SWEATING AND SWEARING IN THE DARK: Technically speaking "VV" is not a sophisticated process. In the beginning it was designed to make weekly publishing a breeze. And, by and large, that has been the case.
However:
Now and again there are some snags.
This week - in pursuit of personal education - I inadvertantly deleted the last edition of "VV". And after I finished "whopping and hollering" (I'd have torn my hair out if I had any) I sat down and re-wrote the whole thing as best as I could remember it. And then...
it disappeared - again.
I don't know what happened. But it was gone. Vanished, kaput, fini. It took me a good hour to re-write and position things. And it was gone. Again.
So - I sat down and did it all over again. And that time I was extremely careful. And finally - after two or three hours - it was back. It wasnt' the same as the original nor even the first re-write. But it was back.
I had to re-write the scripts for the "news banner" and the "questions, comments" sections. But it was back.
You will note that the news banner is (at least for now) tech news. At the moment I'm not too concerned with the content. It'll do. But later I'll get to changing it back to the "news news".
But that ain't all.
Later my sister emailed me to let me know that the "Views" archived files weren't working. So I checked. And sure enough that was the case.
There are 350 pages in this archive going back to the spring of 2003. At the time I was using "GeoCities" as a webpage provider. Since then things have changed. And even during this last year things have changed. If you pay attention to such things (and most folks don't)"Yahoo" purchased "GeoCities" - and then "Yahoo" had some financial difficulties. You might recall that several different companies (like Microsoft) wanted to buy them out. Finally a sort of compromise was reached between "Microsoft" and "Yahoo". But in the meanwhile Yahoo decided to eliminate all it's free "GeoCities" websites. That was effective sometime in November of this year. So, in effect, there is no more "GeoCities". (Are you still with me?)
[THIS GRUELING PROCESS IS THE SUBJECT OF THIS WEEK'S PODCAST.]
Now - when I started working these webpages (seven or so years ago) I was using "Geocities". This means that all my archived files had "GeoCities" in their file names. For your browser to recognize and retrieve these files they must be accurately named. And I did not realise that that facet of their naming would now make them impossible to retrieve until my sister brought the problem to my attention. Ergo; I had to go through 349 archived files and re-name them to make them retrievable. It took me about an hour or so. But they now work.
I really need a secretary / clerk. Although this was not a terribly difficult task - it was very tedious. Moreover; this wasn't something I envisioned ever having to do when I started with this in February / March of 2003.
While I was aware of the impending changes (i.e. those between "Yahoo" and "GeoCities") back in July it never occured to me that I'd have to re-name all my files. I had moved all my other webpages like the The History of Vermilion's Congregational Church" and the Vermilion Ohio Historic Pix to the "Views" site. If I had not I would've lost them. But I thought I was ahead of the proverbial game - until today.
But for a time I was left - sweating and swearing in the dark.
I-Saw-the-Light-ly,
CHET JACKSON @ KISHMAN'S
CHESTER JACKSON: This was among the pix given me by Vermilionite Dawn Full a few weeks back. The pic is "posed" of course. I doubt that Ray Full (the gent doing the pointing) ever had to give any directions to the man with the hose - Chester Jackson.
Chester was a premier - an ace - Vermilion fisherman. That's not to downplay the abilities of any of the men who worked the tugs out of the Port of Vermilion, O. But Chester was an exceptional fisherman. He knew his business, and made it work for him.
While he was not, by his own admission, what one would consider to be a "teetotaler", he was not what some might consider to be a stero-typical fisherman; or one who lived hard and drank harder.
Mr. Jackson certainly worked hard. But he left the drinking to others. He was interested in making a living - and knew his trade. He was, in fact, known for his very strong work ethic. And in the book "Lake Erie Fishermen" by Timothy Lloyd and Patrick Mullen Jackson says as much: "In fact, I had the reputation that a lot of people wouldn't work under me because they called me "Slavedriver"Jackson. You can put that in the article. I don't mind it. I am a slave driver. I'm still a driver. But I worked right with my men. I always wanted to be top-notch. To be top-notch, you had to give the extra effort, put in the extra hours.
Sometimes I think it's a shame that today's young people and / or folks new to the area never had the priviledge of knowing some of these old fishermen. "Them" days is long, long gone. And those guys were well worth knowing.
"A girl named Dorcas Pendell was born in 1879 in East Saginaw, Michigan..."
THE DORCAS PENDELL, ETC.:
While this is not a great photograph it is exceptionally interesting to local history aficionados. It is one of some three dozen sent, electronically, to me by a good friend of our community, Roberta “Bobbi” Riley, who currently resides in Santa Maria CA. She, as I have indicated in previous essays, is a granddaughter of late Vermilionites Ruth and Elton Fischer (PJ 2-2-06). For those who haven’t kept pace with previous articles it may help to understand that Elton, his father George, and his grandfather Nicholas operated a prosperous retail/wholesale lumber business in Vermilion Village (PJ 10-21-05). The lumber company was located on the banks of the river between what is now the Fisherman’s Bend Condominiums and the Vermilion Boat Club. In the latter days of January, 1938 it was consumed by a great fire. But back to the photo.
