Ice Harvesting on the Huron River

One hundred years ago, the village of Huron, Ohio, was bustling with fisherman. These fishermen relied on the ice harvest each winter to provide them with enough ice to store their catch throughout the fishing season. In February of 1912, the Huron River (Huron, OH) had 19 inches of ice, and it was still thickening. What a contrast to the 0 inches of ice we have had in 2012!

Reminders of the Past: The Fox Road Schoolhouse, Huron Township, Ohio

One-room schoolhouses dot the landscape of Ohio and provide a reminder of what life was like for the children of rural areas, including Huron Township, at the beginning of the 20th century. Sadly, only two of the more than eight, one-room schoolhouses that once stood in Huron Township remain.

As early as 1841, a schoolhouse stood on Fox Road just west of Camp Road in Huron Township. In September of 1841, Squire Barrett sold a small plot of land in the north part of Lot 9, Section 3 to Huron Township for school purposes. As the population of Huron Township grew, so did the number of children attending the rural schools. In the early 1860s, there was an average of 25 students attending the school on Fox Road, known as the Sub-district No. 8 School. Hence, a new and improved schoolhouse was needed to accommodate the growing number of students.

In 1868, the director of the Sub-district No. 8 School, George W. Harris, suggested that a new schoolhouse be constructed in his district just to the west of the original schoolhouse. Hence, in May of 1868, the Board of Education of Huron Township resolved that a tax would be levied on all of the property of Sub-district No. 8 in the amount of $500, and a tax would be levied on all the taxable property of the Township (village exempt) in the amount of $700 for the purpose of purchasing a lot, building a 24’ x 30’ brick schoolhouse, digging a well, and fencing the ground in Sub-district No. 8. By April of 1869, the new schoolhouse was well underway. Unfortunately, the $1,200 in taxes that was collected from the residents of Huron Township was not enough to complete the new schoolhouse. Therefore, the Board of Education levied another $900 tax. The new schoolhouse was likely ready for use by the fall of 1869.

In 1868, a vote was put to the people of Huron Township and Huron Village to decide whether or not to build a central high school. The voters in the township voted against the measure; however, the people of the village voted in favor of it. Though defeated in 1868, efforts to centralize the schools continued nonetheless. In 1886, Huron built a large school in the village on the corner of Williams and Shirley streets. The younger grades were composed primarily of students residing in the village, but high school students came from all over the township.

In the early 1900s, August Scheid was appointed director of the school in Sub-district No. 8. Mr. Scheid, who had several children in the district, was a strong proponent of centralized schools. In 1911, Mr. Scheid personally provided the means for children to be brought into the village for school by purchasing a bus to transport students from Sub-District No. 8 into Huron each day. Mrs. Scheid designed the bus, and it was manufactured in Sandusky. Further, the Scheid’s son, Lyndon, who was to attend Huron High School, would be the bus driver. Hence, the schoolhouse in Sub-district No. 8 was no longer in use after September of 1911. A few of the other one-room schoolhouses survived the centralization effort for a short time, but all eventually succumbed.

From 1911 until 1941, the schoolhouse in Sub-district No. 8 sat vacant, but was still under the ownership of the Huron Township Board of Education. During the 1930s, the owner of the land upon which the schoolhouse sat allowed their pigs to use the structure for shelter. The once lovely schoolhouse was now in shambles. In March of 1941, Thurman, Katherine, and Emory Fox purchased 196 acres of land, including Lot 9, from the People’s Loan and Savings Company. The People’s Loan and Savings Company had recovered the property in 1931 in a suit against August Scheid who owed them $47,535. The Fox family likely challenged the Board of Education of Huron Township for ownership of ‘the schoolhouse lot’ since the schoolhouse was obviously not in use as a school, and, therefore, the land upon which the schoolhouse sat was supposed to revert back to the land owner. In June of 1941, ‘the school house lot’, containing 0.65 acres, was subsequently sold to Dennis C. Fox. By the time Dennis Fox came into possession of the schoolhouse, all of the windows and doors were gone. Yet, Mr. Fox had a vision for the old schoolhouse which included rehabilitating it and making it his home. Since that time, many others have made improvements to the schoolhouse and have called it home, but yet have lovingly respected the house’s unique past.

