Vermilion Ohio, A Good Place to Live
SHOPTALK: The pic on my home desk is an oldie taken (probably) around 1919 in the yard between the old First Congregational church and the Vermilion Township Hall. I’ve always liked the way the girls are dressed. I like their hair (many with ribbons) and, of course, their hats.
Behind them is the old horse shed / stable that ran behind both the town hall and the church in years past. It was a veritable public parking garage for visitors to either facility. People have long forgotten how it once was.
The pic on the shop desk this week is an almost amusing portrait of Hattie and Ollie Abell along with that friend by their home on Washington Street. Their mom is the lady on the porch behind them.
Hattie eventually married a guy named George Rathbun. Her sister Ollie married another Vermilion fella named George Naegele. Both families were (and remain) familiar names about the wonderful town called Vermilion, Ohio.
THIS SIDE OF HISTORY: There is no question that the Covid-19 pandemic is serious. However, the way in which many of our fellow Americans have responded to the problem – at least initially – is also serious. There was no logical reason to panic and go about buying and hoarding things. It’s just rude and wasteful. The only way to handle the situation is by being calm and going out about our business carefully.
To be sure the face of America has changed and will continue to change and evolve in the ensuing months. Some things may get harder to accept, but there’s no escaping it. So I hope we’ll (as some say) just roll with the punches, and come out the other side of history the better for it.
FOLK ALLEY: This is just an F.Y.I. for those working at home during the next few days and months. There is an internet radio station I listen to most every day while I’m at the museum or home via my computer or my friend Alexa. It’s called “Folk Alley”.
Its stated Mission is a public service station, produced by the FreshGrass Foundation [This is a 501(c)(3) foundation dedicated to preserving, supporting and creating innovative grassroots music.] that strives to bring folk, roots, and Americana music to the world via the Internet, reaching across the miles and the generations to provide global exposure for an art form with long-standing tradition and a loyal fan community
This Listener-supported 24/7 internet radio went online in September of 2003, streaming its unique blend of traditional folk, roots, Americana, contemporary singer/songwriters, indie-folk, Celtic, bluegrass, and other world sounds.
Its groundbreaking service originated at WKSU, public radio from Kent, Ohio. The (then) Executive Director/General Manager, Al Bartholet had a commitment and vision for using the power of the Internet to aggregate a worldwide folk music loving audience, Together with veteran weekend folk host, Jim Blum’s deep knowledge and passion for the music and other dedicated WKSU staff, in particular WKSU's head of IT, Chuck Poulton, the team's sights were set on the ultimate goal: to become the number one place on the Internet for folk music content and discovery.
Don’t be misled by the folk music idea. All American music is folk music. I have also heard them play Rolling Stones and Beatles tunes as well. It’s just entertaining radio, sans commercials, that beats silence as well as most mainstream radio stations.
FANCY FOOTWWORK: Trying to be a smart guy I copied all of the things I’ve written over the years onto a 64 GB Ultra Fit Flash Drive to copy to my computer at the museum (which, generally speaking, is a wonderful idea) but made the mistake of downloading all the files onto the desktop of the museum computer. That’s nearly a thousand files and pix of various sizes. I needed to place them into a separate file on the computer.
So wow, what a task after the fact. Imagine seeing a thousand files on your desktop.
Historically,
NICE SHOT: Another wide angle pic from my grandfather. Taken from the roof of the old water treatment plant on Main street we are witness to a regatta scene from about the year 1919. There is a good deal ot see. The fire engine in the pic is very likely the first motorized machine in the Vermilion department.
NOTHING NEW THIS WEEK: I've actually been very busy this week so I did not have time to put together a new video. But I promise that I will during the week ahead.
I am also about to do a virtual video of the museum. This will showcase the rooms to afford viewers a 360 degree look at each.
Stay close.
In the meantime all the video and audio files can be found at:
FRIDAY NIGHTS AT THE MOVIES: Coming of age in the mid-1950s was a time when there wasn’t a whole bunch of stuff for Vermilion teenagers to do on Friday nights if there weren’t any events taking place at school. Consequently, many youngsters, myself included, turned to the local picture show [most refer to them now a cinema or movie] at the Liberty Theatre for entertainment. The Liberty for “Newvies” (new Vermilion residents) was located where the art gallery called “Art Seen” is situated today on the south side of Liberty Avenue just a hop, skip and jump east of Grand Street.
