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Ottawa County Time Traveler Eastern Ottawa County Past & Present June 2022 |
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Back to the Wild Animal Show Friday, July 1, 2022 10 - 11:30 am Meet at Meals on Madison, 110 Madison St, Port Clinton Downtown Treasure Hunt Friday, July 1st through July 8th Start at Ida Rupp Public Library (to get a treasure map) 310 Madison St, Port Clinton Lake Sturgeon in Lake Erie & Maumee River Wednesday, July 6, 2022 5 - 6 pm Meet at Ida Rupp Public Library, 310 Madison St, Port Clinton Walking Tour @ Clemons Cemetery Saturday, July 9, 2022 9 - 10:30 am Meet at Clemons Cemetery, 91 E Main St (OH ST RT 163) Marblehead Jamestown Historical Walking Tour Thursday, July 14, 2022 6:30 - 8 pm Meet at Marblehead Peninsula Branch Library, 710 W Main St, Marblehead Dog Sledding with Karen Monday, July 18, 2022 11 am - 12:30 pm Meet at Meals on Madison, 110 Madison St, Port Clinton Ocean Artifacts with Toledo Zoo Wednesday, July 20, 2022 10 - 11 am Meet at Meals on Madison, 110 Madison St, Port Clinton Marblehead Lighthouse Guided Tour Friday, July 22, 2022 11 am - 12 pm Meet at Marblehead Lighthouse, 110 Lighthouse Dr., Marblehead Keepers of the Light Saturday, July 23, 2022 10:30 - 11:30 am Meet at Marblehead Peninsula Branch Library, 710 W Main St, Marblehead Downtown Marblehead Walking Tour Wednesday, July 27, 2022 9 - 10:30 am Meet at Marblehead Peninsula Branch Library, 710 W Main St, Marblehead Titanic & the Great Lakes Wednesday, July 27, 2022 5 - 6 pm Meet at Ida Rupp Public Library, 310 Madison St, Port Clinton |
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HeritageQuest Online and the 1950 Census - The 1950 Census has been released by the National Archives. This is the first census to include the Baby Boomer generation. Explore over 150 million people in HeritageQuest Online. Learn more about the world in 1950, experience records that capture American ex-patriots living abroad, students at college, and people owning a television. HeritageQuest can be accessed through the IdaRupp.org website, under Online Resources. |
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Submitted by Linda Higgins, Friends of the Ida Rupp Public Library Winous Point Shooting Club, located on Lattimore Road on the southwest end of Port Clinton, is the oldest continuously operated duck-hunting club in America. It was established in 1856 by men such as John Hay, secretary to Abraham Lincoln; Jay Cooke, financier of the Union Army; and Charles F. Brush, a pioneer in electric development. All of these men were accomplished in their own fields. They were also all amateur naturalists and worked together with other notables of the time to establish the then-1200-acre area as a forerunner of today’s wetlands protection movement. Their foresight in promoting and developing habitat and wildlife conservation has resulted in innovations that have become progressive management techniques on what is now a 5000-acre property managed by the Winous Point Marsh Conservancy. The conservancy was established in 1999 to promote wetlands and grasslands protection through education, research and wise management of their wetlands. The history of Winous Point itself is rich. The Black Swamp region once covered a 1500-square-mile area from Lake Erie to about 120 miles inland. The lush marsh area was home to a large variety of wildlife, vegetation and insects. Native tribes lived well on this land, as had their ancestors, although rife with illnesses and wild animals. French trappers moved into the area and worked with the tribes to forge decent living conditions. The British were unsuccessful in their attempt to take over the land. Although the club remains private, Winous Point will often host events for the public in their desire to educate and expose nonmembers to the importance of their mission: “. . . protection and stewardship of the Winous Point wetlands and property, . . . wetland conservation and restoration efforts in the greater southwest Lake Erie region, . . . research and educational opportunities in wetland and wildlife ecology.” Their vision is “to protect, restore and enhance wetland habitat and wildlife in the southwest Lake Erie region by serving as advocate, practitioner, and educator.” Because the marsh areas of southwestern Lake Erie are invaluable to our ecosystem, Winous Point cooperates with state and federal agencies, as well as other nonprofit conservation groups, to facilitate wetland conservation programs and research. These wetlands support at least 365 species of plants, more than 300 bird species (153 species of songbirds), and a majority of our Lake Erie fishes. The club has been an innovator in many ways, in keeping with the original members’ desire to conserve the area’s natural attributes. It was the first duck-hunting club in America to ban spring hunting of waterfowl, first to appoint a wildlife biologist to manage its property, and first to offer effective wetland research and educational programs to promote the study of wetland and waterfowl management. College students and researchers from every part of the country have found Winous Point an excellent resource for their studies on wildlife conservancy, including a recent focus on management of invasive species. The oldest duck-hunting club in the United States has made its mark by contributing its resources, from private donations to grants, to support our basic need for nature conservancy. |
