EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN: Many years ago there was a Vermilion guy named Earl Childs. Earl and his wife Doris lived in the tidy house on the northwest corner of South and Grand Streets. Earl (I later learned his name was actually William Earle) was a banker. Following WW1, when my father came to town from Portland, Maine it was my understanding that he kept a room in the Childs’s home.

In any case, when I knew Mr. Childs he was assistant cashier at the Erie County United Bank in the building where the Vermilion Mayor’s office is currently located. No small part of the reason I have vivid memories of him is because unlike most people he never gave out candy at Halloween. At his house you were invited in, and on a coffee table in the middle of the living room was a big bowl filled with pennies. You could take as many as you could grab in one hand. No one, of course, ever left exceptionally wealthy. But to be sure you were richer than when you entered. It was a great idea. Anyway, aside from seeing him at the bank that’s how I knew and remember Mr. Childs.

Recently I’ve become involved in a little project for my church that requires some information pertaining to various church personalities of the yesteryear. Mr. Childs is certainly one of those persons. But the person I was more interested in is his mother Mary. The reason she’s of some import is because of a Sunday School Class in the Congregational Church. The first of the old Sunday school classes in the church (active until relatively recently) was the Mary D. Childs class. Organized before the turn of the century, it was named to honor her work as church treasurer and teacher. I found this to be somewhat surprising because in the early years of the 20th century few married woman were known by their first names. Generally they were known as Mrs. “So-and-So”. Thus, it was somewhat unusual for her, as a married person, to have been formally recognized by her Christian name.

A little research indicated that Mary, born in Vermilion to Charles and Julia Meyers Andrews in 1863 had been briefly married to a fella named William A. Childs. Earl was born in 1883. Records indicate that William A. was an attorney, Justice of the Peace and Mayor of Vermilion in 1884 and 1885. [While I’m fairly certain that he was originally from Conneaaut, I’ve yet to determine the reason for his coming to Vermilion or his reason for leaving.] But by 1890 he was gone. And nearly no mention of him appears in the records of the lives of either Mary or young Earl.

From what I could determine the elder Mr. Childs returned to Conneaut and took up farming for the remainder of his life. Like his former wife he never remarried. He died there of throat cancer in 1928. Mary had passed four years earlier following an illness of about a year. In the only report of her death I could find – an obit in The Vermilion News – her work for Vermilion’s Congregational church is highlighted, but not defined, and there is no mention of her former husband.

Early one fine summer morning in June of 1953 Earl rose and went outside and picked a basket of cherries from a tree in the yard. Afterward, he got cleaned up, put on his suit and as usual walked downtown to go to work at the bank. Just outside the bank he collapsed. Never regaining consciousness he passed into the great beyond just a few hours later at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Lorain.

Seldom do I pass the old Childs’s house on Grand Street without thinking of Earl, his wife or his mother. I think of the big bowl of pennies on the table in the living room. I think of the distinguished old banker in his 3-piece suit walking to town to the bank. I think of his mother Mary, faithful church bean counter and teacher, busy at the old church on Division Street. And I can’t help but think, and puzzle about some parts of their lives. To be sure I know their beginnings and their ends. But after all is said and done, it’s not about such things that make our lives interesting. It’s about everything in between.

[Note: I really do know the reason the elder Mr. Childs divorced and left town. But that's another story...]

_{Ref: Published in the Vermilion Photojournal 12/15/2016.}

Vol. XII, No.31. - VERMILION, OHIO, THURSDAY, January 7, 1909

Council meeting

Despite the fact that Mayor Williams has a son to assist him the Council meeting was a long drawn out affair Monday evening. This was not the fault of either though. The question of piping a portion of the new allotment was settled by having the water pipes laid so as to supply the people who have built on the allotment or are about to do so. About 300 feet of pipe will have to be laid on Jefferson Street in about as much more on South Street. The Council and the B.P.A. are opposed to the laying of any pipes that will require removal in a few years to be replaced with larger ones, as it is expensive work to do so, so the size of the pipe will probably remain at 6 in. as first intended.

The appropriation ordinance was put was postponed to be brought up at it an adjourned meeting as the committee was a little undecided in regard to the up appropriations for certain work.

The finance committee reported on the books of the treasure and clerk, which were in first-class condition. The finances of the Board Of Public Affairs in a Cemetery Trustees were reported upon. The reports were accepted and placed on file.

The term of Cemetery Trustee Wm Englebry having expired he was reappointed any appointment confirmed.

Henry Schmoll was reappointed Street Commissioner and the appointment confirmed.

A complaint having been made on condition of the crosswalks on Liberty Street being too low the clerk was instructed to notify the L.S.E. Ry., company to have the crossing raised.

Many other matters of interest were discussed including the proposition of engineer Schultz to furnish a complete map of the village. It was thought very desirable but was deemed wise to ascertain the cost before taking any action. The village has no complete plat of the Corporation at present and it is thought that a number of citizens would like to have a copy of a new plat.

It was reported that the L.S.E. Ry., had agreed to settling of the Electrolosis [sic] damage claims in the case will be withdrawn from court.

