DIVISION ST. C.1955
SHOPTALK: The desktop pic this week is an old one of Fisher’s Dept. Store on Division / Main Street from the mid-1950s. Originally Englebry’s Dry Good Store it changed to Mayer’s during the early 1960s and then became the Tradewinds book / gift store. Today it’s the home of Brummer’s Chocolates confectionary store. It has a good deal of history behind it.
Here’s something interesting about the store today: the owners also live there.
A HISTORY: Just last week I received a copy of the history of the “Henrietta Church of Christ” by Kathy Bruns in the mail. Unfortunately Kathy sent it to the museum’s P.O. Box that I discontinued last summer. Consequently, I received it later than she expected. (i.e. Kathy wanted to meet with my on the 28th of October, and that date had come and gone before I knew it.)
In any case, it’s an extensive work and may be of some interest to many Vermilionites. Because this is a Reformed Church it has ties to the Vermilion, Brownhelm Station and the Mitiwanga Evangelical churches. Some of the Vermilion’s E&R ministers also served this church – notably Reverends Kuhlen and Pretzer. I also noted that Rev. Greenawalt (the minister of Vermilion’s E&R Church when I was growing up) also served this church.
Kathy would like to touch base with folks who have some knowledge of any of the aforementioned churches (especially the Mitiwanga church – especially Janet Knittle.) If there is anyone interested in helping let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Kathy. She gave me an email address, but when I tried to use it it didn’t work. But I do have a home address (she lives in Indiana) and a telephone number.
PLUMBER’S PAL: The plumber’s been working at the shop this week, and we hope to have the new plumbing plumbed by the beginning of next week.
This means that we’ll be able to start doing some serious cleaning all over the building. The plumbing is the final infrastructural item we needed to really begin shaping things up. By the first of the year it could be that the upper floors of the museum can be opened to visitors.
The Print Shop apartment will show (in part) how families lived and worked in the same building, and will feature historical photographs and other artifacts from Vermilion’s past. It will be a “Vermilion” museum.
Persons interested in viewing video footage of the past and present progress of the project will find it on our Facebook page – by clicking the link below.
THE TIGERS: A troop of Tiger Scouts paid their annual visit to the museum Thursday. These guys are alert, fun, smart, and well behaved. You just gotta love ‘em.
VNPSM MUGS & GREETING / NOTE CARDS: If you’re looking for some unique Vermilion items to use for Christmas – or throughout the year – stop by the shop and buy a big coffee mug with our logo and some of our Christmas Cards. We also have note cards with Vermilion scenes on them. We can personalize them if you have a few minutes.
PLEASE NOTE: Some of the stories appearing in “VV” for the last several months were actually written 7, 8, and 9 years ago.
Because of this you may find some of the information therein to be dated. When I transcribe these pieces from their original publication(s) the Vermilion Photojournal I am not always able to edit / update some of that info.
Though I have the best transcription software on the planet working alone (as I do) has its drawbacks – and I don’t always edit the material to reflect changes / updates or to correct mistakes. You will note at the end of most of these pieces the date of their original publication and writing appears.
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.
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 Museum727 Grand Street 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,
Young George Naegele
GEORGE NAEGELE: Dave Rathbun stopped in the shop a few days ago with several envelopes of pix for the museum. The folks in most of the photographs have not been identified. But this one (above) was easily identifiable. It is Vermilion’s George Naegele.
George was born in Vermilion on March 21, 1880. He was married to a gal named Ollie Abel. Ollie’s sister Hattie married Vermilion grocer George Rathbun (Dave’s grandfather). Ollie’s and Hattie’s father was Jason Abel – the town barber. I also have pix of Ollie and Hattie. They were very pretty girls.
George and Ollie had two sons, Lawrence (Larry) and Paul. Their youngest child was a girl they named Pauline. All the children were very familiar faces about town.
This is a wonderful picture of George as a young man. And I’m glad we don’t wear collars like the one he is wearing in this photograph. But, with or without that collar, he certainly was a good-looking fellow.
TEN BILLION TO ONE: On a bright Sunday afternoon in October 1912 ten-year-old Dorothy Backus went for an outing along the Vermilion River. Accompanied by her mother, father and two brothers – one her twin – it was going to be a wonderful day. Her father, a fisherman, had a good friend who was going to treat the whole family for a ride in a gasoline launch. And afterward Dorothy was going to join six of her Sunday School Classmates in a play at the Congregational Church. It really was going to be a wonderful day.
