PDF files - Wayne County Historical Society of Ohio

Volume 2016, Issue 1
Winter 2016
Office Hours: Tuesdays & Fridays, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
Guided Tours: March-October, Fridays 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.&
Fridays/ Saturdays 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Group Tours: Call the office to schedule
The Wayne County Historical Society of Ohio
546 East Bowman Street • Wooster, Ohio 44691 • (330) 264-8856
waynehistoricalohio.org • Facebook: Wayne County Historical Society;
Wooster, OH
Quarterly Meeting
January 27th @ 5:30pm
Please mark your
calendars and join us for
the first WCHS quarterly
meeting of 2016 on
Wednesday, January
27th at 5:30pm at Broken
Rocks Café, 123 E.
Liberty St., Wooster.
Susan Spires will share
her love and knowledge
of buttons, after they
were developed, before
the zipper.
Dinner will be ordered
from the menu. We will
meet in the new
downstairs area, so there
will be room for more.
Come to enjoy, and we
hope to see you there!
by Elaine Peterson
Over 3000 people!!! That is
the number of people who
have toured the Society this
year and signed the guest
book.
But that does not
have the names and numbers of many who have been
here for special tours. We
have many who come after
hours.
There have been several
Cub Scout packs that were
enthusiastic about everything, especially the birds
and fire engines. Joe Miller
arranged these special tours.
He assembled a tour de
force group of docents that
share their time and
knowledge at usual and unu(continued from above)
Inside this issue:
Downton Abbey
Exhibit & Tea
3
Harry’s Mystery
Question
4
Committee Updates
6
Voices From the Past 8
The Courthouse
Cornerstone
President’s Letter
9
field trips unless they met
the standards for that age
level. Under Nell Reardon’s
leadership, a committee developed a program that met
the standards for third graders. Northwestern sent 110
students plus adults. Then
Wooster Christian sent 19
with almost as many adults.
Children churned butter,
ground nuts as Native Americans did, washed clothes
with a washboard and
learned how an 1873 class-
sual hours.
We gave several tours to
people that helped to increase our foot traffic. The
administration of the Ohio
Light Opera visited. If you
attended a show you noticed
our ad in the program and
the display case they gave
us in the lobby. We had several visitors come before or
after a performance. This
association led to an idea
from Dick Lewellen of an
exhibit, believe it or not for
2018! It will be an exhibit of
costumes from conception,
construction to stunning creations.
The partnership with the
College of Wooster led to
several unique opportunities.
Karol Crosbie did a wonderful article on the number of
Society people who have a
relationship with the college.
Many were graduates. If you
missed it there were some
copies at the office. Then in
October we were partners on
the National Constitution
exhibit Lincoln and the Sixteenth Amendment. This
was a prestigious national
exhibit. Jerry Payne and
Marilyn Ferguson were quite
visible. In December there
was a Founder’s Day reception that afforded more College folks the opportunity to
experience our amazing
campus.
Then we have the new education committee that created exciting tours for school
age children. The state education department has made
it clear that students could
not leave their school for
room was conducted. Cursive writing on slates was a
hit. You should see their total
concentration as Janet
Kauffman taught while students wrote on slates with
chalk. Mr. Larwell (Ron Rudolph) was there to show
how land was surveyed during the 1800s. They also
learned how to identify rocks
and minerals. All of these
activities met state standards
and gave students a personal glimpse into Wayne Co.
history. The committee con-
tinued to work on the fourth
and eighth grade curriculum
standards.
As you realize that 3000
does not begin to show the
complete picture of the traffic
at Wayne Co. Historical Society, but some minor problems have developed. We
are an aging facility that is
really being used. That
means wear and tear on
buildings and grounds, using
more electricity, heating and
Pg. 1
(continued below)
(continued on pg. 2)
Kansas Editorial Praised Wooster Museum
by Ann Gasbarre (courtesy of The Daily Record)
On Jan. 26, 1923, the story
of a small museum in
Wooster was the subject of
an editorial that appeared on
the pages of an Emporia,
Kan., newspaper.
How did news of a local
museum on the second floor
of the old Carnegie Library
on North Market Street in
Wooster make it all the way
out to Kansas and the pages
of The Gazette?
Well ... the man who wrote
the editorial 90 years ago
was Walt Mason, a frequent
visitor in the Wooster home
of his sister and her husband, long-time Wooster
Brush Co. president Walter
D. Foss. (The Foss's Victorian residence next to Buehler's Towne Market was built
in 1897 and today houses
the Market Street Inn.)
During his visits to Wooster,
Mason became friends with
the Foss's next door neighbor, George Swartz — the
man responsible for starting
what today has evolved into
the Wayne County Historical
Society. It wasn't long before
the two men were corresponding with each other.
