Ella Roscoe-Tarrant
SHOPTALK: I don’t know where the days go – but they go fast. I keep thinking that I’ll get caught up with things, and when I think I have, something else pops up.
I like to read books. I read maybe 3 or 4 (usually fiction) novels a month. Currently I do most of it whilst watching television in the evening during the commercials. (No lie.)
I read through authors. By the way, John Connolly is one of the oddest detective novel writers I’ve ever encountered. He has a penchant for injecting (almost) supernatural stuff into the plots. And those plots tend to be rather convoluted. Some down East writers are like that.
Out of, perhaps, 45 minutes of good video I edited it down to about 35 minutes. The editing business is interesting, but rather tedious. Those who do such work know their subject quite well when done.
Placing the interview on disk turned out to be more difficult than expected. Without going into much detail – other than to say that I worked on it for two days – I believe it had something to do with the extremely good quality of the recording instrument I used. Burning my camcorder recordings of past interviews was a good deal easier.
Anyway, it was a great experience. To my knowledge Mrs. Eppler is going to speak at the August meeting of the Vermilion Area Archival Society. And lest I forget to mention it: Myrtle is 98 years old.
MOM & THE BACK PORCH: The desktop pic this week is that of my mother standing in the lawn on the south side of the Vermilion News Print Shop. It was probably around 1920 or so.
The reason for the pic (if it is not already obvious) is because it shows the porch on the back of the shop as it appeared during those years.
It’s significance is that it is nearly identical to the one just built on the back of the building to replace the dilapidated porch that was enclosed around 1936-37. Though I realized that the original porch had been open (up and down) like the front porch, I didn’t know exactly how it appeared until I came across this snap of my Mom with porch in the background.
In the future I would like to have a shed similar to the old car barn (in better condition of course) placed at the back of the shop. Something like it could be very useful to use as we work on restoring the property.
UPSTAIRS: We finished ripping out the lath in apartment above the shop this week. My buddy, George Spreng, did most of the ripping. Our nephew Mark Slocum did some too. And my good wife, Georgi, did most of the cleanup. We bundled the lath and took it outback. Mark took some to give to a friend who’s having a pig roast. Georgi took some to the Olympic Club to use in her little outdoor fireplace thing. And I don’t know what’s going to happen with the rest yet.
MEANWHILE DOWNSTAIRS: We keep adding items downstairs in the print shop. Some of those things (mostly photographs) will reappear in the apartment once those renovations are complete. But in the meantime they’re displayed in the shop.
I took this quick-pic of the place on Friday afternoon. It’s how I see the place as I wander through in rose colored glasses. And I can still hear the linotypes “linotyping” and the presses printing…
FIVE-OH-ONE-CEE-THREE: It’s now official. The museum is officially a 501(c)(3) organization. Consequently, all donations to the museum are tax deductible. This is retroactive to November of 2011. (Thank heaven. Now I can fret about something else for months on end.)
VISITING HOURS: We are located at 727 Grand Street in Vermilion across the street from Vermilion's historic E&R Church. The museum is open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sundays from 1 to 4 PM. On Saturday the museum it is open from 11 AM to 2 PM. A small admission donation of $3 (for adults) is requested. Children under the age of 11 will be admitted for free. Phone For Special Tours: 440-967-4555
We are not open on major holidays.
POST OFFICE BOX: Please note that the MUSEUM has a post office box now. Now we won’t have to use our home address, nor the one at the shop for mail.
MEMBERSHIPS: Memberships to the VERMILION NEWS PRINT SHOP MUSEUM are now available. Funds generated will go toward the aforementioned renovations and maintenance of the shop.
If you would like to become a member the VNPSM you can send a check or money order to:
Vermilion Print Shop Museum P.O. Box 792 Vermilion, Ohio 44089
LIKE US ON FACEBOOK:Take the time to visit us on Facebook. Click on the badge below and stop in. We'll keep adding pix as we go along. If you're in the area come on in. I try to be there in the a.m. most everyday. If you see a Chevy Silverado in the drive with the plate "MRCOOKR" stop by and see what's cooking.