Arriving early at the Kishman Fish House docks they had to wait a time for the launch to be readied. By the time everything was set Dorothy was nowhere to be found. They looked about and called for her to no avail. Thinking that she must have tired of waiting and had gone to a friend’s house nearby, or, perhaps, to the church to practice for the play they boarded the motorboat and went their way. But upon their return they discovered Dorothy still missing. She wasn't’ at her friend’s house, and she wasn’t at the church.
Searching the area along the docks someone found her handkerchief and the dreadful truth began to emerge. The authorities were alerted; after briefly dragging the waters along the dock her uncle, Ed Lawrence, found little Dorothy’s lifeless remains. Apparently she had slipped, hit her head while playing on the dock, and fell into the water without making a sound. The entire community was in shock.
And as the years passed memory of Dorothy’s untimely death gradually faded. Her older sister, Eunice, and younger brother Dennis married and moved on to the Cleveland and Columbus areas. Twin brother, William, made his home in Vermilion, marrying a gal from Lorain named Edna Lowry; the couple had three children. During the 1930s they lived in a little house at the foot of Main Street. William – or “Skin” as his friends had come to call him – worked as a commercial fisherman. Consequently, there were times when the family, following the trade, also lived on the shores of Lake Ontario in Oswego, New York. But by the mid 1950s “Skin” had returned to Vermilion and was fishing for the Kishman Company.
Things in Vermilion, Ohio during the summer of 1955 were, as some are wont to say, “jumpin’”. Woody Herman, The Four Freshman, Four Lads, Buddy Morrow and Lorain’s Jimmy Dulio were all scheduled to perform at the Crystal Garden dancehall at Crystal Beach. Vermilion’s S.L. Appleman, general manager of the South Shore Packing Company – the largest pickle-packing-plant [try saying that fast five times] in the United States – was off inspecting facilities at the Port of Norfolk in Virginia where 40 barrels of olives had just arrived from exporters in Spain. And local resident Vern Leidheiser, general chairman for most street dance activities, was busy arranging dances to be hosted by the Vermilion Fish and Game Association, the Volunteer Fire Department, and American Legion. Gene Sharrick was hired to furnish the music, and Fritz Kubishke to call the square dances. The town was abuzz with excitement. Street dances were scheduled to begin on the last Friday in June. It was going to be a wonderful summer.
Amid this carnival atmosphere “Skin” Backus returned from a hard day’s work on the lake. The 53-year-old gillnetter had been sleeping on one of his employer’s tugs for the season, and after arriving in port had gone to town for dinner as was his custom. Some have said that he may have over-indulged. But perhaps that’s not especially relevant. That’s because during his absence the tug on which he’d been accustomed to sleeping had been turned around (probably for repairs). And when he returned he apparently didn’t notice, stepped off the dock, hit his head and drowned. It was, in essence, the very same place where the very same thing had happened to his twin sister 43 years in the yesteryear. The odds of this occurring had to be 10 billion to one. Truth can be, in fact, stranger than fiction.
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.27 – Dec.15, 1905.
An engine crashed into the caboose of a freight train in the fog Saturday morning near Sunnyside. No one was injured.
A slight freight wreck occurred just across the bridge near Brownhelm on the L.S. & M.S. ry. and trains were delayed for a short time Monday.
Make your poultry man, friend or any of your relative a Christmas gift of one or more of my choice White Leghorn cockrels. They will improve your flock next year, you will get more eggs, more money, and therefore more pleasure. Prices, if taken at once, one 75 cents, two $1.25 and three for $1.50. - A.B. Todd – Vermilion, Ohio – Phone 126.
If Monday night had been Halloween the mystery of the disappearance of the houseboat in which Lafayette Counter and two boys lived could have been really explained but as it is no one will say by whom it was pulled from the bank and nearly capsized causing it to catch fire and be burned to the waters edge. Rumor has it however that long rope, a windlass and a crowd of persons who are of the opinion that the Counters and their friends are not desirable citizens took an active part in the affair. The bold burglary Saturday night evidently added fuel to the flame that has been smouldering [sic] for some time past.
VV Ed. Note: This incident may not be one of the brightest moments in Vermilion history. It’s interesting to find that the Vermilionites of the yesteryear were not above vigilantism to resolve what they deemed to be unacceptable behaviors of outsiders.
