General Nathan Bedford Forrest, as portrayed by Ron Johnson.

Wayne County is fortunate to have General Nathan Bedford Forrest come to visit on Tuesday, May 22, at 6:30 p.m. at the Wayne County Public Library. This is sure to be a quality program, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

General Forrest, as portrayed by Ron Johnson of Boardman, Ohio, will speak in character and in costume. The general will be telling some of his life story and his involvement in the War Between the States for the South. He was a brilliant cavalry leader who rose from a private to a general during the war.

When asked the secret of his success, he replied, “To get thar fustest with the mostus men!” and to “keep the skeer on.” It is said there were two geniuses that came out of that war — one being Abraham Lincoln and the other being Nathan Bedford Forrest.

This program is presented by Wayne County Civil War Roundtable, in collaboration with Wayne County Public Library and Wayne County Historical Society. The program will be held in the Liberty Street Library Conference Room, and is open to the public. There is no charge. For more information, contact Jerry Payn at 330-345-5547.

It features 52 cannons, complete with carriages and wheels, and 930 foot of nylon cord for rigging. The hull is all inlaid and overlaid with walnut wood. The decks are made of cherry wood. The pilot house has furniture 1″ high, which may be seen from the stern of the ship.

Large English Man of War warship model is always a favorite display among the school children who visit the museum.

The Red Dolphin is a model of an English Man of War warship circa the 18th century.

On the eve of Easter Sunday in 1913, the country was devastated by violent storms which caused massive destruction around the country. This storm had a deadly effect upon Ohio which caused death and destruction across the entire state. Dayton and areas along the Maumee and Miami River basins were flooded or destroyed by massive flooding. This water even reached the Ohio and Mississippi River basin systems and caused massive flooding along the length of those rivers with towns and hamlets fronting on these rivers devastated by its destruction.

The headlines of The Wooster Daily News during this time period tell of the destruction caused by this powerful storm upon the citizens of Wayne County. The storm began as a massive wind storm which wreaked havoc on Good Friday, March 21, 1913, as reported in newspapers. This was probably the worst wind storm to that date and caused considerable damage, including the downing of telephone and telegraph poles and wires. It also prevented people from walking, due to its gale-force winds.

In Wooster, a piece of concrete blew off the rear of the I.O.O.F. building on the west side of South Market Street, flew across the street, and bounced off the awning of Penicks grocery store in the Germania Hall building. Bricks, along with this thirty-one pound of concrete, were thrown across the street. The flying debris broke a window on the south side of the grocery store and flew into the store landing in bins. Other bricks crashed through a glass case and landed in the candy displayed there. Bricks blew off the Fisher Block building on South Market Street, and part of the roof of the Gray and Smith Mill was blown away by the wind. There was also damage to roofs and chimneys in various residential sections of the city.

Next, the area was visited by a massive rainstorm which started on Easter Sunday. Then it rained, rained and rained. By Tuesday, March 25, 1913, the headlines of The Wooster Daily News reported fifty hours of down-pouring rain, causing loss of property. And was still raining.

My cousin, James Dudley Shamp, a young adult in 1913, remembered the storm and the effects upon Wooster. He lived on West Liberty Street and was on his way to the Methodist Church for a Christian Endeavor meeting. He instead decided to take a swim in Little Apple Creek at the foot of Madison Avenue.  Before he could take a dip, he noticed a violent storm approaching and decided to retreat back into town. He took refuge, crouching in a stairwell of the Fox Building, which stood north of Alvin Rich’s Hardware store (which received wind damage to its top floor).

Parts of the roof of the Wayne County courthouse blew off into the street, along with sections of the skylight. When the storm abated, Shamp tried to get to the Methodist Church. By the time he arrived, the steeple of the church was lying in front of Dr. Yocum’s office on North Market Street, and the steeple of the Baptist Church had blown down and was across the street. Debris from it crashed through the west window of the sanctuary, and broke the organ bench which was below the window. The Presbyterian Church (then located where the Wayne County Justice Center now stands) also lost its beautiful steeple. There was damage throughout the town, with roofs blown off and trees uprooted.