Here's what Mason wrote in
his editorial:
Say it with Relics
"An old friend of mine, who
lives in an Ohio town about
the size of Emporia, retired
from business a few years
ago and after he had loafed
a while he concluded he
would have to find something
to do to keep himself from
getting red with rust.
So, he began accumulating
relics of the 'early days' in
that section and after a while
his little collection was
housed in the second floor of
the public library building ...
and it grew and it grew.
Many families had relics left
behind by their forefathers
and those were contributed
to the museum. There were
such things as spinning
wheels and flint lock weapons, and molds for candle
making, and all sorts of doodads, each with its history
and each history associated
with the early growth of the
community.
I have just read a printed
report made by my friend
who established this little
museum and it was most
interesting. This museum
has attracted much attention
in Ohio and other towns are
attempting similar exhibits. It
occurred to me as I read the
report that Emporia might
well have such a museum
devoted exclusively to everyday relics and souvenirs."
Dan Ackerman discovered
the editorial reprinted in the
Feb. 7, 1923, edition of the
Wooster Daily Record.
Columnist Ann Gasbarre can
be reached
at [email protected] or
330-345-6419.
President’s Letter
(continued from pg. 1)
air conditioning plus having
docents spend more of their
time doing tours.
I am truly grateful to the
contributions made in answer to my December letter!
All those donations are for
operating expenses.
We will continue to keep
the campus vital, interesting
and an important reminder
that we are the keepers of
Wayne County stories.
Ohio’s Civil War— Celebrating the 150th Anniversary
Upcoming CWRT Program - January 19th
Jan. 19, 2016, 6:30 p.m. –
Announcing another quality
presentation from our Civil
War Roundtable program at
the Wooster Library, Conference Room.
Patrick Pinkerton of Medina, Ohio will present "Buffalo
Bill" Cody in authentic garb
etc., and is sure to do an
excellent job! You will think
he is the real “Buffalo Bill”!
William F. Cody, as a 15
year old in 1861, wanted to
enlist as a soldier in the Union Army during
the American Civil War, but
was refused because of his
young age. He began work-
ing with a United States
freight caravan that delivered
supplies to Fort Laramie in
present-day Wyoming. In
1863 at age 17, he enlisted
as a teamster with the rank
of private in Company H, 7th
Kansas Cavalry and served
until discharged in 1865.
"Buffalo Bill" went back to
work for the Army in 1868
and was Chief of Scouts for
the Third Cavalry during
the Plains Wars. Part of the
time, he scouted for Indians
and fought in 16 battles; at
other times, he hunted and
killed bison to supply the
Army and the Kansas Pacific
Railroad.
Come and hear the rest
of the story about "Buffalo
Bill's" life!
The Civil War Roundtable
(CWRT) programs are a
joint effort between the
Wayne County Historical
Society and the Wayne
County Library to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. If
you have not yet made it
to one of our fine programs, you will want to
make sure to catch one
before they are gone!
Pg. 2
Patrick Pinkerton of Medina, Ohio
as William F. Cody aka “Buffalo
Bill” will be presenting at the next
CWRT on Tuesday, January 19th
at 6:30pm
Fostoria Punch Bowl
The beautiful American
Pattern Fostoria punch bowl
that was recently on display
at the Wayne County Historical Society was initiated, and
therefore claimed its very
first function, as a bath tub.
The very large bowl and its
base were purchased 60
years ago by Barbara Appleman and Beverly Lee for
their Aunt Dorothy Purdy of
Purdy’s Lunch on route 250
west of Wooster. The nieces
were on holiday at Oglebay
at the time, staying in a cabin
with no bath tub – only a
shower. Beverly’s son, Andy
was about eight months old
and terrified of showers. So,
logically and compassionately, they converted the punch
bowl to a bathtub for Andy to
play and bathe in.
Since that time 65 years
ago, the punch bowl received
a thorough cleaning and has
been the useful and pretty
centerpiece of many bridal
showers and weddings, anniversary celebrations and
baby showers (NOT baths).
Most recently it was the centerpiece of the Early Ameri-
can Glass Club
display at the
Wayne County
Historical Society. All four of
Dorothy
Purdy’s daughters share
ownership of
that memorable piece of
Fostoria that
has been in
the family
The Fostoria Punch Bowl is seen here as the
nearly three
center display of the exhibit “Timeless Glass
quarters of a From the past” which ended November 2016.
century.
Downton Abbey Exhibit and Tea:
Part II REMINDER!
February 28th - October 30th, 2016
WCHS Exciting
Exhibits Confirmed
through 2018!
by Textile Committee
We are planning another
tea planned
for May 14th,
2016. Like
the 2014
event, the
Our volunteer servers in period dress from the
2016 tea will 2014 Downton Abbey Tea event.
be held in
Also, Dr. Virginia Gunn has
Trinity United Church of
some very educational proChrist’s Great Room. The
grams planned on “Flapper”
2014 Tea event was a great
era fashions, so be watching
success, so mark your calenfor upcoming dates on those
dars now, and stay tuned for
as well as other seminars in
more detailed information.
the works.