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Submitted by Lorrie Halblaub, Friends of the Marblehead Peninsula Branch Library David L. Dayton was keeper number eight. He was born in 1818, but we cannot say for certain where he came from because every time his birthplace was mentioned on a document, it was somewhere different; New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts. He left his home state and arrived in this area around 1832. Perhaps he spent his early years on ships before settling down, because, according to the 1850 Port Clinton census, his occupation was listed as sailor. That year, Dayton was 34 and married to 18-year-old Martha Jane Deneal of Rochester, New York. The couple was living with the Peter Van Rennsselaer family. The Daytons eventually had five children: Amelia, George, Mary Ann, Edgar and Alice, all born in Ohio. Dayton was the keeper of the Marblehead Lighthouse from 1859 to 1861. After that the family moved to the Sandusky area and Dayton worked as a ship’s carpenter. He died in 1885 and is buried at the Brethren Cemetery near Gypsum, Ohio. His son George was born at the lighthouse and George grew up to be a tugboat captain in Chicago. Thomas Dyer Sr. was keeper number nine. He was born in 1796 in Connecticut. He married Louisa Bouk around 1820. They had four children, Olive, Thomas Jr., John and Elizabeth. The Dyers were living in Danbury Township, Ohio by 1832 where Thomas was a farmer. In the 1850 census, the Dyers were neighbors with several former lighthouse keepers: Rachel Wolcott-#2, Jared Keyes #7 and one of the builders of the light, John Reid Kelly. So, it is possible that when the job opened up in 1861, Thomas heard about it from friends. During the time the Dyers lived at the light, there was no road from the lighthouse to what is now Main Street. Mrs. Dyer had to paint the trees trunks white so that her grandchildren could find their way through the woods to and from school. Dyer served at the lighthouse during the Civil War when Johnson’s Island had a Confederate Prisoner of War Camp. There were many escape attempts by the Confederate officers imprisoned there and some of them were successful. The light at Marblehead would have been a beacon for the prisoners for it was north of the camp and Canada was their destination. One particularly harrowing event while Dyer was the keeper happened in 1864. People from outside the camp hatched a plan to free the prisoners at Johnson’s Island! A group of 20 Confederates took over the passenger steamer Philo Parsons after it had made a stop at Kelleys Island. In the night, the men steered the ship toward Johnson’s Island to seize control of the USS Michigan that was guarding the island. She was the United States’ first iron-hulled warship. The men waited for a conspirator on board the Michigan to signal that it was time to attack, but that signal never came because their plot had been discovered. The Confederates fled back to Canada without freeing the prisoners. Thomas Dyer died in December of 1865, and that ended his tenure at the Marblehead Lighthouse. |
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Submitted by Peter Huston Father’s Day is often considered a Hallmark Holiday, but here in Put-in-Bay we have long connected “Father’s Day” with our annual “Founder’s Day” island celebration. Our island’s founder was Jose De Rivera St. Jurgo. Born in 1813 in Barcelona, Spain, De Rivera made his fortune in the mercantile business between Spain, Puerto Rico, and New York. The story goes that De Rivera wanted to buy a southern plantation managed by Spaniards but was opposed to slavery. A principled man, he looked for other opportunities. According to author Thomas Langlois he was fortunate to be introduced to Alice Glover Edwards, the great granddaughter of Pierpont Edwards. In 1811, Pierpont Edwards, who was from Connecticut, had originally “won” land here in Ohio in a “Firelands” land lottery near what today is Avon, Ohio. Long story short, Edward’s lottery land included part of Avon Lake. Unhappy that his “win” included a portion of Avon Lake, he complained and was given the six islands we call Middle Bass, South Bass, Gibraltar, Starve, Sugar and Ballast as extra compensation. Flash forward two generations to Edward’s great granddaughter Alice. In 1853, she expressed an interest in selling the islands for a dowry. De Rivera came here in 1854 to see the islands and was smitten by their beauty. Author Charles Froman quotes De Rivera “It was a case of love at first