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_{Who is really wearing shades?}

FOUR AMIGOS: A facsimile of this pic appears in the current (11-05-09) edition of the local weekly - the Vermilion Photojournal. I sent the same pic with the same blurb to various members of the Vermilion Area Archival Society (who sponsored the plaque), as well as a few other good friends and relatives.

The placing of this plaque recognizing Vermilion's Lester Allan Pelton was the culmination of several years of discussion, planning, prodding, and physical work accomplished by a number of people who do not appear in this photograph.

Initially, it was a fellow from Wales in the United Kingdom who really got the ball rolling. His name is Don Morgan. I've not heard from him for years so I don't know if he's still alive or not. He was in his eighties when we first began corresponding - and that's been some time ago.

Don worked as a mining engineer in Wales, and taught some after he retired. Ergo; his interest in L.A. Pelton - and Vermilion, O. Somewhere in the "VV" archives there is a photo of him.

After he contacted me I became more interested in Pelton. And it may have been Don who introduced me to two Californians who also have a great interest in the inventor; Stephanie Korney (sp?) and Robert Mumm. Both live in the area where Pelton lived and worked.

Don and I made sure that Mr. Pelton was recognized in the "Inventor's Hall of Fame" as well as in inventor forums across the net.

In Vermilion Tom Beach made sure I had all the early facts (at least those that could be found) right. Tom probably knows more about Pelton than any other person in the area. He and his wife Jean own the home where the inventor was born. And Tom has done a great deal of research on the family.

More than that - Tom pushed me toward making the Pelton plaque a reality. Had he not be so persistent I probably would have put it off for another 10 years. (NOTE: I have a Master's Degree in the fine art of Procrastination.)

And then there are my friends who - after the sign arrived - did the work required to place it.

My good friend, and local artist, Frank Homitz dug the hole and set the post in concrete at the Cuddeback Cemetery west of town. And then, my friends, Jack Johnson, George Spreng, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Adkins picked the sign up from the back of my Dakota pick-up, placed it on the pole, and thereupon secured it.

The time frame from the time I met Don Morgan to the placement of the plaque? It was easily a decade.

Anon the Vermilion Area Archival Society will conduct a formal ceremony of dedication for the marker. I don't think there'll be a band at the event. But after the one pictured (above) I whistled all the way home.

Fini-ly,

GIRLS BASKETBALL @ VHS - 1919

AIN'T THEY SWEET (?): This is a R. Moc photograph taken from the VOL.1, NO. 1 Issue of the "Hi-Times" of Vermilion High School, dated May, 1919. Don Englebry and Dan Harris wee the Editors-in-Chief for the publication. Elsi Gegenheimer and Daisy Hallowran were the News staff. Mabel Hoffman and Ruth Wakefield were in charge of Alumni news. And Carl Englebry and Mark Harris were the "jock" reporters.

The girls in the photo are:

Margaret Englebry, Right Forward; Mable Hoffman, Left Forward; Edna Gegenheimer, Center; Margaret Keenan, Right Guard; Pauline Decker, Left Guard; Mildred Nuhn, Mae Oswald, and rhoda Williams were substitues.

This was the VHS Girls B-Ball Team of 1918-19. They had a record of 13-7. Their highest scoring game was with Milan; Milan 0, Vermilion 46. Their lowest; Vermilion 0, Castalia 13. Their lowest scoring game was against Berlin Heights. The "BH" team had 4 points and Vermilion had but 2.

Walter Kobs was the team Coach and Manager.

The only girl I recognizae is Edna Gegenheimer Hull (back row, 2nd from left). I see her grandson's, Jon Clark, smile in her face. Jon's girls were also great VHS B-Ball players.

Incidentally, this particular edition of the "Hi-Times" paid tribute to a young lady named Edna A. Senhenn, and a young man named George Feiszli.

George, who had graduated in 1913, lost his life in WW1. He was a brother to late Vermilionites Grace Roberts and Amos Feiszli.

Miss Senhenn would have graduated in 1922. I don't know how she lost her life.

The photos and artwork (by E. Fitzgerald) in this first edition of a Vermilion yearbook are exceptional. The book was published by The Vermilion News.

