152 The History of Crystal Beach Vermilion Views Archives Vermilion's Pioneer Woman; Charlotte Sturges Cloudy; Vermilion's Ferryman The History of Vermilion's Congregational Church Dedication Sermon of Jotham W. Goodell, 1843 The Last Time I Saw Charlie Hope Childrens Home Kenya A Profile of Rich Tarrant Vermilion Biographies Vermilion - Village of Lake Captains Vermilion's Youngest Minstrels Don Englebry's "Growing Up In Vermilion" "Views" Podcast Archive The Story of Vermilion's Education System Eden Valley Enterprises VHS Class of 1959

For Persons who would like to donate to the cause (to keep these "Views" on-line you can send whatever you would like to me at the following address. And THANKS to everybody who has already donated to the cause. I doth certainly appreciate it): _{Rich Tarrant
1041 Oakwood Drive
Vermilion, Ohio
44089
Telephone: 440-967-0988 - Cell: 440-522-4459}

or you can use PayPal:

"If you drink, don't drive. Don't even putt."
-Dean Martin

Vol.7, Issue 24, August 29, 2009

Archive Issue #336

_{Vermilion Views Search Engine}

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© 2009 Rich Tarrant