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HERITAGE HALL HAPPENINGS
by Peg Starcher, President
It seems like just last month I was sending you greetings for the holidays. Where did 2002 go? Life is so busy! My work for our Heritage Society has been rewarding, since things are now well organized. We have a really good group, with Julie Kling, Curator and Janet Stephenson, Archivist, along with a fine, dedicated Board of Trustees. My thanks to all of you. Our museum is now bright with Christmas decorations, hung by John Roth, our Maintenance chairman, and a group of the Antiquarian Club. Yard clean-up at the Caldwell House was done by Gretchen Curtis and helper she hired. Contact Neil Allen to purchase our books; 798-5719. 2002 dues are still being accepted: $10-general,$25-contributing, $35-sustaining, and $60-patron.
As we approach the end of 2002, may we suggest a tax-exempt donation to Lakeside Heritage Society - a 501-c (3) private non-profit corporation dedicated to preserving the living history of Lakeside and the Peninsula area. You may designate the General Fund, Building Fund, or permanent Endowment Fund.
Christmas Love - "He came to pay a debt He didn't owe because we owed a debt we couldn't pay." Happy Christmas to all, and may 2003 be good for you.
NOTES FROM THE ARCHIVES
December 2002
by Janet Stephenson
GIFTS - SUMMER AND FALL 2002
Donations to the Lakeside Heritage Society continue to be received. These gifts help in so many ways the growth in the knowledge and collections of both Heritage Hall and the Archives.
- Framed portrait of Rev. William Nast, an early German Methodist minister and leader of many Lakeside conferences and meetings. Zion United Methodist Church of Toledo, Rev. Frank James
-Slides and photographs of 1940's Lakeside. Ed Fidler
-Mounted cloak hook from the Lakeside School at Seventh Street; plaques and banners from the Lakeside Centennial of 1973; Lakeside pennants. Barbara Stephens-Rich
- Lakeside Association 1943 Account Records for Water Mains, Fire and Police Fund, Streets and Sanitation; 1948 schedule for the LAKESIDE III. Elaine Mellott
- Four books found on the shelves of the W.C.T.U. house when it was razed in 1965. The books are stamped Mother Stewart Collection - Property of the Ohio W.C.T.U. . Mother Stewart spoke at the dedication of the W.C.T.U. house on July 23, 1889; photographs; the book FOUR YEARS IN THE OLD WORLD by Dr. and Mrs. Palmer. Mrs. Palmer was the first woman to speak at Lakeside in the 1870's; booklet THE LAKESIDE METHODIST CHURCH by Sally Sue Witten. Sally Sue Witten
- Framed plaque containing a shirt listing the charter members of the Lakeside Guys Club; papers about the Club members and activities. Lakeside Guys Club
- 1916 Mexican Border Service Medal found in the former home of Jane Knight, a long time Lakeside resident. Gary Lindeman
- Several books of Ohio history and the Lake Erie Islands; a book summarizing the career of Ohio geologist Jane L. Forsyth; several papers on the vascular flora and plants of Lake Erie and western Ohio; A BUCKEYE TITAN, a biography of John H. James, who owned land in Lakeside before 1873 as well as extensive property in Marblehead (part of which is now known as Jamestown a James Park ); notebooks and materials concerning the writing of the book LOST STORIES: YESTERDAY AND TODAY AT PUT-IN-BAY BY Dr. Ronald Stuckey. Ronald Stuckey
- Black and white postcard - Dock scene with the wood dock, containing a message from Lakeside dated August 6, 1909. Carol and John McKinney
- Panoramic photograph taken in front of Epworth Lodge of the West Ohio Division - Second Section of a very large group of Epworth Leaguers, August 18-24,1930. Henrietta Young
- Photographs of the Hotel Lakeside in 2002 (before repainting); photographs of the Pavilion in 1988. Dick Davey
- Conference Bulletins for the East Ohio Conference 2002. Doris Bright
- List of Danbury (Lakeside) High School graduates 1892-1992. These names will help greatly in identifying names and dates in many of the photographs in our collection. Maryanne Laubner
- Clipped articles about Lakeside and Chautauqua, New York from the CLEVELAND LEADER of Summer 1883. These daily articles reported on the programs, speakers, and daily activities at Lakeside. They are of great value as we had very little information and no programs books for 1883. Further, a comparison of the programs at Lakeside and Chautauqua show that many of the participants appeared in both places with similar messages. David Glick
- Scrapbooks, cards, postcards, and grade cards of Effie Clemons of Marblehead from the late 1890's through the early 1900's. Betty L. Clemens Leonard
 LAKESIDE IN DECEMBER OF 2002
As we continue our tradition of recording the ever-changing face of Lakeside, we must note that dark and cool weather came early this year with nothing that could be called Indian Summer. The leaves were late in falling and as we write this on December 3, many of them now lie under several inches of snow. But most importantly, Lakeside completely escaped the tornado of November 10 which caused major damage in nearby Port Clinton and Catawba Island.
