A Tragic Accident from the Perrysburg Journal July 9, 1869

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      After leaving a ball at the Columbian House around three o'clock in the morning, Andrew Ovitt, Oscar Lyons and his wife Adaline and her two sisters, Lodusca and Alice, boarded their skiff to return to their homes on the other side of the river. The skiff which they used in crossing was perhaps half a mile above Waterville opposite Miltonville at the ferry. There was a deep fog and the water was swift and turbulent.

      When they reached the middle of the river the boat tipped and took on water. Lodesca was frightened and jumped upon the edge of the boat while Alice sprang upon the back of Oscar Lyons and the skiff capsized. Oscar swam for Dodd's Island [Granger Island] which he reached safely though exhausted, while Alice was barely alive when dragged ashore. Andrew clung to the boat which was bottom up and helped Adaline and Lodusca partially upon it. The boat upset twice more and then got away from them. Adaline seized Andrew around the body and Lodusca clung to her sister. Though not a good swimmer he started towards the island, frequently getting his feet tangled in Adaline's clothing and all would go under. When within five feet of the island Andrew sprang for a limb of a tree and Adaline lost her grasp upon him and the two sisters were lost. Lodusca's body was recovered lodged in the roots of a tree not far from where she drowned, but Adaline's body drifted over a mile and was not found for a few days.

     The three ladies were daughters of Mr. and Mrs. George Lomas of Miltonville. Adaline was about 20 years of age, Lodusca 18 and Alice 16.

Historian Ann Lotshaw

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                         Ann Lotshaw

A Watervillian since 1961, Ann Lotshaw and her late husband Elmer have long appreciated older houses. They remodeled a 1890s Victorian home in their former hometown, St. Louis, Missouri. Ann has channeled that love of early architecture into a research project on the early homes of Waterville. The end result of this project has been two beautifully illustrated books detailing the characteristics and ownership of a number of Watervile’s historic homes. Ann’s talent as a photographer is evident in the full color photographs that grace the cover and most of the pages in these volumes. The first volume is focused on the existing old homes in the original plat of the village along the river and is titled “Old Homes of Old Town Waterville.” The second titled “Old Homes of West Old Town Waterville” follows the westward expansion of the village. These volumes were donated to the Waterville Historical Society to produce and sell.  

Ann credits the late Midge Campbell’s research on Waterville homes which is available in the Toledo-Lucas County Library, Bud and Jean Ziegler’s research for the 1903 Waterville diorama in the Wakeman building, Pat Ligabel’s “Historic Buildings in Waterville” and the work of Estella Wreede’s seventh grade class of 1956 which produced the booklet “The Waterville Story” as major sources of information for her books. She is also grateful to those home owners who were willing to share the history of their homes for public record. Her research files were placed in the Wakeman Archives and are available to the public. These books are now “out of print” due the expense of reproducing the many color photographs but copies may be viewed at the Wakeman Archives.

Ann has long been active in the society, volunteering in the Archives, serving as Secretary for five years in the late 1990s and as President from 2005-2010. She taught English and Ohio History at Fallen Timbers Junior High School and later taught seventh grade at the Anthony Wayne Middle School. Ann continues to live in Waterville and remain active with the Waterville Historical Society. She is presently serving on a committee planning a Waterville homes tour for 2017.

Parker Island ----- Toledo’s Only Up-River Summer Resort

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The Ross C. Parker Company of Waterville was advertising home sites 50 x 170 feet priced between $1000 and $2500 with a few special sites up to 185 feet in width at a higher price. There were to be at least 200 lots laid out. Every summer home site would face on the water and extend back in a generous depth to a scenic motorway. The Island had more than 150 acres with the entire inland of the island for recreation with a golf club and nine-hole course to be installed, tennis, playground and athletic fields, etc. It was to be a summer playground in the middle of Maumee River. 

Chauncey (Ross) Parker’s father, Chauncey L. Parker (1838-1901) came to Wood County in 1883 and had owned the Island at least since 1901. It was originally patented to Collister Haskins in 1840 and part to Horton Howard totaling 300 acres. After Chauncey died and his will was probated in 1903 Ross inherited a ¼ interest in the Island and his two sisters received one-half. The island had long been used for agriculture.

The Parker Island was earlier known as Missionary  Station Island as the Presbyterian Missionary Society bought it and established a school, or mission for the Ottawa Indians in 1822.  The society also bought a tract of land on the Wood County side of the river opposite the island. This is how the island received it name. It has also been called Mission and Station Island and later became known as Indianola Island. It was about two miles long containing 246 acres. This is the largest of the Maumee Islands. The Mission was closed in 1839 when all Indian tribes were removed to western lands.

Parker Island was a popular summer place, owned and promoted by Ross C. Parker in the early 1920s. The problem with his plan was the stock market crash of 1929 and followed by the Great Depression and many including Ross lost money. A few lots were sold, summer homes built, the bathing beach, nine-hole golf course built. There was a small midway at the western end and an outdoor terrazzo dance floor which was claimed be the best in the area and had an acoustically correct band shell. They provided riding horses for adults and ponies for children, boats for all. Some renowned big bands played here. The Waterville annual town picnics were held there. For several years the Boy and Girl Scouts had weekend campouts on the Island. The Waterville Methodist Church held their annual Sunday school picnic there. 

The island was located in the Maumee River almost at the end of Neowash Road. It is possible the bridge was about where the boat launch is now at Farnsworth Park. Some crossed over in scows or boats and some took the “Parker Ferry.” A cable ferry was used by the farmers when the island was farmed taking their tractors and equipment over to the Island. To reach the Island by car a pontoon bridge was mounted on oil drums connected to cable. This bridge would be taken up after the farm crops were harvested and before freezing of the river. At some point in the 1930s it froze before it could be removed and by spring the bridge was washed down river and destroyed. There may have been a bridge from Legion Island to reach the Parker Island as told to us by Joe Becker as the bridge shown in our photo doesn’t seem to be large enough to reach across the river at the point of the boat launch. 

