W.W. Farnsworth Orchardist, Senator, Preservationist

View fullsize

Do you enjoy visiting the Farnsworth Metropark or perhaps you live in a part of Waterville that was once the Farnsworth Fruit Farm? Watson Wales Farnsworth, a native and lifelong resident of Waterville and the grandson of Watervilleʼs founder, John Pray, played an important part in each historical event. “W. W.” as he was known, was born November 21st, 1855, and died from cancer and pneumonia on January 13, 1939. He married Anna Norton on June 15, 1881, and together they had two children, Ruth E. (Mrs. William E. Young) and Frank Norton.

After Anna Nortonʼs death in 1908, W.W. married Adelaide A. Counter, the daughter of a fruit raiser, city forester and city councilman of Toledo on October 4, 1911. As farmers, scientific fruit growers, and good citizens, the Farnsworths and their orchards attracted sightseers and those interested in horticulture from all sections of the country, some coming exclusively to northwest Ohio to see W. W.ʼs property. His fruit business deserved to rank along with the leading manufacturing industries of the nearby City of Toledo. As a teacher and lecturer on horticultural subjects, W. W. was an authority and elevated the industry throughout the United States. He worked on his father’s farm until the age of twenty-one when he bought the original ten acres of land on the western edge of Waterville where he first engaged in fruit cultivation. In 1908 he became one of the organizers and then president of the Rex Spray Company of Toledo, a firm designed to produce sprays for fruit trees and farms. In 1926, when he turned his holdings over to his children and grandchildren, he owned 500 acres, more land than any other person in the district.

In 1912 Watson Wales Farnsworth was a delegate from Lucas County to the Fourth Ohio Constitutional Convention. In 1922, he was elected to the Ohio Senate, 85th General Assembly, and in 1924 was re-elected to serve in the 86th General Assembly as Senator from Lucas County, the 34th District. This service was interrupted in 1926 by defeat for Lt. Governor, but he served as a State Senator again from 1929 to 1933. He authored legislation permitting canal lands to become the Anthony Wayne Trail, and for municipal park systems in Ohio to be separate tax supported entities. He built the park system of Lucas County, Ohio, 1,200 acres of which took in the old Miami and Erie Canal. The park, named after W. W., contains many historic spots, the sites of old battlegrounds and places of historic value. He was the first executive-secretary of the Toledo Metropolitan Park Board.

Farnsworth Road, and Farnsworth Metropark in Waterville are named for “W. W.” who was a lifelong member of local Masonic Order and United Methodist Church serving 50 years as Sunday School Superintendent. He was a delegate to the Republican Convention in 1928 and selected by President Wilson in 1917 to serve on selective service appeals board. In his lifetime, W. W. served in many public and semi-public capacities, at one time being a member of the Waterville Board of Education.

W. W. Farnsworth did much to improve the conditions existing among farmers and orchardists, and earned high standing in every quarter in which he was known. He was kind, generous, fair, and considerate, whether in business or in the affairs of every day human relationships.

View fullsize

Apple Blossom Time

Spring is in the air and with it the glorious scent of apple blossoms.  Those fragrant pink and white buds have played a “reigning” role in Waterville events in the 20th century, as did the Farnsworth family who hosted the first Waterville Blossom Festival at the packing house of their farm on May 6, 1933. (Look for more about the Farnsworths in upcoming feature articles.)

Though a rainy day, the Waterville Chamber of Commerce sponsored event featured a parade of automobiles (with the festival queen in the lead car) which was routed out past the Byrum, Utz and Boyer fruit farms then back to the Farnsworth orchards.  There, Miss Theresa Walbolt, daughter of Frederick and Minnie (Eccard) Walbolt, a student at Waterville High School was crowned the first queen of the festival.  She was attended by elementary school girls Merita White and Marilyn Baldwin.  Speeches, music by the Whitehouse Civic Band and Trick’s accordion school, and evening dancing at Graf’s garage rounded out the festivities.  

LEE SURRENDERS TO GRANT April 9, 1865

Recollections of John Lansing Pray, 1896

The Civil War had been raging for four bloody years, from the spring of 1861 until the spring of 1865, when General Lee’s Confederate army was trapped and forced to surrender by General Grant’s Union forces on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Waterville’s own John Lansing Pray, a grandson of our founder John Pray, was present at this event as a signalman and sergeant in the 5th Army Corps. He writes his recollections of Lee’s surrender in a speech he presented for the April 9, 1896 Appomattox meeting of the G.A.R. at Memorial Hall in Toledo. Below are several excerpts from this speech. The entire paper can be seen at the Wakeman Archival Research Center along with other J.L. Pray papers. 

“There never was a better time during the whole course of the rebellion that the Army was in better condition for severe warfare than in the spring of 1865. Experience had so matured the material of the army that almost every man was competent to maneuver a successful campaign. 