The last season of the hit
show premiers on Sunday,
January 3rd, 2016 @ 9pm on
PBS.
The exhibit will be opening
February 28, 2016. Please
check our website or call the
office more information on
the exhibit opening.
Since the 2014 exhibit was
so popular, this Part II exhibit
will be on display through the
summer and fall months until
October 29th, 2016.
Last Year’s Exhibit was NOT TO BE MISSED!
The Textile Committee is
excited to announce another
wonderful exhibit featuring
the beautiful fashions of the
Downton Abbey series.
Since this is the final season
(January 2016) for the popular series, we have decided
to follow the series into the
Jazz Era with our wonderful
“Flapper” gowns.
Lots of you have requested
that we have another
“Downton Abbey” tea, and
we have heard your cries!
Pg. 3
The WCHS exhibits are
now booked through 2018,
and we are excited to share
the details here so that we
can start to build some excitement!
 February 28 - October 30,
2016: Downton Abbey Part
II. Following the popularity of
the 2014 exhibit, the Textile
Committee is back with Part
II which will follow the series
into the Jazz Era. Please see
more detailed information at
left, and stay tuned for more
detailed information regarding another Downtown Abbey Tea and lectures by our
own Dr. Virginia Gunn!
 February 26 - October 29,
2017: Commemoration of
WWI. The military committee
will present our exciting collection of WWI items.
 February 25 - October 28,
2018: The Ohio Light Opera.
Costumes and other supporting items from this worldrenowned organization.
Harry’s Mystery Question
by Harry S. McClarran
This Issue
This
was
given to
me by
Dan
Auckerman
and it
deals
with a
structure
recently torn down in Wooster. Does anyone recognize it
and where it was located? Answer in the next issue of the
Historical Society Newsletter.
You can contact Harry S. McClarran at 132 Pearl St.,
Wooster OH, 44691 or by phone at (330) 264-0749.
Answer to last Issue’s
mystery question….
I trust that everyone had a
great holiday season.... I
wish to remind all that I still
have plenty of both of my
Wooster picture books for
sale at the Wooster Book
Company or from myself.
Answer to the last mystery
question: The only one to call
and correctly identify the last
question was Ken Thomas
who identified it as the old
State Liquor Store at 220 W.
Liberty St. People can look at
the web site of the Historical
Society for dates and listings
of locations within the entire
block as space does not allow me to give dates for each
business when they were
located along this stretch of
West Liberty.
One of the more historical
groupings of
buildings were
those located
on the south
side of W. Liberty between Walnut Street and
Apple Alley.
This is not the
current site of
the Library.
These buildings including the
one pictured for my mystery
(Fall newsletter) housed
many businesses over the
years. This was an additional
building; south, lying along
Walnut which was for many
years the site of Nadelins'
Restaurant. This was covered in a previous article.
The buildings in this area
consisted of six structures
built between 1839 and
1841and were of Federal
Empire style of architecture.
Over the years they had
different street numbers and
were incorporated into one
building, store or another.
Going west from Walnut
Street, the first building,
called the Liberty, had street
numbers: 200, 202, and 204.
The next building was numbered 206, 210, 212; the
third structure being 214, the
fourth structure was 216, the
fifth structure was 220 and
the last was 222. Originally,
these buildings were used as
residences and at the close
of the 19th century, they became businesses. If one
walked west on Liberty
Street prior to the demolition
of the buildings, at the corner
was Moorefield Pottery, then
a doorway that opened to a
hallway with stairs that went
up to apartments. Next was
Dick's Camera and Sound
Shop; then an audio and
video place; an empty lot
where a barber shop had
stood; the Olde Keg Spirit
Shoppe and lastly a sports
card shop.
Let's see what was at each
one of the street numbers in
the early years. At 200, one
of the first mentioned was
the Bank of Wooster which
was in operation from 18401847 then failed. In 1849 the
property was sold to two
prominent attorneys, Ezra
Dean and Samuel Hemphill.
Over the years it would be a
residence and by the turn of
the century was occupied by
the following: in 1894, David
Whitmore as a merchant
tailor with C. L. Hoffman's
Sewing Machine Shop followed by John L. Houser as
a boarding house and restaurant and by 1909, George
Smith's Liberty House and
Restaurant. The Liberty
House would remain until the
1920's then we find Marie
Keim had a Millenary Store
followed by Knox Millenary
Pg. 4
then Frank Morse with an ice
cream establishment. From
1930 through 1946, there
was Colonial Finance Company then for many years the
Wooster Automobile Club.