Late Saturday evening Marshal Delker noticed someone trying to doge him on Liberty St. near Geo. L. Krapp’s saloon and restaurant. He investigated and found John Counter standing in the entry. He questioned him but he grumbled but a few words and went back of the building in the alley next to Englebry’s clothing store. The marshal went around the other way and found the rear doors of Krapp’s place open. He entered but found no one in the place. He stepped to the phone and called Me. Krapp up. Upon investigating, several bottle of whiskey and a quantity of cigars were found missing. There were also cigars on the floor of the saloon. John Counter and several others had been around town together all the evening and soon Mr. Delker arrested Counter, Thos. Vanderpool and Isaac Tayner on suspicion. Monday morning they were brought before Mayor Williams and bound over the court of common pleas fixing the bond of Counter at $1000, and each of the others at $500. It seems that both whiskey and cigars in goodly quantity were found on their persons Vanderpool and Tayner claiming that John Counter had given them to him. They were taken to Sandusky to await trail.
VV Ed. Note: This article explains the previous one. Mr. Counter and his buddies were less than stellar citizens.]
A daughter arrived at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Howard last week.
Mrs. Arthur Adams died very suddenly last Friday from heart trouble. She was looking after the furniture store during her husband’s absence and was found lying on the floor unconscience.
She never gained consciousness. The funeral was held Sunday She was 53 years of age.
Little Morris Baker is suffering from an attack of chickenpox.
Lucile Shoop has just recovered from an attack of chickenpox.
Wedding bells will so ring in Ashmont.
Mr. Lawson Shoop has been on the sick list.
The houses in N. Amherst are being numbered. This has been brought about by Postmaster Baker, because of children getting the mail that did not belong to them. Now the house number and street must be designated on mail sent to the citizens of the village.
The work of the L.S. Ry. bridges on Church and Main Sts. Has been stopped until spring owing to some misunderstanding between the Village Council and the Ry. Co.
An attempt is being made to establish a water-works plant in the village.
Geo. W. Quigley, of this place was declared insane by Judge Hinman Friday but will likely be cared for by friends. It will be remembered that he came here a few weeks ago and bought several blooded horses, later a candy and confectionary store, and one Saturday evening treated the villagers to ice cream, mention of which was made in these columns.
Geo. Meade, formerly of this place was badly wounded by an accidental discharge of his gun while hunting in northern Michigan and at present is being cared for in a lumber camp. The flesh and bones of his foot are badly torn and he will be a cripple. Ed McQueen a friend, was with him when the accident occurred.
Red Price and Miss Lillian Hahn were married Thursday. They will reside at Lorain.
C.A. Baldwin and H. Goldsberry are now in the employ of the Gordon Stone & Gravel co., at Kishman’s.
It is reported that Peter Skinn will rent the McDowell farm near Birmingham and Geo. Skinn will rent the Kniesel place on the North Road.
Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Ray Opperman, Dec. 5, 1905 a son.
A chicken pie supper was held at the home of rev. A.D. Blakeslie’s Tuesday evening for the benefit of the Cong’l church.
There will be a social at the home of C.G. Leimbach’s Saturday evening for the benefit of the German Reformed church.
G.T. Nelles, U.S. Ass’t Engineer was in town Friday inspecting.
John Callan, aged 75, formerly of Huron died at the home of his son James, at Elkhart, Ind., last week. He was brought to Monroeville for burial.
Mrs. Peter Bartzan died Tuesday morning from the effects of rheumatism. She leaves a husband, one son and four daughters.
Henry LeFevre is studying law in the office of Prosecutor Williams at Sandusky.
Among the sailors who have arrived home this week are Capts Full, Stone, and Walper; Roy Kane, C Parsons, and D. Collins.
Phone No 50 has been placed in the Duplex Stamping Co.’s Plant and No. 363 in the residence of John A. Leiter.
The Carnation Orchestra composed of members of the Kent St. M.E. church of Lorain will give a concert in Vermilion sometime during the first week of January ’06. John R. Ries formerly of this place is manager and Mrs. Ries is a member.
It now looks as if what we said in regard to the Lake Shore Railway co., building more tracks through Vermilion will soon come to pass. It is reported that property owners along the track are being approached by officials of the company in regard to requiring [sic] more land. The deal will in all probability require the moving of several dwellings and will undoubtedly cost the company considerable money; but that is of little consequence to the Lake Shore Company.
