Waterville Historical Society

your connection to the past

401 Farnsworth Road, P.O. Box 263 Waterville, OH, 43566 United States

The Waterville Historical Society collects, preserves, provides access to, interprets and fosters an appreciation of history that has an impact on the Waterville, Ohio and surrounding area.

The Waterville Health Department

February 26, 2016  /  John Rose

...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.

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

February 12, 2016  /  John Rose

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.

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

January 29, 2016  /  John Rose

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.

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. 

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?

January 18, 2016  /  Verna Rose

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.

THE WATERVILLE PIZZA SHOPPE

January 01, 2016  /  Candice Galus Brown

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.

            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

December 15, 2015  /  Verna Rose

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.

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

November 28, 2015  /  Phyllis Witzler

   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.

   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?

November 15, 2015  /  Kathy Saco

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.

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

November 08, 2015  /  John Rose

A Salute to All of Our Veterans

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.

HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION ~ 1932 STYLE

October 22, 2015  /  Verna Rose

     Waterville held a big Halloween carnival with parade and contests on October 31, 1932. The event was sponsored by the Waterville Chamber of Commerce in a novel ‘All Saints Eve Frolic’ that offered many prizes. A newspaper article found in the Wakeman Archives described the event as follows:

     “A parade will be headed by the village fire department starting at 8:15. The line of march will be from Graf’s garage to Third, to Mechanic, to the railroad to Farnsworth road and repeat. Business houses have promised several floats, and the school buses will take part. During the parade prizes of ice cream bars and loaves of bread will be thrown to the crowd. Masqueraders must be in the parade to be eligible for prizes. A program of stunts and contests will follow the parade. Third Street will be roped off for the games.

    ”Businessmen of the community have donated 60 prizes. First and second prizes will be given for the best decorated float in the parade, most comic and most grotesque costumes, worst hard time costume, the best pair of twins, the most dilapidated car (which must run under its own power) and the largest pumpkin, etc. In other contests prizes will be awarded to winners in the two-mile run, the peanut race, three-legged race, wheelbarrow race, nail driving contest for ladies, relay race, 100-yard dash, rolling-pin throw and apple bobbing.

    “ The list of prizes and donors were: Kurtz Garage, 5 mile tow-in or grease job; Gulf Filling Station, 1 quart oil; Hi-Speed Filling Station, 1 quart of oil; The Home Lunch, apple pie a la mode, Esmond’s ice cream; Clark Roach, shampoo or haircut; Bob Cashen, shampoo or haircut; Sid Van Tassel, shampoo or haircut; Junior High School class, two free tickets to Junior play; High School Athletic Association, two free tickets to basketball game, Waterville School Faculty, good grades to all who study hard; Tom Hahn, two jugs sweet cider; Stickney Electric Co., six 25-watt bulbs.

“Also Wm. Disher Waterville Post Master, 1 year courteous service to all; Waterville State Savings Bank, $1.00 savings account to new saver under 17; Metcalf & Klatt, 5 lb cup grease, Monomobile; Rupp’s Store, merchandise; Kroger Grocery, merchandise, Starkweather, merchandise; Waterville Service Store, merchandise; Foster Garrett, merchandise; Waterville Garage, 1 battery recharged; Waterville Hatchery, 25 chicks or 100 egg.

“Fred England, two games pool free; A.L. Mills, nickel Plate R.R. free use of waiting room for all passenger traffic; Waterville Elevator, “We’ll grind your grist”; Dr. H.F Gschwend, 1 free veterinary trip; Dr. B.B Buck, 1 office call, Dr. W.A. Suter, 1 office call; Koch Lumber Co,. can of paint or equivalent on roll of roofing, W.W. Farnsworth, apple butter; W.G. Farnsworth Co., 1 bottle of grape juice.

“Marion Utz, 1 basket assorted apples; Ray Donnan, 1 Christmas tree; Long’s Dairy, 2 quarts milk delivered in city; Cliff Gallup, 2 quarts milk delivered in city; Paul Wingate, 2 quarts milk delivered in city; Waterville Ice Co, 1 cake ice; Droessler’s Meat market, merchandise; Waterville Gas Co., double discount on October bill.