A few of the local families that lived or visited the Island were the Farnsworths, Grays, Baldwins, Squires, Detweilers.  Ross Parker’s family lived there until the Depression when they lost everything and moved into Waterville to live. Since 1969 the island had been owned by the State of Ohio.

Waterville High School Senior Trip ~ 1930

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Front row: Irene Hertzfeld; Maxine Carroll, Marg Aumend, Mary Alice Parker, Ruth Hallett, Margaret Walbolt, Lodema Starkweather, Mae Dorman, Agnes Kellermeyer, Pauline Smith, Teacher, and Dorothy Dodd. Back row: Tour Director,, Dick Starkweather, Tom Mercer, Bus ?, Bill Hensley, Norris Murdock, Teacher ?, Fred Walbolt, Dick Sautter Darwin Moosman.

May of 1930 the Waterville High School seniors (hover over the picture to learn names of students)  took their senior trip to Washington, D.C. It was an educational tour presented by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Their itinerary was well planned out with a flyer stating it was “a fitting conclusion to students’ high school experience.” The trip was arranged by the Pennsylvania Railroad with tour guides and the exact time where they would be. We have a copy of this itinerary at the Archives.

Mae Dorman went on this trip with her class and wrote a short account of the tour and running account of what she and the class did each day. “The train car rocked and rolled and it was difficult washing up, thinking one part was being washed while you were really washing another.” Very little sleep was had by all. They were hungry and they ate all of their candy. They sat on the observation deck and got very dirty.

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              Hotel where the class stayed.

They got off the train and took a bus to Gettysburg and toured the area before getting back on, arriving in the evening in Washington, D.C. They stayed at Hotel Winston in D.C.  Mae kept the menus as to their meals. For breakfast sliced grapefruit, cream of wheat, 2 eggs, ham or bacon, etc. For lunch they had choice of Seafood A. La Newburg in Patty Shell or Minced Veal in Baked Potato, carrots, peach cobbler, etc. For dinner they had Puree Mongola, choice of Broiled Lake Trout, Roast Spring Lamb or Breaded Veal Cutlet, creamed spinach, rissole potato, etc.

Some of the kids were train sick and couldn’t think of eating. One of the ladies, a Miss Smith fainted at the Congressional Library and they had to call a doctor and ambulance.

They visited the Arlington Cemetery and the natural Amphitheater where they heard a concert by the Marine Band.  She had a big adventure at the Washington Monument where they rode up in an elevator and were able to look out on the city. Mae and her friend Ruth were skeptical of riding the elevator down so they walked down all of the 1000 steps but the feeling in their legs made them wonder if they did the right thing. They had to sit down when back on solid ground as legs were very shaky.

The class visited the Capitol and saw the Senate and House in session. The Senate was debating upon the oleomargarine bill and “one fat Democrat became pretty hot; Oh! Boy what a temper.” They saw Paul McOscar, a former Waterville resident, doing his duty in the House (as a timekeeper?) Mae and several friends walked up the 500 steps into the Capital Dome before leaving Washington.

She saved all of her tickets into the House of Representatives and Senate Chambers, picture of the Hotel Winston where they stayed and photo cards (1 “x 2”) of places they visited. It is a wonderful remembrance of what a senior education trips should be and not one where fun and drinking becomes the focus. Mae’s souvenirs and written account of her trip are available at the Wakeman Archives and interesting to read.

Memorial Day in Old Waterville

Waterville Band

     It all happened more than 80 years ago, but I remember it as if it were yesterday. Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as we called it, was a very important holiday in Waterville. We anticipated it for many weeks, wondering what to wear, and praying for good weather so that nothing could stop the parade.

     We started to the celebration from our farm on Dutch Road in our family horse-drawn surrey and soon were standing in front of the Columbian House on the south side, waiting to hear the distant roll of the drum, which would herald the approach of the long awaited parade. The band was led and directed by Will Kern, an able cornetist and member of the talented and musical Conrad family. It was made up of willing and perhaps unwilling volunteers, five or six in number, and anyone able to play any musical instrument, but always at the end, the big bass drum.

     After the band came the Civil War veterans able to march. Those who weren’t were driven in open carriages.

     This was followed by various organizations, religious or patriotic. I was always fascinated by the Modern Woodmen of America, resplendent in their brilliant green uniforms, each with a shining silver but frightening ax over his shoulder.

     Last came the flower girls, little girls dressed in white, each carrying a bouquet of flowers, later to be placed on the grave of a veteran. I watched them with great admiration and, I will admit, a touch of envy.

     We followed the procession up to Witte’s Hall, over the hardware store, and listened to the program of the day, an hour or more of speeches and musical selections. Then up the hill to the Canal Bridge where there was a brief ceremony honoring the memory of those soldiers who had died at sea. We looked down to see rowboats filled with flowers and young girls dropping blossoms in the water, one by one.

     I stopped my ears to wait for the three gun salute, and then it was a short walk to the cemetery where the flower girls would look for a grave with an empty vase in which they would place their bouquet.

     One year in the spring, I received a great surprise. Mrs. Cole, the “major-domo” of the entire Decoration Day celebration, telephoned my mother and asked her whether some of the little girls from our neighborhood one-room school could participate as flower girls in the parade. What excitement! I will never forget this moment! My dear mother entered into the spirit of the occasion and purchased navy blue cotton from which she fashioned banners for us, bearing the letters DISTRICT NO. 1, carefully sewn on.