Historically,
The names of many of these men should be familiar to some older Vermilionites.
WISH IN ONE HAND: I wish I‘d had the photograph accompanying this essay before I wrote a mid-February 2004 Yesteryear column for the Vermilion Photojournal. The photo of Vermilion’s Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Band used for that article was copied from microfilm, and it was so bad that…well, let’s just leave it at that. It was a terrible photograph. But the truth is that “sometimes we just has to work with what we gots”. A week later Vermilionite Ruth (Bauman) Tanner emailed me a good copy of the photo, as well as a scan of the writing on the back. I was happy to have them. But even those photos probably would not have shown well in the newspaper had they been available a week earlier.
Without delving too far into extraneous detail it might be helpful to explain that while Ruth’s digital photo scans are adquate for viewing on computer screens, the low image resolution would not have made for a good newspaper photographs. Nonetheless, the digital photographs did make the spot where these shadows were captured very clear; it was taken at the northern end of Exchange Park. The building in the background is the Wagner Hotel, now the home of Dr. Suszko’s dental offices and, or course, the Vermilion Photojournal.
An unknown photographer took the concomitant photo in 1912. It was scanned from an original copy made by local photographer Paul Ludlow in 1953 for The Vermilion News. This reproduction will hopefully allow PJ readers a better view of the men who made up the band in that yesteryear. Those pictured are:
Top Row L-R: John Krapp, Alfred G. Buell, Clarence Walper, Pearl Roscoe, Jake Baumhardt, John Becker, Miles Lawless, Otto Kuehlman, George Becker, Phil Darley, Charles Horton.
Middle Row: Tony Becker, Carl Blair, Ralph Risden, Charles Krapp, T.J. Ball, Ed Law, Fred Morgan, Creighton Powell, John Malik.
Bottom Row: P.B. Morgan, August Schwensen, Will Krapp, Earl Childs, Fred Krapp, Walter Murschell, Henry Ries, Cliff Squires, E.B. Ackley.
The names of many of these men should be familiar to some older Vermilionites. Moreover, families with the last names of Baumhardt, Buell, Becker, Krapp, and Risden can still be found in local telephone books. However, I don’t believe that anyone pictured was a charter member of G.A.R. Most were sons or grandsons of those who fought in the American Civil War.
The band director was E.B. Ackley. I found him to be a rather interesting person. Born in Illinois around 1870 he lived with his wife Ida in Sandusky. Why he came to Sandusky near the turn of the 20th century is not known. In a 1903 Sandusky City Directory he is listed as being the proprietor of a Billiards Room at 416 Fulton Street. In the 1910 U.S. Census – around the year the accompanying photo was taken – he lists his occupation as musician and his trade as “Concert Work”. And the 1930 Census has him listed as a “Dealer of Wholesale Cigars”. Though I don’t currently know how long the G.A.R. Band existed Ackley’s dedication to it was, by all accounts, exceptional. Whether by horse and buggy or interurban; sunshine or storm; he made the journey back and forth from Sandusky to practice and perfect his band of motley Vermilionites. And like the photo I wished I’d had the first time I wrote about the band, I suppose Band Director Ackley listened to his musicians play and thought, as did I, that “sometimes we just has to work with what we “gots” .
VERMILION’S UNIQUELY UNIQUE LUSTRON HOMES:: Vermilion, Ohio once known as “The Village of Lake Captains” certainly has many beautiful old homes scattered about its streets. The homes in the Vermilion Lagoons - “The Cape Cod of Ohio” are readily admired by many tourists and sundry passers-by. And the “gigundous” homes perched on the lake shore just west of the city may inspire awe in those of us who live in lesser spaces. But among all these great to monumental dwellings are two that are certainly among the most unique - not only in our city - but in our nation. They are Vermilion’s Lustron Homes.
Though the precise numbers vary according to which report one reads it is certain that less than 3000 Lustron Homes were ever built. While that alone might make them unusual the fact that these houses were constructed entirely of steel; fabricated in a factory; transported by truck to sites chosen by each buyer; completely assembled in but 300 - 350 man hours (again the numbers vary according to which report one reads); and that all of this took place sixty years ago; most people will agree that these homes are, to be redundantly redundant, uniquely unique.