Lost – A copy of The Merchant of Venice, Maynard Merrill and Co. publishers. Finder kindly hand to Hazen Thompson.
[VV. Ed. Note: Having known Hazen in later years (i.e. the 1950s) I am absolutely amazed that he would ever had read Shakespeare. During WW1 he was a “muleskinner” in France.]
H.G. Delker Post [G.A.R.] December 7, 1905 by an unanimous vote by the members present at the Post Meeting the Post by=laws article I were amended to read as follows: The Post Dues shall be reduced from $2.00 to $1.00 per year from January or before the first day of February each year.
Vermilion is again at the front. A short time ago it was reported that Capt. I.D. Howard and crew had stolen the tug Sheldon Bros. this appeared in several prominent newspapers. This ridiculous report has now been contradicted. Naturally Capt. Howard was angry at the report, as there was no foundation for the story.
Another amusing story is concerning the “Angry Mob” who destroyed the Counter Boat house and of the excitement prevailing about town. With an “angry mob” in town Monday night a fight or two, etc., Vermilion might well be mistaken for a bit of the Czar’s domain. The truth is often bad enough, but when a newspaper stoops to publish such ridiculous stuff about Vermilion people as the papers are thrown down in the streets by disgusted citizens. We believe in legitimate news but when it comes to the publishing of stuff – mere rumors or gossip for the sake of having news from a neighboring town, we draw the line. Like a man’s character, a newspaper once becoming noted for its senseless gossip is ruined forever.
People are beginning to believe more and more in a square deal and don’t like to read a lot of silly mush about themselves or which reflects on their home town.
Newspapers made many unavoidable errors but enough said.
[VV Ed. Note: Now this last commentary baffles me. While the article about the disappearance of the Counter houseboat that appeared on the front page of the News doesn’t mention anything about an “angry mob” it is clear (at least to me) that someone – or group of people – certainly did take the law into their own hands in an attempt to rid the town of the Counter family. Whether one would classify those responsible as being an “angry mob” or not would seem irrelevant. As I previously said about this activity: “This incident may not be one of the brightest moments in Vermilion history.” My grandfather should have refrained from this commentary. Whether justified or not the activity was inappropriate. On the other hand, that easy for me to say 108 years after the fact.
Gamblier, O., Dec 9, 1905.
To the Ed. of the Vermilion News;
Kindly allow me space in which to correct the error of fact on which your editorial comment of Dec. 7 on the Pierson case, was based.
The story that the grand Jury are convinced that the young man was tied to the rails” is entirely untrue. The report of the Jury made no reference to the case, directly or indirectly. Beyond this one cannot go, for it is a matter of ordinary information hat the proceedings of a Grand Jury are secret and unrecorded, both prosecutor and jurymen being sworn not to reveal their character. Any report as to the unofficial opinion of the members of the jury is on the face of it mere gossip.
Yours very truly, William F. Pierce President of Kenyon College.
215 have lost their lives on the Great Lakes this season.
County Surveyor Rollin D. Chase is quite ill with pneumonia at his home in Sandusky.
Walter McBride of Oberlin was shot one night last week while attempting to enter an Elyria home while in a drunken condition.
W.W. Mortimer has been appointed councilman to take the place of D.W. Baker who was sentenced to the penitentiary last week.
Henry Huntington, a well-known Sandusky businessman and capitalist dropped dead at the L.S. ticket office in the city Monday morning of heart failure. He had overexerted himself riding a bicycle in an effort to catch a train.
Hmmmmmm....
HARBORVIEW: On August 3, 1905 the following article appeared on one of the inside pages of The Vermilion News: “165 guests registered at the Lakeside Inn between July 19 and Aug. 2. Among those there at present are Dr. Weed and family and Com. Wakefield and family of Cleveland, and Captains J. Beeman and Geo Eroe of the same city. A party of twelve Pittsburgers are expected Saturday.” There was nothing particularly unusual about the piece at the time. Commodore F.W. Wakefield had become a regular visitor to the town and the hotel during the past year. But 108 years after the fact? – That’s a different story.
The Lakeside Inn is currently known as the Gilchrist House on Huron Street behind (west) of the building most recently known as the Great Lakes Historical Society’s Marine Museum. At the time the above article appeared in the local paper a lady – Miss Cora Thompson – owned a home on the museum property. It had been in her family for a long time. She was born in 1868, and her father, a Vermilion ship’s carpenter named Miles Thompson (VPJ 10/13/2011) had very likely had hand in its construction. The view of the lake it provided was spectacular.