     I proudly wore this through the parade, up the hill to the Canal Bridge, and on to the cemetery where we were instructed to find a grave with a flag and an empty vase for the flowers.

     I started out eagerly, but to my dismay, I couldn’t find any empty vases. Finally, close to tears and in utter desperation, I hid my bouquet under a nearby arborvitae tree with branches touching the ground. And so, as far as I know, they are still there, although I doubt it!!

Written in 1997 by Ruth Fausz Herman, 1903-2000

Published in Bend of the River, May, 1997

Living Historians

The Waterville Historical Society has a number of “living historians” contributing to the historical literature. The society has produced a number of books on various aspects of Waterville and area history which are for sale at the Wakeman Archival Center and also at the Smoke and Fire store on River Road. The authors of these works have all graciously donated the rights to their works to W.H.S. so that any profits from book sales benefit the society. These publications are listed on our website under the “Support” headline. The continuing series of articles about Waterville historians on our website will present these local authors.

John & Verna Rose

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Verna Rose grew up in the Waterville area, went to Whitehouse Elementary School and graduated from Anthony Wayne High School.  John’s home town was Oregon, Ohio, where they moved after their marriage in 1956. They moved to Linden, Michigan for 15 years but returned to Waterville in 1979 to live.

Verna had long been interested in the genealogy and history of the Waterville people, as so many were related to her extended family, and had lived in the Waterville/Providence Township area since the 1850s. Many years of genealogy research led to many family genealogy books self-published and donated to Toledo-Lucas County Library.

Asked in the early 1990s, by Lorraine Miller, then president of WHS, about a photo that she was given. Verna recognized the photo as the school house attended by her grandfather. Shortly thereafter Verna was invited to serve on the Board of the Waterville Historical Society as other board members, most notably Norton Young, recognized that the Society should be preserving information on people not just things.

With the help of Lucile Conrad, Phyllis Witzler, Marian Morris and Norton Young she set about writing to descendants of interesting families that were buried in Wakeman. After the articles were written, she compiled them into a booklet called Waterville, Ohio Memorial Profiles.  John copied all of the photographs from relatives that were available. Norton’s request was it could only cost $10 as he wanted everyone in Waterville to be able to afford a copy.  The information obtained became the basis of the “Family Files” at the Wakeman Archival Center.

The Wakeman Cemetery tombstones were “read” by Midge Campbell but never published and the Northwest Ohio Genealogical Society Club did not include the Wakeman Cemetery in their book, Tombstone Inscriptions of Lucas County, Ohio.  For these reasons John and Verna read all of the tombstones and copied the Sexton’s burial cards and placed that information in the Wakeman Archival Center.

It was a co-operative effort with the U. S. GenWeb Archives project to get all cemeteries read and on the internet for which Verna Rose became the local contact person.  The Rose’s data also became the source for another Waterville Historical Society book, Walking Through the Wakeman., and led to a liaison with other groups like Findagrave.com to increase their databases.

During the project regarding the Civil War 150 Ohio which several WHS members attended, John and Verna decided to write about the veterans buried in Wakeman Cemetery, called Civil War Veterans buried in Wakeman Cemetery. This information was used for the cemetery walk at Wakeman on October 9, 2011 with the Greater Toledo Civil War Roundtable and Waterville Historical Society.  This last year they published the Civil War Veterans at the Whitehouse Cemetery.  One book was written for the beginning and the other for the end of the Civil War 150th anniversary.

Historian Charlotte Hutchinson

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Charlotte Hutchinson

Charlotte Elizabeth Hutchinson, author of a three part booklet titled Early Pioneers in the Maumee Valley and other writings, was uniquely qualified to write about the area’s pioneer families. She was descended from several of the earliest prominent pioneer families in the Maumee Valley and was exposed to the stories of the trials, troubles and joys of these hardy families which were passed along the generations.

James C. Adams, a cousin of President John Q. Adams, came from Vermont in 1816 and built several log cabins on River Tract 31. He returned to Vermont and after lengthy preparations brought six families of his kin back to Ohio with oxcarts loaded with all the tools and provisions needed to start life in the untamed valley. His daughter Elizabeth “Betsy” recently widowed with two children and then married to Deacon Salmon Cross, a widower with four children, traveled with the group. She was gifted with the ability to deal with the Indians. There are many tales of Betsy and her dealings with the Indians. She was much sturdier than her husbands and when Mr. Cross died she married Joseph Hutchinson and became the matriarch of the Hutchinson family, who continued to live in the area to this day.

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Charlotte Gruber's dancing shoes

Charlotte’s other pioneer folks were Pennsylvania Dutch from the Manheim area of Pennsylvania which she details in part 2, Tales of Charlotte... Peter Gruber and wife Sarah with their family of two young daughters, son Enoch and son William with his wife Bridget set out by oxcart to Wooster, Ohio and settled there. Enoch and William didn’t like Wooster and soon left for the Maumee Valley settling in Gilead (now Grand Rapids since 1866.) William and Grace Gruber settled in a log house at the edge of this young village and more stories of their interaction with the local Indians were formed. The Gruber’s daughter Charlotte was Charlotte Hutchinson’s Great Grandmother. She is described as a musical person who loved to dance. She at times travels on horseback to Waterville to dance at the Columbian House in the famous ballroom.

Charlotte Gruber married a canal boat captain, John Fisher, on January 27, 1848. John and Charlotte Fisher had a daughter Lillian who married William Hutchinson of Waterville December 25, 1884. So it was that two early pioneer families were merged and their stories recorded by their daughter Charlotte Elizabeth Hutchinson.

