SARAH BREEDLOVE WALKER

Sarah Breedlove Walker, the daughter of former slaves, was orphaned at seven and widowed by 20. Madame Walker is credited with inventing hair lotions, creams, and an improved hair styling hot comb. But her greatest achievement may be the development of the Walker System, which included a broad offering of cosmetics, licensed Walker Agents, and Walker Schools, which offered meaningful employment and personal growth to thousands of Walker Agents, mostly Black women. Sarah Walker was the first American woman self-made millionaire.

VERMILION’S WAKEFIELD BRASS: (Note: This article is the last of several that were written about that which came to be known as the Wakefield Brass Company in Vermilion, Ohio)

In November of 1940 the F. W. Wakefield Company formally unveiled a new addition to the plant that would double its capacity for the storage of new products and parts, and to allow increased space for assembling light fixtures. The additional space, designed and built by the Austin Company, was necessary to handle the rapidly growing business in the manufacture of fluorescent lighting equipment. Fifty-five percent of Wakefield's business during the year had been in fluorescence. Just a year prior it had accounted for only 3 percent of that business. And although 1939 had been the best year on record for the company since it was established in 1907, indications were that a full forty percent volume increase in business would be experienced in 1940.

Prior to adding this addition the company warehoused materials in rented facilities in various locations throughout the village. This situation was unacceptable to the growing concern. At least six years earlier the pioneer electric lighting company had begun to investigate and experiment with the development of a new unit that would replace glass and metal reflectors on lighting fixtures. Company officials recognized an increasing need to craft an attractive light weight. shock-resistant reflector unit for this purpose, By 1939 such a unit had been developed. and its manufacture had begun.

This innovative design which offered "a wealth of glareless light for better seeing", married to a national advertising campaign in trade magazines that would reach over one and a half million businesses and institutions of learning resulted in a substantial increase in demand for the fixtures throughout North America. The F.W. Wakefield Company had really put Vermilion, Ohio on the map as its home.

For those who are interested. the material of which this new reflector was made was called Plaskon (after the name' of the company that developed and made it). For the sake of simplicity the reflector was made of a new plastic material capable of-being effectively used in a 200 to 1500 watt reflector and of withstanding temperatures of 300 degrees plus. A '300 to 500 watt reflector was successfully marketed under the name "Commodore". More than a few schools and offices in Vermilion were fitted (and remain fitted) with Wakefield lights.

One thing that should never be ignored in any discussion of this company is its workforce. At least 99.9 percent of that crew, here photographed by local photographer Rudy Moc on October 22, 1940 outside the new plant addition, were native Vermilionites. Vermilion was their town and Wakefield was their company. A.F. Wakefield, company President and General Manager in 1940, commented that "these people guide the factory toward Iighting progress.". They, in short, were the F. W. Wakefield Company.

Therein were men and women with names like Alice Fazey, Russ Darley,' Edna Mae Maurer, Russ Nieding, Tony Beursken, Orson Kuhnle, John Trinter, Amos Feiszli, Ray Crosier, Flora Hollister, Fred Friday, "Tug" Wilson, Don Hoffman, Eva Krapp, Alf Buell, Art Copeland, Harvey "Buck" Rodgers, and Carl Shroeder. These are but a few of the names of those in this photo. All were an important part of the company and our little village; our schools, our churches, our government.

Townsfolk could set their watches by the whistle that called these people to work in the morning and sent them home to their respective families every afternoon. Life was good. It was very good - in that Vermilion of yesteryear.

_{Ref: The Vermilion News; 11/07/40; 2/24/-38; Special Thanks to: Amos Feiszli and the Vermilion Photojournal; Published in the Vermilion Photojournal 4/15/04; Written 4/11/04.}

THE PIONEERS.

NEW HAVEN.

...the church. Meetings were held for a time in the school house; but, in 1843, the present church edifice was built, where it now stands, on the southwest corner of lot thirty-three, in section two, at a cost of eight hundred dollars.

The church has experienced many revivals, and has had numerous accessions to its membership therefrom. The first was under the preaching of Kinsman R. Davis, and twenty persons converted by his preaching joined the flock. Other notable revivals were had under the preaching of the Revs. Cyrus Courtland, Oscar Baker, John Chambers, James Ashley, Elder Moore, N. R. George, Ezra Ashley and others. The present pastor is Elder Thomas Dimm; John Loveland, Thos. Clark, deacons; John Loveland and Thos. Clark, trustees of the incorporation; John Loveland, clerk.

