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HERITAGE HALL HAPPENINGS
by Peg Starcher
Writing "March" makes me think "Spring", but what's that white stuff still allover Lakeside? .... and a low of near zero again tonight!??
My work as President has been much easier this year: a dedicated Board of Trustees who are so helpful, and a Curator in place, along with our capable Archivist.
Julie Ming is excited about starting another season! She was installed as the minister at St. John Lutheran Church in Marblehead, which is a part-time position, permitting her to still work at our museum. She has purchased a home here.
I was invited to be the Linking Person between the Program Committee of the Lakeside Board of Trustees and our Lakeside Historical Society. As such, I have voting privileges on that committee, and this maintains better communication between the Board and organizations which are part of the Lakeside Family. I attended the Program meeting on Feb. 7 and was invited also to have dinner with the Board.
We plan to have representatives attend a regional workshop in Kenton 3/15 for ideas on "Conservation Tips for Shoestring Budgets" and "Accession Do's and Dont's".
Gretchen Curtis celebrated her 80th Birthday and is still running circles around many of us! She has submitted the 2003 Schedule for Sunday afternoon programs at Orchestra Hall:
- 6/22- Remarkable Ohioans-Eden Valley
- 6/27- Lakeside-1900-1950-Dr. Sally Sue Witten
- 7/6- Johnny Appleseed-Alan Wigton
- 7/13- The State With Eight-Dr. Phil Shriver
- 7/20- Ohio-Immigrants & Ethnic Diversity-Dr. Dale Knobel 7/27- Ohio-How We Learned to Govern Ourselves-Judge Charles Kurfess
- 8/3- Ice Cream Social
- 8/10- Historic/Modern Chautauquas: McDonaldization of Society-Dr. Eldon Snyder
- 8/17- Johnson's Island-Another Story-Roger Long
These will be outstanding programs to celebrate her farewell to this position, and I've told her she will be a hard act to follow!
However, she already has a listing of future possibilities. If anyone "out there" has an interest in this, please let us know.
"Taste of the Peninsula" weekend will occur April 26 & 27. Steve Bemiller, our Antique Specialist, serves on our Board of Trustees. He is so willing to share his expertise, gained from his 31 years with Garth Auctions of Delaware, to help us raise funds. Steve will hold our second "Antique Road Show" on Sat., April 26 in the North room of Wesley Lodge, from I I a.m. til 2 p.m. He will be happy to appraise antiques at $5 each. (If your items are too large to bring, you may use a photo for the appraisal.) All proceeds go to the Heritage Society
I urge you to come for the whole weekend! Many other activities will occur, including the Classic Car Show at N. Shore Retirement Center, Craft Show in S. Auditorium, fish fry, tour of Wolcott House, movie at Orchestra Hall, and the "Business Run" which gives you a chance to win $2000.
Dr. David Bush, retired professor at Heidelberg College, is in charge of archeological digs on Johnson's Island. He has shown interest in sharing items with our museum.
NEWS FLASH! On 3/5 a fire occurred in our R.R. Depot. Cause yet unknown. We are so thankful for our Lakeside Volunteer Fire Dept. who arrived so quickly! Asst. Chief said that if they came 5 minutes later, the whole bldg. would have been destroyed! So sad this happened when renovation would have been completed by end of April.
LAKESIDE IN WINTER - 2003
From all reports, this has been an "Old Tyme" winter with much snow and cold weather. But apparently the town and its "burgers" have weathered it without major problems.
On New Year's Eve, 1952, members of the then Lakeside Methodist Episcopal Church gathered at what was then Ladies Aid Hall, the building which had been their Chapel from 1875 until 1900 and is today the Heritage Hall Museum. From there they formed a candlelight procession to their brand new brick church at Central Avenue and Fifth Street. In so doing, the congregation returned to the site of their first brick church which had served them from 1900 until it was destroyed by fire in 1929. The 1952 procession could well have started from Orchestra Hall which had served as their "temporary church" from 1929 through 1952, but instead they chose to return to their roots at the little wooden Chapel on Maple Avenue.