Charlotte E. Hutchinson was born July 19, 1900. She was a teacher, artist and author. She taught at Maumee Children’s Home and elementary schools in Waterville and Haskins. Later she was a traveling art and music teaches for Lorain County Public schools, retiring in 1965. She was well known in Waterville for her many watercolor paintings and other artwork. She also wrote Early Pioneers in the Maumee Valley, copyright 1976, published in Northwest Ohio Quarterly, Vol. 50 in 1978 and the Bulletin of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, 1979. Charlotte Hutchinson died December 25, 1985.

The Royal Order of Idlers and Loafers

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                      Emery Noward

Perhaps it is not unusual for an informal group of men or women to make a point of getting together to share a meal on a regular basis.  Such is the case in Waterville.  What may be unusual is that this men’s group has met faithfully for over thirty years.

It’s difficult to say who initially came up with the idea for the Royal Order of Idlers and Loafers.  Early members included Duane Rosendale, Paul Reid, Ruel Gruber, Chuck Lusch, Ward Miller, Jim Simpson, Don Aldrich and Homer Wittes.  However, no one was more instrumental to the success of the group than Emery Noward.

Emery was born in Waterville on March 20, 1921.  A veteran of World War II, he worked as a machinist at both Boice Crane and Toledo Mold, retiring in 1982.  Emery seems to have served as secretary, treasurer, and reservation-maker for the group.  Within the archives of the Waterville Historical Society we have a collection of twelve spiral notebooks in which he diligently recorded not only the date and location of every outing from 1985 through 2009, but also the names of all members in attendance.  The collection also includes records of floral tributes for departed members and correspondence directed to the attention of Emery.

At the initial luncheon of the Idlers and Loafers of February 25, 1985, sixteen members travelled to The Café in North Baltimore, Ohio.  Through 1990, they continued to meet once a month for lunch.  From 1991 through 2005, they met twice monthly-- once for breakfast and once for lunch.  The format was revised again in late 2005 to convening twice a month for breakfast.  Wives were included for nice dinners out, often at Das Essen Haus in Pettisville, Ohio, in May and November from 1988 through 2000.

Emery’s passing on August 27, 2009 marked the end of an era.  During his twenty-five years of leadership, a total of 190 different members enjoyed dining and comradery at 60 different restaurants.  The spirit of fellowship lives on today as the Royal Order of Idlers and Loafers continues to thrive.

The Strange Case of William Sargent

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..The Mayor’s court records of Waterville are mostly a boring series of minor infractions of the law. Occasionally though, some rather bizarre cases appear. So it was that on June 3. 1895 one William Sargent was hauled into court by Marshal W.E. Snyder for peddling “from house to house without a license.” Mayor C.W. Shoemaker fined Mr. Sargent fifty cents for the offense, which he refused to pay. So Mr. Sargent was remanded to the Village jail to cool off until he decided to pay his fine. The next court record dated June 6, 1895 finds William Sargent back in court accused of aiding and assisting one Adam Peoples to escape from jail. Apparently he broke out of jail and also sprang Mr. Peoples who was in jail for the same offense and perhaps was his partner. Bail was set at two hundred dollars and Mr. Sargent was remanded to the county jail. The next criminal court docket with the same date and complaint number (4) complains that William E. Sargent “did unlawfully and maliciously injure the council building and jail and the fixtures belonging there to the amount of fifteen dollars in the value thereof by breaking the walls of the said jail and by breaking and destroying the floor thereof and by breaking and injuring the doors and fixtures thereof…” It seems to this researcher that Mr. Sargent had one serious temper tantrum. All this over a fifty cent fine? His bail for this offense was set at one hundred dollars and again he was remanded to the Lucas County jail to await criminal trial in the county court system. He was hauled off to the county jail June 7, 1895 by Marshal W.E. Snyder. The outcome of his trial in the county court would be in the Lucas County, Ohio archives and has not been researched. The strange case of Mr. W. E. Sargent appears in the Waterville Mayors Court Criminal Docket for the year 1895 pages 54-59.

Note: In 1900 the Waterville Village Council passed an ordinance making it illegal to assist someone to break out of jail. See the website article titled “Ordinance No. 111” published February 2016 in the “Did you Know” section.

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The Old Wagon Bridge Collapsed in 1941

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   Requests for a new bridge in Waterville began in 1935 when the village council wrote to both Wood and Lucas County Commissioners. The old 1887-88 wagon bridge had been repaired in 1904 after two spans were knocked out by flood and ice.  In 1926 another section gave way, this time from the weight of a steam shovel. A more urgent request was made in 1937, citing the frequent repairs needed for the recurring holes in the floor of the bridge. The village solicitor also wrote to the Ohio Department of State Highways describing the unsafe condition of the bridge, pointing out that school children were bussed across it twice daily. This resulted in the Lucas County Commissioners passing a resolution citing the urgency of a new bridge in Waterville, but no further action was taken.

   Village records in the Wakeman Archives contain carbon copies of these documents, including an April 1938 request from Toledo Attorney E. Donald Demuth, the village solicitor, once more describing the emergency repairs being made after holes repeatedly occur in the bridge floor. A June 21st reply suggested the Toledo Division Engineer of the Department of State Highways be contacted to make the repairs. Of course, these were the years of the Great Depression and funds were scarce. In December 1938, Clerk of Council Ernie Hook warned of a pending collapse in a letter to the Toledo Division Engineer. Two and a half years later his unheeded warning came true when the old bridge went down under the weight of a milk truck.