THE BAPTIST CHURCH

was at one time a flourishing society, and had upwards of one hundred and fifty members. A neat church building was erected in 1841, which the Baptists still own and allow other denominations to use, though having, at the present writing, but a small membership, they do not themselves have regular services. The church was organized in 1840, at Deacon Stowe's house, and its constituent members were: Elder John Kelley, Horace Hough, Horace Stowe, Wm. Ganung, Seldon Jones, Timothy Austin, Wm. Trembly, George H. Sparks, Esther M. Kelley, Martha Sparks, Rebecca Skinner, Emily Rooks, Freelove Gardner, Louisa Linsey, Sarah Stowe, Freelove "Woodworth, Sarah Ann Trembly, Martha Harkness. In 1858, the church having become defunct, it was re-organized with following members: Ezra Stewart, W. R. Partello, W. D. Gaming, J. Guyselman, J. J. Shivel, J. J. Knight, Electa Guyselman, Mrs. Woodworth, S. Knight, Polly Ives, Eliza Lisle, Sarah Stewart, Sophia Partello, Ellen Cleland, and George A. Knight.

THE CHURCH OF GOD.

In 1871, an organization was effected, which, rejecting all other appellations, was termed by its members the Church of God, and by outsiders, the Winebreunarian Church. The church was organized by D.S. Warner. Joseph Wolf was its first ruling elder, and Solomon Kline the teaching elder; J. C. Colwell and T. S. Charity were deacons. The present officers of the church are: M. A. Artman, ruling, and H. M. Linn, teaching elder. The church when organized had nearly fifty members, but at the present writing, has considerably less than that number.

THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH.

This church was organized December 15, 1878, with the following members: E. S. Case, Harriet S. Case, Nettie Case, Alinda Gleason, William Graham, Sarah Graham, Newell Curtiss, Mary M. Curtiss, D. H. Young, Angelinc Young, Hersilia J. Young, George Strimple, James K. Lowther, L. Courtland Heller, Elizabeth Cusack, George Graham, and J. H. Lowther. Rev. T. S. Rice is pastor; L. Courtland Heller, president; George Strimple, treasurer; E. S. Case, Angeline Young and Sarah Gi-aham, trustees.

SCHOOLS.

The first school taught in the township, was by Sophia Barney, (Latham Coe's second wife). This was as early as 1815, or the year following. The school was held in a small log building, put up by Caleb Palmer, upon lot fifty-seven, section two. John N. Sloan taught, a little later, in a log building which stood near the present school house on the town plat. Among the pupils were, James, Joseph, John, Alfred and Harrison Skinner, and Maclntyre and Minerva Beymer. Mr. Sloan had an assistant, —Louisa Beymer.

Joseph Dana was for many years the teacher of an excellent school at the village. He was a man of fine scholarship and had a pecnliar ability in, and fondness for, his profession. He labored, however, against many disadvantages. One of them was the absence of the conveniences for writing, which are now thought indispensable. The pupils had no paper, slates or blackboards, upon which to exercise their chirographic abilities, and traced their "pothooks"' and rude letters in sand strewn upon smooth boards.

A school house was built quite early in the history of the township, which was, for the time, an unusually good one. It was originally but one story high, but another was added by the Masonic fraternity. Good schools have been maintained at this building, at the village, almost constantly since the earliest recollection of the oldest residents, and just at present there is one, which under the management of Wm. F. Dimm, is kept fully up to the high standard long ago established. The district schools throughout the township compare favorably with those of other places.

PHYSICIANS.

Unlike most of the early settlements New Haven had a resident physician during the first years of its existence. Dr. Samuel B Carpenter began practice with Royal N. Powers as a partner, about 1814. The population increased very fast up to 1820, and they enjoyed a lucrative practice. Neither of them, however, depended entirely upon success in the profession for a living. Dr. Selden Graves came into the community not long after Doctors Carpenter and Powers, remained a short time, and then removed to Seneca county. Dr. John B. Johnson arrived in 1820, and continued in practice until his death. A Dr. Brown was for a time in partnership with him. Dr. Richard Morton and Dr. Thomas Johnston were next in order of arrival. Dr. Lemuel Powers, a brother of Royal N., practiced for several years, as did also Dr. Dimmock. Dr. Philo P. Hoy was prominent in the township for some time, professionally and otherwise.

_{Excerpts from: The Fire Lands, Comprising Huron and Erie Counties, Ohio; W.W. Williams - 1879 -
Press of Leader Printing Company, Cleveland, Ohio}

REV. GOODELL:PART TWO: Again, If you’re interested in Vermilion history specifically, or American history in general, you might be interested in knowing some about a man whose shadow once fell across the landscape of Vermilion, O. in a yesteryear. His name was Jotham Weeks Goodell (VPJ 4/08/09). As you can see I'm allowing this article to stay in "VV" for a time. I want to make sure that folks know about the good reverend.

In 1837, following their hasty departure from Canada in a rowboat Rev. Goodell and family settled in Erie County, Ohio. Here he served as the second minister of the First Congregational Church in Florence Township.