Do you remember standing
out in the rain waiting to buy
your license or license
plates? This was followed by
Big Red Quick Print Shop,
God's Rescue Mission, and
lastly, Moorefield Pottery.
At 202 were apartments
above the first floor occupied
for many years by Walter
Proper. At 204 it was listed
as Kready and Company, a
filling station and auto supply
with two gasoline pumps in
front along the street.
Later came E and H Auto
Supplies, Guy J. Ewing Auto
Supplies then the Wayne
Sales Co. and W. H. Schuch
Grocery. That brings us to
206. From the 1940's to the
late 1950's, 206 is listed as
the Hauf Brau Cafe. It later
became part of Dick's Camera Shop.
Now on to 210. We first find
it listed as Fred Mathias Boot
and Shoe Store. By 1923, it
had become Walter A. Proper Barber Shop; later, Walter
Hardman Barber Shop,
Wayne Ensminger Barber
Shop, Sample Shoe Store,
then Oscar Mirvis and Son
Shoe Store. In the 1970's it
became another part of
Dick's Camera Shop. As for
212, this was the residence
of Mary F. Hartman for many
years then Jessie Fetzer had
his real estate and insurance
office there. By 1948 it became the Charm Beauty
Salon, followed by George
Sprang with television sales
and service, Telex Hearing
Center, Betty's Beauty Bar
(continued on pg. 5)
1977 S and E Watch
Repair was there followed by Precision Audio
and Video until the buildings was sold to the Library.
This brings us to 216. In
1894, Mrs. Isiah Mowery ran
a boarding house with Isiah
Mowery running an egg and
butter shop downstairs. In
1909, it became Mrs. William
Stevens Art Needle Works,
Bob Wilson Barber Shop,
Charles C. Hawk Barber
Shop, Hull Insurance Agency
and in 1952 it became Coney
Island Lunch. From 1954 to
1963, Jim Miller had a barbershop, then Dick Stull Hair
Clinic and Barbershop
moved in from 1964 until Jan
27, 1987. The Daily Record
article on January 28 described the fire that destroyed Dick Stull's place.
He purchased the old B & O
Railroad Depot and moved
his operations to that site
where it remains to this day.
The building was then torn
down and the basement filled
in with dirt.
We are now in front of 220
and 222 which were part of
the original lot 113. revised
lot 81. The lot 220 had originally been owned by Bever,
Henry and Larwill and was
sold in 1813 to Benjamin
Ruggles and then by him to
Jacob Parker in 1816. In
1817, Parker sold it to Thomas G. Jones who then sold it
in 1821 to William McFail. In
1836, it was sold to Dr. Stephen F. Day, an early
Wooster physician, who built
and operated his practice out
of the front part which later
became the Childrens'
Home. Dr. Stephen F. Day,
Jr would continue his practice and live in this building
until 1913 when it was sold
to Dr. Alonzo T. Bashford. In
1917, it was sold to Wooster
Lodge #1114, Loyal Order of
the Moose. They sold it in
1929 to George and John
Crater and they sold it in
1948 to Milo W. Skeeles,
selling in 1955 to Howard W.
Ackerman who later conveyed to Leslie C. Burger.
Then in 1971 it was conveyed to Roland and Helen
Lehman. A trust fund was set
up for Helen Lehman and
upon her death Roland and
Steve Lehman sold the property in 1997 to Edward
Swartz. Two years later Edward Swartz Properties
would convey the property to
the Board of Trustees of the
Wayne County Public Library.
This 220 building also
housed The Four Square
Now at 222 W Liberty. By
1900, it was occupied by
Grant Taggart as a flour and
feed store until it became
the residence of Benjamin J
DeMiller. Later it was the OK
Rubber Welders Tire Store,
Gilly's Tire Center and by
1970, a Western Auto Store.
Then came Today's Sleep
System, Wayne County Department of Human Resources - Office of Child
Support, Wayne County Car
Title Office, Far East Audio
Store, Audio Advancement,
and in 1999 Collector Bill
Sport Card and Bike Shop.
The buildings were then to
be removed for the new Library.
Before they were torn
down, I was able to get in
and photograph images inside this site and those images are at the Historical Society. I discovered that the
basement from 200 to 214
was completely open with a
hewn beam supporting the
first floor. At the west end of
212 was a door I was unable
to open, thus unable to view
the basement space of 214.
The 216 site was filled in but
on the east side of 220 was a
door and a window and upon
opening the door I found a
dirt wall up against it. In the
middle of that basement was
a fence set up with a gate in
the middle which could be
locked. This fence ran from
north to south and divided
the basement. Walking west,
I came to a set of stone
steps that went up to the
west and then south up a
stone stairway and came out
onto a stone and brick landing on the first floor of the
222 site. The original stone
work and brick work were still
intact. The interiors of all the
buildings were still in good
shape but they all came
crashing down and hauled
away to eternity so we could
build our new Library.