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   Two independent milk haulers, Thomas Riegel and Robert Byerly of Millersville, started across the bridge from the Wood County side with their heavily loaded truck on July 24, 1941 and broke through to the bed of the Maumee River. Miraculously, they suffered only minor injuries. Spectators reported that the river ran white with four tons of spilled and ruptured milk cans. Telephone lines and Waterville Gas and Oil lines had crossed the bridge and were pulled down. Waterville citizens were actually glad the bridge collapsed so that their constant demands for a new bridge would now be answered. During that summer, drivers were able to ford the river at low water areas. Painted steel oil drums were placed as markers for the ford route south of Granger Island. However, as Fate would have it, World War II was declared in December following the attack at Pearl Harbor. All steel went into the war effort. A new bridge would have to wait.

   New approaches were installed to the abandoned electric trolley bridge at Roche de Boeuf and for the next seven years it was used as a "temporary" crossing. Waterville merchants were so glad for Wood County customers to again be able to patronize their stores, they planned a week of celebration when it opened. But drivers trying to pass each other on the high narrow bridge would find it a harrowing experience, particularly when the wind was blowing hard.

   In the summer of 1948 the new bridge was finally built at a cost of more than $485,000. It was opened and dedicated on December 3 with another grand celebration. Mayor Albert Graf welcomed other local and state officials and a large crowd of happy Waterville residents.

Information for this article obtained from documents in the Wakeman Archives, Watervillore by Midge Campbell, and Olde Waterville by June Huffman.

Electricity for Waterville

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Waterville Electric  Plant

Did you know that the Village first received electricity for homes and street lighting in 1917? We found, among a stack of old ordinances and paperwork recently donated to WHS by the City of Waterville, a series of actions by the Village Council in the year 1917 to electrify the Village. A special election was held April 25, 1917 to allow the Village to issue bonds to finance “building works for the supplying electricity to the Corporation and inhabitants thereof”. The issue was passed by a vote of 115 for and 14 against. Then a series of ordinances were passed at a June 4, 1917 meeting to publish and sell bonds totaling $13,600 and another to authorize the Clerk C.J. Roach and Mayor J.J. Lloyd to advertise for bids for this project. Ordinance No. 7 dated July 27, 1917 authorized the Village to levy a property tax sufficient to pay interest on the bonds and establish a “sinking fund” to pay the principal when due. Bids were taken to “furnish all apparatus and equipment for building a distribution system to receive purchased electrical energy for lighting of streets and resale to the public” to specifications supplied by the Froelich and Emery Engineering Co.  A resolution passed September 17th awarded contracts for materials and labor to Chas. L. Zahm of Toledo and to General Electric of Toledo for transformers, service meters and lamps all totaling $11,933.68. No paper work was found indicating when the village residents began to actually receive electricity but we can assume sometime in 1918.

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Diesel Engine

Power was purchased from 1918 until June 1930 when a municipal generating plant was built and put into service.  This generating station was powered by several large diesel engines and was located near the water tower at the western edge (at that time) of the village. When the demand for power increased to capacity more diesel engines and generating units were added. By the 1950s the village residents had to decide whether to build a larger power plant or abandon the municipal plant and again purchase power from Toledo Edison. This controversial issue raged for years with much passion on both sides. The villagers were evenly split on the issue and no decision could be reached. Finally in 1967 Toledo Edison agreed to buy the Waterville Power Company for about 1.3 million dollars.  The power plant was shut down and Waterville power switched to a Toledo Edison substation on April 20, 1968. The plant was sold to Toledo Edison in July of 1968 and later the building was torn down.

The Waterville Health Department

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...The Village of Waterville was incorporated in 1882 and assumed the mayor-council form of government at that time. The old village records, held at the Wakeman Archives, show that the village either didn’t need or didn’t get around to establishing a village health department until 1890. Perhaps it was required by the State of Ohio. The original hardbound record book of The Waterville Health Department dated September 10, 1890 documents initial meeting of appointed members, election of officers and the rules under which the Board would operate. The members were Mayor James Marston, O.W.Ballou, Peter Ullrich, J.E. Hall, Samuel Downs, plus Dr. J.J. Lawless and Josephus Russell who were absent the first meeting. Hall, Ballou and Downs were selected to draft the rules and regulations for the Board.

These regulations were presented and adopted at the next meeting on September 15, 1890. The adopted rules included such things are the number of hogs a villager could keep (two) and type of pen allowed, the amount of manure a livery stable could collect in summer, permitting and regulations of slaughter houses, etc. The first appointed Health Officer, who had to react to all complaints, was Dr. Samuel Downs. The new regulations were duly posted around the village as public notification of same. Subsequent meetings in 1891, 1892 and 1893 dealt mostly with complaints about unsanitary privies and many concerning the operation of several slaughter houses around town.

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The Waterville Board of Health was reorganized in 1895 to follow guidelines established by the State of Ohio Board of Health. Many of the new rules were concerned with the contagious diseases diphtheria, scarlet fever, smallpox and cholera. These were far more extensive than the 1890 rules. The sale of meat and milk within the village were also regulated. The Board of Health was again re-organized in 1900 per ordinance of the Village Council and adopted the 1895 rules and regulations. The last entry in this initial records book is dated March 3 1902 and appears on page 46 of a 230 page book. Apparently a different form of keeping minutes for the Board of Health was adopted.

Early Village Records ~ 1928-1938

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Our early 1900s Village councilmen had many interesting things to deal with, but our file on “complaints and nuisances” adds some humor to the mix. We find several complaints made about smelly, fly infested outhouses in the village and warning letters issued to the offending property owners. September 8, 1932 a letter was sent to a Mrs. Fannie Chapman to cease throwing garbage and trash into the alley. July 1935 a letter was sent to Mrs. C.C. Chapman about violating a village ordinance on closing hours for selling soft drinks and beverages at her place of business.