This past New Year's Eve, history repeated itself when the congregation, now known as the Lakeside United Methodist Church, after a supper in Wesley Lodge, once again lighted candles and marched across Fifth Street to begin a yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of their "new" brick building and the 170th year of Methodist presence on the Marblehead Peninsula.
Reports from Lakeside indicate that restoration of the 1887 Lakeside & Marblehead Railroad depot is moving along on schedule work and that those who see it in the spring will be impressed by the workmanship involved.
At the October 12 meeting of the Lakeside Property Owners Association, Joe Caner reported that the Lakeside trustees have approved the conversion of the Same Time Next Year into a 13-unit condominium. The Maple Avenue building in which they are to be housed dates from June of 1885 when Rev. and Mrs. Jesse Richard opened the Richard's House. It has seen many changes over the years. Now, at age 118 it will host Lakeside's first condominiums.
As our regular readers know, it is our custom to report recent deaths of people known at Lakeside. There may be some truth to the old saying, "green winter, full graveyard" since we have found only one passing during this snow-covered winter and he was not actually at Lakeside.
JEROME HINES, 81 died on February 4, 2003 in New York City. The famed basso was a mainstay of the Metropolitan Opera for 41 seasons, singing 868 performances in 45 roles, not only a record for the Met but also perhaps the longest career in leading roles of any artist in the history of opera. He first sang at Lakeside on July 6, 1957 and then returned to sing with the Symphony on August 16, 1975 and August 17, 1985. His obituary states that he had a "born again" experience at Chautauqua, New York, in 1972. Lakesiders can attest to this as after both his 1975 and 1985 visits he stayed over to deliver the Sunday sermon at Hoover Auditorium.
FOLLOW-UP: We wish to thank Don Caldwell for providing additional information on things that were mentioned in last September's MANIFEST:
"In regard to the DINER that was placed on Route 163 beside the Danbury High School in 1947, Don says that it was still there in the spring of 1949. Can anyone tells us when it was removed and where it went?
"In regard to the DEACONESS COTTAGE at 223 Peach Avenue. "My great aunt Jennie Jones, a school principal from Toledo owned the cottage, later passing it to Daisy Caldwell and then to her daughters. I am sure we came there in 1931." Since the records in the Archives show that the Deaconess Hospital of Cincinnati owned it until 1936, in later years they apparently rented it to others.
**In regard to CHARLES EAGLE PLUME who was mentioned on August 16, 1935 in Rev. Rudin's diary: "He was from Toledo and a personal friend of my Dad, Bill Caldwell. He was connected with the Toledo YMCA's Friendly Indian Program for boys, ages nine through eleven, similar to Cub Scouts. He came back to Lakeside in the '40's to put on a program for the Cub Scout pack led by my Dad when they had their annual Indian 'Pow-Wow'. He also danced at the Toledo Boy Scout Camp, Camp Miakonda. There are pictures of him at the Lakeside School in the Cub/Scout case in Heritage Hall."
**In regard to the ORANGE FOUNT/POP CORN STAND: "Laura Jo Dalton, who has a cottage at 317 West Second Street, worked at the Orange Fount and Pop Corn Stand--they were connected. The Fount sold orange juice by the glass and in pint and quart containers that looked like megaphones. I drank a lot of it! At one time the stands were run by Carroll Capes who was also the butcher at Carroll Brothers Market. The stand sold sandwiches, ice cream, pop corn and later donuts. One of the local pastimes was to buy a box of pop corn, eat it, sit down by the Pavilion and put a rock in the box, put it on the sidewalk and wait for an Epworth Leaguer to come along and kick it and be surprised-along with a sore toe."
We continue with the almost daily reports from the Cleveland Leader which had a reporter here for the entire season of 1883, a year for which we previously had almost no information.
July 19: "Toledo, July 18 - Toledoans will have the benefit of a new route to Lakeside this season via the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad to Huron, thence by steamer AMERICAN EAGLE to Lakeside. The route will be opened on Monday next."
July 20: "Lakeside, July 18 - The recent hot weather is causing quite a rush of people to this delightful summer resort. Although the season is somewhat later than usual in opening, because of the cool and wet summer, yet now the tide has set in toward these shores, and each boat ... brings people with all the paraphernalia of camp life and watering place."
