November-December - Amherst Historical Society

The Grindstone
November/December 2013
Recognition Picnic for Amherst Historical Society 2012 Volunteers
September 7, 2013
Volunteers enjoying picnicking and socializing under
brightly colored tents on the village grounds.
President, Bob Pallante, with 2012 Volunteer of the Year,
Kay Clark. Kay, a long-time member, volunteers her
talents to the management and seasonal decorating of the
Harris-Dute House.
A Note of Thanks
Our organization recently honored its volunteers with a picnic to thank us for our labors. Because it is the
season to be thankful, I’m going to do a turn-about. I want to thank the Amherst Historical Society for being
here when I most needed it.
When I became a widow (and also a retiree) in 1987, I had already chalked up quite a few volunteer hours
since 1973. Now that I suddenly had more time, I could devote more time to the society. I used this
opportunity to do the many creative jobs that were limited in my office jobs of the past. At last, in my element,
I could give speeches, act, write articles, scripts, design and sew costumes, do research, plan and arrange
programs, be a tour guide; all this working with some great people. Where else could I have found this
opportunity?
I hope that others looking for this fulfillment of liking their work will try volunteering. The Amherst
Historical Society needs you and maybe you’ll find you needed the organization.
Thank you, Amherst Historical Society.
Sincerely,
Vivienne R. Bickley
President’s letter
By Bob Pallante
The Volunteers Appreciation picnic held on September 7th was very well attended. The food
was good and everyone enjoyed touring the village grounds and buildings. Kay Clark was selected as
Bob Pallante
the Volunteer of the Year for her long involvement with the Harris/Dute house.
The children’s School House Program was very successful this year with all of the city school’s third
graders attending. They enjoyed themselves and have contributed “Quarters for Quigley” in the amount of
$171.05 which is a wonderful jester that is greatly appreciated.
The fall and winter activities are in the final phases of planning. The “BY MY LANTERNS LIGHT” will
be held the weekend of October 19th and 20th with some new stories to tease the senses and imagination. The
Village will be decorated for autumn and the theme of the activity. The Christmas Program will be December 8th
with Santa in the Grange Hall. The Society’s Christmas Dinner will be December 14th at a cost of $25 per person.
Please confirm your attendance with Donna Rumpler by calling the office (988-7255). Plan on attending and bring
the extended family.
The “Live Oak Pumper” from the Fire Museum will be on loan for display in the Cleveland Fire Museum
for the next few months. The Museum, located near the Browns Stadium, is a very interesting place and the
display will provide additional incentive for people to visit our Village.
It is the time of year that members of the Board of Directors are selected. If you or someone you know would
want to work toward furthering the goal of the Historical Society contact John Dunn by calling the office at
988-7255.
With the summer field season behind us we turn our attention to lab sessions and some exciting activities.
The Firelands Archaeological Research Center is proud to announce our fourth annual Ohio Archaeology Dinner.
The event will be held on Wednesday November 6, at the Grange Hall. The night starts with our lab being open at
5:30 pm for exploration, and the dinner starting at 6:30 pm. Our speaker for the evening will be Mark Seeman PhD.
of Kent State University. He will be speaking on the Hopewell manifestation and it is sure to be a remarkable
presentation. For tickets visit our website at www.firelandsarchaeology.org. Limited tickets are available and they
must be purchased ahead of the dinner date.
We are also excited to announce that we will once again be a big part of the Halloween even on Saturday
October 19 at the Sandstone Village. Bring the kids for an exciting and spooky event filled with ghost stories,
building tours, and of course…candy! We hope to see you there.
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DO YOU REMEMBER?......
How We Loved Radio?
By Vivienna Bickley
My love affair with the radio began when my Dad, who was a radio buff, made his first radio.
He took it to a family gathering with a goldfish bowl. This was because it had to be heard with
earphones. He put the earphones in the bowl and listeners bent over the bowl which amplified the
sound by not much. That’s when I first heard Rudy Valee singing “My Time is Your Time”.
Dad sent his idea of using cloth on loud speakers to a magazine and got a whole dollar from them!
After that all the radios used the idea.
Vivienna Bickley
Do you remember hurrying home from school, doing home work immediately so you could listen to:
“ Jack Armstrong”, the All-American Boy.
“Little Orphan Annie” with Daddy Warbucks and “Arf” said Sandy—her dog, of course. Her sponsor,
Ovaltine, offered a de-coder ring with coupons. Mom said she couldn’t afford it so every time they gave
the current message, I felt so deprived because I couldn’t de-code it. Years later, I found out most of the
messages were like, “Be sure to drink your Ovaltine”.