During the 16-year span from The Great Depression (1929) to the end of WWII (1945) very few homes had been built in the U.S. Some estimate that after the war nearly six million families were sharing homes with relatives. At about the same time (1946) a Swedish-born American inventor and entrepreneur living in Ohio named Carl Strandlund (1899-1974) developed a plan to build prefabricated steel-paneled gas stations for the Standard Oil Company. To his regret, and those of his investors, he was denied access to the steel due to existing wartime restrictions regarding its use.
Not discouraged by this setback, and very conscious of the national housing shortage, Strandlund had architects develop plans for an all-steel, prefabricated, bungalow-style home. The entire home; framing, interior and exterior walls, roof trusses and tiles would be fabricated of steel. All exposed surfaces (inside and out) would have a porcelain-enamel, hard, glass finish baked on to the steel panels and shingles. All models would be available with exterior color choices of pink, tan, yellow, aqua, blue, green or gray, with interior color options of beige or gray.
The houses were purported to be fireproof, decay-proof, rustproof, termite-proof, and vermin-proof. Advertisements also claimed that neither sunlight, salt water, nor chemical fumes could stain, fade, crack, or cause peeling of the finish. The estimated cost of each new home would run between $6000 and $10,000 (lot not included).
Given the dire shortage of new housing after the war, married to the statistics regarding these low-maintenance, ultramodern homes it should be of little surprise to anyone that the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), a federal agency created some years earlier to jump-start America’s economy, helped finance Mr. Strandlund’s enterprise by giving him a $12.5 million loan.
Leasing half of the 1.2 million square foot Curtiss-Wright Aircraft plant in Columbus, Ohio Strandlund set-up his assembly-line Lustron (house manufacturing) Corporation. The name “Lustron” was derived from Mr. Strandlund’s observation that the enamel coating on the steel could be said to give it a “luster”. These prefabricated, ready-to-assemble homes (like the one pictured) were shipped in 3000 piece units on a specially designed truck (inset photo). The year was 1948.
Twenty-one months, and somewhat less than 3000 homes, later the Lustron Corporation was no more. Tooling the factory had been more difficult and, consequently, more expensive than anticipated. Also, continual cost overruns and production problems seriously hampered the operation culminating in the foreclosure of the corporation by the RFC.
In truth, Strandlund’s Lustron all-steel house was, like the legendary Preston Tucker’s automobile, and perhaps even the Lake Shore Electric interurban transportation system, an idea ahead of its time. Political and economic forces combined to oppose the concept - however practical - so vigorously that the proverbial “baby was tossed out with the bath water”.
In Vermilion proof of the extreme viability, stability, and longevity of Strandlund’s Lustron concept sits along a quiet street near South Street School, while another is comfortably situated among the quaint cottage homes in Elberta Beach. Many Lustrons are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. All of them should be. For they’re all uniquely unique.
AGAIN - ANOTHER NEW (NOW OLD) THING: Initially I said that "This will not take the place of the "Macabre" stuff all the time - but will supplement whilst I search for more macabre stories to tell." But methinks that it's carved out a niche for itself and the "Macabre stuff" with have to find another.
So stay tuned...
Vol. IX - NO.10– Aug. 17, 1905.
Is hereby given that the Stationary Engineers’ License of Frank Abell is hereby revoked, as it was obtained by fraudulent representation and perjury. Any person or persons employing him as a Stationary engineer in the State of Ohio are rendering themselves liable to the penalties of the violation of the Stationary Engineer’s License Law.
By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Commonwealth of the State of Ohio. – THOMAS WINSHIP, Examiner 2d District.
George Clark & Son has arranged with parties owning the gems, which formerly belonged to Cassie Chadwick to have a portion of them displayed in the window of their store on Broadway, Lorain. Chief interest in the collection will be a necklace containing 960 diamonds and valued at $10,000, and a back hair comb with diamonds valued at $1,000. [VV Ed. Note: I believe they intended to write “black” hair comb.]