"Lakeside is very favorably situated for coolness and healthfulness... The surface is a series of beautiful terraces, gracefully rising from the lake for a distance of half a mile, covered with a growth of fine young trees. The soil is dry and everywhere underlaid with rock which in some places appears above the surface... There are now about two hundred and seventy-five cottages here, cottages so called being houses of quality, ranging from the plain board tent to elegant residences. The place takes every year more and more the character of a city, excepting in the streets."
"The hotel is quite a creditable one and is well conducted by Mrs. Baldridge, of Cincinnati, whose experience and taste make the house quite satisfactory to the public. In these summer hotels there is a to-be-expected noise and confusion not found in the well-conducted, city hotel. The place abounds in lodging halls, cottages, or houses, built with reference to taking in guests to sleep, but not to board. Two good large dining halls, and boarding houses and lunch stands furnish meals of quality and prices to suit all tastes and purses. Prices are reasonable at the hotel and all other places, being generally regulated by the management, and a very few cases of extravagance or extortion are heard of. Almost anything a person wants can be purchased on the grounds, both in line of furnishings and provisions. Many cottagers live just as they do at home. While others take meals at the hotel or dining hall, Nearly all the conveniences of home life are enjoyed here, as post office, express, telegraph, store of a general assortment, grocery, vegetables, meat and milk market, book-store, news-stand, ice, water works, electric light, June flies, but no mosquitoes."
"For several years the pride and boast of Lakeside has been the large auditorium, seating nearly 3,000 people, with a good roof and open sides. This season another has been built by the association for the use of the Germans, who have a share in the enterprise, and it was not built on the principle of 'slighting the Dutch,' for the new one is better than the old. The dock has had an addition of more than a hundred feet in length and a foot in height, reaching deeper water and
making landing better in time of storms. New cottages are running up in manyy places, ornamentation of the grounds are being made, a thing much neglected heretofore.. "
"The Sunday-school Encampment opens next Tuesday evening, July 23, at 7 p.m., with songs and addresses, followed with magnificent balloons and bon-fires .... Wednesday will be admirably filled with regular standard exercises of the Assembly and three lectures, by Dr. Angell, of Michigan University, on 'China and the Chinese,' Frank Beard's panorama, and Dr. Stocking, of Detroit, on 'Queens Elizabeth and Mary.' On Thursday, among other attractions, will be Dr. Talmage, of Brooklyn on 'Bright and Happy Homes."
"Dr. John H. Vincent is Superintendent of the Assembly, and his brother, B.T. Vincent, the conductor."
The column is signed "Ajax" who was apparently the Leader's on-the-scene reporter.
Just a few comments: This gives us a verbal description of Lakeside just a year before Hare's famous aerial-view lithograph .... In 1883 the grounds extended from Oak to Cedar Avenues. The Lakeside Company had already purchased the land from Vine to Poplar Avenues but there was little development there as the Boalts still owned the land, also almost undeveloped, from Jasmine to Laurel Avenues.... The Hotel Lakeside consisted of the main building plus the Annex which was a separate building in the rear. The two were not connected until 1890 when the Maple Avenue addition was built .... Of the two dining halls mentioned, one was located at Second and Walnut Avenues where the Patio Restaurant is today, and the other on Fifth Street near Cedar Avenue .... The "nearly 3,000" seating capacity of the old wooden auditorium may have been a bit of an exaggeration .... The "new auditorium" is the present South Auditorium .... The "new .. ornamentations" included the rockeries and fountain (which, although long dry, still remains) on the "triangle" between Maple and Walnut Avenues .... Dr. John H. Vincent, was, of course, the co-founder of the Chautauqua Movement.
July 25: "Lakeside, July 23 ... People have arrived by every boat, giving the grounds an animated appearance, and indicate a most delightful season. The wires are up for the electric light, and the lawns and groves will soon be as beautiful at night as they are by the light of day. Taste and beauty are in general taking the place of great plainness of former days, yet affairs are so arranged that people in moderate circumstances can stay here at almost as small expense as they can live at home. "The hotel is having good patronage under the management of Mrs. Baldridge...