NOTE: Historical Research Partners was hired in 2009 to research the history of this great schoolhouse, now a home.

Vaudeville and Kelleys Island, Ohio

Toward the end of the 19th century, Kelleys Island was a playground for the wealthy, whose visits often lasted several weeks to several months of the summer. Many of these wealthy visitors to the island stayed at the Himmelein Hotel. The Himmelien, like other former hotels on the island, offered exclusive amenities that enticed the elite, such as third-floor accommodations for patron’s servants.

John Himmelein, born on the island in 1868 to hotel proprietors, Johann and Johanna Himmelein, helped with his family’s hotel until approximately 1886, when he left home to attend business college in Evansville, Indiana. Upon completion of his studies, John returned to the island to assist with the hotel operations. There, he was introduced to various Vaudevillian acting companies that lodged at the Himmelein Hotel during visits to the island to practice their repertoires. John’s growing intrigue with the entertainment industry would eventually lead to a new career.

In 1890, John left the family hotel business and began working with Howard Wall’s Ideals Stock Company as the company’s agent. Soon, Wall and Himmelein formed a partnership with Wall focusing on the shows and Himmelein focusing on the business. By the start of the 1892-1893 season, Howard Wall and John Himmelein had organized two complete acting companies, the Robert Wayne Theatrical Company, managed by John, and The Ideals, managed by Wall.

By December of 1892, Himmelein’s company was faltering, and John decided that he needed to hire a soubrette. He learned of a young actress named Bertha Wiles, whom he hired. Bertha Wiles, born in 1869 in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, graduated from the Cincinnati College of Music and first pursued an operatic career with the Spencer Opera Company of St. Louis. Using the stage name of "Beatrice Earle," Bertha soon expanded her repertoire and performed as a dramatic actress, comedian and vaudevillian. Her contributions to the Robert Wayne Theatrical Company, beginning in the 1893-1894 season, resulted in great success for John Himmelein and lead to a life-long partnership. On June 6, 1894, John and Bertha were married at the English Hotel in Indianapolis, after the company’s regular evening performance. By the start of the 1894-1895 season, John Himmelein had purchased Howard Wall’s company and thus began John A. Himmelein ‘s Imperial Stock Company, also known as The Ideals.

Despite his travels, John Himmelein never lost his love for Kelleys Island. In 1905, John and Bertha purchased a choice lakefront lot on the island and constructed a grand home. Bertha christened the home, Cricket Lodge, after one of her favorite stage portrayals from the children’s play, Fauchon The Cricket. While most of the year was spent traveling with their stock company, the Himmeleins always summered at Cricket Lodge.

On December 28, 1909, the Himmeleins only child, Dorothy, was born in Sandusky, Ohio. Thereafter, Bertha left the stage as a full-time actress. Also in 1909, John Himmelein began directing operations of his stock companies, then considered the largest stock-show operation in the country, from New York City. On November 28, 1930, Bertha gave her final stage performance as Mrs. Schultz in the Robertson Young Players rendition of Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch at the Sandusky Theater. However, despite her retirement from the professional stage, Bertha continued to entertain family and friends for the rest of her life. She was often known to begin performing at any given moment, an attribute much enjoyed by her grandchildren.

At the end of 1930, John Himmelein shut down his stock companies, and his reign as “King of the Repertoire” ended with the advent of the movies. Several of the theaters owned by the Himmeleins were subsequently converted to movie houses. In 1942, after 52 years in the theater business, John Himmelein officially retired.

Throughout his life, John Himmelein owned 10 stock companies, five of which were traveling companies, while the other five were permanent companies in Arizona, Colorado, Washington, Texas and Maryland. He also owned two theaters in Sandusky, one in Elyria, Ohio, and financed the building of a theatre in Tiffin, Ohio. In addition, he served as a Sandusky City Commissioner, an officer in Sandusky’s Commercial Bank, and as Vice President and Director of Sandusky’s Western Security Bank, which he helped to found. Bertha Himmelein was an accomplished singer and actress who garnered glowing reviews and was behind much of the success of her husband’s first stock company. On October 6, 1955, Bertha Himmelein died at the age of 86. John Himmelein died on July 23, 1956 at the age of 88.

