_{In Anticipation of Christmas}

SWEET MEMORIES OF CHRISTMASES PAST: I suppose everyone - if, like myself, they've been fortunate enough - has some wonderful memories of Christmases past. When I was a youngster Christmas, at the Tarrant household at 510 Perry Street in Vermilion, Ohio, didn't officially begin until Christmas Eve. Though groundwork for the big day commenced a week or two before, as already mentioned, nothing "officially" took place until the supper dishes had been cleared, cleaned and put-away on Christmas Eve. This meant that Ma's candy and cookies had supposedly been untouched during the previous fort­ night, and the cranberry, raisin, pump­ kin, mincemeat, and lemon meringue pies that Pa had baked that afternoon still remained: Hopefully as a whole - or, at least, in part.

The first item on the Tarrant Family agenda (if there was, in fact, such an thing) was church. As a rule everyone _ except Pa who was an Episcopalian _ attended the candlelight service at the First Congregational Church on Christmas Eve. For weeks prior to the service my sisters and I, who were all members of the choir(s) there, had been practicing carols at home and school. And in the flickering candlelight of the church with the falling snow silhouetted by the streetlight outside on the stained-glass windows of the old sanctuary the sweet voices of the caroling swept over the crowd immersing all in the true spirit of the season. It was a magic moment.

At home after church family and friends began to arrive alone or in pairs. Some were silly from having partaken in a cup or two of eggnog before stopping by. Some were just made giddy by the pure magic of the evening. But none were obnoxious. In fact, some even fell in love before our very eyes. It may surprise some to know just how powerful one innocent kiss under the mistletoe can be.

Pa's pies and Ma's candies and cookies were set upon the dining room table in a tableau that would have made the best pastry chefs on the planet jealous. ‘Twas a dessert banquet that was, quite fittingly put, fit for the arrival of a king. By the next evening all would be gone.

Finally it was time for bed. And though sleep was slow to settle on my brow - and those of two of my sisters near my age - it did come. But it was a very light sleep. I would later testify to my sisters, and anyone else willing to listen, that I had heard sleigh bells and other noises coming' from the roof of our house during the night.

And at the first light of day we were all up and ready to go downstairs to the living room to see if my nocturnal perceptions had any merit. This required that we walk downstairs together singing Chri1ltmas carols. I am happy to say that no one was ever disappointed. For during the night Santa had indeed come to our home. He had put up a beautiful Christmas tree, decorated it, and had also surrounded it with brightly wrapped presents for everyone in the family.

The procedure for opening the presents was very regimented beginning with the youngest family member and ending with the oldest. It was one of the advantages of my having been the youngest of eight children in the family. Pa, on the other hand, was always on the deep end of that pool.

It was fun watching others open their gifts. And as I review those times I don't recall ever feeling envious of others, nor feeling disappointed with the gifts I received. This sentiment certainly applies to a gift once given an Uncle whose habit it was to dominate all conversation(s) to impart his consummate and considerable knowledge of every­ thing there was to know about anything.

His gift was wrapped, and contained, in a shoebox. To better understand the nature of this gift it would do to also understand that two of my older siblings owned horses. Knowing this it should not be real hard to guess what was inside the shoebox: It was a literal commentary of his buffoonery. It was not, however, intended nor taken to be a malicious elucidation. For good humor was never a stranger to either our home or our Christmases.

After our Christmas Dinner feast of ham and all the trimmings topped off with another piece of pie (or two) every­ one would gravitate to the living room to enjoy the soft light and glitter of the Yuletide tree and bask in the warm glow and quiet conversation of family and friends together. These sweet" memories of yesteryear were enough for a lifetime.

_{Ref: Published in the Vermilion Photojournal 12/18/2008; Written 12/14/2008.}

Vol. IX - NO.31 – Jan. 11, 1906.

COURT NOTES

Anna Marie Smith has filed petition for divorce from James J. Smith on the grounds of habitual drunkenness and gross neglect of duty. The parties reside at Castalia.

Ann E. Washburn filed a petition for divorce from Orum L. Washburn, on grounds of cruelty. She also asks for alimony and custody of child. The parties were married in January 1902 and are residents of Vermilion township.

Ruby Ruth David has filed a petition for divorce from Barney David. She also asks for her maiden name of Ruby Ruth Baumeister. They were married October 1902.

Marriage Licenses.

Frank Schomberger, 22, carpenter, Lorain, and Minnie Wagner, 29, Vermilion, Rev. Klein is named as the officiating minister.