Just a week after the article sited above appeared in the paper the following little blips appeared: “F.W. Wakefield of Cleveland was in town today.” And further on in the same edition: “It is reported that Miss Cora Thompson has sold her place to Commodore Wakefield, of the Lakewood Yacht Club, for a summer home.”
Again, there was nothing particularly unusual about anyone buying a home in Vermilion to be used as a summer residence. There were already several of those about town in 1905 – most notably that of Captain Young’s house on the southwest corner of Decatur and Ohio streets. Vermilion was, after all, a pleasant little village for a family to spend their summers. Linwood Park gave strong testimony to that. Adding Commodore Wakefield’s family to the list was a most welcome development.
Aside of his apparent love for sailing it’s hard to say if many Vermilion residents knew precisely what Wakefield did for a living. And contrary to what some might have thought, he knew what hard work was about. When he was just 15 years old he had worked along side his father, William, in a Cleveland Wire Mill to help support his mother and his two younger sisters and brother. Perhaps it was this that eventually led him to establishing his own manufacturing business. By 1900 he had established a brass lighting manufacturing company in Cleveland; and by 1907 he had sold that business and opened the F.W. Wakefield Brass Works in Vermilion. And for a better part of the 20th century his company – in one form or another – was a major economic contributor to the community of Vermilion.
But to return to 1905, and the August 31st edition of The News: Amongst the “Locals” that told everyone in town where Mr. and Mrs. “Local Persons” went on Sunday last and with whom was the following report: “A 50-foot flagpole is being placed near the lakefront on Com. Wakefield’s place. Messrs Giddings and Quigley are doing the work.”
The summer home was razed around 1908-09 and a grand all concrete permanent home – one the family (inset photos) would come to call “Harborview” – was erected in its stead. And as the accompanying snapshot taken in 1912 plainly shows the aforementioned flagpole remained for at least a few years after. More than a century has now passed into the yesteryear. Today “Harborview”, once the dream home of a prosperous English immigrant and his family, sits largely unoccupied; waiting for new dreams to be dreamt on it, and better days to come.
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.
…parts. His mind was active, his thought comprehensive, and he readily acquired the mastery of any subject with which he grappled. He ranked among the very best in his classes. So mature was his mind that he found his most congenial associates in those of his fellow students who were older than himself, and in more advanced studies. He had equal facility in the mastery of the various branches of study, whether mathematics, the classics, or the sciences. Unostentatious and unassuming, he always commanded the respectful attention of his companions, whenever he engaged with them in conversation, and his opinions were those of sound judgment and wise discretion, and were wholly free from narrow-mindedness. Indeed, Charles Hester was as promising a young man at the time he left his alma mater as any whose voice had ever resounded in echoes from the walls of Baldwin University. Intellectually, he had no peer among his fellows, while socially he was genial, fond of the humorous, if it did not smack of the low and vulgar. His was an affectionate and generous nature, and he loved his friends with a feeling of the warmest attachment.
The fall of 1863 was the last term in which he attended college. The following winter he taught school in his father's neighborhood, and in the spring of 1864 went to Cleveland to attend a course of commercial instruction, where, as usual, he made rapid progress. He left school to enter the one hundred days' service, and to do what lay in his power for the success of that cause then so dear to every patriot heart—the vanquishing of the rebellious South, and the consequent establishment of the Union upon the firm foundation of equal rights for all. He enlisted in Company H, of the One Hundred and Sixty-sixth Ohio National Guards. While the regiment was stationed at Fort Richardson, near Washington City, he was taken ill with typhoid fever, and being subsequently removed from the camp hospital to the general hospital at Fairfax Seminary, Virginia, he died there on the 17th day of August 1864. The care and attention which he needed during his illness seemed to be inadequately provided. But the writer shares comment on so painful a subject. His remains were brought to the home of his sorrow-stricken parents in Norwich, and his funeral was largely attended by relatives, neighbors of the family, and school friends of Charles. The memory of that sad day is vivid indeed. A quiet little church filled with a people whose faces were grave and whose hearts were sympathetic; a father and a mother bowed in the agony of grief at the loss of their only son, -and sisters mourning bitterly the loss of their only brother; the preacher, the deceased's alma mater's president, whose words sought to administer consolation; and then Charles T. Hester was taken to the quiet cemetery and covered from sight, amidst a silence most solemn and impressive, broken only by the sobs and cries of grief which could not be repressed.
