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Ottawa County Time Traveler Eastern Ottawa County Past & Present August 2024
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by Linda Higgins Ottawa County was formed in 1840 and its first courthouse was built shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, that building had deteriorated so much by 1897 that the State Inspector of Workshops and Buildings declared that it needed extensive repairs or to be demolished. It wasn’t safe enough for people or records. The boiler under the courtroom could easily explode, by the way! The commissioners would be fined $50 to $1,000 daily while use of the building continued. Hearings were held, and the controversy regarding the site of the county courthouse once again became an issue, with Oak Harbor offering to build a new courthouse, free of charge ($50,000 projected cost). A special election on June 27, 1898 resulted in the decision to build a new courthouse on the original site. By July, a committee began a tour of courthouses in Indiana and Michigan. Their final choice was a copy of the Starke County (Knox, Indiana) courthouse. Designed by Ward & McMurran of Fort Wayne, Indiana, the building would be entirely fireproofed and built of Marblehead limestone. Employees and records moved to temporary housing, and demolition of the building began in November, overseen by Caldwell & Drake, Columbus contractors. A side track running up to within ten feet of the old building was established by the Lake Shore Railroad to streamline the process. When the building was gone, a change became necessary regarding the building material. The Marblehead quarry’s part owner went into voluntary bankruptcy, so the committee substituted North Amherst block sandstone. The commissioners hired W.H. Sleighmaker, an architect/contractor, as supervisor. The cornerstone was placed on May 18, 1899, celebrated with a parade made up of bands, the Perry Guards, county fraternal orders, and Port Clinton schoolchildren. C.I. York delivered the welcome address. The Masonic Grand Lodge of Ohio laid the cornerstone, which held copies of local newspapers, and the names of county officials and the building committee. Grand Master E.C. Gulliford of Cleveland dedicated the courthouse. The next day, during the transfer of a five-ton stone, a cable on the derrick snapped, and the falling derrick struck worker Conrad Balduf. He was seriously injured, and took months to recover. Caldwell & Drake gifted him with “a fine Jersey cow,” Balduf having lost one of his cows soon after this accident. Ophie Grinnell, the derrick operator, was injured also, but not as seriously. When construction neared completion, a committee was appointed to present the citizenry with a 1/4-mill levy to pay for a marble tablet commemorating soldiers and sailors of Ottawa County who served in the Civil War. The levy passed and, after the courthouse was finished in May of 1901, at a final cost of $61,500, the memorial tablet was placed in the courthouse by Hughes Granite and Marble Company of Clyde. Two other tablets were later added, listing those who served in the Spanish-American War. In March of 1908, the commissioners contracted for interior murals. Henry Dischinger of Elmore oversaw this artistry, created by Paul O’Brien of Chicago. One, viewed from the first and second floors, is of Perry’s victory. The rotunda murals represent the four major industries of Ottawa County: fishing (French immigrants), agriculture (Danish immigrants), fruit-growing (German immigrants), and quarry-mining (Slavic immigrants). Since its early years, our courthouse has been a beautiful example of living history, thanks to thoughtful maintenance and improvements, even through tough times. Use this link to see or share the article online: Linda
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At the prison camp on Johnson’s Island, every day started and ended the same way. Roll Call. It didn’t matter if it was raining, snowing, or 90 degrees, the prisoners stood in rows and the corporal called off their names. If a prisoner did not answer, the guards searched the camp, and then the island, while the rest of the prisoners continued to stand in formation. Punishment for an attempted escape was being put in confinement, wearing a ball and chain, and being fed a diet of bread and water until release. At first Johnson’s Island wasn’t a bad place to wait out the war. But as news that the Union Army prisoners being held in the South were being mistreated in camps like Andersonville, the prisoners at Johnson’s Island felt the sting of retaliation from their captors. So escape was on every prisoner’s mind. I imagine that the first question they asked upon arrival at the camp was “How far is it to Canada?” The prisoners quickly learned that tunneling under the wall was going to get them nowhere. Like everywhere else around here, there is little soil before one hits