The Ohio State Highway Department was cited in June of 1937 for failing to cut the weeds growing in the old canal right of way within the village. Several warnings were sent in 1930 to property owners for driving over the curb to access their property. (We suspect that curbs and gutters were a new thing to these residents.) In August of 1938 a petition signed by thirteen residents was presented to the Council complaining about stone dust blowing over their property from the Barrett Plant. There is an undated letter in the file signed by seven residents complaining about a large number of birds in their trees being a nuisance and making a mess of their sidewalk. They wished that council might do something to eliminate these birds.

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January of 1936 the Waterville Chamber of Commerce voted to send a letter to council complaining about children sledding down Mechanic Street and requesting the Village provide a “safe and proper place” for this activity. This was not a first for complaints about children playing on the downhill streets. An August 4, 1932 letter was sent to five sets of parents from the clerk of council requesting they stop their children from the dangerous practice of playing on the walks with wagons, skates and scooters, especially in front of business places.

This file is part of a large collection of early Village of Waterville records at the Wakeman Archives available to the public. We hope that this story might inspire some of our readers to run for Waterville City Council.

WATER FOR WATERVILLE ~ RESOLUTION No. 17 IN 1925

Prior to 1925 the only source of water for the villagers of Waterville was a cistern collecting rain water or a shallow well on each lot. Some may have used water from the river, especially in the early years.

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The 20th century brought advances in the science of health, fire safety and indoor plumbing among many other things. The village residents petitioned for a municipal water system in 1925 and village council passed Resolution 17 setting up an election for permission to sell bonds to finance the project. The measure was passed in November 1925 and early 1926 council passed a series of resolutions and ordinances selling bonds, calling for bids and letting contracts to build the system. The State of Ohio Health Department, in approving the plan, noted that the village population of 779 residents was unlikely to grow beyond the railroad tracks at the western end of the village. A deep well was placed outside the village between the steam rail line and the Ohio Electric railway (probably near the location of the present water tower in Conrad Park.) A pump house and 50,000 gallon water tower were constructed on this site and water lines were laid throughout the village. Permission to cross the New York, St. Louis and Western Railroad right of way in several places was sought and granted. By December 1926 the lines were complete and water taps being sold. The very first water tap was sold to Frank Bucher, for $18.37, followed by Herman Gschwend and the Methodist Parsonage. Others were Howard Squire’s house, Mrs. Mary Miller, Fred Starkweather, Roger Farnsworth, Will Welch, Clarence Dodd and Ed Welch, David Welch and Charles Kurtz in 1926. Those interested in other taps made should visit the Wakeman Archival Center to see if your relatives are listed. 

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Some years later in 1936 the village built its own water treatment plant using water from the Maumee River, and the well was abandoned. The original water tower was torn down and replaced with a larger tower. The brass plaque in the photo was taken from the original tower. Also, just for the record, the Wilkshire and Fowler (Ohio & John Street) subdivisions west of the railroads requested extension of the water lines to their streets within a year of completion of the original system.

​Authors note: The paperwork for this story, including the original signed petitions, the resolutions and ordinances by the Village Council and maps of the village water distribution lines are all held in the Wakeman Archival Research Center and may be viewed by any interested visitors.

Stretch Limos...made in Waterville...Really?

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The Shop of Siebert Associates, Inc., a company producing stretch limousines, hearses and ambulance vehicles, was once located in Waterville. This company leased the Graf Building, located at 222 Farnsworth Road, formerly Smedlap Smithy Restaurant, in 1951, and used the entire space for their production. This company had a long history, originating in Toledo, Ohio, just off Spielbusch Avenue. 

The company was formed in 1853, originally to make buggies, carriages, and wagons for the farming community of Waterville. They were making delivery wagons and hearses in the 1890s, and as motor vehicles evolved in the early 1900s, they motorized some of their products. From 1911 to 1916 they were making a light truck called the Siebert. When Ford Motor Company quickly dominated the auto and light truck market, the Shop of Siebert moved to customize Ford vehicles into delivery trucks, hearses, and stretch limousines by splicing in extra doors on each side and lengthening the frame. These vehicles became quite poplar in the 1930s when Ford introduced its V-8 engine and more aerodynamic styling.

During WW II, defense contractors used Siebert multi-passenger cars to transport defense workers. The Siebert plant made parts for Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter airplanes.  The post-war boom created a demand for the custom vehicles, especially airport transit limousines, and this forced Siebert to look for more space. The Shop of Siebert was located in Waterville from 1951-1963 and expanded to Whitehouse, at the corner of Route 64 and Cemetery Road, about 1961. The Whitehouse Motors mechanics, usually Norman Bauman, were hired to install the extra front coil springs and correct the alignment. Bud Bauman helped under-coat the body of the cars. Shop of Siebert moved all operations to Inkster, Michigan in May of 1964. The printer’s block, pictured above, was used to produce printed advertisements, as shown below, for the Shop of Siebert vehicles.  A small collection of these blocks are in the memorabilia collections at the Wakeman Archival Research Center.

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THE WATERVILLE PIZZA SHOPPE

We are not sure how many uses the building at the corner of North River Road and Mechanic Street had, but know it started out as a Paragon Refining Gas Station and was a Gulf Gas Station after that. Marian Swope later owned the building and used it for an antique shop.