In spite of the weather, construction continues. There is hardly a block in which a contractor is not busy. Many of this year's cottages will be greatly expanded by next season. The only completely new house of which we are aware is on the southeast corner of Fifth and Elm. The most exciting project in town this fall is the restoration of the former Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad depot which was originally constructed during the winter of 1886-87. Earlier this fall, the cement blocks that had enclosed the west end of the station were removed, thus restoring the area to a roofed open air platform. Next a new cement block foundation was built under the entire building. Since then work is progressing on the interior restoration of the enclosed part of the depot. When completed, the restored station will provide year-round space for conferences, picnics, farmers' markets and wedding receptions. It will include rest rooms, a kitchenette and a multi-media meeting room that can accommodate up to one hundred people.
A little less obvious is the work going on at historic Hotel Lakeside, both in the outside courtyard and inside the Maple Avenue addition of 1890. A new auto entrance is being installed in the courtyard which by next summer should be a thing of beauty. Inside, the entire first floor of the Maple wing has been gutted and larger new air conditioned, handicappedaccessible rooms will greet next year"s guests.
Almost overlooked is the newly opened extension of Jasmine Avenue into what was formerly south Lakeside, more popularly known as "Killgrubin." Now only one house remains outside the south fence of the "Holy City."
As is our custom, we also record the recent deaths of people known to Lakesiders:
**Rev. Frank Phillips Ellis, died on October 20, 2002. Following a stint as a jet pilot in the U.S. Air Force, he graduated from Drew Theological Seminary and became a pastor in the West Ohio United Methodist Conference. In 1995 he retired to Lakeside where he had properties at 537 Vine Avenue and 508 East Second Street.
**Mary Jeannette (Pugh) Gardner, died on October 6, 2002 at her Lakeside cottage at 236 Cedar Avenue. She was a retired elementary school teacher from Canal Winchester, OH.
**David W. Peckinpaugh, 80, died on October 22, 2002 in Ann Arbor, MI. He was one of the original "Five Pecks" of 425 Lakefront where the family has owned a cottage for many, many years. For 38 years he was vice president of the Bartley Company, a Toledo provision company founded by his great grandfather in 1872, the year before Lakeside's first camp meeting.
**George W. White, 70, died on October 5, 2002. He was a retired pharmacist from Leipsic, OH who enjoyed summers at his cottage at 217 Sycamore Avenue.
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Esther Marting Berger of Olmsted Falls, OH wrote on November 15:
"I wonder how many people have straightened out the mixup of the Unnewehrs family in the follow-up in the June 2002 Manifest? My good friend, Alice Cromwell, had it quite wrong. Lew Unnewehr's father and my mother, Lenora Unnewehr were brother and sister. Lenora married Rev. Albert Marting, they are my parents. I am now the owner of their cottage, 643 Jasmine ... My grandparents, Louis and Lena Unnewehr came to the German camp meetings at Lakeside in the early 1900's from Bateville, Indiana."
We thank Mrs. Berger for this correction. It goes without saying that we always welcome corrections and added information.
Back in our issue for April 2000 we said that the "Stone School" at Walnut and Seventh was actually made of the interesting cement blocks that were cast by the Kelly Island Lime and Transport Company in a plant in Marblehead. Now George McCormick has convinced us that the building is indeed made of local limestone and is truly the Stone School. George should know as he is a geologist ... At the present time the old school is tightly boarded up, awaiting, with hope, its eventual restoration.