This will be the most costly collection of gems ever seen in Lorain They will be on exhibition Thursday and Friday of this week from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The jewels will be deposited at night in the vault of the National Bank of Commerce. During the day while they are on exhibition two police officers will be assigned by the mayor to guard them.
[VV Ed. Note: The infamous Cassie Chadwick (for those who’ve not been reading these items and stories in “VV”) was probably one of the world’s greatest con artists. She pretended to be the illegitimate daughter of Andrew Carnegie and, therefore, heir to a fortune. In this guise she bilked banks and bankers all over the eastern U.S. out of millions. This included the Oberlin O. bank.]
Linwood Park never had a hungrier set of boys for a holiday than that of Troop A. 3rd. Reg. U.B.B. A. of Pittsburgh, Pa., Captain W. A. Dice commanding.
[VV Ed. Note: U.B.B.A.: United Boys Brigade of America. The Boys' Brigade predated the Boy Scouting movement by a quarter century. It was started in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1883 by William A. Smith, a 28-year-old businessman and Sunday school teacher who had been an officer in the 1st Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, a reserve unit for the British Army. Smith found that it was hard to keep order in a Sunday school class of young teenagers, who tended to drop out before they were eligible to join the YMCA or church young men's society at age 17. He reasoned that the boys might welcome some discipline. So in October 1883 he invited boys age 12 and older to form a church-sponsored brigade that would do military drills and study the Bible. The object, Smith said, was "the advancement of Christ's Kingdom among Boys and the promotion of habits of Reverence, Discipline, Self-Respect, and all that tends toward a true Christian Manliness. The motto would be "Sure and Stedfast" (he kept the biblical spelling), taken from the King James version of Hebrews 6:19: "Hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast."]
Poor fellows just as they were about to start on July 14th, did commander scarlet fever put him in the guard house for month and surrounded him by a quarantine of carbolized sheets for working too hard on the preparations for the camp since last January.
[VV Ed. Note: The “carbolized” sheets were apparently used to treat or sterilize with phenol. Phenol is an anesthetic drug. This drug is used in patients with spasticity where the muscle(s) involved are overactive. Phenol acts as a chemical neurolytic agent. This means that it works as a nerve block. It temporarily destroys a portion of the nerve to prevent the overactivity.]
However, the boys with the temperature at 212 [?] degrees set forth with banner, drum and bugles from Pittsburgh on Friday, 11th of August. At the union station nearly every fellow had his best girl in the person of his mother or some other fellow’s sister to see him off. Lieut. Baker and Orderly Bishop, in fact all the officers and the boys have worked like victorious Japs to make the camp a success.
The camp is named after a splendid lover of boys, Major Homer J. Lindsay, the assistant to the President of the Carnegie Steel Company. He has been a generous giver in heart and hand to the Boys’ Brigade. The fund that the boys are having is immense. More anon.
They are accompanied by the Lindsay Quartette and they will give a concert under the auspices of Troop A in the Opera House where a dollar entertainment will be given for twenty-five cents on Saturday night at eight o’clock. The quartette is famous in Pittsburgh for its songs and dialogues. Come one, come all and back up your boy visitors and a make them feel like patronizing Linwood Park and bringing thus a blessing to Vermilion, O.
At an early hour Sunday morning the poe;e of the village wee aroused by the news that a disastrous wreck had occurred near Kishman’s on the Nickel Plate Ry. and all the morning every electric car was crowded by people going and coming from the wreck. The collision between the west bound freight and the flyer occurred just back of Jacob Baumhardt’s house at about 1 a.m. at the time the L.S.E. theatre car was passing. The motorman put on all speed and ran to Vermilion where physicians were called and taken back to the scene. It is at such times that heroisim is shown and some will never forget the work of the residents and passengers who went to the aid of the crushed and maimed. Nine of the twelve killed were Italian laborers, the other three were Engineer Poole of Conneat [sic], Joseph Alexander of Newark, N.J. a deserter from the U.S. Army, and Frank Weaver of Findlay, O.