“Fife’s Restaurant, 6 bowls soup; Waffle Dog, 5 school tablets. Ernest Delventhal, ‘I will advise landscaping your yard”; Waterville print Shop, discount on job printing; Waterville Times & Chronicle, Posters and 1 years subscription to new subscriber.

“Lutheran church, free sermon most any Sunday a. m.; Howard Allion, ‘I will haul the stone for your repair job’; Methodist church, free sermon most any Sunday a. m.; Buerch and Gschwend repair job; Ed Keller, ‘I’ll solder your milk can’; Witte Hardware; pair paring knives; Presbyterian church, free sermon most any Sunday a. m.; Haley’s Shoe Shop, 1 pair rubber heels; Ezra Fox, merchandise; C.M. Gray, 2 bushels potatoes; Waterville Electric Light Co., decorations; Franklin Creamery, 11 ice cream cones.”

Ariel Bradley "1776 Spy" For George Washington

October 01, 2015  /  Jim Conrad

The Ohio Historical Society marker at Mogadore, a suburb of Akron, OH, reads in part:  “Legend has it that Mogadore’s first settler, Ariel Bradley, was a spy for George Washington in 1776. As a nine year old boy, Ariel crossed British lines on a supposed errand to the nearest grain mill and returned with troop positions and tent counts…” Buried in Waterville Wakeman Cemetery, the legend of the boy spy continues to both inspire and intrigue.

 Whereas a legend generally contains anywhere from a kernel of truth to a great amount of truth, it is often difficult to know what to believe. What do we know for certain?  The autumn of 1776 had not gone well for General George Washington’s Continental Army. Although previously determined to defend the city of New York from invasion by British General Sir William Howe with naval support from his brother, Admiral Lord Richard Howe, Washington and his army barely escaped capture and/or destruction at the Battle of Long Island on August 17.   

Thus began a series of battles, defeats and narrow escapes before a much needed, morale-building victory could be achieved at Trenton, New Jersey on December 26. One of those narrow escapes occurred at White Plains, New York on October 28. Enter our local legend, Ariel Bradley. Born December 30, 1767 in Salisbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut, Ariel was the only son of Ariel Bradley (1728-1795) and his second wife, Mary Mercy Bird (1724-1820). He had two older half-brothers, Thaddeus (born 1752) and James (born 1756) from the union of his father and his first wife, Amy Thompson. Young Ariel was educated in the common school and raised as a farmer. 

Prior to the Battle of White Plains in 1776, Washington was in desperate need of information regarding the strength and positioning of British forces. An article from the Toledo Blade dated May 31, 1929 states:  “A number of soldiers who had been sent out as spies had never returned and Washington was about to proceed without the desired information. At this time the two older brothers of Ariel Bradley, who were serving as regular soldiers, went to Washington and told him that if there were anyone in camp who could get through the British lines it was their nine-year-old kid brother. As a result, Ariel Bradley was put on a horse with a sack of corn, ostensibly an uncouth lout on his way to the mill to have some meal ground. The ruse worked, and the British soldiers under General Howe, after seizing the boy and searching him thoroughly, allowed him to proceed to the mill.   

Young Ariel, however, was not so dumb and green as he acted. While going to the mill he made an estimation of the force of the enemy by the number of tents and took a good mental picture of the layout of the forces along the river. When he returned he was searched again but maintained the same dumb demeanor and was allowed to go through the lines and home. As he departed, however, he heard a British officer say ‘I bet the little devil will betray us yet’.” Bear in mind that Nathan Hale had been hanged as a spy barely a month before. 

Although the Battle of White Plains was hardly a victory for Washington’s troops, it did allow his army to withdraw from the field largely intact and begin the arduous trek culminating with the convincing victory at Trenton. While we cannot positively place Thaddeus or James Bradley at the scene, both had enlisted in the patriots’ cause early on and served in Connecticut regiments involved in the New York retreat. It seems that both of the brothers eventually attained the rank of sergeant and served through the duration of the war.  No written record indicates that Ariel continued his service to the cause.  James died March 3, 1817 in Johnston Township, Trumbull County, Ohio.  Having lived in Johnston Township himself at one point, Thaddeus died November 16, 1840 in neighboring Geauga County. 