Today, only memories of
long gone days exist in
newspaper clippings and city
directories. Where once the
traveling public stopped and
purchased goods and services, now they stop and
read books at our new library.
Harry’s Mystery Question
(continued from pg. 4)
Salon and Wooster Disposal
Inc, the Ball Joint, H and R
Block, Wurlitzer Organ Studio and by 1981, it was also
part of Dick's Camera Shop.
Now we are at 214, a storeroom. This was a residence
for many years: in1915, it
was the home of Bob Wilson,
the home of Augustus F.
Maynard, Oliver H. Bates,
the Jessie Smetzer home,
and in 1934-1948, the home
of Samuel Horn with a junk
business in the rear. The
Telex Hearing Center followed, then Wayne County
Dairy Herd Improvement
Association, the Coney Island Lunch, Min's Downtown
Diner run for a time by Russel Reed, Dot's Diner run by
Dorothy Kelsar Mackey. By
(continued from above)
Gospel Church, Reinings
Restaurant, Lions International, 20-30 Club, Kiwanis,
Western Auto Store, and in
1973, Goodwill Industries
and in 1975, the Department
of Liquor Control as a state
liquor store and the last occupant was Olde Keg Spirit
Shoppe. An interesting note
was that Arthur G. DiOrio,
Sr., who managed the State
Liquor Store from 1970 to
1981, first ran the liquor store
when it was at 150 S. Market
St. then continued when the
store was moved to 220 W
Liberty. In about 1964, he
and his brother, Francis J.
DiOrio started DiOrio Inn at
400 Palmer. By 1973, it was
owned by Leroy and Loretta
Harsh, later they changed
the name to Leroy's which is
still at 400 Palmer St.
Pg. 5
(continued below)
Stay tuned for further tidbits
of Wooster's past.
Volunteers &
Education Committee
Update
Membership
Committee
Update
PR/Marketing
Committee
Update
This committee has had our
busiest month in October
with: 2 bus tour groups; a car
club group of 16 cars; a
Wooster High School Reunion; a class from the College
of Wooster; 125 students
from 2 local grade schools
plus the normal walk-ins.
The committee members
are working on 2 new 8 minute Video Documentations:
the stories of General
Wooster and Charles Follis.
We plan to have the videos
completed within the next
few months. Check the society’s YouTube page for our
current videos.
There is still a need for
docents and volunteers this
coming year of 2016.
Happy Holidays to all.
Recently, a letter was sent
out to all members concerning 2016 dues and a form
to fill out.
Please complete and return
your 2016 membership form
along with your dues to the
Society as soon as possible.
Please call the society with
any questions. A copy of the
membership form can also
be found online at http://
waynehistoricalohio.org/getinvolved/become-a-member/
For only $35, a year you
can join the WCHS! Member
benefits include free tours of
the campus, the quarterly
newsletter mailings, and invitations to exhibit openings
and first notifications of special programs. These make
great gifts as well!
After four years as the
Wayne County Historical
Society newsletter editor, it is
time that I relinquish my duties.
Board member Lynette Matson will be your new WCHS
newsletter editor starting with
the next edition, April 2016.
Lynette graduated from the
College of Wooster in 2008
from with a degree in History
and is now the Assistant
Director of the Writing Center
at the College of Wooster.
She and her husband, Matt
Long, reside in Wooster.
Thank you for all of your
kind words of encouragement these past four years,
and please join me in welcoming Lynette to this position!
by Joe Miller, Chair
by Julie Pooler
by Sandi Keim
Mrs. Gertrude Ward, a ‘Lady of the Month’
by Julie Pooler
In recognition of the mural
recently donated by Western
Reserve Group, the following
is an excerpt from a Wayne
County Topics March 1966
article on Gertrude Ward by
David L. Christopher titled:
Lady of the Month.
“ Mrs. Gertrude Ward was
born on a very cold February
9, 1912 in her parents home
at Wester Liberty Street in
Wooster. Her father, O.D.
Kaufman, who is now deceased, was a rural mail
carrier at that time; however
after many years of hard
study he fulfilled his dream
by becoming a lawyer. Her
mother, Beulah Independence Kaufman (she was born
on July 4), is now living with
Mrs. Ward and is quite active
in her neighborhood and
church. Six weeks after Gertrude (many of her friends
call her Gert) was born, the
family moved to 430 W.
North Street where she lived
for 32 years.
From the earliest years of
her life, Gert wanted to be an
artist. She can remember
sitting for hours just watching
the sun sparkling through the
leaves of an old apple tree in
their yard. This brocade of
lights and shadows fascinated her and she would try to
draw it. As a small girl Mrs.