According to the figures there are 190 saloons in the county, of which 144 are in this city (i.e. Sandusky). The 46 saloons outside of Sandusky are located as follows: Twelve in Huron, 5 in Kelley’s Island, 2 in Venice, 5 in Castalia, 5 in Perkins, 4 in Milan, 4 in Berlin Hts., w in Ceylon, 1 in Oxford township and 6 in Vermilion.

You Are Invited

What promises to be the largest most representative and influential Good Roads Convention ever held in Ohio will take place at Columbus Jan 16 and 17 ’06. Men, prominent in this work will be present. Everyone interest is invited to be in attendance.

BANK MEETING

At the annual meeting of the stockholders of our bank on New Years Day, L. Body, E.L. Coen, H.B. Kishman, C.J. Martin and E.B. Welch were elected directors. Following this meeting the directors elected L. Body, President, C.J. Martin, Vice President, E.L. Coen, Cashier and M.E. Lawless, Assistant Cashier. It will noticed that the only changes were the election of Mr. Martin as Vice President and Mr. Kishman as Director to fill vacancies caused by the death of Jacob Englebry.

The stockholders voted unanimously to change the closing hour of the bank from 3:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in accordance with the custom in Sandusky, Lorain, Elyria and most of the towns and smaller cities of the state. This change will not take effect until Feb. 1st.

Alberta Captured.

The Alberta, Capt. [captained by] Ed. Lamp, was seized by the Fish Warden at Cleveland Saturday, and the crew arrested. The tug had just arrived with a load of fish. The captain claims to have got them in Canada waters. This will make little difference however, it is claimed for if the fish were caught in Canadian waters the tug and crew will be turned over the Canadian officials and if in American waters they will be prosecuted for fishing out of season.

The Fish Commission’s boat Perry has gone to Cleveland and on the way made a search for nets. It is reported that there considerable, illegal fishing at the east end of the lake.

Later – The case of the crew of the Alberta was continued until Friday at 11 o’clock. Warden North has been asked to deal leniently with the offenders and it is stated probably their fine will be $100 and costs and get back their tug.

A mile of gill nets have been captured and pulled by the Perry and the fish given to the Salvation Army.

[ VV Ed. Note: This is the first mention I’ve come across mentioning Capt. Lampe. “Big Ed” as most people came to know him became a legend of sorts along the shores of Lake Erie. He’s one of my most favorite Vermilion characters. During his lifetime he made and lost several fortunes. As time goes on we will hear more and more about him.]

AXTEL.

Messrs. Ladrach and Wasem of Ragersville have been visiting here the past week.

New Year’s present for E.C. Wasem. It’s a boy!

Carl and Ray Washburn are again able to be among their friends.

Mrs. L.W. Champney was taken suddenly ill last Tuesday night.

Whooping cough is the very latest.

HURON

Mrs. Wm. Goodsite is slowly recovering from her recent illness.

The contract dredging the new Wheeling slip has been given to L.P. and J.A. Smith of Cleveland and work will begin at once.

J.M. Garrett is recovering from a case of blood poison.

The barn at the rear of te Shepherd house was destroyed by fire Thursday.

Henry Gunzenhauser has sold his farm to Chas Ebert.

Capt. C.Z. Montague, who is very ill from typhoid fever in Buffalo is reported slightly improved.

Solomon Kriss is on the sick list.

BERLIN HTS.

Mrs. Alfred Staley died Saturday night at her home in W. Berlin. Se was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle of this place and besides the father and mother leaves a husband, five children, one brother and one sister to mourn their loss.

[VV Ed. Note: Hudson Tuttle and his wife Emma Rood Tuttle were extremely well-known authors, lecturers, and spiritualists. Tuttle’s “Arcana of Nature”, two volumes, published 1860-63, was certainly a remarkable book for the time. It was quoted by F. C.L. Büchner in his own book “Force and Matter” (1864) to strengthen his materialistic position, while Charles Darwin in the “Descent of Man” quoted statements from Tuttle's later “Origin and Antiquity of Physical Man”. Both Büchner and Darwin were unaware that the book was produced by an uneducated farm boy. The Tuttles were extremely interesting people.]

It’s now Governor Pattison.

The fishermen and ice dealers are becoming anxious on account of the mildness of the weather. There’s plenty of time for ice yet and without doubt we will have an ample supply before spring.

Members of school boards and educators in Ohio are much interested in a bill being drafted aiming at preventing any member of a board of education or superintendent of instruction from being connected with any school book concern or publishing house.