Of the twenty-five injured probably the most heartrending was the fate of the Long family. The father, bruised and with a broken leg, the mother and daughter injured but slightly and the little son with his crushed leg and severe cuts and bruises.
By the time the crowds began to arrive on the scene the injured had been removed to the hospital at Lorain and only the dead remained I one of the coaches. The telescoped day coach and smoker where so many were crushed to death had been separated and the wrecking crews were stripping the engines. Several freight cars were wrecked and thee was little to show how fatal had been the accident. Several Lorain policemen guarded the cars.
The railroad officials are inclined to blame the crew of the freight who were considered very careless in running past the switch where they were to take the siding. The conductor places the blame on the engineer who is now at his home in Vellevue nearly frantic.
This wreck is the second in six days, the other at Rocky River where one life was lost and is the worst ever had on this road.
The motorman of the L.S. E. and the Vermilion doctors are highly commended for their prompt action. Several investigations are pending; one by the coroner of Lorain county; one by the railway officials and one by the Italian Consul at Cleveland. Some are of the opinion that the engineer and fireman on the freight were asleep but whoever is to blame the investigation should not be a fizzle as many have proven to have been.
W.B. Thompson, ex-mayor of Lorain, called on Mr. and Mrs. G. Aston Monday.
Amos Cook has bought a horse from Wm. Dean.
J. J. Patchett is hauling corn to the Vermilin mill for 63 cts. A bushel.
Nora Aston spent Saturday at Linwood Park.
- Sally and Matilda Jane
One of Rev. Nau’s youngest children is very sick with typhoid fever.
Information was received here last week of the death of Mr. O. Van Fleet. He died west where he and his wife had been for the benefit of his health. He left Cleveland about a year abo. His remains were brought to Cleveland Friday.
Some of the farmers are plowing for wheat.
Arthur Opfer aged five died Tuesday and was buried Thursday. – Jack.
The annual reunion and picnic of the Woodmen of the World, located in Cuyahoga, Lorain and Huron counties, will be held on Sunday, Aug. 20th at Shadduck’s Lake Park. Preparations are being made for a record-breaking crowd. A good time can be anticipated by everyone.
Engineer Kirby of the freight, which caused the wrcek at Kishman’s Sunday morning takes the blame, but says he read his watch wrong. The coroner’s verdict has not yet been given out.
The coroner of Cuyahoga county has found Operator Miner responsible for the mentor wreck but does not relieve the Lake Shore Dispatcher from blame. The Lake Shore co.’s investigation is still unreported and the coroner has refused to act on the suggestion of the Cuyahoga coroner to place Miner under bonds.
The frail day coach has again been brought into prominence by the wreck at Kishman’s.
The following persons received teachers’ certificates at August examination:
Olive M. Lawless, Vermilion, (Special in Music) – 3 yr.
Geo. H. Nuhn, Vermilion, (High School) – 3 yr.
School opens Monday Sept. 11.
City water has been placed in the school building.
Rooms Nos. 1 and 6 are being papered and Superintendent’s office is being fitted up for recitation room.
Three Cleveland boys were locked up Sunday afternoon for engaging in a disturbance at Shadduck’s Park. Several others of the crowd managed to escape. A large crowd of picnickers came to the park Sunday on a special from Cleveland. With them came a gang of toughs bent on trouble. While the ball game was in progress someone slapped the water-carrier and things grew lively for the time being and ended in the three who gave their names as Chas. Spoeke, Jas. Connors and Martin Cooke, being jailed. Monday they were brought before Mayor Williams. Spoeke drew $5 and cost and each of the others $10. Spoeke’s brother was present at the trial and promptly paid the fine. Later the mother and sister of one of the other boys came to settle for their escapade.
Born – Saturday Aug. 12, 1905 to Mr. and Mrs. Philip Englebry, a son.
Little Flossie Abell was presented with a tricycle this week by the neighbors and friends of the family.
Otto Full who has been suffering from typhoid fever for the past few weeks is reported worse at this writing.
Word was received here this week of the serious illness of Ray Dunham at his home in Berea. Mr. Dunham is well known here.