Ariel married Chloe Lane in Killingworth, Connecticut in 1792. They had four children before migrating over the Alleghany Mountains to the Western Reserve of Ohio where they had four more. After spending several years in the frontier towns of Canfield in Mahoning County and Suffield in Portage County, he purchased 120 acres of land in the fall of 1807 and erected the first house in what is now Springfield Township in Summit County. The community became known as Bradleyville and retained that name until 1825 when it was renamed Mogadore, Arabic for beautiful. 

Sometime after the death of Chloe in 1848, Ariel headed to Wood County to stay with his son, Ariel Bird Bradley, and perhaps be closer to his daughters, Amelia and Phoebe.  He died there on March 25, 1857 and is buried in Wakeman Cemetery.  Daughter Amelia Emma would die in Portage in 1842 and Phoebe Marilla in Bowling Green in 1872.  Ariel Bird died in 1887 and is buried with his wife and father in Wakeman, Waterville, Ohio.

ariel bradleysign_edited-1.jpg

Waterville's Sampler Maker

August 30, 2015  /  Toni Stoma

In 1834, the Sargent House was built by Edward Sargent and Rowena Edwards Sargent.  In August of 1839, Rowena P. Sargent was born to the couple. Ten years later, on her tenth birthday, this young lady completed a hand stitched sampler which exists to this day. On May 9, 1861, she married Seth Duane Bingham of Wyandot, Ohio and they eventually settled in Haskins, Ohio.  Two children were born to them, Jessie May Bingham, born May 8, 1864, here in Waterville and Frederick H. Bingham, born December 30, 1867, in Haskins, Ohio. She died at the age of 44 on November 1, 1883 and is buried in Wakeman Cemetery along with other Sargent family members.

This is the only known surviving sampler made in Lucas County.  There have been no other documented Lucas County samplers.  Although plain in composition and lightly faded, Rowena Sargent’s sampler displays excellent stitching techniques.  Letters and numerals are nicely done in block and script in cross-stitch and Algerian eye stitch – a relatively difficult stitch to master. 

Rowena also tells us her name, the date she completed her work and her place of residence – Waterville, Lucas County, Ohio.        

What makes this sampler so unique is the fact that the Sargent House at 118 South River Road still exists and is a museum owned by the Waterville Historical Society.  

THE WORLD'S FAIR EXPRESS

July 17, 2015  /  Sally Waggoner

     This article is a condensed version of a fascinating story written by John Spafford, one of the participants in this adventure. The complete story can be found at the Wakeman Archival Center. John Spafford recently passed away and his obit is on this website and on Facebook.

      In mid-June 1933, three new Waterville High School graduates, Gale Buerk, Ralph Emerson “Bill” Waffle, and Johnny Spafford, were discussing how they should spend their summer.  The senior class had gone to the Chicago World’s Fair by train; Gale suggested that they go back to Chicago to see more exhibits. It wouldn’t cost much if they had a car because they could pitch a tent in South Chicago and ride the streetcar to and from the Fair.

     Who did they know who had a car they could use?  Gale knew that Old Man Boston had a Model T on blocks in his barn.  He also had seen a Model T chassis with wheels in the junk pile behind Graf’s garage.  Then Gale squatted down under the bench in his father’s shop and found a Model T Ford engine with the transmission as well as a radiator and two front tires hanging in the shop.  Johnny said his Uncle Frank Lyon, a respected mechanic, had told him that most of the Model T parts from 1922 through 1927 were interchangeable. The boys decided they would keep the parts at Johnny’s home.  Although all of them had work to do, they decided they could work on the car in the evening. A few days later the three boys visited Earnest Graf, who was well-known as a mechanic and a sharp dealer in the automotive business. In the end of the conversation, Ol’ Ernie made a deal:  The boys could have the chassis if they would load Ernie’s truck with all the other pieces and leave the area neat. Deep in the pile they discovered a drive shaft which Ernie said would fit the rear end of their chassis, but he charged them two dollars.  At the same time he gave the boys six inner tubes of unknown condition.  As they were about to leave, Ernie came back with a tube repair kit that cost them another sixty-nine cents. Besides the parts Gale found in his father’s plumbing shop, Johnny discovered  parts in the family corncrib, Bill got a fourth tire from Old Man Boston, and various items were found at the Toledo scrapyard for which they paid sixteen dollars.  Uncle Frank also gave them many pieces, and, most important to the boys, a manual for the car. Ol’ Ernie came one day to see how the boys were doing.  Johnny told him they needed a fan belt and some gas before starting up.  After looking the car over, he reminded them they needed oil and water, too.  When Ol’ Ernie left, he told them he would set aside a fan belt for them, and he would mark it off to public relations. A fourth boy, Freddie Bellner, had joined the venture in early summer. He was an outgoing, fun loving boy who was working for Uncle Roy in the farm next door.  During the latter part of July, Uncle Frank’s family had Sunday dinner with Johnny’s family.  The highlight of the day was after dinner when Uncle Frank revved the engine of the Model T and drove down the driveway.  After driving around, it was decided that the four bearings should be adjusted.  Then they needed gasket material, finally using a flour bag to cut out a new paper gasket.  Eventually the job was done and dramatically improved the Ford’s performance.  A license was procured with Johnny declaring their vehicle was a touring car because they were going to tour the World’s Fair.