"The view of lake and distant islands, of parks and spouting fountains, of beds of bright, sweet flowers, with the stir of this little city in the woods, has taken from the piazzas of the hotel, can scarcely be excelled by any water place in the country. Cottages are nearly all occupied by owners and those who rent rooms in them, and groups of happy children are seen playing in the parks and along the beach. Croquet is the principal exercise in the parks, while bathing, boating, and fishing are the delights furnished by the waters of Lake Erie."
"The Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad has struck a good thing by employing the steamer AMERICAN EAGLE to run in connection with their trains from Huron to Put-in-Bay daily, touching at Lakeside both ways. She leaves Huron at 10:15 a.m., reaches Lakeside at 11:45, and Put-in-Bay in time to connect with Toledo, Detroit, and Cleveland boats. Returning she leaves the islands at 2, lands passengers soon after at Lakeside and reaches Huron in time for the trains."
"The steamer FERRIS is run by Captain A.J. Fox, and connects with trains at Sandusky, making three trips daily to this place."
"Some day in the not too distant future the Lake Shore Company, or some other road will make a good thing by running regular trains to the place from Port Clinton."
"Some of the stars on the programme are illuminating theses shades (sic) with the light of countenances, but tomorrow will be the day of great arrivals..."
"The sweet strains of vocal and instrumental music that float out from one of the cottages on the park soon indicate that as siren cottage of Professor T. C. O'Kane and family, of Delaware. He led the singing, and conducted a review of the lesson in the Sabbath-school here yesterday...
"Among the late arrivals are Professor Perkins, of the Ohio Wesleyan University, and his wife, who came to recruit awhile. Many teachers and college students are here to rest and recuperate their energies for another year."
"The question is raised whether there will be 'gas' enough to-morrow night (at the opening speeches) to light up all the grounds. Perhaps there will be if it be illuminating gas."
Notes: It is interesting to note that croquet is already being played in the park... The arrival of steam trains as anticipated by the reporter, took place four years later, but it was by the Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad rather than the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern ... The Perkins Observatory just south of Delaware is named for Professor Perkins ... Although Lakeside's own system of Brush electric arc lamps illuminated the park and auditorium, some thought that natural gas provided better light. Several wells were drilled and although some gas was found, none were considered successful.
July 26: "AUSPICIOUS OPENING OF THE ENCAMPMENT Lakeside, July 25- True to expectations the opening of the Lakeside Sunday School Encampment, last night, was very largely attended and a fine success. This was expected with Dr. J.H. Vincent as superintendent and his brother, B.T., as conductor. The continued storm all day Tuesday made a very gloomy prospect for the opening, and the waves beat so high boats could not land. But people came, the boats landing at Fox's dock, in the bay, and were brought across the peninsula by teams generously provided by the Lakeside managers. Conductor Vincent said there were never so many people at the opening as this year. Preparations at the grounds were well in hand, the electric lights brilliant, the auditorium beautifully decorated, and the large audience delighted with the auspicious opening."
...... Professor R. Tandy, of Cleveland, has charge of the music assisted by an orchestra and choir, mostly from Cleveland, with all the singers who can be gathered up and drilled on the grounds. Those who were sorely disappointed that Professor Case would not lead the music
this year again are well pleased now with Professor Tandy ......
"Mr. Vincent led in a responsive Scripture service, and Rev. E.Y. Warner, of Mansfield offered prayer. Various persons, representing various features and interests of Lakeside, made brief addresses, among them S.R.Gill, secretary of the association, who can 'not 'elocute" as well as execute; Rev. Mr. Hart, president of Lakeside alumni; Rev. Mr. Love, blackboard artist; Rev. J.A. Worden, conductor of the first Lakeside encampment six years ago, a normal teacher this year.. The leading speeches of the evening were by Rev. Dr. Stocking, a rector of an Episcopal church, Detroit, and Chancellor Angell of Michigan University. Dr. Angell and Professor Tandy are here for the first time .... By the close the storm had subsided, and the stars looked
down, apparently rejoicing with the people on the happy scene' "
"It was a glorious night for sleep .... The bells call at 6 a.m. to the duties of the day, and after 10 p.m. all on the grounds must keep quiet for the night.... The scream of a boat whistle this morning at 5:30 was the first to break the rule." "The work of the programme was well carried out today, only that Frank Beard, 'Phunny Phrank,' who was to give a panorama today, asked to be put on a few days later."