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            Waterville Pizza Shoppe

In 1966 she moved her antique shop to another location further down River Road and rented the building to a man (unfortunately we cannot remember or find his name) from Perrysburg who converted it to a pizza shop. He ran it for a short while before selling the business to my parents, Gene and Gay Galus, who named it The Waterville Pizza Shoppe. This was the first pizza shop in Waterville and quickly became a thriving and popular business. People raved about their secret sauce recipe and unique blend of cheeses. Friday and Saturday nights were especially busy. The parking lot and restaurant would be so filled that employees would sometimes have to pass the pizzas and drinks out to customers to pass on through the crowd to the correct customer, who would then pass their payment back up to the counter. No money was every lost in the passing!

We supplied pizzas for a campground in Whitehouse, Johns Manville night shift, BG students, the military school, and most of all – the crowds from Anthony Wayne High School sporting events.  Most home game nights, we were so crowded that some customers would jump in and take orders at the counter and answer the phone!

My mom, Gay Galus, was the primary employee and manager of The Waterville Pizza Shoppe, but other family members helped too. Gene, my dad, took care of ordering and picking up supplies, my younger brother, Joe, helped with stocking and cleaning, and I started grinding the cheese, making boxes, slicing pepperoni, cleaning, and stocking while still in late elementary school and later took orders and made pizzas. Mom’s younger sister worked for us for a period, as well as some Anthony Wayne High School students and a few other locals. One entertaining employee would sometimes hang upside down from the light post out front when there were no customers, which would bring in people out of curiosity!

On slower weeknights when Mom was working in the shop alone, Rick Ashenfelter would keep a watchful and protective eye on the little pizza shop from across the street where he worked as an attendant at the Sunoco gas station.  It was a dark corner except for the street light and lights of the gas station and pizza shop, so Rick worried about my mom working alone. If she went in the back room and he didn’t see her, he would either call or walk over there to be sure she was alright. Rick received free pizzas and beverages out of gratitude from my parents whenever he was working...and sometimes even when he wasn’t working. He would tell them that wasn’t necessary, but they insisted - they thought the world of him.

After a few years of serving only pizzas and sodas, my parents decided to add Hoagie Sandwiches to the menu. These became a favorite overnight! They also featured a 6 foot long hoagie for parties, which would be delivered to the customer on a long custom-made board with handles.

Some famous customers who ordered pizzas from The Waterville Pizza Shoppe were Bob Hope, June Taylor (of the June Taylor Dancers) who sent her limo driver in to pick it up, and Loretta Lynn who arrived in her tour bus and sent her driver in.  Our pizza shoppe was on television once when we donated a year of free pizzas for a raffle prize for a local call in charity drive. We gained many new customers from that TV plug!

To illustrate the old saying, “It’s a small world”, I was talking to a College of Charleston professor while living and teaching in Charleston, SC many years after moving away from Waterville.  She mentioned that she and her husband were moving back to their hometown. I asked where that was. The professor answered, “Bowling Green, OH”. Then she went on to tell all the things they missed about living in Bowling Green and one of them was “the best pizzas in the world” from a pizza shop in Waterville.  I asked if it was located on the corner at the foot of the bridge. The professor looked surprised and said, “Why yes. Have you been there?” I told her that my family had owned that pizza shop and that we had lived right down on the road on North River Road. The professor asked if my family still owned it and was very disappointed to learn that it had been closed for many years and that the building was no longer there. Neither of us could believe that of all the pizza shops in all the towns in all the states in this country, we both had a connection with The Waterville Pizza Shoppe!

Our family owned and operated the shop from approximately 1967 until approximately 1974. We moved to South Carolina in the 1980’s and reside there to this day. Article written by Candice Galus Brown, using information provided by Gene and Gay Galus.

Clerking at the Ostrander Store

Mena Graf (1889-1979) was the daughter of Charles and Rosa Graf. She lived at 204 Farnsworth Road across the street from the Graf Garage, which is now Peddlars’ Alley. Mena Graf, wrote a column for a local weekly newspaper The Standard called “Mena’s Meanderings” back in the 1960s telling of local history along with an advertisement of the First National Bank. She mentioned that at one time she was a clerk at the W.H. Ostrander Store on Third Street. She was one of nine clerks and received $20.00 a month working from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and on Saturday until 11:00 p.m.

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Ostrander’s was a general store and they sold everything from shoe laces to meat and delivered things to customers by horse and wagon. They had a large grinder to grind coffee and every order had to be ground. They sold Lion and Arbuckle coffee for 16 cents a pound. Most of the things were in bulk, such as sugar, buckwheat flour, prunes, crackers and other things all arrived in barrels. They also sold china dishes, shoes, wallpaper, gasoline, coal oil and sweet pickles. Pickles were in brine in a barrel and the clerk had to “fish” them out.

We know from canal store ledgers that the Wakeman Archival Center has that the canal stores in the early 1900s were selling bread for 10 cents, butter for 18-20 cents, lard for 12 cents, soap for 5 cents, and 2 boxes jello for 20 cents, corsets for 50 cents and corset laces for 2 cents.

Mena left Ostrander’s and took a typing and shorthand course at Davis Business College then went to work in Toledo. She rode the Ohio Electric Train daily to work in Toledo. Later, in 1914, she took a job at the first bank in Waterville started by Ernest and Christie Shaffmaster from Michigan. It was located at what was until recently known as Koral Hamburg. The Waterville State Savings Bank opened its doors in 1923 at the corner of Farnsworth Road and Third Street where she worked for more than 40 years.

Waterville's Olde Town Hall

   The original location of the Chamber of Commerce building at 122 Farnsworth Road was around the corner at 16 North Second Street. It was moved in 1996 to make room for a parking lot for Zion Lutheran Church.  Known as The Olde Town Hall after the new municipal building was completed in 1984, it was then occupied by the Chamber of Commerce.