Council then adjourned until Thursday evening at 7:00.

Body Identified

By means of newspaper clippings giving an account of the accident the man killed at Florence siding on the Nickel Plate recently was found to be Chas Gilbert, of Buffalo N.Y. He had been married three or four months and left home in search of employment. It is thought he was on his way to Chicago when killed. His parents are residents of Saginaw Mich., and had relatives in Detroit to which place the remains were taken having been disinterred from the cemetery here.

Farm Named

Just across the Erie County line Tuesday afternoon, Contractor W.B. Tischer with the assistance of the neighboring farmers, raised the new barn on the farm of A.W. Leadrach recently bought of the George Moore estate.

After the barn was raised, the naming of the farm took place. Professor Bauman of Florence climbed on the peak of the rafters and after quoting a few choice sayings of Shakespeare broke the bottle of wine and name the farm Nugget Ridge. Mr. Leadrach intends making a model dairy farm of this place.

Just across the fence on the Brown farm, two teams were plowing around a half mile race course recently laid out, getting same in shape for the coming season. Mr. Jed Brown intends to jog and break in green light harness horses and colts.

His greatest ambition is to develop a two-minute horse in Lorain County.

Captain. Cornelius Young Dead

One by one the men who sailed the Great Lakes before the age of steel ships are passing away. This time one of our retired sailors has answered to the last call. Capt. “Con” Young after having been in ill health for some time past died at his home Tuesday morning, at the age of 72 years and four months. Mr. Young after spending some 42 years on the lakes retired about 10 years ago. He has served as Councilman of the village and otherwise been a useful citizen. Mrs. Young died six years ago on December 19. Two daughters and four sons survived him.

Capt. Young’s last boat was the steamer Horace A. Tuttle of the Minch fleet and he retired just as the possibilities of the great steel freighters became realized.

Funeral services were held Thursday morning at 9 o'clock.

Locals.

Saturday evening at the Crystal Theatre, the management has secured a good violinist for the occasion also a singer. 2000 feet of special films. Admission 10 and 5c.

The Vermilion captains were in Cleveland on business yesterday.

Miss Lida Wakefield who has been quite ill the past week is somewhat better.

Miss Alice Wakefield was the guest of Cleveland relatives several days last week.

George Otto who has been ill at his home in Ceylon Jct. is reported on the gain.

The stork visited town early Sunday morning, January 3, 1909 leaving us nice baby boy with Mayor and Mrs. H.R. Williams and with Mr. and Mrs. George M. Naegele.

Last Wednesday afternoon the Lakeshore flyer struck and killed Mrs. Henry G Bradley age 59 and her grandson Perry Rice, 19, at Berea Wednesday December 30. They were driving home from the depot and did not see the approach of the train. The young man was a nephew of Oliver and H.P. Rice of this place and his home was in Ashtabula. Messrs Rice attended the funeral at Ashtabula Saturday.

The Nieding family and friends to the number of 22 took dinner at the Maud-Elton hotel Sunday.

Mrs. G.P. Wahl was taken suddenly ill at Sorosis Saturday evening is very much better.

I.B. Poyer administrator of the estate of H.J. Nuhn made affidavit on the final settlement of the estate this week.

The company who were to present the Sailors dance at the hall last evening were not allowed to proceed.

The Maud-Elton will hereafter serve a Table d hote chicken dinner each Sunday to residents of Vermilion at 35c per cover.

Correspondence

AMHERST

Born to Mr. and Mrs. William Mischke Friday the first a daughter.

The twin girls of Mr. and Mrs. George Sipple who were born on Friday and died on Saturday.

Adam Baker, aged 81, died at his home on the Ridge Thursday. Funeral services were held Sunday. A widow, son Daniel four daughters, Mrs. J.H. Lapp of Lorain, Mrs. Bradley of Wellington, Mrs. T.W. Lange and Mrs. Frank Butler of LaGrange.

Several mysterious revolver shots which came near resulting in the deaths of some of our citizens caused the great excitement in town Saturday night. Three shots were fired at Mr. and Mrs. Sam Delafield and another through the plate glass window of the Miller's barbershop narrowly missed Clem Miller and Henry Ludwig. One large and two small piece of glass were also broken by bullets in Baker and Ebbs store.

Charles Schumauch Sr. underwent an operation Thursday to remove a growth on his left foot. It was found necessary to remove the greater part of his great toe.

Amherst was the scene of another mad dog scare on Thursday afternoon when Arthur Pope's dog developed strong symptoms of rabies while in downtown section. The dog was killed before any damage was done.

The funeral of Mrs. Mary Mertz was held last Wednesday at St. Peter's Evangelic Church. Rev. Lindenmeyer officiating. Mrs. Mertz r was one of Ameherst’s oldest residents.

BARTOW RIDGE

Mrs. G. Hinde is on the sick list. Dr. Englebry is attending.

777.

BIRMINGHAM

Mr. Darby is with his friend Oscar Haise Alabama.

There was an excursion New Year's Eve to visit the Hippodrome to Cleveland 36 people were on the train making a very pleasant party.