Included in the day's activities were:
- 8 a.m.: Children's classes by Mrs. B. T. Vincent
- 9 a.m.: Normal classes
- 10 a.m. Choir rehearsal in the auditorium
- 11 a.m. Lecture by Chancellor Angell on "China and the Chinese:' 2:30 p.m. Lecture by Dr. Stocking on "Rome."
- 4 p.m. Instruction in primary teaching by Mrs. Crafts.
- 5 p.m. Explanation of the model of the Tabernacle by Rev. Taneyhill "...in the evening Rev. Dr. Stocking...gave a splendid lecture to a large audience on St. Peter's at Rome. Soon after he began the electric light went out, but lamps on the rostrum enabled the lecture to go on."
"A man named Miller died here this evening. He came here sick some weeks ago. Crowds came on the evening boats and the interest increases' "
July 27: "Lakeside, July 26- Another day of fine weather and successful work ... Half a dozen and more boats came today, all crowded with people. Then there were a number of excursions, adding immensely to the crowds already here ...... Many commercial men now run in here from the surrounding cities and towns to spend Sunday, and people visit here from almost every State in the Union. An air of restfulness and strict morality pervades the place. Not a drop of any intoxicating drinks has ever been sold on the grounds except by stealth."
There follows detailed descriptions of the day's programs and classe:.
"The 11 o'clock hour, usually the best hour of the day here for work was occupied by Professor J.F. Wright, of Oberlin College in a lecture on 'Vestiges of the Glacial Period .. .... The Professor was dressed in plain business blue, with short coat and shoes fitted for his work, for
ever since he came on the peninsula he has been digging and delving, gathering and arranging specimens in his favorite line of study, and finds this country one of the richest in geological facts, as he said when exhibiting some of the gatherings of this morning. The splendid rocks all along the lake at this point are grooved with the plow of glaciers so as to leave the most distinct proofs on the speaker's theme to-day ......
"There was a perfect rush to the lecture of Dr. Talmage, at 2 o'clock, on 'Bright and Happy Homes.' The vast auditorium was crowded to the utmost, aisles and platform were full, and many stood up all around ......
Notes: This was Professor Wright's first visit to Lakeside but far from his last. At that time there were many glacial groves on the peninsula and he was the first to explore them in detail. Today most of the groves have been quarried out except for the classic examples that are being preserved on Kelley's Island .... Dr. Thomas DeWitt Talmage, a Presbyterian, headed the largest Protestant congregation in the nation, The Brooklyn Tabernacle. His sermons were syndicated in 3,600 newspapers. He returned to Lakeside a number of times.
To Be Continued...
With this picture [will be added to website very soon] we are asking for help from our readers. It obviously pictures a group of children and their teachers. Children's work was a big part of the program of instruction at Lakeside at least as far back as the late 1870's. The reverse side gives, us a little information. On it is printed "Scenery of Lakeside and Vicinity - Platt, Landscape and Portrait Photographer, Galleries at Lakeside and Sandusky, 0." Handwriting on the reverse reads, "Kindergarten, Part of the Bible Study." Other than attempting to date the photograph and identify the people, what really has us guessing is its location. The children are seated on at least seven steps that lead to what appears to be a blank wall. But on closer examination, we notice a crack toward the right side of the wall and suspect that the wall may actually be made up of barn doors that might open on tracks. So what could the building have been? After 1887 most of the children's work was held in Bradley Temple but these steps do not match up with early photos of that building. Could there have been a building for which we have never seen a picture., The 1883 newspaper reports mention children's work at the" Tabernacle." A 55 by 70 foot Tabernacle was mentioned in 1876 but we have always assumed that it was a rented tent that was used before the first section of the wooden Auditorium was built in 1878. Could the location of the photo have been on the Third Street side of the Auditorium on steps that led to the platform? The Auditorium itself was originally built at ground level but the platform was elevated.
The 1883 newspaper accounts also mention a Pavilion but have always thought that this referred to the Boat House that stood just to the west of the dock before the big Pavilion was built in 1909.
We will be interested to see if any of our readers have ideas about this picture.