“The Corps to which I belonged (the 5th) was in Sheridan’s command during the Appomattox Campaign. Sheridan sent word to the Corps ‘to spend themselves for every bit of leg power there was in them,’ for he was not only keeping even with the enemy on the march but he would get ahead of them. 

“Long and rapid marches had been the order of movement right along, but now the push was started at daylight on the morning of the ninth of April – the 5th, 24th, and a part of the 25th A.C. (Army Corps) were moved hastily to the right to support the Cavalry and successfully blocked further progress of the Army of Northern Virginia under General Lee toward Lynchburg. At this moment the 2nd, 6th and a portion of the 9th were pressing the Rebel Army from the rear…As my comrade, Sgt. B.W. Marcy and myself were hastily bringing in our horses some Cavalrymen sang out ‘They have surrendered!’ In a moment we met a Confederate officer riding rapidly nearly in our direction and carrying a small white flag…We hastened to the outside line of our Cavalry and found the skirmish line of our Cavalry skirting the south side of the village of Appomattox Court house. 

“Ground was taken on the northeast side of the village, on the hill. The First Brigade, Seventh Division, Fifth Army Corps was lined up in order and the Confederate infantry came up by brigades and stacked their arms and returned to  their camp. Only about 10,000 of the Confederate infantry went through the formality. Here we saw a few of the general officers of the Rebel Army but most of them had some way saved themselves the embarrassment. General Grant very kindly allowed the Rebel Cavalry to keep their horses and it seemed that every man among them that could get hold of a horse owned it after that. General Grant also found it necessary to supply them with subsistence immediately after the surrender and in many instances the Johnnie Rebs were welcomed to the Yankee mess. Former enemies were now friends and the last feature of the war was kindly feeding and transporting the men that we had been striving so long to slay.” 

Note: Several interesting sections of this speech have been omitted to keep this article to a reasonable length. 

The Flood of 1913 Ohio's Greatest Natural Disaster

     Although Waterville suffered no loss of life, only property damage, the southwest part of Ohio was hardest hit with hundreds dead and thousands of buildings destroyed in the apocalyptic storm of 1913. It began days before with tornadoes in the western states and moved east to flood 14 states, Indiana and Ohio getting the worst of it. On Easter Sunday, March 23rd, the near biblical deluge began and lasted for four days, more than four months normal rainfall for Ohio. Even large factories, office buildings, bridges and barns were toppled. Streetcars and trains were knocked over and moved great distances. Gas lines ruptured and sparked raging fires. An estimated 20,000 homes were destroyed and much fertile farmland washed away.

     In Waterville the Maumee River surrounded the River Road school and kept rising. The canal also ran over its banks and downhill to worsen the situation. Midge Campbell wrote in Watervillore: "At 5 a.m., on March 25, the canal floodgates near the Waterville quarry were opened to stop the overflowing and relieve the pressure on the banks - pouring still more water into the flooded river. The people in the lower part of town had been in a precarious position, sandwiched as they were, between two over-flowing bodies of water." Residents living along River Road moved to higher ground, and some Farnsworth Road and Second Street homeowners moved their furniture to their second floors.

     The Ohio National Guard was called out and spent weeks helping to restore order in the devastated southern Ohio cities. Dayton suffered the most destruction and it was said dead horses littered the streets. Midge Campbell also reported that she heard the horses kept on Granger Island behind the school had to be shot as a humane decision before they drowned in the icy water. It was impossible to remove them.

     Eventually, both state and national flood control measures were taken as a result of the storm. Dayton erected five dams and has never suffered a major flood since.

     Opel Marlowe Witte, born in 1898, recalled in a 1987 oral history that she and her future husband Harry canoed around Waterville's flooded streets to view the incredible scene and check on their neighbors.

Winter on the Miami and Erie Canal

The Miami and Erie Canal, which carried both cargo and people between Toledo and Cincinnati, making myriad stops along the way at places like Waterville and Providence, was well traveled during the 1840s. Although traffic and business bustled along the busy canal during the warmer months, winter weather brought canal travel to a screeching halt.  Canals, having no current, quickly froze over when the temperature dropped and the winter winds blew. This was great for children and young people who enjoyed ice skating and other games on the ice, but the men and their families who lived aboard the canal boats had to stay busy and employed too.

Canal boat families did not shelter aboard their boats in the winter. Canal boats were constructed entirely of wood and after being used twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, boat maintenance and repair were much needed if the boat was to be ready for service when spring returned. This kept many workers busy. In addition, the canal itself needed lots of attention. Portions of the canals were actually drained of water so repairs could be made along the banks where erosion and burrowing animals like muskrats had done damage. This also afforded an opportunity to periodically repair or replace the heavy wooden gates that controlled the flow of water in the locks. Although Ohio appears to be fairly flat when traveling the entire 240 mile length of the canal the land elevation actually changes hundreds of feet along the way. Locks were necessary for raising and lowering the boats.