Charles had always been a dutiful son, and his father found in him, in the later years of his life, a wise and prudent counselor. His mind had reached such maturity and had so accustomed itself to independent and original channels of thought, that he was enabled to render his father much service in matters requiring counsel: while to his sisters, he was not only a companion, but a protector and a loving, kind and considerate brother. None knew Charles Hester, but to admire and love him. Had he lived, his career must certainly have been one of distinction. He possessed every qualification—ability, learning, a hatred of wrong and wrong-doing, a love of the right and of right-doing, warm attachment to his friends, habits of thought and industry, a nature generous, a character unblemished and a name untarnished.
Martin Hester. the father of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Greene county, Pennsylvania, where he was born September 6, 1787. When twenty years of age he removed with his parents to Ohio and settled in Columbiana county. Two years afterwards, March 30, 1809, he married Mary M. Stough, daughter of Rev. John Stough, a Lutheran clergyman, who came to Columbiana county with his family in 1806. She was born in "The Glades" (now Maryland), February 15, 1780. In 1814, Mr. Hester and family settled in Orange township, Richland (now Ashland) county, where he entered a quarter section of government land. They resided there until 1827, when they removed to Bronson, Huron county, Ohio, and settled on the farm now owned and occupied by the son, Martin M. Hester, where the father and mother spent the remainder of their days. Mr. Hester died January 31, 1870, and Mrs. Hester June 25, 1863. They were pioneers in that true sense of breaking up the native forest, removing the obstructions to, and preparing the way for, the march of civilization, and in establishing society on a sound basis. In the establishment of schools, religious societies, and all those institutions tending to promote the general welfare of society, none were more zealous and efficient than they. They reared a family of five children, whom they lived to see settled in life and who are still living, John S. Hester, the subject of this notice, and the oldest of the family, was born near New Lisbon, Columbiana county, Ohio, November 8, 1810. In the acquirement of his limited education he enjoyed only the advantages of the rude common schools of the time. At eighteen he began work for Mr. Aro Danforth, of Bronson, to learn the carpenter and joiner's trade and continued thus engaged for three years, for which term of service he received one hundred and fifty dollars and his board, furnishing his clothing himself. He then began work at his trade on his own account, which he followed for several years and a portion of the time was employed in the building of…
Excerpts from: The Fire Lands, Comprising Huron and Erie Counties, Ohio; W.W. Williams - 1879 - Press of Leader Printing Company, Cleveland, Ohio
JUST INTERESTING: I really can’t tell anyone a great deal about this snapshot that I found at the bottom of a box of documents recently donated to the museum.
After scanning the pic (it was extremely small – so it was difficult to see clearly) I could discern the site. It was taken on the north side of Liberty Avenue looking north and west. The truck is (approximately) in front of the site that Poppa Joe’s pizza and pie shop currently (2013) occupies. When the pic was taken a hardware store occupied the space. Some years afterward the hardware was razed and Ohio Edison built the brick building that sits there today.
Just west of the hardware building one can just (barely) see the roof of the Englebry Funeral Parlor (now Momma Joe’s), and beyond it is the old Ford Dealership. I’m not sure (at the moment ) if Frank Baker owned it then or not. The dealership sat on the northwest corner of Liberty and Grand streets where Vermilion’s new “Friendship Park” has just taken shape.
I would estimate this pic to have been taken right around 1918. Electricity had come to town and someone was about to become the proud owner of an electric refrigerator.
Wet Leisure Assistant – Life Guard
Vision clearance engineer – Window cleaner
Education center nourishment production assistant – Cafeteria lady
Waste removal engineer – Garbage man
Knowledge navigator – Teacher
Stock replenishment adviser – Shelf stacker
Head of verbal communications – Secretary
Cash relation officer – Banker
Environment improvement technician – Janitor
Revenue protection officer – Ticket-taker
Technical horticultural maintenance officer – Gardener
Wastewater treatment officer – Sewage worker
Crockery cleaning operative – Dish Washer
Space consultant – Real Estate agent
Highway Environmental Hygienist – Street Sweeper
Petroleum Transfer Engineer – Gas Station Attendant
Field Nourishment Consultant – Waitress
Media Distribution Officer – Paper Boy
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'".
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.
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
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Vol.11, Issue 36 November 16, 2013
© 2013 Rich Tarrant