The building housing the theatre had, in the 19th century, been a haberdashery. First operated by a civil war veteran, Captain Henry Delker. After his death in 1890 another local guy named Lewis Englebry took over the business. Sometime after Englebry’s death in 1920 the building was transformed into a rather nice movie theatre. But I digress.
As one might guess I had been going to this picture show since I was about five years old. In those years my big brother “Albie” took me there on Sunday afternoons. My mother would give me a quarter. Admission was a dime. Another dime provided a box of popcorn. And the nickel bought a box of Jujyfruits or Good & Plentys. But by the mid-50s the price of admission, ever subject to inflation, had increased to 50 cents and popcorn was a quarter. Fortunately, the wages earned from my paper route easily covered these expenses, with enough left-over for a burger and a coke in the Goody-Goody Soda Bar next door after the show.
Unlike big city theaters the Liberty was only open on weekends. So, on the days in between one had to be satisfied with various radio shows and some, very lackluster, black and white television programs that ended each broadcasting day at midnight by playing the National Anthem followed by a “test-pattern”. [FYI: Early TV test patterns were actually physical cards at which a television camera was pointed when no programs were being broadcast.] Thus, Friday night at the movies when I was in my early teens was, to say the very least, something I along with many other Vermilion kids eagerly anticipated all week long.
Before each movie there was always music, some that I remember to this day. There was always a piece called Feudin’ and Fightin’. One line went: “Grandma, poor ol grandma/ Why’d they have to shoot poor ol’ grandma / She lies ‘neath the clover / Someone caught her bending over / Picking up a daisy.” And then the curtains opened, and the magic began.
It always started with a cartoon. One of my favorites was Mr. Magoo. But then there was Sylvester, Tweety Bird, Bugs and of course Porky and many more. On some occasions there was a “short” comedy series starring a character called Joe McDoakes (who tried, but never quite succeeds at anything). There were the Three Stooges, and now and then there were the “Our Gang” films with Spanky, Alfalfa, Darlene and their dog Petey. And then – after all that came the prime attractions. The ones we had waited for all week.
My friends and I witnessed film history on the big screen at the Liberty watching the greats like Marilyn Monroe, Humphry Bogart, Doris Day, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Jimmy Stewart, Kirk Douglas, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Cary Grant, James Mason, John Wayne. ad infinitum. We saw great films like Bridge Over the River Kwai, Rebel Without a Cause, High Noon, War of the Worlds and the list goes on. It was wonderful. But the best ones in the eyes of a teenager were the horror films. Things that would never get close to winning an Academy Award.
There was “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” series that caught our interest partly because we had our own lagoons right here in Vermilion. [Who knew what might happen?] Among them was also the “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, “The Thing”, “Them (Terror, Horror, Excitement, Mystery)”, and the first make of “War of the Worlds”. Many of these particular films were low budget movies and because of that were usually black and white films. But one produced in color that became an unintentional hit was a thing called “The Blob”. It starred a relatively unknown 28-year-old actor named Steve McQueen. The film's tongue-in-cheek title song, "Beware of The Blob" became a nationwide hit. It was written by two fellas that were also relatively unknown at that time; Burt Bacharach with brothers Hal and Mack David.
I suppose it doesn’t seem like much to folks today who can turn on their televisions, tablets and even their phones and be entertained, as some say, 24-7. That’s nice. But in truth there is no experience comparable to those Friday Nights at the Movies at the Liberty Theatre in good ol’ Vermilion of a yesteryear.
YESTERYEAR'S NEWS: The following clips are dictated transcriptions from past issues of The Vermilion News. I think you will find them both interesting and fun...
Oscar Mehnert, age 52, died at 11 P. M. Wednesday after a few hours indisposition. Mr. Mehnert, went home from his shop last evening in a chill and went to bed. A physician was called and it was thought he was breathing very hard and again sent for the doctor. The hour being late it was some time before the physician arrived, and the man was beyond medical aid. It is thought his death was caused by heart failure and acute pneumonia.
Mr. Mehnert, leaves a wife and a large family of children. He has been a resident of Vermilion for many years and up to the time of John Ritter’s death was in his employ. After that time he started a tailor shop on his own account.