    They still needed a body for the Model T.  One day Gale learned that Doyle Clear’s family had a Model T body they no longer wanted.  Gale and Johnny together paid two dollars and fifty-seven cents for the body. While the boys were putting the body on the frame, Mom Spafford was busy taking pictures.  Her comment was, “You’re not going to stop now are you?  It looks pretty tacky; you ought to paint it.”   The boys painted the body and hood forest green, and the fenders shiny black.  The paint on the oak wheels was scraped off with pieces of glass, and then the forty-eight spokes were varnished.

     Finally in the third week of August plans were made for the trip to the World’s Fair, packing a tent, tarpaulin, tools, picnic dishes, blankets, and clothes.  Each boy took thirty dollars and gave Gale five dollars for running expenses.  At about 5:30 a.m. on Saturday boys left Waterville.  Gale was the number one driver by mutual consent, but all of the boys would take turns.  Calamity stuck at about 6:30 when they were going through Swanton.  Suddenly a lot of engine vibration and heavy thumping began.  They needed a new connecting rod with shims, a can of oil, and some shop towels, which Gale was able to purchase from a garage which was nearby.  The boys were able to fix the problem. After that, they stopped often to check the oil, gas, and water.  Because of the stops, they were not going to get to Chicago that day.  They decided they could make it to Hammond where Maxine, Uncle Roy’s daughter, lived.  Unfortunately, there was a parade in Hammond, and the car was having some problems.  The long evening gave them time to do more work on the car.  Using the blankets they had brought along, the boys were able to spend the night on Maxine’s long side porch. As they came to the outskirts of Chicago the next day, they were looking for a place to camp.  They also needed to check the oil and buy gas.  Bill noticed there was an empty lot behind the gas station, and they made a deal.  Each boy paid two dollars to raise the tent on the highest area for the week.  While the boys went by bus or streetcar to the Fair, the men at the gas station displayed the boys’ car. Each morning the boys put together a lunch and ate a light breakfast.  On Monday they purchased a five-day ticket for admission to the Fair.  On Wednesday afternoon they had rain, and the boys decided to take the Model T’s seats into the tent. 

    Saturday night they decided it was time to head home. When they started to leave, the boys had a good feeling and were singing.  However, it wasn’t long before rain began.  Freddy wanted to pull over and cover the car with the tarpaulin.  There was a roadside park where they parked and then pulled the tarpaulin over the Ford’s top, leaving an open space above the doors on the leeward side.  In South Bend the Model T was treated with oil and gas, and its passengers treated themselves to a late pancake breakfast.  During the rest of the day they took turns driving, stopping only occasionally to add oil.  It was almost five o’clock when they left U.S. Twenty and headed south toward Swanton, Ohio. They waved at the nice lady’s house where they had their trauma a week before.  After stopping for banana splits, they then drove the last twenty miles to Waterville, and so ended the big adventure for the Summer of 1933. 