Ward also decorated the
sidewalk in front of their
Pg. 6
Documents Vault
Update
by Susan Zimmerman
Committee Members include:
Mary Eberhart, Julie Pooler,
Mary Whitman and Susan
Zimmerman
In 2015, the four volunteers
working in the Ethel Parker
Archival Vault Complex handled 28 information requests
from the general public and
Society membership. Of
those requests 16 arrived via
email, 7 by phone, 1 by snailmail, and 4 in-person asking
for either subject research
assistance, or to see photographs and/or copy images,
or examine specific document collections.
Our biggest accomplishment of 2015 was the labeling and packing of the 1,287
piece Dawson Collection of
(continued on pg. 7)
home with sketches using
pieces of old brick and little
colored stones to draw
them.
Gertrude recalls the greatest thrill of her childhood
was when her father sent
her to Margaretta
Whitmore, a local art teacher. Her first assignment
was to draw the huge elm
tree which stood at the
corner of South and Walnut
Streets. She can remember
the heartbreak she suffered
when this tree was cut
Lady of the Month article photo
down less than a year ago. by Ellings, March 1966
After this initiation into the
spondence school, The Fedfascinating mysteries of oberal School, Inc., and
serving a subject and then
drawing it, Mrs. Ward wanted through this course learned
the rudiments of commercial
to spend every moment creart. However, this was not
ating something beautiful.
the type of art work Gertrude
In high school, Gertrude
won a scholarship to a corre(continued on pg. 7)
(continued from pg. 6)
local images in all their different formats for long-term
storage. This included manufacturing 11 custom-sized
boxes and 31 hand-made
custom photo envelopes,
one Mylar enclosure, and
purchasing archival quality
glass plate negative storage
boxes.
The department digitally
scanned 22 of the 33 original
handwritten WCHS acquisition notebooks that are
stored in an old shoebox
dating from the 1960s to mid1990s that contain many
notes and information on
items housed at the Society
which are not currently entered in the Society's computer database system. This
was done to make the information more readily accessible as digital PDF files stored
in a Google Docs account for
sharing.
We also created a new
Finding Tool system
utilizing Google
Docs to create an
(name change coming soon)
inventory system
that can be easily
What it is?
keyword searched to
This wonderful antique store is full of fine antiques which have been dohelp find items
nated specifically to this store to raise money for the WCHS.
stored in the Documents Vault. Two
Where is it?
drawers of a 10Soon to be located at Uptown/Downtown Antique Mall, 215 W. Liberty
drawer flat-file cabiStreet, Wooster, Ohio.
net unit and half of a
small shelving unit
What is for sale?
have already been
Items for sale in the shop usually include glassware, paintings, furniture,
inventoried and we
will continue this
collectibles, vintage postcards and historical items. Stop in often! New
inventorying process
items are added frequently.
into 2016.
We hand-made 13 four-fold
ments and Archives Commit- and we will be closing the
enclosures to help protect
online Digital Collection site
tee and our current need for
and extend the life of some
to the public as of January 1,
proper archival storage supearly 19th century school
2016.
plies.
books that had been used in
The Society plans to update
Sadly, we noted that the
a number of early Wayne
online Digital Collection web- their computer and database
County schools.
systems in 2016 and we will
site that showcases digital
The committee gave a
copies of the Dawson Collec- be working toward transferpresentation at the 2015
tion images and other photo- ring the digital images and
WCHS Fall Quarterly Meetinformation to the new sysgraphs and documents from
ing on the functions and retem in 2016.
the Society's collections had
sponsibilities of the Docugenerated no sales in 2015
Shop Antiques in the Vault!
Lady of the Month, Gertrude Ward poetry called “Scattered
Leaves” and gave Gertrude
(continued from pg. 6)
the privilege of painting her
portrait for the frontispiece.
wanted to do. She dreamed
Gertrude was married on
of becoming a portrait paintSeptember 2, 1944 to Dwight
er. Then a great opportunity
M. Ward who is now deknocked at Mrs. Ward’s door.
ceased. Their daughter PatriLorena Peppard, one of
cia, who goes by the nickAmerica’s best portrait artname of Pixie, is a Junior at
ists, came back to Ohio to
Warren Wilson University in
retire. Mrs. Peppard was
Swannanoa, North Carolina.
famed for the painting of
She is majoring in the field of
judges’ portraits for court
education and has a high
houses and was honored in
3.71 academic average. Mrs.
the American Art and the
Ward, as most mothers, is
Ohio Art & Artists publicaquite proud of her daughter.
tions. A mutual interest arose
Some of the beautiful art
between these two ladies
work Mrs. Ward has done
and for eight years a part of
can be seen throughout the
every day was spent togethcounty; a portrait of Christ in
er. Through this contact Mrs.
the Bethany Baptist Church
Ward learned the fine points
in Wooster, a pioneer scene
of portrait painting. Mrs. Pepat Lighting Rod Mutual &
pard later wrote a book of
Western Reserve Casualty
Co., a Florentine scene at
the Coccia
House in
Wooster, the
portrait of Ida
Sue School
and many
more.