Somethin’ Doin’

Options have been taken on farms at and near Oak Point and surveyors are at work so it is reported.

B.G. Nichols of Lorain is the agent who secured the options and will not say for what purpose they were secured.

One rumor had it that the creek at Oak Point was to be dredged and a harbor made for a big steel plant. But this rumor was denied before the ink on the newspaper reporting it was dry.

The supposition is now that the Oberlin North Amherst Electric ry. will take that route. It is also rumored that oak Point will be made into a great summer resort to rival Cedar Point and that the L.S.E. Ry is back of the scheme.

The fact is that no one knows what is going to be done and probably will not know until the parties behind the scheme are ready to make it known. All we can do is to await developments.

Any person having complication of diseases should consult Dr. O.J. Bready. Consultation and advice free. Office at the Opera House. Hours 1 to 5 p.m.

Dr. Wm. R. Harper, President of the University of Chicago and one of the foremost educators of the country, died yesterday at this home in Chicago.

The Andwur, Elyria’s largest hotel was totally destroyed by fire Sunday morning. The loss is estimated at $80,000. The Cleveland and South Lorain Fire departments were called up and sent engines and equipment to help fight the fire.

Mrs. E.A. Boss is slowly recovering from her recent illness.

Keep your eyes open for the Floating Lady at Opera House.

Mayor Williams and Marshal Delker were in Sandusky on business yesterday.

May McGraw and Flora Pelton spent a few days at Elyria last week visiting their aunt Mrs. Dr. Crosse. [VV Ed. Note: May was my piano teacher in the 1950s. Her home is now Old Jib’s Corner on the southeast corner of Liberty and Perry streets. Flora later owned the big house on the northeast corner of South and Washington streets.]

Married – Thursday evening Jan 4, ’06, Henry Will and Miss Anna Schraeder. Rev. Wm. G. Klein officiating.

Among the marriage licenses issued in Lorain Co. last week is one to Geo. B. Parsons, 24, Vermilion, and Mary W. Myers, 24, Elyria.

Mr. and Mrs. C. Jay returned to Sandusky Saturday evening after spending a week with L.R. Marsh and family at Brownhelm.

Mrs. F.W. Coen and children of Cleveland spent Sunday with Capt. and Mrs. Rae.

The social given by the D.E. Society of the Reformed church at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. Berry was very successful The music rendered by the G.A.R. band was especially enjoyed.

Mrs. L.W. Noble of Minneapolis, Minn. arrived yesterday for a visit with her sister Mrs. E.T. Bottomley and other relatives in this vicinity.

[VV Ed. Note: I make this note more for myself than anyone else. Mrs. Bottomley was my maternal great-grandmother and until I came across this little snippet I didn’t know the name of any of her female siblings. I just want to keep track of the last names.]

A news rural telephone line from the State Road to W.F. Washburn’s was opened yesterday with the following subscribers:

115 – Calvin Sperry.
116 – E.C. Wasem.
117 – W.F. Washburn.
Chas L. Kuehlmann’s telephone number has been changed from 116 to 449.

For Rent – Farm of 40 acres. Enquire at News Office.

For Sale – First Class driving horse, 8 years old. Enquire of O.J. Martin, Vermilion, O.

Lost – A small locket watch charm – E.T.B. engraved on the side. Finder, please bring to the News Office and receive reward. Locket was lost about Christmas.

[VV Ed. Note: I believe the charm probably belonged to my great-grandfather E.T. Bottomley. I wonder if he ever found it?]

DEATHS

Drake, Mrs. Amelia, died Monday evening of pneumonia. She leaves a daughter, Mrs. Wm. Parker who lives near Venus, Oklahoma and who is now on her way east. Funeral arrangements await her arrival.

Emerick, Mrs. Gus, at her home in Brownhelm Wednesday morning. Funeral services to be held Friday at 1 p.m. at Reformed Church Brownhelm.

Kuhl, John, died this morning at his home two miles east of Berlin Hts.

SELECTIONS

Friday night, for the first time in twenty years Cincinnati saloons closed at midnight.

Joe Shaffer, aged sixteen, was accidentally sot by Clyde Weir, a friend at Swanton Saturday. He died a few hours later.

The report of the earnings of the L.S.E. for December show a gain of $9,340 over the corresponding month last year.

The 150 saloons of Springfield, O. were closed Sunday for the first time in fifteen years, the saloonists hope to avoid anti-screen ordinance.