Meet J.F.T. Isham, Teacher, Surveyor, Farmer, and Photographer

July 01, 2015  /  John Rose

John Findlay Torrence (Torry) Isham was born November 19, 1865, the youngest son of John George and his second wife, Sarah Cooper Isham. John G. came to Waterville in 1840 as a superintendent on the construction of the canal. The Coopers were early Waterville pioneers. John G. and Sarah built a Greek Revival farm home on River Tract 42 overlooking the river and the canal. This home stands today, opposite the Farnsworth Park shelter house. Torry worked as a boy and young man on his father’s farm and was educated in the local schools. He received a teacher’s certificate in 1885 and taught at the Neowash School on Neowash Road. He also learned surveying, possibly under local surveyor Charles Shoemaker. He worked as a surveyor in several northwestern states for the Great Northern Railroad Line from 1888 to 1891 while courting the love of his life, Emeline (Emma) Knaggs, long distance.

Torry and Emma married in 1892 and settled in on the family farm. Torry worked the farm, did some survey work and also was a bridge inspector. He became interested in home photography around 1900, when he purchased a big wooden box and bellows camera and home developing equipment. He took many photos of local scenes that interested him, many of his own farm and animals. The photos were taken on glass negatives, which were developed and printed in his home darkroom. Some of the iconic Waterville scenes found commonly in the public domain are Torry’s work, especially the photographs of the construction of the Ohio Electric Bridge at Roche de Boeuf.

 J.F.T. Isham died in 1933, but his survey equipment is on display at the Sargent House museum. His camera, photography equipment, and some photographic prints, are displayed in the Wakeman Archival Research Center. Many of his glass negatives are held by the Center for Archival Collections at Bowling Green State University. A more extensive biography of the Isham family can be found in the W.H.S. publication Waterville, Ohio Memorial Profiles which can be obtained at the Wakeman Archives.


Farnsworth Fruit Farms

June 15, 2015  /  Verna Rose

The Farnsworth Fruit Farm was established in 1877 when Mr. Watson Wales Farnsworth purchased ten acres of  land just west of Waterville, on the north side of Waterville – Neapolis Road, (later known as Farnsworth Road) and started his stock of small fruit trees. He incorporated as W.W. Farnsworth Company in 1911 and had expanded to well over 200 acres. It has also been known as Clover Leaf Fruit Farms, Farnsworth-Young Fruit Farm and later, when operated by the only son of W. W., it was known as the Frank Franksworth Fruit Farm. The orchard produced apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries and currants. Early in the operation they would take loaded horse drawn wagons to Toledo and make the return trip the next day. In 1920 they had a special railcar to take fruit from the Waterville orchards to Toledo by the interurban line. Later, in 1923 they had a farm truck to take the fruit to market. The Farnsworth Orchards were also known for strawberries, potatoes, apple cider and apple butter.

From 1911 to 1938 W.W. Farnsworth operated the farm in partnership with son Frank and Frank’s brother-in-law W.E. Young. During the first few years of operation his younger brother Willie, later W.G. (Willard Grant) had a part in the operations, but in a few years started his own orchard across the street from W.W.  Mr. William Young’s chief responsibility was for marketing. He developed “The Farnsworth Family Fruit Basket.” It was their warranty that every apple, pear, peach or plum was sound, ripe, tasty and healthful, and that the fruit at the bottom of the basket would be as good as that on top. Each one of these baskets was attractively labeled and had gauze netting over the top which protected the items from fruit flies and other insects. It was probably big enough for a family of four and when it was empty they perhaps would bring it back to refill – a very good advertising gimmick.

During the cherry picking season as many as three hundred people would be employed. There were eighteen houses on the two farms used by the family and regular yearly help. During the war German prisoners were used, being brought in from Camp Perry. At one time Farnsworth Farms was one of the largest businesses in Waterville. Sadly, due to lower prices of produce, the great amount of spraying to control pests such as codling moth, and the orchard having passed maturity, production declined and brought an end to the Farnsworth Fruit Farms, last known as Frank Farnsworth Fruit Orchards.  In the summer of 1962 the remaining eighty acres of peach and cherry trees were uprooted and converted back into farm land or sold to developers for residential subdivision building lots.  In its heyday the orchard sent produce to markets as far away as Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburg, and south to Cincinnati and Columbus.

Much more information on the Farnsworth Orchards and the families that operated them can be found in the Wakeman Archival Research Center.

 

W.W. Farnsworth Orchardist, Senator, Preservationist

June 01, 2015  /  Verna Rose

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.

P.O. Box 263,  Waterville, OH  43566            watervillehistory@outlook.com

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