   Before the move was begun The Waterville Historical Society was given the opportunity to inspect and remove any of the many old documents stored in the building which they felt should be preserved. Discovered among the dusty books and papers were the original plans proposed by several builders for a council room and jail which the village had advertised for bid in 1885.

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   Proposals written in beautiful longhand along with simple drawings were made by William H. Myers, Frederick E. Sargent, William Witte & Company, J.F. Patton, and L.G. Gunn. Some made two proposals, one for a brick structure and another less expensive one made of wood.

   On October 15 an article of agreement between the Village of Waterville and William H. Myers was made to build a council room and jail for the sum of $561.00, with the work to be completed on or before December 1, or the contractor to be assessed $2.00 each and every day the work was delayed. The specifications called for a 40 by 20 foot building with 10 foot ceilings and two jail cells of nine feet square.

   The work was completed on time and Myers asked for another $9.00 for extra work he had done. Then on December 28 he and J.B. White sent a bill for $33.00 for labor and materials for one desk, three benches, shelving, hooks, coal box and two bunks. Alfred.J.Taylor was then mayor, George.M.Utz was clerk, and the council members were Oscar.W. Ballou, Henry. Knarr, Thomas Pray and Charles.W. Shoemaker.

   To relocate and extensively renovate the building in 1996 cost another $60,000.  The Lutheran Church exchanged location sites with the village and paid for the moving with Graham’s Building Movers. The Chamber agreed to increase their rent and pay for new landscaping.  

   Due to mistakes in early records which were perpetuated through the years, the building was thought at one time to be owned by L.L. Morehouse from 1847 until 1873 and then by Frank Whitcomb until 1884 when the village bought it from him. Perhaps they owned the lot or an earlier structure, but The Waterville Archival Research Center has the original documents which make clear that it was built 122 years ago as a village hall and jail.

   William Myers would be pleased to know the basic structure he built so soundly is still an integral part of Waterville life.       

John Saunders, Comic Strip Mary Worth, and ... Waterville?

You would have to take a considerable journey back in time to meet up with a 1930’s comic strip character named Apple Mary. However, the modern comic strip character Mary Worth can trace her ancestry back to Mary. Now what has any of this to do with Waterville, Ohio? Well, well known Toledo newscaster John Saunders, who made his home in Waterville for 36 years, was the author of both the Mary Worth and Steve Roper and Mike Nomad comic strips for many years.

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John was a 1942 graduate of Toledo’s Libbey High School. He joined the Army in 1943 and took part in the Battle of the Bulge. He also was awarded a Purple Heart for his service during World War II. Following the war he embarked on a career in radio broadcasting before beginning a successful career as a Toledo TV newscaster at Channel 13, WSPD in 1951.

Actually, Mary Worth began life as a Depression era apple vendor whose deceased husband’s stocks regained value over the years.  John’s father, Allen Saunders, took over the comic strip in 1939 renaming it Mary Worth’s Family.  In 1942 he changed it once more to simply Mary Worth. It emerged as one of the all-time great soap opera comic strips in America.

In 1950, Allen asked his son John to help him write a Steve Roper and Mike Nomad sequence revolving around a fictional radio personality and in 1955 John assumed full responsibility for the Steve Roper and Mike Nomad strip. In 1979 when Allen retired, John was selected to succeed him as writer for Mary Worth. He wrote the storyline for years working with artist Joe Giella.

While some might find the character of Mary somewhat meddling or even nosey, John in a 1990 interview described her as “a confused observer of the modern scene who stands on the sidelines trying to catch up to the 20th Century.” But, he did maintain a sense of humor about his character later referring to her kiddingly as a “nosey old lady”. Beginning in 1975, Toledo disk jockey and radio talk show host Bob Kelly lampooned Mary Worth on his daily morning drive radio show.  Kelly and John developed a friendship. Saunders sometimes gave Kelly advance copies of his storyline so Kelly could plan his parodies.

John and his wife eventually moved from Waterville to nearby Whitehouse where John died in 2003 at the age of 79. He is buried in Waterville’s Wakeman Cemetery.  At the time of his death, Mary Worth was syndicated in over 350 newspapers worldwide.

            Mary Worth continues as a popular comic strip by Joe Giella and  Karen Moy.           

The Clark Gourley Post #463 ~ Waterville's American Legion

A Salute to All of Our Veterans

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Clark Gourley was the first local serviceman killed during World War I. Robert Clark Gourley was born February 11, 1895 at Van Buren, Ohio. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in Toledo June 24, 1916 and was shipped to France in June 1917. He saw action in the Aisne and Toulon sectors and died August 8, 1918 from wounds received in the Battle of Belleau Wood. Clark Gourley was buried with full Military Honors in the U.S. Military Cemetery in France. The American Legion movement began at national and state levels in 1919 as the American servicemen returned home from the “War to End All Wars”. The local chapter received its charter from the State organization on October 1, 1920 and chose to honor Clark Gourley’s sacrifice in the chosen name. The first officers were Howard Allion, Harry Witte, Jacob Disher, Eugene Taylor, John Wannamaker, Roy Long and Herbert Winterstien. There are forty names on the Charter Membership Roll which can be viewed at the Wakeman Archival Research Center. The Legion Post met in the upstairs of the old State Savings Bank building at Farnsworth Road and Third Street until 1923 when that building was moved up Third Street where it still stands. They then purchased two portable classroom buildings from the Waterville Schools and had them moved to a lot on Mechanic Street purchased from A.K. Myers. This site remained the Legion home until it was sold in May of 2009. Following World War II the Post decided to drop the Gourley name to better honor all of the fallen and then changed their name to Waterville American Legion Post #463. As Veteran’s day approaches the Legion members everywhere will be preparing to honor all veterans, living, deceased and long ago deceased … and so should we all.