“Renfrew of the Mounted” a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman.
The “Lone Ranger” with a Hi-O-Silver and his sidekick Tonto. Can you believe Tonto is currently played
by Johnny Depp in a movie?
At night we listened to:
“Lux Theatre”, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, who used movie scripts on the show.
“Grand Central Station” another dramatic series, hosted at first by Don Ameche, who left to become a
movie actor then replaced by his brother, Jim Ameche!
Red Skelton’s many comic characters were great. My own favorite was a “baaad little boy.”
“Fibber McGee” whose wife, Molly, tried hard to make him behave, but he never did clean up his closet.
On every show, when he opened its door, the sound effects man got a real workout. Listeners admitted to
having their own “McGee’s Closet” at home.
Bing Crosby was the first singer to be called a “crooner”. He went on to prove himself a good actor in movies.
How about the variety shows with Bob Hope, Jack Benny and others? Major Bowes was popular with his amateur
show, giving people the gong when they were bad. Even as a kid I felt they were chosen to be bad— the gong was
good for a laugh each time. Remember when it was fun to be scared? Spooky “ Lights Out” and “ The Hermit”
were my favorites. Altho they aired after my bedtime, luckily I could hear them in our one story home. ( I had
good ears then.) Scared, yes, but it was so good to snuggle down in your own safe bed and listen. Radio's were
certainly great for developing kids imaginations! I still love my radio for news and political talk shows, and some
of the music, especially golden oldies.
Quigley Museum Make-Over
This past month several members of the Amherst Historical Research Group committed countless hours to
revamping the first floor of the Quigley Museum . With the intent to attract returning visitors, as well as first time
guests, the group concentrated on rearranging and correlating early Amherst artifacts giving the rooms a fresh new
appearance. The Quigley Museum will be an on-going project with plans in store for developing additional early
Amherst displays.
Many thanks to the following: Joan Rosenbusch, Matt Nahorn, Charlie Marty, Ralph Zilch, Jim Wilhelm, Gary
Sanders-Lyman, Mark Haff and Jerry Edwards for the hours of volunteer work that went into this venture.
The group meets every Monday evening at the society office volunteering and researching early events and tracing
the origin of downtown buildings, among other projects. The public is welcome to attend the sessions.
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Memories Pages Prelude by Marilyn Jenne
I had always known that my grandfather, Clayton Engle, was killed when he was pushed into a quarry hole
while working at the quarries in 1895. My mother was 8 months old at the time. A few years later my grandmother remarried and I was not close to my grandfather’s family. I knew little about them until I recently
came across a family history written in 1934 by Charlotte Mae Lewis, my grandmother’s sister. I learned much
about his family and about our strong connection to the quarries. I had never seen this history before and was
Marilyn Jenne
thrilled with it ..folded and almost eligible as it is. Perhaps others will find it as interesting as I did.
Excerpts from Memories Pages by Charlotte Mae Lewis,
(continued)
The next child, Clayton Orestus was born Nov. 13, 1870 at the old house on Grandma Robinson’s farm. In 1875 a
girl, Cora Bell, came to live with the family. The arrival of this little girl brought a great deal of happiness,
especially to the boys. The night before I was born in 1874, Uncle Bert and Frank Pickard, with their musical
instruments, spent the evening with my parents, leaving at 10:30 o’clock and at I:30 I was born. A number of years
past, of which I was too young to know much about. Sometime later Father purchased a farm in Medina county.
Father was no farmer and in a year rented to his brother, Will, and moved his family back to Amherst, however later
he returned to the farm. I remember the old farm and surroundings quite well.
Sometime later, father sold the Medina farm and bought one in Ashtabule Co. near New Lyme. Father owned a
splendid team of horses, John and Ned, as we called them. With this team and a new lumber wagon, father and the
boys, taking three pigs, two sheep and chickens (which were carried in the wagon) drove eight head of cattle
through to our new home about 70 miles, while mother and us girls went by train.
My oldest brother tells some most interesting incidents about the trip. How they drove the cattle through Akron,
what was then a small town but now a city, how one cow was always running way from the others, and getting into
all kinds of trouble. Two of these young cattle father later broke to drive with a yoke for the boys. There names
were Duke and Dime. I shall always remember how badly the boys felt to part with their oxen. As I have said father
was no farmer, so after a couple of years he thought best to sell the farm and stock, and return to his old home town.
So this was done with the exception of the team and wagon. These were kept to bring his family to Amherst. It was
quite late in the fall of the year and quite cold too, but father had made a good cover for the wagon, just like old
pioneer wagons of grandfathers day, and we were quite comfortable.