ASHMONT

Cort Simons was in this place recently.

Little Nora Denman has been on the sick list.

Orra Jump has purchased a new horse.

Mr. Carl Hauff is helping his brother cut wood for a few days.

Effie Slocum was on Bartow Ridge Saturday.

A number from this place attended the watch party at the Greenhoe’s last Thursday evening.

Helen driver who has been staying at her aunt's Mrs. S.C. Shoop while her mama, Mrs. George Driver of Vermilion is at Lorain Hospital returned home Friday.

Elwin Crum playing with a pistol accidentally shot himself through the limb above the knee. Dr. Boss of Birmingham was called to dress the wound and he is getting along fine at this writing.

BROWSING: Little things most of us never knew...

FUN & FOOLISHNESS: Just for the heck of it I began reading through the pages of the old Vermilion weekly – The News – that were published during the 1930s. I was interested in gaining some insights into life in our community during the era known as The Great Depression as well as the latter years of Prohibition. And while I certainly did acquire insights into those specific things, they were not what I expected. Moreover, I actually came away with much more.

First of all this did not appear to be (at least in our town) an especially gloomy time. People seem to have been able to adjust to the conditions of the era calmly and wisely. In fact those weekly editions were probably “the best” in the newspaper’s entire history. The stories made terrific reading then – and still do.

Among all that reading I found a weekly column called “Heresay and Heresy” by Jove. The column consisted of a number of items that could range from teacher qualifications to Prohibition to personal stories of Vermilion history, etc. Sometimes Jove’s comments would earn the ire of the local citizenry. So the title of the column seems to have been quite appropriate.

But setting that aside, one of the stories that caught my attention appears in the February 9, 1933 edition. The name of the person who told the story was not provided. But that’s not really important. And though the following story is not verbatim it is essentially what he told Jove:

“Before Crystal Beach there was a picnic and outing park at that same place called Shadduck’s Grove. When Shadduck’s Grove was there excursion trains would stop at the East River Road (now Vermilion Road) crossing where park patrons loaded and unloaded. At times I have seen as many as five trains waiting at the end of the day to take folks home.

Anyway, when the trains loaded up at night to take passengers home a number of us town boys would jump on at the last minute and see just how far we could ride before jumping off. Sometimes we would be able to hang on until we reached the bridge at Highbridge Road (on the tracks heading east toward Amherst). But when we jumped off and landed – Zowie! – it was all heads, feet and dirt.

It should go without saying that it was dangerous sport. But as much as our parents warned us about the dangers of the game we boys promptly ignored them. As a result council passed a local ordinance prohibiting the jumping of railroad trains. And, again, we boys promptly ignored it too.

One day the local station agent who knew all us boys took down our names and handed the list to the town marshal. The marshal didn’t immediately search the town for us. He didn’t have to. All he had to do was wait. And one day he found all of us together playing a game of “Cat and Dog”. And into jail we went one and all.

The jail was located in a shed where the Kishman Fish coal shed was later located But being in jail was “just a lark” to us. We still had our sticks so we proceeded to continue our game of “Cat and Dog” in the lockup. Soon after we were taken before the Mayor, C.C. Baumhart, and fine $1.00. But even that didn’t stop us boys from jumping on the trains. But one day a leg did – and our sport ended.”

While the story is by itself a good one there are several things in it that some persons might be interested in learning more about, such as when this incident occurred, the game of “Dog and Cat” and the site of the jail.

First: Mayor C.C. Baumhart served the village between 1894 and 1895. Second: The “Dog and Cat” game (or "Cat and Dog"), was a game that likely originated in Scotland. In it a piece of wood called a cat is thrown at a hole in the ground while another player defends the hole with a stick (a dog). In some cases there were two holes and, after hitting the cat, the batter would run between them while fielders would try to put the runner out by putting the ball in the hole before the runner got to it. The game resembled cricket. [Note: I’ve no idea how they might have played the game in a shed.] And last of all: The jail would have been located somewhere in the area we now know as Exchange Park. The lockup is mentioned in one of the stories written by late Vermilion historian George Wakefield in his book “Lure of the Lakes”.

Jove’s intent was obviously to emphasize the fact that there’s often a fine line between fun and foolishness. And that remains a truth for all of us – both today and in the yesteryear.

_{Ref: Published in the Vermilion Photojournal 01/15/16}

AN EXAMPLE: Generally I wouldn’t use 2 things from the scrapbook in a single week, but I thought this one to be of some special interest.

It was, of course, the beginning of The Great War. On April 6, 1917, the U.S. joined its allies – Britain, France, and Russia – to fight in World War I under the command of Major General John J. Pershing.

It appears from this snippet that our little town was filled with patriotic citizens. And so, as I came to find out, it was.

In mid-April 600 flag draped men, women and children marched to the Town Hall – led by the local G.A.R. band – to sing patriotic songs, make speeches and volunteer their services in a graphic display of their “Love For Liberty”. Everybody who was anybody was there. And it was reported by the NEWS that a few of the veterans of ’61 – ’65 “seemed young, ready to spring again to the call of their country.”

Imagine that.