The shadows captured are those of the Fischer Lumber Company docks looking southeast along the Vermilion River (c.1900). The area to the left is one of the few good pictures I’ve ever seen of the pristine fen where now some of the most beautiful waterfront homes in Ohio are located (i.e. the Vermilion Lagoons). In the background the trees of Linwood Park loom over the quagmire. And as if only to acknowledge the fact that the swampland was not entirely impenetrable a pair of fair sized barns stand along the left bank down river from the dock. The barns appear in several other photographs of yore - but I’ve no idea of their purpose or who owned them.
Just downstream from the lumber yard wharves the idiosyncratic Leidheiser Fish barn is quite visible with its light trimmed windows and doorways. And tied-up at the foot of the lumber yard are two small steam tugs and a 3-masted schooner.
As an aside I would point out that one advantage of digitized photographs is that given the right equipment it is possible to focus in on small details, and to, sometimes, dramatically enhance them. In this instance it was possible to retrieve the name of the schooner; it is the Dorcas Pendell.
The wooden schooner, Dorcas Pendell , was built by P. Rappelyea of East Saginaw, Michigan in 1884. When this photo was taken she had likely transported goods, such as lumber, wheat, and other grains to and from ports along the Great Lakes for well over 15 years.
During that which is known as the “Big Storm” of November 8-13, 1913 she was “driven hard ashore” in Lake Huron near the breakwater at Harbor Beach, Michigan. And there she remained until the 6th of July the following year when she caught fire, assumed to be caused by an overheated shipkeeper's stove, and was destroyed. There were apparently no casualties in either incident.
Despite all that wonderful information the name of the schooner is still somewhat curious. Investigating the situation further the following information was discovered:
A girl named Dorcas Pendell was born in 1879 in East Saginaw, Michigan. Her father (37) was a "vessel Captain". Her mother, Margarett (28) was from Ireland. Dorcas had a sister named Maud who was 8 years her senior, and a brother, William, who was 3 years older. As for the given name of Dorcas - it is a Biblical name (meaning “Gazelle”). And however unusual it may seem in 19th, 20th, and 21st century America, in 19th century Ireland it was a relatively common name. Thus, it is probably safe to assume that the schooner took its name from this little lady.
Whatever the case, the photograph of the wooden schooner Dorcas Pendell at the Fischer Lumber docks in yesteryear Vermilion is certainly a revealing piece of history - local and otherwise.
Ref: www.boatnerd.com/swayze/shipwreck; The Great Lakes Shipwreck File: Total Losses of Great Lakes Ships 1679-1999; Ancestry.com; Special Thanks to Bobbi Riley, and to Don Parsons (12/08/09); Published in the Vermilion Photojournal 6/08/06; Written 6/4/06 @ 10:57 AM
"The wolves would approach the horse and the foot of the tree,
snapping and growling, and then go a little way off and raise their demoniac howl
for more help..."
WOLVES IN THE OHIO WILDERNESS: Today it's hard for many of us to envision the environment in and around Vermilion, Ohio as wolf country. Civilization has a way of driving the wildlife out as it sweeps across the landscape. Whether that's good or bad remains to be seen. Folks annoyed with deer coming into their yards and eating their flowers need remember that it's not the deer who are invading our environs - but it is we who have invaded. And while I don't see and end to that situation so long as manunkind is manunkind it is a subject worthy of some serious thought.
On the other hand methinks that Stephen Smith might have preferred an environment sans wolves. Even though his fear may have been more fantasy than reality. What follows is a great story adapted from an early 19th century tract pertaining to wolves in the Vermilion area.
STEPHEN AND THE WOLF
“About 1818, Stephen Smith, a small but active
batchelor, wishing to go from the residence of
Judge Meeker, on the lake shore, to Esq.
Barnum's, in Florence, a distance of five or
six miles, and return early enough in the
morning so as to make no inroad on his daily
wage's, procured a horse and set off in the
early part of the evening.
There was a bridle
path through the woods, but, in the gathering
darkness, he lost it, and finally became
entangled in the brush and grape vines, then
growing in a thinly-timbered tract back of
Judge Ruggles', known 'as Ruggles' Vineyard.
Much to his annoyance, he was soon surrounded
by a noisy pack of wolves.
His horse became so
restive and his unwelcome visitors so
clamorous, he judged it best to tree for the
night. So, tying his horse, he made the best
speed he could up a middling sized hickory, and
after attaining a safe altitude, as he
supposed, found a projection, on which he
seated himself, and clinging with arms and legs
around the trunk, held on for dear life,
congratulating himself that though not a very
agreeable roost on a cool September night,
still it was better than a berth within the
hungry maws of a pack of wolves.
The wolves
would approach the horse and the foot of the
tree, snapping and growling, and then go a
little way off and raise their demoniac howl
for more help, at intervals, throughout the
night.
At the first streak of light in the East
they decamped, leaving Stephen safe and sound,
and as it became light enough to begin to
discern objects, and he gained assurance that
the wolves had indeed left, he prepared to
descend again to earth; when lo! on attempting
to extend his limbs downward, he found, to his
inexpressible surprise and chagrin, that he had
been sitting all night on a small projection at
the foot of the tree, not having ascended at
all.”