[VV ED. Note: “SALOONISTS”? A new word.] A young man fond of dancing took a pedometer with him to a ball and found that in the course of the evening he had covered thirteen and a half miles. The average length of a waltz was a half a mile; of a polka three quarters of a mile; of a gallop or schottische, [VV Ed. Note: The schottische basic step is made up of two sidesteps to the left and right, followed by a turn in four steps.] a mile; and a of lancers [ a variation of quadrille] a quarter of a mile. A girl usually dances more than a man is calculated to cover more that 16 miles in a single evening.

BROWNHELM

Mrs. James Baumhardt returned home Friday after a few days visit with her sister Mrs. Chas Fowl of Elyria.

Supt. And Mrs. O. Damon have returned home after a pleasant visit with relatives in Liverpool, O.

Mrs. Gust Emmerich died very suddenly Tuesday night after a along illness from which her friends thought she was slowly improving.[VV Ed. Note: I guess her friends were mistaken.]

BIRMINGHAM.

Winter is with us again the coldest of the year.

The funeral services of Mrs. Geo clary were held last Friday. The funeral sermon was preached by Rev. Knapp of the M.E. church. The singing was by Mr. and Mrs. Darby, Miss Carter and Mr. N.J. Thompson and was very good. A number of friends from abroad were here to attend, among whom were Mrs. Ellen Van fleet and Mrs. Laura Bottsford of Cleveland and Mrs. Dr. rose. Mrs. Clary leaves two sisters, one brother, four grandchildren and six great grandchildren to hold in loving remembrance the dear one who has bone before.

Mrs. Ed Howe’s youngest child met with an accident last week, which very nearly resulted in the loss of an eye. Mr. Howe was splitting wood and had sent the children away for fear he would hurt them but the youngest had come back and sat on a block behind his father. As he struck block with his ax he watched to see where its truck as it flew he saw it hit the child in the face. It had struck him in the corner of his eye next the nose. The stick was sharp on one end it cut the child’s nose and eye. The child’s face was soon covered with blood and Mr. Howe started for the house calling to his wife. A physician was summoned who fixed him up and last reports it was thought the eye would be all right.

_{Pictured is the tug "C.A. Trinter" docked in front of the Vermilion'S Southwest Fish Co during Prohibition.}

HOW PROHIBITION HELPED COMMERCIAL FISHING: During the early years of the 20th century the numbers of Lake Erie, freshwater herring and whitefish harvested by commercial fishermen were on the decline, Industry statistics show that the herring catch went from eleven million pounds in 1919 to six by 1923. Whitefish went from two mil­ lion to less than four hundred thou­ sand. Both types of fish were 'high­ value, high-profit commodities' and this nosedive in production for the fishing industry was both an unexpected and devastating development. In essence it was caused by a combination of things; a rapidly changing environment; commercial exploitation; and the absence of any coherent fishing management agreement among the states and the Canadian province bordering the lake. Given these circumstances the consequence was - at least in retrospect - no big surprise. And then along came a thing called "The Volstead Act".

The Volstead Act was a piece of legislation passed by federal legislators in 1919. It enabled the United States government to enforce the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and is formally known as the "National Prohibition Act." Under the 18th Amendment, intoxicating liquor was essentially "prohibited" within the United States. In the meantime, across the lake in Ontario, Canada a law had been enacted that made drinking alcohol illegal while the manufacture and export sales of alcoholic beverages was perfectly legal.

Now, the aforementioned circumstances combined with the fact that Lake Erie was the longest unprotected border in the world opened the door for a new kind of commerce on the lake; smuggling. [Pictured is the tug "C.A. Trinter" docked in front of the Vermilion'S Southwest Fish Co during Prohibition.)

Before organized crime (most notably Detroit's purple Gang and Chicago's Al Capone) assumed control over a vast majority of rum-running operations on the lakes some small operators in the numerous towns and villages scattered across the northern shore of the lake naturally took some advantage of the situation. And some stories indicate that Vermilion, O. had at least a small role in these spiritual escapades. For it was not impossible for a single load of booze from Canada to bring in $lQ,OOO for any person bold enough to dodge a few machine-gun bullets while navigating his vessel at top speed through a thick fog, or dur­ ing the dead of night. Yet however glamorous that may seem, more often than not, most smuggling operations were somewhat less profitable and uneventful. The bottles were simply placed in the bottom of fishing totes beneath a small catch of fish and ice and brought to port.