J.C. Kneisel had the misfortune to sprain his ankle severely last Wednesday in jumping from his wagon. He is able to get around with the aid of a cane.
Good chain pump for sale. Enquire at residence of G.E. Whitmore.
A trolley party of Sanduskians will be entertained at the Crosier home west of town Saturday.
Misses Helen and Hattie Thompson, Lulu and Charlotte Harris, Margaret and Jessie Delker and Hattie Abell were treated to a hay rack ride last evening by the party of Pittsburgers at the Lakeside Inn.
It is reported to us as we go to press that all games of chance and Sunday liquor selling at Shadduck’s Park or elsewhere in Vermilion town and township has been forbidden by the officials.
The machinery for the Koepke Nut and bolt Works has been moved from Elyria here and the factory will be running in a few weeks.
LeRoy Crandall, who died at the county infirmary, was brought here for burial this week. He was fifty-three years old and had been an inmate fo the institution for five years.
Mary, the little daughter of N. D. Irish got the fingers of her left hand caught in a bicycle chain this week. They were so badly injured that the amputation of the middle finger was necessary. Dr. Hall performed the operation.
Sheriff Hoffman took Miss Stella Wood of Huron, to the county jail Tuesday. The girl will be taken before Judge Curran on the charge of lunacy. Mayor Clock of Huron issued the warrant for her arrest. It was sworn out by Michael Wood.
Frederick Driscoll has been appointed guardian of Mary Katherine Driscoll, the three-year-old child of Katherine Driscoll, late of Vermilion.
The terrible wreck, which occurred Sunday morning at 1 a.m. on the Nickel Plate railroad was a scene never to be forgotten.
In a short time the news had spread all over the country and at an early hour thousands of people had congregated to witness a scene, which had brought pain and sorrow to so many families.
The eleven dead bodies were taken to Lorain and placed in the morgue to await being identified.
Mr. Z. Curtiss an old and respected citizen of this place died at St. Joseph’s hospital at Lorain Saturday afternoon Aug. 11, 1905 after a long and lingering illness. The remains were placed in O.H. Bakers morgue in North Amherst until Tuesday when they were brought to the home of his son’s and the funeral services conducted by Rev. Blakeslee.
The deceased leave a wife, one daughter and an adopted son.
Mrs. Witzbach has been quite ill for several days.
Callers at the parsonage Friday least: Mr. and Mrs. F.G. Robb, Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Romp, Miss charlotte Robb, Masters Nelson Robb and Frank Romp, all of North Olmstead. [VV Ed. Note: Leslie Romp’s son, Arthur, was the father of Robert Romp who later came to Vermilion and developed Romp’s Water Port near the river bridge. The family still has ties with the same church mentioned in this piece. Cool.]
Hmmmmmm....
PRINT SHOP MEMORIES: I was born in November of 1944 toward the end of WW2, and my maternal grandparents, Pearl and Bessie Roscoe, both moved on into the next life in the early months of 1946. Consequently and somewhat regretfully, I have no memories of them or the war. One of the first memories I own of my life at the print shop that I am able give a date to is about a guy the townsfolk called “Smokey” who was hit and killed by a train on Thursday February 3rd in 1949. I was just a tad over four years old.
His real name, I later discovered, was Frank Miller. Mr. Miller, a Huron native, was killed instantly when he walked into the side of a passing freight train at the New York Central crossing on Washington Street.
My assumption at the time [I don’t know why] was that he was under the influence of alcohol. But that isn’t something that I knew / know to be a fact. On the other hand, it helps explain the reason someone might walk into the side of a moving freight train – lest the intent was suicide. I don’t recall anyone mentioning suicide. But it could have been a possibility. Moreover, it could have been both.
Mr. Miller was 66 years old and had worked as a fisherman in the Vermilion and Huron areas almost all of his life. The train tossed him some 50 feet down the tracks. And I do recall being at the shop behind the news desk in the office when someone rushed in late in the afternoon with the news. I found the entire incident shocking, dark, and dreadful. For it happened right outside our doors – both at home and at the shop.