Transportation systems were also affected, along with the telegraph and telephones. The B&O Railroad, which ran from Lodi to Millersburg, was cut off in Wooster by a large lake of water which formed south and west of Wooster. Even the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks were flooded and train traffic was halted along the line from Pittsburg to Chicago with many wash outs of bridges, due to flooding. A bridge at North Lawrence was washed out and water covered the tracks at Burton City and east of Weilersville. This caused twenty-five trains to be stranded between Orrville and Wooster; mostly freight trains. Madison Avenue on the south end of town was under several feet of water and Pittsburg Avenue was cut off by flooding, preventing exit from Wooster. The road past the Brewery was flooded,  but the bridge was still standing.

Two of the more tragic events of the flood were the destruction of the dam which held back the waters of Lake Talbot, and the destruction of Redick’s Dam on the northwest side of Wooster.

Lake Talbot, which was located in the Highland Park area of the city, had been a gathering place for the citizens of Wooster and Wayne County and was the major park in its time. This lake stretched from Portage Road to present State Route 585 north of Rubbermaid. When the Lake Talbot dam broke, it caused major flooding on that side of Wooster.

Redick’s Dam was the principal water supply source for Wooster. It had been constructed after the Acadome fire in 1874, and was the first permanent water supply for the City of Wooster. When it was constructed, a lead pipe ran from it, down present-day Grant Street, and across the north end of present day Cornerstone Elementary (which at that time was the old high school and Quinby’s Park) over to Quinby Avenue and down Market Street to the square.

The reservoir of Redick’s Dam was where the present north lake of the present Millers Lake development is located, and the water flowed by gravitation to the square. Fortunately, Wooster had also developed the Bloomington Reservoir, and after the destruction of Redick’s Dam, the city depended upon the Bloomington Reservoir for its water supply. The city never rebuilt Redick’s Dam, but in later years, a stand-by tank was sitting near the area of the old Redick’s Dam, which was used to store water. I fondly remember it as each year it got a fresh coat of paint by the graduating classes of Wooster It was torn down after more above water tanks were situated around Wooster.

There was other damage to Wooster. Storefronts were damaged on the north side of downtown to the first alley. The whole front of the building which housed The Wooster Republican was gone. But although the downtown area suffered damage, there was no loss of life.

By March 27, 1913, the waters receded and work began to repair and restore train tracks, as well as mail, telegraph and telephone service. Fortunately, even though the citizens of Wooster and Wayne County were hard hit, many other areas of the country sustained loss of lives and wide spread destruction of public and private property.

When reports of disaster came in from other parts of the United States, the citizens of Wayne County raised over $2,000, and the money was forwarded to Columbus through the Wayne County National Bank for disaster relief to areas which had suffered far greater than Wooster.

One side story to all of this was a report in Eastern newspapers, and reported locally, that Wooster had been wiped out and blotted from the map by flood and destruction. To everyone’s relief, we were spared the death and destruction common to the western and southern parts of Ohio

Today, most who witnessed the great storm of Easter week of 1913 are gone, but the history books still continue to carry the story of when Mother Nature wreaked disaster over a great part of the United States.

For a further study of this great flood,  read Logan Marshall’s book, The True Story of Our National Calamity of Flood, Fire and Tornado, published in 1913.

        By Ann Gasbarre, Publicity Chair

WOOSTER — From a crystal chandelier purchased in Italy back in the late 1920s to a floor of rustic Mexican tiles. From a backsplash of iridescent glass tiles to an 1860s pie cupboard from Mercer County. From a quartz countertop to a beehive bake oven, the Wayne County Historical Society’s Community Kitchen Tour promises something for every taste.

The tour will take place June 9, 2012 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. and offers the opportunity to tour the kitchens in five private Wooster homes, all in the same area of town.

A sixth stop on the tour will spotlight two of the most historic kitchens in Wooster, both located in the Beall/Stibbs House where hostesses will review the history of the 1820-era kitchen, along with a kitchen added sometime between 1840-1850. Refreshments will also be served at the Society’s Bowman Street campus.

In addition to the stop at the historical society, the following Wooster homeowners are showcasing their kitchens: David and Margo Broehl at 900 Quinby Avenue; Al and Rosanne Burger at 1310 N. Bever Street; Julie Mennes at 1220 Forest Drive; Mike and Beth Miller at 1225 Quinby Avenue; and Harry and Kathy Zink at 1179 Forest Drive.

The kitchens are the main focus of the tour, but a few of the homes might have adjoining rooms open for viewing. Representatives from various suppliers will be on hand to answer questions. Directions for parking will be posted.