Mrs. Ward
says the field
of art is not a Recently acquired Gertrude Ward wall mural.
prosperous
and we can be proud that
one but there is nothing than
she has selected to live here
can equal it if a person wishsince her birth. Gertrude has
es to live in a world of creacontributed greatly to our
tivity and self expression.
community as her many talGertrude Ward is one of the
ents and highlighted the culmost talented individuals in
ture in this locality.”
our society today. She
A big THANK YOU goes
leaves a lasting impression
out again to WRG Facilities
on anyone who has the good
Manager, Jim Stansloski, for
fortune of meeting her...Mrs.
contacting the WCHS about
Ward has been one of our
this exciting piece of artwork.
area’s outstanding citizens
Pg. 7
23rd Voices From the Past Series - Tickets Now on Sale!
by Ray Leisy
It is time to order your tickets for the 23rd season of Voices From the Past! Every show sold out last year, be sure to obtain
your tickets early for 2016 so that you will not miss a performance. As you will note, Ray Leisy has arranged another fantastic
schedule for the enjoyment of young and old alike while keeping ticket prices the same as last year. Tickets can be bought
through the mail using the coupon below or in person at the Historical Society or at the Wooster Book Company. They also
make perfect Holiday gifts for the person who has everything.
January 24th, 2:00 p.m.
BLUE HORIZON -
February 21st, 2:00 p.m.
DOLLY MADISON Dolly Madison, the wife of
the President of the United
States, James Madison, will
make her first and only appearance in Wooster. She is
noted as the first real hostess of the White House who
has turned our nation's capital into the social center it
has become. She will regale
us with tales of how she has
accomplished this feat and,
perhaps some inside stories
as well about the social happenings of Washington DC.
March 13th, 2:00 p.m.
JEFF BLACK -
Blue Horizon
Like a splash of fresh water
over the bow, Blue Horizon,
from St. Louis, wraps Celtic
influences and new Folk
rhythms into the tradition of
music of the seas and the
men and women who sail
them. Lifted by a long career
devoted to the lore of the
sea, the band, led by Lee
Murdock, will share their passion for music and innovation.
Jeff Black
Dolly Madison
(Cynthia Janzen)
Black's songs have earned
GRAMMY recognition and
numerous BMI awards. He
has composed music for
movies and TV and he has
had his songs recorded by
Alison Krauss, Waylon Jennings, Dierks Bentley, John
Oates and Sam Bush. He is
appearing in Wooster for the
first time to sing his own
songs for us.
April 3rd, 2:00 p.m.
BOB MILNE Milne is considered the best
ragtime/boogie-woogie player of all time and has been
declared a "National Treasure" by the Library of Congress after recording for their
archives. He has been playing in concert halls all over
the world on behalf of the US
State Department and
throughout the United States,
including an appearance at
the WCHS a few years ago.
Bob Milne
2016 Voices From the Past Ticket Order Form
Name
Phone
Address
Student Member Non-member
Student Member Non-member
____
____
____ Jan 24, BLUE HORIZON
____
____
____ Feb 21, DOLLY MADISON
____
____
____ Mar 13, JEFF BLACK
____
____
____ Apr 3, BOB MILNE
Prices: $6.00 student; $10.00 adult member of WCHS; $14.00 adult non-member. Tickets may be purchased at the Wooster Book
Company, 205 W. Liberty St., Wooster; or at the WCHS during office hours; or mailed to Wayne Country Historical Society,
546 East Bowman St., Wooster OH, 44691.
Pg. 8
Ebenezer
Lodge, No.
33, Wooster
Chapter, No.
27, R.A.M. (Royal Arch Masons) Wooster Council, No.
13.
My curiosity nerve was
struck and I figured if the
laying of the cornerstone was
such a big deal there might
be more information in a
local 1878 newspaper
around that date, so i pulled
the microfilm for 1878 and
sure enough i found an interesting article in the Wayne
County Democrat dated October 9, 1878 on page 3 that
described exactly what our
citizen predecessors put in
the Wayne County Courthouse cornerstone and left
us a beautiful description
of the copper box placed
in the stone and all the
items stored inside it.
What’s In the Wayne County Courthouse Cornerstone?
by Susan Zimmerman (full article available on our website)
The historic Wayne County Courthouse building has
been undergoing a number
of restorations and renovations this year and has been
shrouded in black construction screens and scaffolding
for a number of months.
There’s been lively arguments, for and against,
whether it was a good idea
to pour more money into the
137-year-old building to
keep it in tip-top condition
and functioning properly for
the public and civil servants
that have to use it every
working day. Don’t worry,
not much has changed:
they were arguing about
whether they should try to
repair the prior Courthouse
that had rotting timbers and
unstable brick walls or
knock it down and spend
what was then a large
amount of money to build
our present Courthouse in
1878. So arguing over the
Courthouse’s costs and future is a good old Wayne
County tradition that is likely
to continue for many future
generations.