WOOF!
HOW TO WRITE GOOD
Avoid alliteration. Always.
Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.)
Employ the vernacular.
Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
Contractions aren't necessary.
Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
One should never generalize.
Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate
quotations. Tell me what you know."
Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary;
it's highly superfluous.
Be more or less specific.
Understatement is always best.
One-word sentences? Eliminate.
Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
The passive voice is to be avoided.
Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
Who needs rhetorical questions?
Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
"...if anyone ever asks, “Who knocked the “el” out of our town?” you can credit it to the efforts of an Ohio born President...and the United States Post Office"
HOW VERMILLION BECAME VERMILION: It is commonly known among many persons who live in our community that when the Village of Vermilion was officially incorporated via a special act of the Ohio State Legislature in the year 1837 it was spelled with two “els”. And so it was when the accompanying photograph was taken - c.1895. So what happened one might ask? Who (please excuse the tortuous pun) knocked the “el” out of Vermillion, Ohio?
To address this question properly it might do well to touch on the origin of the name. As the signs found at the entrances of our city explain, Vermilion was named after the red clay the Indians - native Americans - found along the river. (Note that that is not a word-for-word reiteration of the signs’ text.)
While there is very little reason to doubt the truth of that notion some (myself included) have had good reason to muse over the implication that the language of native Americans was French - the language in which the word vermillion is rooted. And that, very logically, generates another question: What did the Indians call, in their language, the place we now know as Vermilion?
From the book, “Oulanie Thepy: the Golden Age of Harbour Town, Vermilion 1837 to 1879,” by Thomas A. Smith – The author says that the Ottawa people called the river “Oulanie Thepy, a phrase translated by an Indian Commissioner in 1760 as Vermillion Creek.
That question now answered we now need to discover how “Oulanie Thepy” might have evolved into “Vermillion.” I regret that I failed to keep a record of the source wherein I found the following explanation of this process - but it certainly rings true:
“...There was a major Indian trail running along the south shore of Lake Erie. At Vermilion there were two branches of this trail one near the lake and one on the ridges to the south. During and after the war of 1812 many of the French settlers from the Detroit River region fled to Ohio to seek safety and eventually settled in the Firelands area. By virtue of the fact that some Indians could speak French it’s not to far of a stretch of the imagination to believe that this explains how Vermilion got its name.”
Now, who do we credit for the misspelling of the name given the place we now call Vermilion - and spell with one “el”?
The year was 1898. An Ohioan, William McKinley of Niles, was President of these United States of America. The Vermilion branch of the U.S. Post Office (pictured when it was located in the Gaylord and Merrill building on the northwest corner of Liberty and Main Streets - now the Main Street Soda Grill) was experiencing a problem. There was some confusion with mail being directed to the post office in Vermillion Township in Ashland County, and the one in our Lake Erie hamlet of the same name. To eliminate the problem the U.S. Post Office politely elected to officially remove one of the “els” in the spelling of both our Village and Township names.
So - if anyone ever asks, “Who knocked the “el” out of our town?” you can credit it to the efforts of an Ohio born President named William McKinley and the United States Post Office. And that’s (to borrow an expression made famous by American comedienne Lily Tomlin’s.
character Edith Ann) the truth.
Ref: Special Thanks to: Vermilion resident Jim Hart; Brownhelm historian Bill Cutcher; and to Ron Davidson, Archives Librarian at theSandusky Library; Published in the Vermilion Photojournal 7/12/07; Written on 7/8/07 @ 12:37 PM
Podcasts - "forever under construction..."
PODCAST #157: This week the Vermilion Views Podcast #157 presents "The Bumbler" (me) illustrating what happens when you're not paying attention to your webwork. It's a long piece (11:56) so it take some time to load.
Persons interested in the history of the Lake Shore Electric Railway - "the greatest electaric railway system" on the planet may want to go to Amazon.com and purchase a book called "Images of Rail - Lake Shore Electric Railway". It was put together by Thomas J. Patton with the help of my friends Dennis Lamont and Albert Doane. It'd make a nice Christmas present.
Next week I'll be back with a continuation of the ride on the LSE.
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'".
Pay particular note to the "Hope Homes" page during the next few months. They've recently received a significant grant from the Dolan Foundation and are constructing a Manual Training Center for their children and for other young people in that community. This is an exciting project.
Although this years Vermilion High School Class of 1959 reunion is over classmates may want to stay connected with each other through organizer Roger Boughton. Ye can connect by mailing him @ 2205 SW 10th Ave. Austin, MN. 55912 or you can just emailRoger.
Where's Alice? I found this link interesting. You just never know what Vermilion expatriots are up to - or where their up to doing it. Alice Wakefield is one of those people. So check out his link. Methinks you'll be surprised: Talking Turkey.
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
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:
"I believe in looking reality straight in the eye and denying it."
-Garrison Keillor
Vol.7, Issue 38, December 5, 2009
Archive Issue #351
Vermilion Views Search Engine
© 2009 Rich Tarrant