After John Himmelein’s death, ownership of Cricket Lodge was passed to the Himmelein’s daughter, Dorothy Himmelein Sun. In 1984, a year after her husband’s death, Dorothy Sun sold her treasured family home to Frank and Christine Yako. In 1985, the Yakos opened the doors of their home as Cricket Lodge Bed and Breakfast. Over the past 26 seasons of operating the bed and breakfast, the Yakos have become year-round residents of Kelleys Island, welcomed guests who now return as long-time friends, and continue to host visitors to their fine, historic home. Throughout this time, the Yakos have always respected their lovely historic home and have embraced its history, while becoming part of its history themselves.

Photos of Cricket Lodge and the Himmeleins can be found on the Kelleys Island Historical Society's website: www.kelleysislandhistorical.org.

Historic Huron Home For Sale

In 2009, homeowner, Ina Townsend Young, hired Historical Research Partners to research the history of her home so she could present the written history to her husband, Kevin, as a Christmas gift. As with most houses, the history of the house located at 125 Center Street in Huron, Ohio, was quite interesting. The house was constructed around 1851 by master shipbuilder, John F. Squier. From 1854 until 1883, Squier built or modified 30 ships and tugs, but his most outstanding contribution to Great Lakes commerce was the propeller, Ohio, which he built in 1875. The Ohio was known as the first four-masted ship to sail all of the Great Lakes. Squier primarily built ships in Huron, but also worked in Milan, Toledo, Vermilion, and Lorain. Squier’s ship building career ended in 1883 when he constructed one of the last ships to be built in Huron, the Sakie Shepard.

John Squier and his wife, Maria, lived at 125 Center Street with their three children (who were all likely born in the house) until 1861. Over the next six years, the property changed hands many times until it was purchased in 1867 by prominent Huron businessman, Christopher Krock. Krock and his wife, Susan, lived at the Center Street home with their 7 children. Both Christopher and Maria lived there for the remainder of their lives.

The next long-term residents of 125 Center Street were Edward and Blanche Shaffer. The Shaffers purchased the home in 1919 and remained there the rest of their days. Shaffer was a self-employed fisherman. He constructed the interesting stone building that sits just to the northwest of the house. Shaffer used this sturdy structure as his ice house and as a place to store his catch until it could be sold or shipped.

In 1987, Kevin Young purchased the Center Street home and has lived there ever since. Currently, the home is for sale as Kevin and Ina seek to spend their retired years in a warmer climate. So, who will be the next resident to add to the rich history associated with this fine Huron home?

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/125-Center-St_Huron_OH_44839_M33772-02911

John Munson Boalt- A Life of Tragedy and Triumph

John Munson Boalt was born in Norwalk, CT, in 1814. His family settled in Norwalk, OH, in 1816, and then moved to Sandusky, OH, in 1824 where his father opened the Steamboat Hotel. In 1826, John’s father died, and the family returned to Norwalk. At the age of 14, John was orphaned; yet, he was an industrious young man, and soon found employment in Sandusky in the grain and shipping industry.

In 1842, John married Sarah Follett. Sadly, Sarah died in 1844 during childbirth, and their infant son, Edward, died six months later. John served on Sandusky’s first two city councils in 1845 and 1846. Around 1850, he moved to Milwaukee, WI, and then to Winona, MN. John returned to Sandusky in 1866 as a wealthy man and ordered construction of a new home located at 631 Wayne Street. The grand, Italianate-style home took two years to complete. John heavily invested in the Sandusky Wheel Co., a large producer of carriage wheels, and was named president in 1867. Upon completion of his new home in 1868, John again married, taking for his bride Francis (Fannie) Griswold. Through this union, three children were born, two of whom died in infancy.

In 1872, a fire destroyed most of the buildings and finished stock of the Sandusky Wheel Co. Presumably, this is why John filed for bankruptcy in 1873. Though John legally reached an agreement to pay his creditors a portion of what he owed them, he eventually repaid them in full, plus interest. From 1876 to 1880, John served as Postmaster for Sandusky. John died on May 4, 1890, at home at the age of 76. Services were held at the family home. Fannie Boalt moved from her home shortly after John’s death and rented the house until 1898 when she sold it.