solid limestone. The rock also made digging latrines difficult. They could not be very deep, so they filled quickly then new ones were dug. The stench was always there. One group cut a hole in the wall and made it to the beach hoping to build a raft, but they were caught because there were hardly any trees. One prisoner, Charlie Pierce, tried to escape 7 times. He attempted tunnelling, stealing a guard’s uniform and trying to drive out the gates with the offal cart. He tried making a ladder from scrap lumber, and scaling the wall. When Charlie ran onto the ice with the fort’s guns blazing, the ice broke and he was caught. Once he traveled 12 miles before some local farm boys captured and returned him. Then for five months he secretly made a fake musket from scrap wood, fruit tins, and other pieces from the trash. He stole a federal uniform from the hospital and, with his “gun” fell in with the soldiers who were inspecting the fort. He almost made it out the gate until the lieutenant in command inspected HIS OWN troops and found Charlie. That was the last of his escapes. No one is quite sure how many prisoners actually escaped, but the number is estimated to be around 10. One local woman told a story about going into her barn and realizing she was not alone. She could see and hear signs of someone, but she pretended not to notice and the next day that person was gone. As the war dragged on, the men even lost the ability to buy things from the sutler. Island owner L.B. Johnson was the sutler in 1864 and made a little extra money selling photographs of the prison and the island. When no one wanted to buy them, he made a rule that the prisoner had to buy a photo before he bought anything else. That caused the prisoners to riot, so Johnson was fired and the store was closed for the rest of the war. However, all this misery could have been avoided by “Swallowing the Eagle.” That meant that any prisoner could take an oath of allegiance to U.S., forsaking their allegiance to the Confederacy, and immediately they received better food and housing, away from the other prisoners for their own safety. However, these former officers, would now serve in the U.S. Army as privates. Some 50 prisoners on Johnson’s Island chose this route. The other prisoners called them “Galvanized Yankees” and when the new recruits (traitors) names were announced, the prisoners would holler and drown out their names. Next month: The biggest escape plan of all! You can use this link to read or share this article: Lorrie |
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Walking Tour @ Riverview Cemetery - Has been canceled Saturday, August 24, 2024 2 pm Riverview Cemetery, 1023 W. Third St., Port Clinton, OH Meet at the cemetery entrance for a walk through the history of Riverview Cemetery with Maria Moon, of the Port Clinton Friends of the Cemetery. The terrain is unlevel grass and some paved walkways, so make sure to wear comfortable shoes. No registration required.
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Death & Lighthouses on the Great Lakes : A History of Murder and Misfortune - by Dianna Riggs Stampfler Keepers to the Death Losing your life while tending to a Great Lakes lighthouse wasn't uncommon. Death by murder, suicide, or other tragic causes was more unusual. This book describes 12 uncommon deaths across the five Great lakes. Stampfler uncovers facts and debunks fiction behind some of the darkest lighthouse tales. PART 2 - Lake Erie Focuses on the South Bass Island Lighthouse at Put-in-Bay 977 STAMPFL 2022
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So for the start of another school year, let's look back ... at the good old days? I don't even know what to comment on this article. Maybe - Cars didn't have seat belts then, so maybe this wasn't so bad ?
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Since it is an election year and we are well into campaign season, it seemed like this might be an interesting read for genealogists. A Nation of Descendants - Politics and the Practice of Genealogy in U.S. History by Francesca Morgan From family trees written in early American bibles to birther conspiracy theories, genealogy has always mattered in the United States. This title traces American's fascination with tracking family lineage through three centuries. Morgan examines how specific groups throughout history grappled with finding and recording their forebears, focusing on Anglo-American white, Mormon, African American, Jewish, and Native American people. 929.1072 MORGAN 2021 |
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August is considered the "dog days of summer" due to high temperatures and humidity, but there's still time to check out summer wildflowers. The Nature Conservancy has lots of information online to help.
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Ottawa County Courthouse - August 14, 2024
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