In the canal itself, silt which had been moved and deposited by all the warm weather traffic also had to be cleared away so that the boats could maintain their nice steady four mile-an-hour pace (the legal speed limit).

In addition to all of these cold weather chores some boat workers also sought employment in the various gristmills, sawmills and other businesses located along the various rivers and canals that connected Lake Erie and the Ohio River.

As many people already know, today’s Anthony Wayne Trail (formerly State Route 24) which runs through the city of Waterville follows the route of the old Miami and Erie Canal.

Source:  “Frozen in Time,” a guided tour conducted by Jennifer Christensen at Providence Metropark and sponsored by the Toledo Metroparks, January 19, 2015.  The purpose was to explore the impact of winter on life along the Miami and Erie Canal.

View fullsize

Ice Skating on the Canal

View fullsize

Brrrr…it’s winter time again, isn’t it? Makes me mindful of the time I was a teenager and looking for some outdoor winter fun. My name is Marie Conrad and I was born here in Waterville in 1889. My papa built a two story brick building on Mill Street (you now call it “Third Street”) where our family of nine children lived.

We worked hard in those days but occasionally an opportunity came along to enjoy an outing with friends. That’s what happened when I experienced the scariest moments of my entire life!

I was 20 years old at the time and my sister Hannah (Hanse) and I were invited to go ice skating all the way to Maumee on the canal with our friends Charlie and Paul. Charlie was an older bachelor and Paul was younger (and so handsome!). Charlie was my date and Hanse went with Paul. They met us at our house and walked us down the banks to the canal where we put on our skates.  

Off we went gliding along toward Maumee talking excitedly and enjoying the cold late afternoon air. Charlie and I were in the lead when we heard a gradual cracking sound and realized we were breaking through the ice! Unbeknownst to us, there was a paper mill located at the outskirts of Maumee near the canal bank. As I recall we were later told that hot water ran from this mill into the canal, causing only a thin layer of ice to be frozen over that area. Charlie told me to be calm and hang onto the ice for if we were to go down again and plunge under the surrounding 12” ice shelf, we may not be saved!

We struggled and called out for help. Luckily, two railroad workers heard our cries and ran to save us by throwing out large tow ropes and pulling us up the canal banks. My head was cut, my coat was torn, and I could hardly catch my breath from shivering so violently. But those men knew that to keep us from freezing, they had to make us run all the way to the nearest cottage where it was warm and dry. A very kind woman and her daughter helped us into dry clothes that they had and warmed us at their fireplace hearth. They sent us on our way on a street car, “The Pumpkin Vine,” that luckily ran between Maumee and Waterville.

When we got into the house, we were exhausted and bedraggled! Papa made us drink a cup of hot “hop” tea and sent us straight to bed.

The canal provided much entertainment and many fond memories to residents but it was also very dangerous. Eight years later, the Utz girls, Clara and Jessie, broke through the ice near the interurban bridge. They were not as fortunate as Hanse and I were. Tragically, they drowned. After that many parents no longer allowed their children to risk ice skating on the canals in winter.

NOTE: This article is adapted from a letter written by Marie in 1962 relaying this canal ice skating incident.

View fullsize

Hannah (Hanse) Conrad

View fullsize

Marie M. Conrad

The Christmas Connection to Baer Park

     One of Waterville's most active volunteers, John H. Baer, 47, was killed in a tragic accident while helping to hang Christmas decorations at Third and Mechanic Streets in 1971. He was a member of the Waterville Recreation Committee for 15 years, had coached the Waterville Little League baseball team, served as chairman of the village summer festival committee and was elected to serve on village council. As a result of a 15-foot fall from a scaffold, he received serious head injuries and died after surgery. He was survived by his wife Eileen and three children.

     An eight acre plot of land behind Elm Street and next to the railroad tracks had been reserved to build a new elementary school when needed. When it was deemed impractical for that purpose, it was decided to develop it into another park and to name it Baer Park in honor of John Baer. For the next three years it was delayed by controversy and financing problems. The plans drawn up by landscape architects included a large pond for fishing and ice skating but was met with opposition, and the pond was erased from the plan. A proposal for lights at the baseball diamond also drew the wrath of nearby residents.

View fullsize

     After tearing down a small house on Elm Street to make way for an entrance drive into the park from the north end of Fifth Street, the park was finally completed with the rest of the original plan intact. Tennis and basketball courts, baseball and softball fields, playground equipment, picnic areas and a pavilion were constructed. Even a sledding hill was added.

     Dedication day for the park was held May 21, 1977 with speeches, music, and ceremonies in the morning, followed by a family picnic lunch, games, contests and more music all afternoon. In the following years the playground was improved, and a paved trail now surrounds the whole park. It is a very popular recreation area for all ages.

Check it out with the City of Waterville and Global Tennis.

View fullsize