I have later learned that he was not married, and had no children. He did, however, have three brothers; Jacob of Sandusky, who worked as an Inspector for the Erie County Health Department; John of Lorain; and Edward of Huron. A sister, Mrs. Anna Walborn, also lived in Huron. Vermilion minister Rev. Earl T. English officiated at the funeral. He is buried at McMillen Cemetery in Huron.
I sincerely impressed myself when I discovered how young I was when this occurred. It gives me an idea of human conciousness - how early memories are formed, and from what experiences.
THE FIRE-LANDS: I found the following information re: the early inhabitants of our area to be extremely informative. Methinks you will also.
I am getting better at transcribing these passages so there are fewer mistakes. But I like to read as I go - and sometimes I fill in the blanks. So tread carefully this trail through yesteryear.
The following series will take thee to the townships south of Vermilion. Methinks you'll find this history quite fascinating.
…grew up to briars and bushes, and the fences and cabins passed into ruins.
In the spring of 1827, Coit re-surveyed the two sections, and sold the laud to the settlers, old and new, at the rate of two dollars per acre. New settlers came in, and those who had remained through the stampede began improvements in earnest, laying out roads, setting out orchards, etc., feeling assured there was no further danger of losing the product of those ten years of labor and hardship.
John Bowen, from Marion county, this State, was among these settlers. He married Christina Robinson and settled on lot twenty-three, section three, building his log house a few rods east of the site of his present comfortable home. Mr. Bowen built the second brick kiln in the township, and for many years prosecuted the business. This venerable couple have eight children, all living. Martha Jane. Agnes, John M., William K., Henry C, Sarah E., George and Melinda C.
Frederick Gorham came from Vermont, and with a wife and three children, settled on lot twenty seven, Norwich township, in 1828. This farm is now owned by David Nichols.
In 1830, the first section began to settle. Ebenezer Brown made a commencement on the lot now owned by A. F. Rulisson. Zachariah Burrell erected his log cabin on the lot afterwards owned by John Gunns. Ezra Prudeu and family, consisting of a wife and eleven children, came from the State of New York to Ohio, in 1831. He located on lot number thirty-six, where he remained until his death, in 1854. His wife had died, in 1849. Of the children, we are able to give the following: John, the eldest, married Ann Ennis, and lives in Toledo, Ohio. Silas married Sally Thompson; he lives in Michigan. Ezra, Jr., married Naomi Adaline Owen; he lives on lot thirty- four, section four. They have two children: Charles F., and Charlotte A. William married Maria Pratt, and lives in Indiana; and Jonas, who lives in Putnam county. The following children are dead: Mary, Elizabeth, Gabriel, Eugene, Benjamin and Rachel.
William Robinson, Sr., a native of Delaware, married Lytica Coleman, and in May, 1833, arrived in Norwich township. He settled on lot twenty-seven, min the second section. He lived here twenty-five years, and removed to Fitchville township, in this county, where he died August 10, 186-1. Mrs. Robinson died the February following. The children of this couple are: James, Thomas, Christina, Martha, Anna, Huriah, John, Eliza, Jordon, Wesley and Aaron, who all grew to maturity. Seven are now living.
In the spring of 1833, Charles B. Niver, came from Seneca county, New York. He purchased six hundred acres of land in section one. On lot twelve of this purchase he built a log house and toward fall 1 returned east for his family, with whom he arrived in Norwich, about September 20, of the same year. His wife was Emily Moore. They have had five children: Laura Jane who married Edward Knapp; she is not living. Marvin, who lives at home; John, who married Thalia Reed; he is also deceased. Albert E., who married Etta Green, and lives on the west part of the original homestead; and Mary who yet remains at home, Mr. Niver's first wife is deceased. His present companion was Prudence Douglass.
John Niver, a brother of the above, came to Ohio with the family. He remained about one year, and then returned to his eastern home. After two or three years he came again to Norwich, married Sarah White, and began life on the south part of the original purchase, where he still resides. He also lives with his second wife. He has seven children. A short time after John began settlement, another brother, Dennis, came on. His wife was Marietta Parsons. They had at this time sis children. He settled on the eastern portion of the tract where he still lives. The children now number nine.