sight, and in 48 hours after I first set foot on Put-in-Bay, I owned the five islands at a cost of $44,000”. De Rivera came to South Bass in the spring of 1855, along with a surveyor, to begin the task of creating 10-acre lots for sale. Most importantly, De Rivera had a plan for how to lay out the town which included land for a school, church, and 5 acres of what we now know as our town center called “De Rivera Park.” And if he did nothing more here we would still be impressed. De Rivera was a generous and thoughtful businessman who was willing to sell plots of land with little or no money down in exchange for a “future” percentage of crop yield. He established the islands first press house and winery and created a farm co-op to buy and sell the farmers’ grapes and juice to make wine. In a perfect world this long term approach to cultivating business would be seen as visionary. The reality was that as much as he loved the area, his family was not really interested in being here. This forced him to split time between here, NYC, and even Spain. De Rivera allowed his eldest children to run his mercantile business while he was in Put-in-Bay. Turns out his family made some very bad deals and De Rivera’s mercantile business fell into debt. Late in life De Rivera was forced to sell off his holdings here on the island to pay his debts. When De Rivera died in 1889, he was essentially broke, but he was still regarded as a local hero. The island turned out in great numbers for his funeral. When you visit Crown Hill Cemetery across from Joes Bar (a former grape press house) you will see adjacent to the cemetery fence the large De Rivera crypt which was paid for by islanders for the beloved De RIvera, the father and founder of Put-in-Bay. In 2003 as part of Ohio’s Bicentennial celebration, De Rivera was honored with a historic marker. He is the first Hispanic person in Ohio to be so honored. This year we celebrate “Founder’s Day” in De Rivera Park on June 11th. |
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Submitted by Susan Dress, Clerk at Ida Rupp Public Library
Last month we looked at the history of the News Herald. This month we’ll look at two of the men who kept the paper going.
I started with James K Newcomer [it helps to have a first name and middle initial for your search]. The U.S. Civil War Draft Registration Records for Ottawa, Sandusky, Seneca, and Crawford counties, enumerated during the month of June 1863, list a James K Newcomer, age 29, occupation ‘printer’, birthplace Pennsylvania, residing in Portage. The search can then be narrowed by entering a birth year of approximately 1834.
Ancestry now gives us an Ancestry tree for James K Newcomer. This tree supplies his timeline, from birth in Aug. 1833 in Fayette, PA to his death in 1904 in Wauseon, OH. It also includes a link to his memorial page on FindAGrave.com, where we find a picture of his tombstone, and clipping of an article from The History of Champaign County Ohio by John W Ogden published in 1881, all about James K Newcomer. Newcomer started his printing career at age 18 in Delta, OH. The Ottawa Democrat was the 3rd of 6 papers he was part of during a long public service career that included a term as Recorder of Fulton County, a Trustee of the Girl’s Industrial Home, and as Clerk of the Ohio Senate in the sessions of 1868 and 1869. For Newcomer, the News Herald was a single line in his life story, just a stepping stone in his newspaper career. For W. H. Althoff, it was the story of his life. The first record of him found at idarupp.newspapers.com is Aug 23, 1895, where he is listed as the publisher of the new Ottawa Co News-Democrat, formed from the merger of the Weekly Ottawa Democrat and the Ottawa County News. In 1931, he announced the merger of the News Democrat and the Progressive Times to form the Ottawa County News. Mr. Althoff wrote his last editorial for the Ottawa County News Jan. 31, 1936 issue, discussing passage of the bonus bill and the monies from that bill that would be coming to Ohio and Ottawa county. The Feb. 7, 1936, issue brought the news of Mr. Althoff’s death, with a front page tribute to him and his contribution to journalism and the Port Clinton community. In addition to his 50 years as a newspaper editor, Althoff served 37 years as a member of the Port Clinton Board of Education and was one of the dominant figures in Democratic politics of Ottawa County. He was county treasurer for two terms and served on the Jury commission for many years. Use the library genealogy resources to take your own trip through time. Library resources used for this article: The Illustrated Historical Atlas of Ottawa County, Ohio, published 1874, reprinted 1974 Lakeview Cemetery Port Clinton OH, published by Ottawa County Genealogical Society 2005 Idarupp.org/Online Resources/ Genealogy/Ancestry Library Edition Idarupp.org/Online Resources/ Genealogy/Digitized Microfilm Idarupp.org/Online Resources/ Genealogy/Find A Grave |
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