_{"Henry Ford’s machines sold for as much as $950 in 1908.."}

YOU CAN PAINT IT ANY COLOR...": Vermilion 1912: With few exceptions mass production of the model T. Ford forever changed our world like no other contraption. With the exception of Volkswagon's Beetle, the Model T had the longest run of any vehicle in history (1908-27). Nearly 15 1/2 million of these "machines" (as folks were wont to call them at the time) were produced and sold in the U.S. alone. Reliable and durable, these automobiles presage the dawn of the American motor age wherein the auto would evolve from luxury item for the wealthy - to affordable and essential transportation for everyone. During 19 years of production, Henry Ford’s machines sold for as much as $950 in 1908 and, as the years passed, as little as $280. By 1912 the model T had become very much a part of the scenery in Vermillion Ohio.

The accompanying "Yesteryear" photograph was taken in front of The Vermillion News office/print shop on Grant Street by my grandfather, Pearl Roscoe, on a warm spring day in 1912. Roscoe, as (most) some folks may know, was the editor/publisher/owner of the of The News.

Those familiar with the area where this picture was taken should recognize the house in the background. It looks very much today as it looked good then. The site pictured is the east side of Grand Street south of the railroad tracks and north of Ohio Street. The Vermillion Township Hall makes its ghostly presence known behind and above the house. The folks in the car, whom I can’t yet identify, looked quite pleased as they sat for their Roscoe portrait. The bearded gentlemen inspecting the proceedings from the far side of the car is Caselton Roscoe my great-grandfather. The little lady in a big hat with him (hardly visible) is my mother Ella. And just to the left - in but part of the photo - is my grandmother Bessie.

By all indications this was not a planned photograph. I believe I can safely say that they were probably some folks of Roscoe’s acquaintance - or possible possibly some relatives - who stopped by to pay their respects (and perhaps show off a bit) while on a Sunday tour in their new machine. Having seen his precise area from the opposite side - photographed during the same time I can also safely aver that the Roscoe family did not own such a vehicle at this time. But it would not be long before they did.

There some additional things about this photo that are worthy of some note. The first is a simple pole framework in the yard directly behind my grandfather Castleton. It is a wooden glider - swing that could accommodate at least six adults. Castleton was a skilled carpenter and had built most, if not all, the building housing his son's family and print shop on Grand Street. Originally there was no outside porch for the apartment over the shop (as there is today) where one could enjoy the outdoors in relative comfort. He likely built a glider to solve that problem.

Another concerns that the shed (the striped building) that can barely be seen between the back of the house in the town hall. That particular structure once ran along the back lot lines of both the Townhall and the first Congregational Church beside it. It was used by visitors to both the opera house/hall in the church to shelter their animals while they attended events in either facility. At the time of this photo it was still being used with some regularity.

It would be another 10 or 15 years before the contraption Mr. Ford purportedly declared one 'could paint any color, so long as it’s black” would make the horse and buggy obsolete.

_{Ref special thanks to David Roscoe Lindsay and Nancy Alice Tarrant Emery; published in the Vermillion Photojournal on March 24, 2005; Oral transcription made of the article on November 5, 2009 at 1:50 PM.}

_{MORRIS "JIB" SNIDER}

IN SEARCH OF A TRUTH: I have written some of Morris "Jib" Snider in the past. Depending on who's telling the story Jib was either a colorful character or a repulsive drunk. Truth be told - he was probably both.

But those stories which place him in either role tend to come from the roaring twenties and thirties as they transpired in Vermilion. And that's mostly because there just isn't a wealth of information about him prior to that time.

At least I have yet to find it.

But the other day I spoke with a lady on the telephone who told me she had some newspaper clippings from abt. 1896 which portray Jib and another Vermilion man as murderers.

The person supposedly murdered was a Vermilion man named William Champney. As best as I can decipher that which was imparted (to me) was that Jib and this other fellow murdered Champney during a card game that went awry. They threw him down a flight of stairs in a Vermilion home and then took him out into the lake and tossed him overboard.

The men were tried for the crime but found not guilty.

I've not seen documentation that might help provide some substance to this storyk. But the lady with whom I spoke promised to send a copy of a newspaper article regarding it to me.

And so the historical plot of Vermilion, O. and its people doth thicken.

WACKY INSURANCE CLAIMS

Coming home I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don't have.

The other car collided with mine without giving warning of its intentions.

I collided with a stationary truck coming the other way.

I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law and headed over the embankment.

In my attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole.

I was on my way to the doctor with rear end trouble when my universal joint gave way causing me to have an accident.

An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car and vanished.

_{"I know not the identity of the folks in this picture."}

PERSONAL ARCHAEOLOGY: Early on a summer’s morning a half-century ago, I have a rather vivid recollection of walking along the north side of Liberty Street just below the public comfort station. At that time, Vermillion was a village of some 2000 moms, dads, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, close friends and associates. Few people, places, and things were new to a towheaded 10-year-old freckle-faced boy with ears so dirty my mother used to exclaim that "you could grow corn out of them.” (There’s an interesting picture.) Any case, I remember that morning.