Over the years people have used a variety of forms of transportation to reach our resort and we have reported, we thought, on them all. But now an item which lacks identification other then a date of 1878 has turned up in the Archives:
"Mr. P.E. Andrews, of this place, will make an excursion to Lakeside on the Fourth, for the accommodation of those wishing to attend the celebration at that place. The tug BISCAYNE will tow a large scow to Oak Harbor on the evening of the third, and leave that place at 6:30 on the morning of the Fourth; Port Clinton at 9 o'clock, and arrive at Lakeside at I I A.M. The scow will be trimmed up in good shape and will accommodate two or three hundred passengers. This will be an excellent opportunity for those desiring to spend the day at Lakeside. The fare for the round trip, from Oak Harbor is only $ 1, and 50 cents from Port Clinton. All are invited."
Ye Ed can not help but think of a few questions about this five and a half hour voyage: Do you suppose they carried 300 life preservers? What happened if they hit rough water while rounding Catawba Island? Did they have port a potties in those days? Finally, what would the Coast Guard think about this today?
Most Lakesiders know and some even remember that on July 10, 1940 Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of the President, spoke to a packed house at what was then Central Auditorium. But did you know that at that time the First Lady was also writing a nationally syndicated column entitled "My Day" and that the next day she wrote:
"New York City, Thursday-Lakeside, 0., where I spoke yesterday is very like Chautauqua in New York state. It is run by the Methodist church people, and offers a religious program as well as many other types of educational and pleasurable entertainment. The location on Lake Erie is very beautiful and the opportunity for sports and out-of-door recreation must make it a haven for many families."
"The auditorium holds about 4,000 people, but they have smaller auditoriums which are turned over to the young people for meetings. This is a favorite meeting place for groups of the Epworth League. The Northern Ohio Federation of Women's Clubs was holding its meetings there, and the head of the Toledo club came to see me."
"Perhaps I am wrong in feeling that a great many of our women are still living in the world which they hope exists, rather than in the world which really does exist today. They are still talking of world peace and what we can do to bring about peace in this world, in the hope that it can be accomplished at the present time and in the same way that peace groups have worked for many years."
"This is discouraging to me, for I feel that our situation in the world is so completely changed that old methods and old approaches must be changed in order to meet it. However, I hope sincerely that I am wrong and that we may not be facing as serious a situation as seems indicated by recent events."
"I was impressed yesterday by the interest that people are taken in giving homes to refugee children. A young woman, who has started a nursery school in Toledo, came in to tell me that she would attempt to raise money to support a group of refugee children in her school, and she and her colleagues would donate their care. This seemed to me a very generous offer for a very small nursery school which is just getting on its feet. I hope she will be able to find people to sponsor some children, for she seems to have a very good plant' "
"Some members of the Sandusky Altrusa Club came in to present me with a very beautiful corsage bouquet. On every hand friendly people waited to greet me, which is always a pleasant experience."
"We drove to Cleveland after the lecture, some 75 miles, but the road was good and we had an hour in a hotel to rest before we took a plane to New York City. This is the first time, I think, that I have been on a night plane and failed to see the sun rise, but I was so sleepy that it did not matter to me in the least when and how the sun rose. I slept until the stewardess awakened me to say that we would be in New York City in 15 minutes."
"Today seems to me fairly warm and I shall be glad when our New York City appointments are over and we wend our way back to the country."
Please remember that at the time when Mrs. Roosevelt wrote this, World War II had been raging in Europe for almost a year but that her readers were still hoping that the U.S. could stay out of it. Alas, this was not to be.
Since we are talking about Lakeside being mentioned by newspaper columnists, observant readers of Roberta De Boer in the November 2, 2002 Toledo Blade may have noted that our skunks made that big city newspaper:
"My family spends time each summer at a small lakefront chautauqua on the Marblehead Peninsula." (Ed's note: Do you know of any other Chautauquas on the Peninsula?)
"This summer, for the first time in years, I noticed lots of skunks during our nightly walks."
"One evening, we saw three skunks in just half an hour. One was waddling down the street, one was crossing someone's yard, and another loitered beneath a street light."
"One night as I sat on the porch, I looked out into the yard and saw a mother skunk and her three babies in a leisurely, single-file excursion."
"I have to admit, some nights I didn't look forward to the after-dinner stroll, largely because I don't know much about skunks-I mean, aside from the fact that they could drench us with Eau de Pole Cat."