We were about three or four days coming through, stopping at farm houses for over night and breakfast. I remember
coming through Cleveland frightened I was, so much so that mother had to put dry clothing on me. When we were
driving through Elyria we would have all been killed by a fast train had it not been for brother Clate. There were no
elevated tracks. The watchman kept waving father ahead, but the little boy, who had run on ahead and realized the
danger called “no, no, father, don’t come, if you do you will all be killed”. Little did we know what a tragic death
would come to him in later years.
Sometime after coming from Ashtabula father bought the Fairchild home in the village of Amherst and this the
family owned for a good many years. The memoires of my childhood days cling around this dear old place. After
the sorrows and disappointments of life, how glad I am that I had a happy childhood to now dream about. The old
home looks different today. The old board fence around the yard is gone, where the wild flowers grew. The old
round-oak stove that stood in the living room, which provided heat for the entire house. The rag carpets padded with
straw and the coal oil lamps. Father and mother bought several pieces of furniture for this new home. It was then we
parted with the little organ and purchased an A.B. Chase. My we were proud of this organ. Us children had become
quite musically inclined. Our parents had very lovely voices and we all sang much together and we were taught
many songs and we had splendid times together.
Note: Charlotte Mae Lewis’s closing reminiscences and memoirs will appear in the January/February Grindstone..
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Happenings in the Village
During the last week of September the third grade
classes from Harris Elementary School and St.
Joseph Parochial School spent an entire day as
young pioneers visiting the village grounds.
Pictured is schoolmarm, Jean Swift, conducting an
1800s school day for the young pioneer students.
Village Gardens
Village Gazebo
The rose bushes surrounding the gazebo donated by
Nord Family Foundation. Planted by Terry Traser.
Victorian Garden
Fire Museum Garden
The four Japanese Maple trees donated by
the Amherst Garden Club. Small shrubbery
provided by Ralph Zilch.
Harris-Duty House
Flowers, shrubbery and trees in the Village Victorian Garden and landscaping surrounding the Harris Duty House
provided and maintained by the Amherst Garden Club.
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Happenings in the Village
Fire Museum Pavilion
Situated behind the Live Oak Engine Co Fire Museum is a beautifully
landscaped pavilion. The pavilion is a generous donation from Ralph
Zilch, retired Amherst Fire Chief and prior owner of Zilch’s Florist.
Ralph wanted the pavilion to be built in memory of his two wives –
Jennifer Zuba Zilch and Sylvia Kovach Zilch – both now deceased.
Ralph recalls that Sylvia, in her waning years, would love to visit parks
with pavilions. There in the pavilions she would sit and just enjoy the
view. The pavilion construction was supervised by Ralph’s son, Gerrod
with Kevin Henceroth building the beautiful fireplace and all the
concrete flooring.
Upon its completion, Ralph remarked “They would have so enjoyed this!”
Eagle Scout Project
By Jeff Kulp, Troop 428 Life Scout
When choosing my Eagle Scout Project, I wanted to pick a project that would most benefit
the community, but yet be special to me. My fascination with history continues as I learn
more and more about the history of Amherst through the Historical Society.
The Eagle Scout Project I chose was to furbish the outside of the Long Barn Building. The
building was in poor condition with peeling paint and unstained railing. I felt this was a
good project choice because once finished, this would add to the overall appearance of the
property. I enjoy visiting the Historical Society and wanted all visitors to be able to enjoy
the building at its full potential.
My project included painting the building and deck floor and staining the existing deck
railing. In total, my project took 112.5 hours and 14 volunteers beginning August
Del Kulp, Sadies Jackson, Jeff Kulp and finishing on September 8, 2013. I hope the community enjoys the final product.
Elaine Harlan Memorial Bench
The Amherst Twig Benders, a group that Elaine Bruce
Harlan was active in forming, met on September 17, 2013
at the Amherst Historical Society Sandstone Village to
honor Elaine (1923-2013).
Elaine and Bill Harlan were involved with the Harris/Dute
House from its inception. Elaine was instrument in choosing the colors and decorating the house. Thanks to Elaine’s
thoughtful decisions, the 1848 Greek revival home remains
a must-see in the Sandstone Village.
The Amherst Twig Benders donated a beautiful bench in
memory of Elaine and were in attendance as the bench was
placed on the front lawn of the Harris/Dute House.
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.