Tickets for the Community Kitchen Tour are $20 and may be purchased at the Wayne County Historical Society during office hours. Other locations for tickets may become available — watch for details. Tickets will also be available at each stop on the day of the tour. Proceeds will go toward the Wayne County Historical Society’s operating expenses.

Smithville High School girls basketball team, 1928-29, Smithville, Ohio

If you think girls basketball started in Wayne County in the 1970s, you need to consider these athletes!

According to the writing on the back of the photo, the team consists of: front row, left to right, Irene Yoder, Fern Greenwald, Alta Hartzler, Erma Ramseyer, “Bin” Daily, and Ferne Bieler; second row, McFadden, Emma Berkey, Coach Helen Ewing, Ruth Hershberger, and Beulah Burkholder.

Go Smithies!

Mrs. Johnson was a subscriber to the Akron Beacon Journal newspaper in the mid-1970s and very carefully cut out and collected a series of featured drawings printed in the newspaper between 1974 to 1978 of about 40 Wayne County historic houses and buildings. The original drawings were done by staff artist Dennis Haas who reported that he did illustrations, cartoons and maps as part of his daily job but in 1971 thought a weekly historical drawing would be an interesting feature item. His supervisor agreed and the weekly “Sketches by Dennis Haas” art column was born. The drawings accompanied by a short biography of the subject quickly became a popular feature in the newspaper and Haas continued to do the weekly sketches for about 10 years from 1971 to 1981.

I would look for houses/buildings in the (Akron) Beacon’s circulation area (Summit, Stark, Portage, Medina, and Wayne counties). It wasn’t too long after starting the feature I’d get fan mail with lots of suggestions for future subjects. I really enjoyed it a lot because it got me out of the office and I met a lot of interesting people. I would gather some of the information to go with the sketch and one of the Beacon’s reporters would write the actual text that accompanied the feature.

The old newspaper clippings in the notebook are yellowing with age and the glue holding some of the clippings to the loose-leaf pages is losing its grip in places, but through the magic of computer image editing software some of the drawings have been brought back to life to appear much as they did when originally printed over 36 years ago. Note: you can click the the image to load a larger version of the picture in your web browser.

This 2-story red-brick building was erected in 1882 at Clinton and Portage streets in Doylestown. It was reportedly torn down in the mid-1970s to make room for a new Village Hall.

Once located on the corner of Portage and College streets in Doylestown this old red brick house was believed to have been a coach stop during the frontier days of Ohio. It was reportedly razed by then property owner Carl Abel, who planned on building a food store on the site.

This house located at 425 S. Main street in Orrville was built in 1875 for John Saurer. It was sold in 1898 to James W. Stansbury who converted it into apartments in 1921.

Located at the NW corner of what was called Jackson's Corners on St.Rt. 3 south of Creston stands an old stagecoach inn. The brick building was reportedly built in 1840 to provide food and lodging to travelers.

The house at 122 W. Main St. in Smithville was a harness shop owned by Horace Blattenburg in 1872.

The old Norfolk&Western Railroad Freight Station stood at 691 E. Main St. in Smithville and was still receiving shipments when this picture was drawn in 1978. The last passenger train ran past the station in 1938 on its daily run between Wheeling and Brewster.

The John G. Gish house on the north edge of Rittman was built in 1888 and was the 3rd one built on the foundation. The 7-bedroom brick mansion was once the headquarters of the Gish Tobacco Co. from the late 1800s to early 1900s.

One of the oldest homes still standing in Orrville is the Smith Orr Homestead built around the 1860s on W. Main St. west of downtown Orrville.

The red brick home of Mrs. Walter Collier in 1972 located in Rogues Hollow between Doylestown and Clinton around where county roads 100 and 169 meet.

The artist, Dennis Haas was born and raised in Wayne County and graduated from Orrville High School and attended Kent State University. He started working in the art department of the Akron Beacon Journal in 1967 but was called to serve in the U.S. Army from 1967-1969. Upon his return he continued to work for the Akron Beacon Journal for the next 23 years.

Image of the artist Dennis Haas.