Guy C. Boughton, of West Stockbridge, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, married Harriet Sprague, of Middlebury, "Addison county, Vermont. In 1815, he removed to Ohio, locating in Grafton township, Lorain county. Here the family lived some eight years, and then settled in Eaton township, same county. In 1834, they located in Norwich township, on lot thirty-eight. Three children were born prior to this date, viz: Axie, N. J. and Darwin who still lives on the old homestead, and with him the aged mother. Two children. Julia and Jefferson were born in Norwich. The father died November 7, 1854.
In 1827, Nelson Pratt and two brothers Parley P. and Orson (afterward prominently connected with Mormonism), came from Columbia county. New York, and located in Amherst, Lorain county. After two years. Nelson settled in Peru township, this county. In 1835 or '36, he became a resident of Norwich township, locating at, or near where is now Havana village. In the last named year, he married Finette, daughter of Frederick Delano, one of the pioneers. From this marriage one child, a son, was born, this was Edwin D., who married Elizabeth Slyer, and lives on lot thirty-four. Nelson Pratt has been three times married, as follows: Azubah Spalding, Marietta Ensign, and Mrs. Mary Ann Felton who died in 1872. Two children, daughters, were born of the second marriage.
Henry Niles married Lucretia Miner by whom he had eight children: Henry, Cyrus, Daniel, Sands, John H., Lucretia, Cyntha, Philura and David.
In 1799 or 1800, the family settled in Halifax, Vermont where they remained until 1831. At this time they removed to Ohio, locating in Greenfield township in this county.
In the month of February, 1834, they made a permanent settlement in Norwich township. This was on the farm now occupied by the widow and heirs of the son, John H. On the 20th day of the March following, while engaged in rafting logs on the millpond near his house, he fell into the water, and was drowned before assistance could reach him.
Excerpts from: The Fire Lands, Comprising Huron and Erie Counties, Ohio; W.W. Williams - 1879 - Press of Leader Printing Company, Cleveland, Ohio
FLOOD PIC: Just rambling through things and came across this photo of the “Great Flood of ‘05”. Though I am transcribing from The News of that same year I’ve not yet come across any hint of such flooding. (But I’m just working through the middle of August this week.) The photo may not be marked correctly because most flooding would occur in the late winter or early spring of the year.
If I never said anything about this portrait it would be enough. It is a very compelling interpretation of reality. The flooding is nearly done, and the waters are running back into the river. The boat looks very much like Cloudy’s Mary N.
1.Almost-A-Dog
2. Franco Furter
3. Stinkie Mcstinkerson
4. Sir Seamus McPoop
5. Audrey Shepburn
6. Dewey Decimell
7. Knuckles Capone
8. Beagle Lugosi
9. Shooter Mclovin
10. Uzi Duzi Du
11. Sir Chomps-A-Lot
12. Jedi Mind Trick
13. Baron Von Furrypants
14. Dexteronimous Prime
15. Beanfart
16. Swarles Barkley
17. Afro Thunder
18. Biscuit Winch
19. Woodrow Waddlesworth
20. Beastiewinks
21. Ankles
22. Sir Meaty Of The Hills
23. Dr. Bannana Pancakes
24. Yager Myster Baby Puppins
25. Einstien Adicus
THIS SECTION WILL CHANGE SOON: I doubt that I will return podcasts to "VV". It's easier to do those things on YouTube. But I want to continue to promote the following:
Persons interested in the history of the Lake Shore Electric Railway (which was the subject of a recent past podcast series) - "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 gift.
Another great book with Vermilion Roots is, "Grandmas’ Favorites: A Compilation of Recipes from Margaret Sanders Buell" by Amy O’Neal, Elizabeth Thompson and Meg Walter (May 2, 2012). This book very literally will provide one with the flavor of old Vermilion. And ye can also find it at Amazon.com. Take a look.
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: This page is generated by a 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
or you can use PayPal: (NOTE: IT WORKS NOW)
Vol.11, Issue 20 - July 27, 2013
© 2012 Rich Tarrant