I may have been coming up the avenue toward the rest station after having crossed the street from the Maudelton Bar where I always delivered and sold a few Vermilion News papers on Friday mornings in the summertime. I hated the smell of that old bar in the hotel basement, and never cease to be amazed at the fact that anyone could partake in the beverages served there so early in the morning. However; the bartender and patrons were always very nice to me -- showering me with greetings, gifts of candy, pop, a bag of up popcorn, and buying a paper or two. I also got to keep the nickels I received for the papers I sold. But, again, I digress.

As I bounced along the walk destined for, perhaps, George Rathbun's store at seven o’clock that morning, I noticed a man with a broom working in the gutter of the roadway. He was busy sweeping debris (mainly composed of rudely discarded cigarette butts) into an old dustpan and depositing it into a small trashcan beside him. He was dressed like a bum - or what I perceived a bum to dress like - and paid no attention to me as I passed.

As previously mentioned, few people were strangers to me in our little town. But this man certainly was. Moreover; I found it even stranger that anyone would be sweeping up cigarette butts out of the gutter of the GAR Memorial Highway (Route #6).

Sometime later I would find that the man was none other than Elton Fisher; brother of Maud, and son of George; who gave their names to the hotel and bar I had just visited. And he was not cleaning the entire street, but cleaning only the curbside that adjoined his riverside mansion.

The Fisher mansion/home was a wonderful place to behold. Surrounded by a wrought-iron fence set in concrete, it occupied a rather large piece of real estate from the edge of what are now the Fisherman’s Bend condominiums on the west, to the boat club parking lot on the east. The only comparable home in town was F.W. Wakefield’s Harborview Manse at the foot of Main Street. Years later it would evolve into Bob and Lucille Minns Riverside nursing home.

When the Fisher home was being razed to make way for an empty place on the river, a lady who worked in the facility discovered the picture accompanying this article in a wall. The photo is actually a tintype photo I copied with my handy dandy Microtech ScanMaker S. 400.

Tintype photography was a popular form of photography widely used in our world from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. It was popular because it was both cheap and easy process - making it readily available to the masses. They were called "tintypes" because they were made of cheap metal easily cut with tin shears. The images were positive, but reverse, like looking into a mirror.

I know not the identity of the folks in this picture. The tintype may have been a momento of the Fisher family, a construction worker who helped build the home, or that of a former nursing home resident (although that, for several reasons, is rather doubtful). What I do know is that it dates from about 1896. The dresses, hats, and hairstyles of the ladies, and the necktie configurations of the men tell that story. One is inclined to believe that archaeology is the process of discovering "ancient" artifacts and histories, but nothing could be further from the truth. The dig one discovers and analyzes maybe well be in the ruins of the 20th century home or in one’s personal memories of but 50 years past.

_{Ref: Tips on Dating Old Photographs; Maureen A. Taylor, 1999; The Tintype Process; Robert Blake Leggett, 1999; Published in the Vermillion Photojournal on March 2005; Oral transcription made on November 5, 2009 at 1:39 PM.}

_{THE CHEESE FACTORY}

AXTEL, OHIO: I know very little about the cheese factory that was once in operation in Axtel, Ohio (just south of the intersection of State Route #60 and Mason Roads). I doth know that being a vertible center of the local dairyland a cheese factory at Axtel made some sense. But exactly who made the cheese or where it was marketed (I assume it was all local) is not something about which I have any great knowledge.

But more than that - someone recently asked me where the name "Axtel" originated. And I don't have a clue.

Were I to venture a guess I would say that the name was likely the name of a family that once lived in the area - "Axtel's Corners" perhaps.

These are good questions which are in dire need of answers.

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

PODCAST #153: This week the Vermilion Views Podcast #153 is a hodge-podge of clips taken behind the Congregational Church in Vermilion, O. from October 22 to November 6th. It's not Academy Award stuff. It simply shows the changes in the trees and the light during the waning days of autumn 09.

Also, please note that all the video (MP4) podcasts (when used) are done in the "Quicktime MP4" format. If you don't have "Quicktime" it's easy to find and free to download.

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:

"A fool and his money are soon elected."
-Will Rogers (1879-1935)

Vol.7, Issue 34, November 7, 2009

Archive Issue #347

_{Vermilion Views Search Engine}

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