NOTES FROM THE ARCHIVEs
by Janet Stephenson
Gifts and additions - Winter 2002-2003
Book - BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ARCHIVAL GUIDE TO THE
WRITINGS OF EDWIN LINCOLN MOSELEY - compiled by Ronald L. Stuckey with the assistance of Relda E. Niederhofer; recent issues of LIGHTHOUSE DIGEST --Ronald Stuckey
Papers and minutes of the Lakeside Property Owners Association, along with Lakeside Associations minutes and reports- 1980's- 1990's -- Joe Brucken
Book - MARTHA'S VINEYARD CAMP MEETING ASSOCIATION 1835-1985 by Sally Dagnall -- Sally Dagnall
Postcard folder and envelope- Lake Erie Vacationland Views by Gibbs Studio, Lakeside, Ohio -- Patti Ward-Ratcliffe
The following books for Ottawa County history and genealogy are now available for research
- The heritage of Port Clinton, Ohio
- Cemetery inscriptions of Ottawa County, Ohio
- Marriages from the Probate Court, Ottawa County, Ohio 1840-1890 - Death records from the Probate Court, Ottawa County, Ohio 186-1908
- Death notices - Ottawa County News, Port Clinton, Ohio V. 1 1937-957
- Death notices - Ottawa County News, Port Clinton, Ohio V.2 1958-969
- Death notices - Port Clinton News Herald V, 3 1969-1983
- An almost complete run of MARSHLAND TO HEARTLAND, the newsletter of the Ottawa County Genealogical Society January 1987- date
OTTAWA COUNTY ON PAGE AND STAGE is presented by the Lake Erie Islands Historical Society, the Lakeside Heritage Society, the Ida Rupp Public Library of Port Clinton, and the Ottawa County Historical Society. This is an Ohio Bicentennial Project which has collected dozens of oral history interviews "representing a splendid diversity - the farmlands, islands, peninsulas, towns, villages, tourist destinations, and Lake Erie itself."
Our Ottawa County group, with its oral histories, has joined with other historical groups of northwest Ohio to present a special series of performances entitled FROM HERE: A CENTURY OF VOICES FROM OHIO. Visiting eight communities, FROM HERE will offer a glimpse of life in Ohio throughout the last one hundred years. Ottawa County's presentation will be June 14, 2003, in Port Clinton at the Performing Arts Center at Port Clinton High School - both afternoon and evening performances.
In conjunction with the stage presentation, a published collection of our Ottawa County oral histories, including those from Lakeside and the Marblehead Peninsula, will be released in the Spring. Volume I THE PEOPLE OF OTTAWA COUNTY. HOW WE GOT HERE: WHAT WE DID is a compilation of excerpts from dozens of interviews, taped, transcribed, and edited by volunteers, augmented by many old photographs.
The pre-publication price of this almost 100 page, soft cover book is $ 10. Pick-up dates at the public libraries in Port Clinton, Oak Harbor, and Elmore and the Lakeside Heritage Society Archives will be announced later. If you want the book mailed, please add $3 for shipping and handling costs.
To order, send your check payable to the Ottawa County Historical Society to Richard Taylor, President, 23685 West Walbridge Road, Curtice, Ohio 43412
The Board of Trustees of the Lakeside Heritage Society has approved a new Archives project for 2003. We hope to develop a group of family collections that will tell the story of Lakeside and its families.
The family portfolio could contain a collection of reminiscences, stories, papers, photographs of Lakeside families. Included might be
- How many generations
- What cottages
- Contributions of family members (club, offices, performances) Jobs (local)
- Special interests in Lakeside activities - Lakeside's influence on the family
- The family's part in Lakeside's story
- Whatever else - you know your family best
This would be the family's project from great grandmother to grandson, all involved and adding to the story - even with a view to the next generation knowing and wanting to add their part to it and learn from it. The Archives will assist with any documentation or assistance needed to compile everything into a Family Collection. A box for each family's collection will become a permanent part of the Lakeside Heritage Society Archives. As we obtain these collections, we could make a visual presentation at the Archives or Heritage Hall.
If you would like to consider this a project for your family or to discuss your ideas or suggestions, please contact me at the Archives.
Email heritage@ infinet.corn
419-798-5519
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