Three services will be held at the home Saturday at 1 P. M.
William N. Thornburg, former general manager of the Multonia Company of Cleveland is missing. It is supposed he is in Seattle, Washington. It is alleged in the petition involuntary bankruptcy filed in the Federal court in Cleveland, that he has $20,324.62 in debts and but $100 assets. Some of the most prominent men in Cleveland are among his creditors. He is son of Mr. and Mrs. William Thornburg of Vermilion.
E. T. Bottomley, advertising manager of the NEWS was the victim of a slight stroke of paralysis while at work at the office Saturday morning. The nature of his malady was not at first suspected as only his left hand had become useless but later he became quite ill and medical aid was summoned. At present although very ill, he is somewhat better and prospects for recovery seemed good.
Eva Josephine Pelton, of Vermilion was granted a divorce from Henry A. Pelton, in the Common Pleas court late Thursday afternoon by Judge Young. The plaintiff testified her husband struck her several times, and was guilty of other acts of cruelty. The parties were married June 27, 1901. The defendant was ordered to pay $100 a year in alimony.
BORN – to Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Ott, a son, Thursday, March 14, 1912.
Mrs. Wm. White who underwent an operation at Memorial Hospital, Elyria is recovering nicely.
Geo. Schraeder was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Lorain Thursday and operated upon for appendicitis. He is recovering nicely.
Miss Mary Bauman, formerly of Henrietta, who was working out in Oberlin at this time, committed suicide last Saturday by hanging herself in the basement. No one has been able to discover the cause. She was buried on Tuesday at the Birmingham Cemetery.
M. J. Trinter had the misfortune to lose a valuable cow this week.
Mr. and Mrs. C. Normando are very happy over the arrival of theIr little granddaughter came to make her home with Mr. and Mrs. Ed Mills of Cleveland.
Effective May 1, there will be an increase in the wages of the trainmen on the Lake Shore Electric lines. The maximum raise on the city cars will be a cent an hour, and on the limited and through local lines, two cents an hour. The announcement of the advances was made Saturday at the Lake Shore Electric offices here.
Sorosis meets tomorrow evening with Mrs. J. M. Delker A debate on the question, Resolved That Man’s Intellect is Superior to Women’s, is the principal event plan for the evening.
[NOTE: That must have been interesting.]
The Grand River Fish Co. held its annual meeting last Monday at Grand River. Fred Driscoll of this place was elected president, Chas. Jay of Sandusky, Vice-President, C. A. Heidloff, of Vermilion, Sec. Mr. Harold Heidloff has been spending several days past week at Erie and Grand River looking after the interests of the companies there.
Charles Delker left Monday for Mt. Clemens, Mich., where he will receive treatment for a few weeks in hope of recovering the use of his limbs. His father accompanied him to Detroit, and enjoyed a short visit with his sister Mrs. Lewis Alliner and family.
The Vermilion Telephone Co. recently installed telephone the office of Mayor Wakefield in the Tischer block and another in the farm residence of Township trustee, A. W. Johnson on the Lake Shore Road west of town. Two of three trustees now have telephone service and can be reached by their constituents throughout the township and village.
Light keeper Burns is in Lorain today on business.
Lee and Thomas Bottomley of Cleveland were called home this week by the serious illness of their father. [NOTE: These guys are my great-uncles. Their father is my grandfather, E.T. Bottomley.]
The fruit growers are busy trimming their trees and getting ready for the first sprayng.
Word was received from Mr. Marsh who is near the scene of Mexican disturbances, that he is safe and that he is having a good time.
Mrs. Evelyn Shattuck sick.
Miss Bessie French is absent from school because of sickness.
Julius Burton infant son of Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Brandau is sick.
Harold Bacon has been absent from school for several days on account of illness.
Master Nelson Zilch son of Mr. and Mrs. V. Zilch underwent an operation for adenoids last week.
…He was born in Arlesheim, Canton Basel, Switzerland, on February 12, 1817, and came to America with his parents in 1832. The family settled in Richland county, near Mansfield, O., where his father died in 1833. In 1835 they moved to Sandusky. Mr. Biglin was married to Christine Louise Hornung June 12, 1847. Six of their children are now living: Marie Louise Ernst, John Louis, Louise Schoeneman, Nicolaus, Edward and Augustus Eberhard. Mr. Biglin was a common laborer, and retired from work some years ago, enjoying with his wife, excellent health and a well-deserved rest.