It is important - as an aside - to apprehend that although both the Florence and the Vermilion churches are now commonly known as “Congregational” churches - both were initially organized as Presbyterian churches. Rev. Goodell was, in fact, a Presbyterian minister. Historically, the Congregational church in the United States is very closely associated with that of American Presbyterianism. This was especially in New England where Congregationalist influence spilled over into Presbyterian churches as they moved west. The “west”, of course, refers to territories in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. It is also interesting to note that some of the first colleges and universities in America, including Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Williams, Bowdoin, Middlebury, and Amherst, all were founded by the Congregationalists; as were later Carleton, Grinnell, Oberlin, Beloit, and Pomona. But perhaps more to the point of the matter was their core belief; an insistence on the autonomy / independence of local bodies. Consequently, it should surprise few persons to learn that these early ministers and their “flocks” were active in many reform movements; including those promoting the abolition of slavery, and women's suffrage. And these are things that lead us back to the subject of this essay - Rev. Goodell.

In 1843 Goodell found himself serving as pastor of a Congregational church in Medina County, Ohio. While there he wrote and published a forty-seven page pamphlet highly critical of an early gospel movement known as Campbellism. Without actually reviewing the text of the treatise it’s probably safe to assume that it would not have endeared him to everyone he met. But, again, Jotham Goodell was a person of principle which, like it or not, is an aspect of character sometimes accompanied by the prospect of potential assassination of either character, body - or both. As the saying goes; If you want to dance you’ve got to pay the band.

In December of that same year Jotham was elected and installed as the 9th pastor of Vermilion’s newly constructed Presbyterian church in the town square. In 1850 he and his wife, Anna, gathered seven of their ten living children together and moved west. His departure, as depicted by the The Ohio Observer (Hudson Ohio) dated June 26, 1850, was deemed by the Elyria Presbytery to be nothing short of scandalous. No precise details were given that might shed more light on this matter other than to say their claims were related to his alleged “pecuniary transactions with different individuals, and the presbytery”.

While church elders suggested in their report that Rev. Goodell’s departure was abrupt - and no one knew where he went (i.e. “Brother Goodell has left this region and gone to parts unknown”) - there are several good reasons this might have been highly unlikely. Among them were the family members who remained in Vermilion. That he maintained contact with them throughout, and well after, his journey westward was hardly a secret. Moreover; a short time before he left he requested, and was granted, a certificate of good standing as a minister of the gospel and a member of the Elyria Presbytery. Additionally he was given a recommendation as such, for the “churches and people where Providence might cast his lot in the future”.

So although it is clear that Rev. Goodell’s character was under siege at the time of his departure - the specific reason / reasons for the attacks are not. Some historians currently speculate that the attacks were related to his antislavery activities and beliefs. That which is abundantly clear, however, is that his inability to hold his tongue married to his demonstrative ability to articulate his beliefs were not always qualities deeply appreciated by his peers nor parishioners.

If this sounds strikingly familiar to the one which preceded his departure from Canada in 1837 it’s probably more than coincidence. And if one follows his journey westward - where he was forced to winter in Utah before moving on into the Oregon Territory - one will again find him in some proverbial “hot water”. This is because his principles and the principles, as well as the princi - pals, of what was then the Mormon “State of Deseret” were a bit less than copesetic. In his 1852 collection of letters published in The Oregonian newspaper in Portland about his winter spent in what some then referred to as the “Mormon Kingdom”, one word pertaining to the departure of his party from Utah stands out. That word is “escape”.

At the end of May in 1851 Capt. Goodell’s party arrived safely at Dalles (i.e. the end of the Oregon Trail) in the Oregon territory. First settling in the Willamette Valley of Polk County Goodell who had lost all his money and livestock to Mormon taxes worked for nearly a year to recover his finances. In 1853, when Washington became a territory, he moved his family to Thurston County and built a large house on a 640 acre plot of land east of Grand Mound. He called the place the Washington Hotel. There he delivered the first Independence Day speech in that territory. Six years later the articulate preacher, writer, scholar, pioneer, man of sincere principle - suffered a stroke and died. He was fifty years old.

One of his contemporaries, David Henry Thoreau, wrote that “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” But such could not be said of the Rev. Jotham Weeks Goodell. His life was neither quiet nor desperate. One hundred and fifty-two years after his shadow was last cast across the landscape of our nation his words, and the principles which guided his life remain.

_{Ref: A Winter With the Mormons, Jotham Goodell, edited by David L. Bigler, 2001; Published in the Vermilion Photojournal 4/07/11; Written 4/03/11 @ 12:43 PM.}

THE LOCKET

SUE: "Karen, do you carry a memento of some sort in that locket of yours?"

KAREN: Yes, it's a lock of my husband's hair.

SUE: But your husband is still alive.

KAREN: I know, but his hair is gone.