In any case, while reading
an old 1967 Daily Record
newspaper for a research
project an Off The Tombstone column by Eppie Taft
caught my eye because it
included a picture of the
front page of a wellpreserved copy of the program used on October 8,
1878 for the laying of the
Wayne County Courthouse
cornerstone by the Masonic
Fraternity of Wooster, Ohio
(continued from above)
listing of materials online
at http://
waynehistoricalohio.org/2015/10/16/whatsin-the-wayne-countycourthouse-cornerstone/
Commencement.
Programme of Laying Corner-Stone.
- Prof. L. Firestone’s Address.
- Invitations for today.
- Specifications of the Court
House.
- Three reports of Wooster
High School.
- Copies of Contracts for
building the Courthouse.
- Douglas’s History of
Wayne County book.
- Photographs of County
Officers, and others, with list
and signatures.
- Money: a Greenback,
Gold, Silver and Trade Dollar, and paper, silver, nickel
and copper fractions of a
dollar, to the total amount of
$7 dollars and 33 cents.
- Holy Bible.
- Wooster Council, Officers
and Members.
- Copy of Dalton Gazette,
Wooster Republican,
Doylestown Journal, West
Salem Monitor, Shreve
Journal, University Reporter, Fredericksburg Herald,
Orrville Crescent, and
Wayne Co. Democrat.
- Officers of the United
States.
- Officers of the State of
Ohio.
- Officers of Wayne County,
and Judges of District.
- Wooster High School
After the box had been
deposited the Grand Chap-
DEPOSITING THE STONE
By direction of Deputy
Grand Master, the Grand
Treasurer, Col. Benjamin
Eason, deposited in an excavation prepared in the stone
a brightly polished copper
box, soldered up, on the lid
of which was elegantly engraved by Mr. J. F. Larwill,
jeweler, the inscription:
“Deposited by the Grand
Lodge of Free and Accepted
Masons of the State of Ohio,
Oct. 9th, A.D. 1878, A.L.
5878,” and which contained
the following:
LIST OF ARTICLES
Note: This is a small listing, you can find the entire
(continued below)
lain read an appropriate
selection from the Scriptures–“head stone of the
corner.” The corner stone
was then laid, with slow
music played by the Wilmot Band. The Architect
of the Courthouse, Mr.
Thomas Boyd, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, presented the plumb, square
and level to the Grand
Master, who proved the
stone, finding it perfect in
all its parts, and accepted
it.
The Oct. 9, 1878 program for the
Now everybody knows
laying of the Courthouse
exactly what’s in the corcornerstone. The A.L. stands for
nerstone of the Wayne
Anno Lucis, a dating system used in
County Courthouse. If the
Freemasonry ceremonial or
box is ever opened, the
commemorative proceedings. It
paper materials may likely
adds 4,000 years to the current
not be intact, but the metAnno Domini calendar year and
al coins should still be
appends Anno Lucis (“Year of
and I bet they are worth
Light”) to the Gregorian calendar
more than $7.33 now!
Pg. 9
NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S.POSTAGE
PAID
WOOSTER, OH 44691
PERMIT NO. 50
Upcoming WCHS Events
January 24th
2:00pm
Voices From the Past:
Blue Horizon
WCHS Schoolhouse
February 28th
Time: TBD
Exhibit Opening: Downton
Abbey
Kister Building
April 27th
6:00pm
Annual Meeting
More information with next
newsletter
January 27th
5:30pm
WCHS Membership
March 2016
Fridays, 1:30-4:30pm
Saturdays, 9am-noon and
1:30-4:30pm
Downton Abbey exhibit
open. Call office to arrange
special tours.
Kister Building
July 27th
6:00pm
WCHS Membership
Quarterly Meeting
Society Grounds
Quarterly Meeting at Broken
Rocks Cafe.
February 21st
2:00pm
Voices From the Past:
Dolly Madison
WCHS Schoolhouse
September 2016
Annual Fundraiser
Times and Program TBD
April 2016
Society open normal hours
For more information on these and future events, please visit our website at
http://waynehistoricalohio.org/news-and-events/2016-schedule-of-events/
Pg. 10
WCHS Board
of Trustees
Elaine Peterson President
Bob Everett—Vice President
Roxanne Gerber - Treas.
Sandi Keim - Secretary
Dave Broehl - Past President
Adam Bogner
Larry Drabenstott
Cameron Flint
Kimberly Huffman
Renee Jackwood
Lynette Mattson
Joe Miller
Julie Pooler
Carolyn Sheron
Jason Storck
Jon Ulbright
Lawrence Walker