Johannes Hornung and his wife, Anna Maria Reichenecker, emigrated to America with a family of six children in 1833. Rummelsbach, Oberamt T11bingen, Wurtemberg, was their former home. For a short time they lived in Pennsylvania and Richland county, O., and in 1835 moved to Sandusky. Mr. Hornung died of cholera in 1849, and his wife, Anna Maria, in 1850. Five of their children are now living: Johannes, Christiana Biglin, August Wilhelm, Jacob and Albert.
Christopher Daniel. The Daniel family had their former home in Dorndiel, Kreis Tieburg, Hessen Darmstadt. Christopher was born February 25, 1813, and emigrated with his wife, Marie, in 1835, making Sandusky his home in the same year. He was a blacksmith, and worked at his trade in the S. M. and N. R. R. shop till 1849. In the fall of that year he bought the Loffler property on the corner of Market and Fulton streets, and became engaged in the grocery business. His first wife died July 10. 1850. He was married again the following year, and died of cholera at his brother Peter's place in Perkins township on August 3, 1852. His second wife, Veronica, died in 1886. Peter Daniel, his brother, was a tailor by trade; after working a few years at Put in-bay Isle he moved into Perkins township, on a piece of land he had bought. He died in 1880. His wife, Dorothea, is living at this writing.
Jacob Lay, a son of Christian and Barbara (Stein) Lay, was born at Schaffhausen, Baden, in 1814, and came to Sandusky with his wife, Maria Anna Balzmeyer, in 1836. He was the pioneer in Erie county in the brewing business, manufacturing small beer. He kept a grocery store at the corner of Water and Hancock streets, where L. Guth's hotel is now located. He died in the first cholera epidemic of 1849. His three sons, Henry, Jacob and John L.,are engaged in the fishing business, under the firm name of Lay Bros. Christian Lay, the father, died in La Porte, Indiana. Barbara, his wife, died many years ago in the old country,
John Martin Zimmerman was born April 13, 1807, in Buechenau, Oberamt Brugsal, Baden, and crossed the ocean with his life companion, Louise, in the spring of 1834. His wife, Louise, dying on shipboard, found a watery grave a few days before he landed on the shore of this country. He was married to his second wife, Margaretha Fisher, on December 9, 1834, in Sandusky, and enjoyed all the blessings of a happy life with her for nearly fifty years. Of their…
DELCO BATTERY CONTAINER: My sister, Ginny, and her husband Dave Wilkes are preparing to move to another residence. As a result, they are down-sizing. [O-happy Day.] Both have collected antiques for a number of years and pictured is one of those items.
It is a glass container for a “lighting cell” used on farms (I suppose) prior to everyone having readily accessible electricity.
Dave recalled the railroads using similar items in years past. But those he mentioned were round jars that were kept below ground. They had to kept full of water.
This is really an item I never knew about until Dave spoke of it.
One day a man called the church office and said, "Can I speak to the head hog at the trough?"
The secretary thought she heard what he said, but to be sure, she asked, "I'm sorry, who?The man said, "Can I speak to the head hog at the trough?"
She said, "Well, if you mean the pastor, then you may refer to him as 'Pastor,' or 'Brother,' but you may certainly not refer to him as the 'head hog at the trough'!"
The man on the phone said, "Well, I was planning to donate ten thousand dollars to the church's building fund . . ."
The secretary quickly responded, "Hang on, I think the old pig just waddled in!" ;
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, "Grandma's 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.
MARY WAKEFIELD BUXTON'S LATEST BOOK “Tripping: A Writer’s Journeys.” Signed copies of her new book can be purchased for $15.00 at the Southside Sentinel office or by mail by writing Rappahannock Press, Box 546, Urbanna, VA and adding $6.00 to cover mailing costs and tax. Contact:glongest@ssentinel.com.
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
P.O. Box 437
Vermilion, Ohio
44089
Telephone: 440-967-0988 - Cell: 440-522-8397
or you can use PayPal: (NOTE: IT WORKS NOW)
Vol. 18. Issue 3 - March 21, 2020
Archive Issue #888
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© 2017 Rich Tarrant