When computers started to appear in newsroom art departments he could see that the future would rely heavily on the new digital technology and computers. Rather than reject the new technology, he embraced it. He worked at the Akron Beacon Journal until March of 1990 when he took a new job in Washington, DC to work at Knight-Ridder/Tribune News wire service (KRTN). It was a lot different than Akron, Ohio and small personal computers were popping up everywhere. Networking all the computers together to distribute and deliver graphics for KRTN news products was his main job. He worked in offices throughout the United States, Europe and South America, getting the KRTN Graphics Network products to them. Later KRTN became KRT and they started a new service, News In Motion, which delivered daily animated news graphics to TV markets throughout the United States. At that same time the KRT graphics service began producing compact disc’s of its graphics in addition to the daily electronic delivery of its product. It was a lot of fun, but very challenging, as he was working at the leading edge of technology at the time.

In 1997 Haas decided it was time for a career change and planned on moving to Florida to work in anything but the newspaper business. Fate had a different plan and he ended up taking a new position with the St. Petersburg Times newspaper’s IT Department. However, there would be no more crazy hours or deadlines, just a nice 8 to 5, Monday through Friday job.

For twelve years the IT job in Florida was great. Then the newspaper business began changing. The St. Petersburg Times began to struggle with reduced readership and revenue like so many other newspapers still struggle with to this day. In March 2009 Dennis Haas decided it was time to retire and has been enjoying his retirement in Florida.

Mrs. Florence Johnson’s old notebook containing the Wayne County “Sketches by Dennis Haas” are stored at the Wayne County Historical Society and can be seen by appointment.

Ruins of the old log cabin near Deviltown from the book Picturesque Wayne on p.175.

We know that Bernard Feazel sold land there in 1830, and that J. Miller owned land there in 1827. Names of those who owned land in that area in the 1820s and 1830s are Buchholz, Miller, Flickinger, Bucher, Mowery, Stout, Grube and others. Fridolin Buchholz was one of the first to settle here. He was born on 7 Oct 1818, the son of Johannes George Buchholz and Marie Weber, and he came to Wayne County from Germany and located in the Deviltown area in 1840.

The village was first called Tannersville because Mr. Buchholz operated a tannery there, on the west side of the road near the bridge. At one time it employed as many as forty people. When the farmers killed their cattle, they took the hides to the tannery to be dyed. It was later moved to Wooster, to sit on North Buckeye Street up from where the old Weitzel Dry Cleaner’s was located, which is now the location of Murr Printing.

Image of Grube's Mill once located near Deviltown. From the book Picturesque Wayne p.247

There are various reasons for the name “Deviltown” and you can take your choice! One is that a man named Miller, who was rather limited in his vocabulary, was said to have used the word “Devil” so often that they named the town after this. According to another man, due to the terrible smell at the tannery from the refuse, the men needed liquid refreshments to bear the stench. Sometimes they over did it and got a little rowdy and boisterous. People called them “real Devils” and the name stuck. Mrs. Joe Ritter said maybe the name was after a real character there who always wore an old coat with a long tail resembling a modem tuxedo. His coattail would fly around in the wind, giving him the appearance of the devil. Some of the residents didn’t like the name and passed around a petition to have the name changed to Clear Creek Valley Road and the name was duly changed. That’s what the sign says today, but locals can all tell you how to get to Deviltown.

The Joe Ritter home was built around 1840 and was a pioneer home of the area. Across the road from it, is the place where John Kammerline had operated his saloon and grocery store. Up the road, on the second lot north of the bridge, was the blacksmith shop used by Daniel Dull, Billy Martin, Austin Martin and Jewell Mowery.
NOTE: You may see a copy of the book, Picturesque Wayne, which features many images of early buildings, houses and structures of Wayne County at the Wayne County Public Library.

Author: Bonnie Knox

Quonset Hut on S. Walnut St. in Wooster, Ohio was erected in 1947.

You’ve probably walked or driven by it a million times and never really noticed it, but tucked behind the building where Matsos Family Restaurant & Pizza is located on the corner of Liberty Street and South Walnut Street, along Diamond alley is a WWII-era, 40-foot by 60-foot Quonset Hut.

The old building that once stood at that location had been occupied by Stuller’s Fish Market. “Catfish” Stuller had to move and set up a new shop on South Street back of the old Wayne Hotel when the Quonset Hut was erected by A.C. McIntire in mid-August of 1947 for use as a garage and storage. The quaint 65-year-old Quonset Hut continues to hold its place in downtown Wooster.