One story of those times told by local resident Hank Fischer recounts a time when a load of booze destined for Sandusky came into port. Authorities had roadblocks set up on nearly every road between Vermilion and Sandusky to intercede with any such shipments. But the fellow in charge of shipping them westward was confident that he could accomplish the task without a problem.

He was so confident that he asked some of the locals if they would like to put a wager on the task. Everyone of the locals saw a great way to make a few bucks, and laid their money on the line.

When the bets were down the bootlegger packed the booze in his vehicle, and called a tow-truck. The tow-truck came and hauled his vehicle with the booze inside to Sandusky without a problem.

Another story concerns a rather substantial load of illegal alcohol that was uncovered by Vermilion’s Marshal. To safeguard the booty for the night it was placed in the lockup at the back of the Vermilion Township Hall. When the Marshal came to collect the evidence in the morning it had disappeared. Further investigation revealed nothing.

Toward the end of 1933 the 18th Amendment to our Constitution – which had probably created more problems than it ever solved – was dismantled. And oddly enough the interlude was of some benefit to the fishing industry. The pause had allowed the watery fields of Lake Erie to be replenished. And that is how “Prohibition” helped preserve commercial fishing on Lake Erie in a yesteryear.

sub>_{Ref: Midnight Herring, Prohibition and Rum Running on Lake Erie, David Frew, 2006; Lake Erie Fishermen, Work, Tradition and Identity, Lloyd and Mullen, 1990; Special Thanks to Vermilion Area Archival Society and the Roscoe-Tarrant Photo Archive.}

TWO DIED WHEN AUTO HITS ELECTRIC: A few days ago well-known electric historian Dennis Lamont sent mea copy of the April 4, 1936 front page of the Lorain Journal (Times-Herald) where a report of this accident originally appeared. Because that article an none of the others I found (from the Sandusky paper) about the accident reported where in Vermilion the accident occurred I went to the microfilm and found the following article about the mishap that appeared on the front page of The Vermilion News on Thursday, April 9, 1936:

[The] “Sandusky Street crossing of the Lake Shore Electric was the scene of another fatal accident Friday evening, which claimed the lives of Charles Blane Oare, better know as “Pete” of Nokomis Park and Fred Knott of West South Street. The men were east bound in the former’s ford car and collided with the baggage train of five cars. Both were hurried to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Beeckel’s ambulance. Mr. Oare was dead upon arrival Mr. Knott lingered until Saturday afternoon. He suffered a fractured skull, an injured face and his left leg was broken in several places just about the ankle.

Nick Grisel was at the Ford Garage and was among the firs to get to the scene of the accident. The left side of the machine was smashed in.

Charles Blane Oare

Charles Blane Oare was born in Lancaster, Ohio, fifty-one years ago, the eldest of a family of eight. His early life was spent in Columbus. He came to Vermilion some twenty years ago and settled at Nokomis Park. His wife passed away here some two years ago. Of his immediate family he leaves a father, four brothers and three sisters, Mrs. Rose Searles, Mrs. Mary Holmes and Mrs. Helen Van Fossen, all of Columbus.

Mr. Oare was a brick mason by trade.

Short services were held Sunday afternoon at the Beeckel Funeral Parlors in charge of Rev. E.T. English. Monday the body was taken to Columbus and interment took place on Tuesday.

Fred Knott

Fred Knott was born August 19, 1903. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Knott, who then lived on the West Shore road, Vermilion Township. His mother, whose maiden name was Anna Scott, died in 1933, the father Philip still surviving resides at Mason’s Corners, Florence Township.

At the age of nine he went to live with friends at Oberlin where he spent six years. He attended the public schools of Henrietta and Vermilion.

He has been employed as a mechanic, having worked for several years at The Walker Garage, and for the last five years at the Fred Harpley Garage Service, and had made his home for that period with the Harpley family.

Surviving him besides his father, are four brothers: Robert and Colton to Vermilion township; Edward of Wakeman, and William who is employed near Norwalk, and one sister, Mrs. Ida May Mooney. of Avon. There are also a half brother, Wilson, and a half sister, Miss Alfreda Buckley, both of Henrietta. Several years ago another brother, Clarence was killed in an accident at the Birmingham quarries."

Though there is not real explanation for the accident I would speculate that because the men were headed east at that particular spot – moving toward the relatively new automobile bridge over the Vermilion River that they simply ignored the electric tracks that met the street right in front of the old Ford garage (now the Vermilion Food Deli and the Edward Jones Investment office) and were unexpectedly introduced to the front of the five-car electric train. If they were impaired in any other way is unknown.