The Genealogy Corner: # 49 Orville Manes
Edwin Foster, 95, is living county history
Excerpts from Chronicle-Telegraph July 1, 1967
Oldest living graduate of Elyria High School, last surviving member of the first EHS football team and virtual
embodiment of the history of Lorain County is Edwin Elisha Foster, 95, of 232 Cleveland Avenue, Amherst.
Orville Manes
Mr. Foster is a direct descendant of Elisha Foster, originally from Vermont who came by ox-cart from Herkimer,
N.Y. to Lorain County in 1815 and also a descendant of Ezekial Barnes, an early pioneer settler.
His first eight years of school, Ed attended East Quarry Road grade school.
In 1891 he was graduated from Amherst Central High School, giving a
graduation oration of “Idleness and Industry”. Amherst High was then only a
three-year school, and did not offer Latin or advanced math, and Ed needed
Latin to be an attorney. So in the fall of 1891, he enrolled in Elyria High
School, graduating two years later. For Ed, going to Elyria High meant
getting up early, doing farm chores, walking two miles to the Amherst train
station, riding the train to Elyria, and then walking to school from the Elyria
station. Though he reports he was a member of EHS first football team, Mr.
Foster concedes, “it wasn’t much of a team”. They played Oberlin and
Wooster College. There were 24 students in the 1893 graduating class. Mr.
Foster still has the original program, which says this was EMH’s 29th
commencement.
After High School, Mr. Foster read law for three years in the offices of
Charles Metcalf and Horace G. Reddington. Then, due to illness, he had to
Mr. and Mrs. Edwin E. Foster
give up his legal studies. For a while he worked on the docks in Lorain. He
climbed poles for the first telephone company in Amherst and laid track for the first street car lines in the town.
In 1910, he became Clerk of the Amherst Township School Board, serving 22 years. In 1912, he was chosen Justice
of the Peace, continuing in office until 1936. And in 1916 he was elected Mayor, a position he held four years.
From 1932 to 1936, he was Amherst’s Postmaster. Along with all these activities, for 20 years he was an Amherst
correspondent for a Cleveland newspaper. His biggest story was the Amherst train wreck of 1916 which killed 27
and injured 50. When the Amherst Park Bank failed in 1936 and was taken over by the state, Mr. Foster was named
liquidator. He worked nine years on this project and saw that every depositor was paid back in full, and with five
percent interest.
In 1915 Mr. Foster married a lovely young school teacher from Cleveland., Bertine
Miller, and brought her to live in the home he had built at 232 Cleveland Avenue. He
has one glum observation, not on the marriage, but on the house. In 52 years, the taxes
have gone up from $36 to $245. But the location is right. Amherst Hospital on the east
and on the other side is a filling station to which Mr. Foster goes each evening to smoke
his after dinner cigar and visit with friends.
In 95 years, Mr. Foster has gone from talking to people who had problems with Indians
to people thinking in terms of traffic to the moon. This has taken a conspicuous amount
of adjustment. ‘It seems to me,” says Mr. Foster. “Lorain County in my youth was more Pictured in the middle of the
solid, more fundamental. Now, its everybody give me something.”
back row , Ed Foster, as well as
Probably, its that almost 700 per cent increase in taxes that has been hardest to take.
Note: Edwin Foster died in 1968 at the age of 96.
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being on the first EHS football
team, was an enthusiastic
player-manager for the East
Quarry Stars.
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O F D I R EC T O R S
Jami Anderson
Kathy Litkovitz, Treasurer
Paul Bires
Bob Pallante, President
John Diedrich
Kelly Post
Kathy Dean-Dielman
Judy Ryan, Secretary
John Dunn,
Vice-President
Steve Sayers
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The Amherst Historical Society wishes to acknowledge
a charitable remainder trust created by Mr. Evan Nord
and administrated by
The Community Foundation of Lorain County.
Grindstone edited by Bob & Martha Pallante
and Donna Rumpler, Printed by SQP Print Center
Upcoming Events
Halloween in the Village
“By My Lantern’s Light”
October 19 & October 20
5:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.
The final tour begins at 8 P.M. Following each tour
refreshments will be served in the Grange Hall where
pictures can be taken in front of a fall décor.
Admission is $10.00 per family or $3.00 per person.
Children not admitted without an adult.
Christmas in the Village
December 8, 2013
Visit with Santa in the Grange Hall from 1:00– 4:00 P.M
Bring your camera for Santa pictures!
Caroling in the Chapel from 4:00 - 5:00
Village Christmas Dinner
December 14, 2013
Grange Hall
6 P.M.
Tickets: $25.00 Call Donna at 988-7255 for reservations.
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