1905-06
Lewis Noel, a man of French-Canadian origins and his young wife Marry from Erie, Pennsylvania arrive in
Vermilion, Ohio. They have been married for nine years. She is 25. He is 33. They have no children.
Noel obtains a lease to operate a small ferry concession on the northwest corner of a swamp located on
the northeast banks of the Vermilion River. Before him (1896) the concession had been leased by Pete
Wahl, who was a concessionaire and resident of Linwood Park. After him (1899) a man by the name of
Norman Asel Foster held the lease.
c. 1899
Passengers in front of Norman Foster's Ferry
Note the hinged overhead entry.
Cloudy rented boats to Linwood vacationers and sold pop and As the Vermilion Lagoons were being built the path from the West
candy in his ramshackle store by the dock. Gate at Linwood remained open for a time.
Although the rights to the lease and the ferry service did not belong to the Linwood Park Company the
person holding the lease to the concession had to pay a fee to the park to leave the west gate
open to allow access and egress to the ferry.
The Path to Cloudy's Ferry seen from the West Gate (before the Lagoons were dredged) of Linwood Park
Cloudy's original
ferry was a 20 foot flat-bottomed boat named Gertrude. Late Vermilion
historian George Wakefield, recalled that "It was an
open craft with benches on either side powered by a single engine
near the stern. There was always a big pile of life preservers
at the stern, and a large American flag flew aft. He steered
her with a rope that ran athwartship. When he docked he would
shut the engine off in just the right place, coast into the dock,
and gently toss a line around a pile to bring her to a slow stop.
One of his favorite tricks was to start the engine by rocking
the boat; he would set the flywheel near the ignition and roll
the boat just right and the darn De Moy (engine) would just take
off like a pet steam engine. He would then dance a jig as the
boat moved in a small curve to the his east dock singing as they
went."
Cloudy dancing
Gertrude toward the east dock near what is now the Vermilion
Yacht Club. Across the river boats are tied up along the west
breakwall.
The western dock was just south of our waterworks. The fare was
a nickel. He would later also use tokens for this purpose. American/red
flags were kept in pipes on either dock and when passengers wanted
to cross they would wave them to get his attention. At night
he used oil lamps on his docks, and later electric lights with
switches to signal.
Waiting for
a ride home on Cloudy's ferry Margaret Bingle and her daughter
Norma pose on the west dock. Behind them is Tom Ball's Shanty.
A nickel would
get a passenger from one side to the other side of the river.
As the years turned Cloudy had tokens made for that purpose and
perhaps for souvenirs
When the Gertrude had finally seen her best days local boat builders,
Henry Goetz and Jim Brooks built a new round-bottom boat called
the Mary N , put the old engine in her, and Cloudy was back
in business until the days the automobile overwhelmed the ferrying
trade just as it did the interurban electrics.
Passengers and visitors from Linwood Park relax and watch Cloudy's new boat, Marry N, leave the dock on the west side of the river. In the distance the Vermilion Light sits at the end of the catwalk on the west pier.
Although it is
true that the dark and handsome clown in bib overalls, who habitually
traded gibes with the gill-netters and danced and sang his way
whilst criss-crossing the Vermilion River, was viewed with some
disdain by proper folk, his antics delighted most of those
who knew him. He was, in fact and deed, the star of old Vermillion
Harbor.