"No, my summer encounter with skunks didn't motivate me to learn more about this animal."
"It took Maumee to do that."
What brought Ms. De Boer to this point was an exchange of news and letters to the editors following the City of Maumee's announcement they had contracted a company to trap and execute without due process that city's numerous skunks. Naturally, this raised the ire of the animal rights folks.
Since the Manifest has taken upon itself to supplement its reporting of history with "state of the town" reports, we thought we should update this story with an interview with Phil Edwards who has been on midnights for the resort's Security Department on and off all fall. He reports that on his first night shift in September he counted 11 skunks but that lately two is the most he has encountered on any given night. But, in keeping with other Lakeside traditions, such as never selling raffle ticket-just opportunities, we have to assume that there will be
no official announcement on the disappearance of many of our cute, loveable furry, black and white creatures. Phil did report spotting a red fox at Peach and Fifth the other night so possibly nature is precluding the necessity for human intervention. Anyway, it is nice to know that our skunks made the Blade.
A further report on our wildlife-the four-legged kind, not what goes on in the cottages: Deer sighting has been extremely rare this year, possibly because of all the work going on in the south part of the grounds. However, early this fall a large doe was killed by an automobile on Route 163 almost in front of the Lakeside Maintenance Building.
Getting back to history, when the new steamer LAKESIDE came out in 1901 it was announced that in deference to her namesake town, she would not sport the customary bar and that no spirits of any kind would be served aboard her. Although the steamer B.F. FERRIS was the regular boat serving Lakeside for many years (1 873-1889) she was apparently not a "dry" vessel. The Cleveland Leader for August 18, 1883 reported:
"Burglars went through the bar-room of the steamer FERRIS at Catawaba Island last night and stole about $20 in money and some cigars and whisky."
An article from an unidentified newspaper dated April 7, 1939 in the Grace Luebke Local History Room of the Harris Elmore Public Library:
"Many Lakeside residents are of the opinion that the resort has a haunted house or something. Since late fall, people passing the Rev. J.H. Butler cottage, comer of Fourth Street and Vine Avenue, especially at night, have heard radio music and other programs coming from the closed house. On several occasions, night watchman Philip Lynch has secured the key to the house and turned off the radio, but before long it goes into action again. The mystery is still a mystery as to the how and why of the performance, but leave it to a passerby that it is rather 'spooky' to be making one's way home late on a rainy night and hear the 'Umbrella Man' coming from the supposedly unoccupied house."
How many of our readers remember Rev. John Harding Butler the author of Lakeside's 75th Anniversary history or Phil Lynch the real estate man who doubled as night watchman? The cottage in question was later Rev. Butler's retirement home and is now owned by Ward and Suzanne Hines.
Until this summer the year of 1883 at Lakeside remained a mystery. No copy of that year's programs has surfaced. But, thanks to John Polacsek of Detroit's Dossin marine Museum, we were able to borrow a bound volume of the Cleveland Leader for that entire summer and we were delighted with what we found! That daily newspaper had a reporter on the grounds whenever there were meetings taking place. So, almost every day there was a column and often more about Lakeside and it sometimes appeared on the front page. Permit us to share what we found.
July 7: "People are already beginning to arrive at Lakeside to attend the summer meetings. The Sunday-school encampment opens on the 24th, and the camp meeting on August 8
July 13: "The 123 Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, will hold its annual reunion at Lakeside, on August 6 and 7."
July 15: "Rechab Tandy, the tenor, of this city (Cleveland), has been appointed musical director at Lakeside during the encampment there. He will also conduct the musical department at Grimsly, Ontario, Canada (the Chautauqua of Ontario), this season, and in addition to these engagements, is announced to fill the position of solo tenor at Chautauqua during the Sunday-school Assembly."
July 18: "The Sunday-school encampment at Lakeside for the present season opens on next Tuesday, the 24th. The Hotel is now open for the reception of guests, and the grounds, tabernacle, etc., are being put in readiness for the opening meeting The re regular camp meeting opens on August 8. The services of some of he most noted divines and Christian workers have been secured, and the meetings promise to be of unusual interest and productive of great good."
July 20: 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 very few cases of extravagance or extortion are heard of. Almost anything a person wants can be purchased on the grounds, both in the 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.
To Be Continued...
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