The History of Camp Crowell/Hilaka

Take Action for the Present Day

2012-03-03T19:14:00.000-08:00

Access your inner "Nancy Drew" and help solve some mysteries:

The reason for the long list of names after the "how we got our camp " snippet is because if these were the people who cared about Girl Scouting in 1937, their grandchildren are alive today & may possibly care about helping.

If they are alive, they can be found. If any of them are interested in their family histories, they may have letters, pictures, memories of their own relating to Crowell Hilaka or Girl Scouting in general that Grandma & Grampa told them about on holidays. They may have passed on their Girl Scouting heritage.

So if anyone feels like investigating anyone of these names and trying to track down the decsendants or get more information, and even ask for a donation to keep the camps open, go for it!

Of course, the extra challenge in tracking womens' history is that the ladies used their husbands' names. and if they married or re- married after this time frame, they got different names! but hey, that just makes the puzzle more interesting!

What I do know:

Kirby had 3 children with his first wife. They never lived at the camp - there are grandchildren around, but they do not have any attachment to the camp. Kirby and his second wife did not have any children.

Julia & Benedict Crowell had two children: the son never married. I have very little info on Florence, their daughter & have never found out if she & her husband had any kids. Julia's maiden name was Cobb - her dad's first name was leonard - the family made their money in pharmecuticals.

POTENTIAL LEADS: Mr. and Mrs. Warner Seely were both VERY involved & their grandchildren, if any, may be good sources

I had not realized until piecing together the conncetion between early GS & the natural history museum - they may have something in their archives.

The January Saturday Excursion

2012-02-11T14:55:00.000-08:00

Today we went around to talk to the neighbors ! It was a lot of fun - makes me think we should have set this up as an event years ago!

First, we went to the King's Forest Development off Broadview Rd. These are the houses that you can see off to the right when driving down the camp driveway. The neighborhood was really quiet: some houses have driveways unplowed, unshoveled, un-tread marked, unfootprinted. We figured those to be the snowbirds who have migrated to warmer climes for the winter.

For most of the houses, we just looped our fliers near ( but not in) the mailboxes. For houses with yards actually adjoining camp property, we knocked on doors , introduced ourselves, gave them a heads up and an opportunity to help. It was all very friendly and we got lots of interest. I think the neighbors were just glad to get some information.

We ran into a geographic puzzle: the northmost cul-de-sac was on the same latitude with Gund Hall and and the pack out building. Yet we know that houses are visible from the road by Coach House and along Last Chance Loop Trail. I had left my map at home and was standing ont the corner of the entrance trying to puzzle it out from memory when Lucy suggested we get back in the car and ride farther north on Broadview looking for any streets that could possibly connect. Excellent plan. The nearest left turn we could make was onto Newton, and off that was a small street with the name of King's Creek. This turned out to be also be a development, altho a small one. With verrrrrrrrry fancy houses. Most of these people turned out to be home, and they definetely wanted to talk with us! We even got invited inside for house tours, hot chocolate, and more extensive conversations! These neighbors want to know when our next meeting is. They are all about supprting the effort to keep the area rural!

Since we don't really have any meetings planned, we told them about the camp history presentation at RHS on Feb 9. I don't plan to spend a lot of time on the current situation, but I'll be happy to answer questions afterwards.

I was fairly irritated that the developer seems to have named our creek to support his fiefdom. "King's Creek," my foot! That is NOT the official name of the creek. Kathleen Bradly had once suggested that we come up with a name, and when we get our camp back, I think we should. Perhaps when the creek passes under the fence it should undergo a sex change and be known as "Queen's Creek". From here I set off on an imaginary naming trip: Maybe it could be called "Queen of the Forest Creek" , or QoF - for short. that could be appropriate, because to "quaff" is to drink. Except I don't want kids thinking they could drink the water. It replenishes the forest tho. A good name. Or maybe since this is about the girls it could be called Princess Creek - but does that sound too prissy? Maybe we should see if Princess Kate wants to buy the camp since she is now a girl guide volunteer- or does England have coed "scouts " ? Not sure. At this point in my daydreaming, I was driving slow and I came back to reality to notice a police van right behind me. He pulled alongside and asked if he could help ---- in a tone that suggested I better not be planning any mischief. So I told him that yes, he could help --- and launched into my spiel about the camps. After a lenthy chat, he drove off with a stack of our fliers to take back to the Richfield police station.

We continued up Newton Rd, drove through Rising Valley park, came out on Oviatt. We distributed fliers there & in Secluded Highlands development off Oviatt -- but we didn't knock on any doors because they won't be as immediatly affected by a possible sale of camp.

Mission complete, we de-briefed at McD's. Generally things are looking good. There are so many untapped resources. If the council office could accept some of these offers of help, we could all be the so much better for it. I would love if the money raised could go toward repairs & improvements instead of legal fees. Speaking of which - the total donated so far is $19, 900.00

Testimonials For the Camp

2011-11-25T20:10:00.001-08:00

One emotional & one practical testimonial for the Cleveland Girl Scout camp, circa 1937 - still strangely relevant today

Abbie Graham, author of "Ladies in Revolt"

"I approve of the sort of campaign you are running in behalf of camping. I might buy a square inch of the proposed acreage..... one that would give footing for the young eyes to discover the excellence of an adolescent moon. Or I might purchase an apple tree whereof some incipient Eve might eat and awaken to a knowledge of her own stupendous importance. Or I could use words to seek to arouse potential contributors to realize the unusual opportunities which the Girl Scouts are now offering Clevelanders".

Junior League bulletin

"Safety Director [Elliot] Ness and his crime prevention bureau were troubled by the reports of juvenile delinquency in a city district. THey sent out an SOS to the Girl Scouts to organize troops in the district. Modern law enforcement officers realize that what the juvenile gang spirit requires is direction into constructive channels.

But to cope with city streets, the Scouts must have camps where girls can learn the way of simple, adventurous activity out-of-doors during the adolescent years. Harold L. Madison, chairman of the camp planning committee for Cleveland Girl Scout Council, says: " If the children of a large city are to build healthy bodies, wholesome minds, and appreciative souls, the camp becomes a nessessity. It is the one organized channel available to large numbers of children"

Now, after years of searching, the Girl Scouts have found what Mr. Madison characterizes as "the most desirable campsite within a hundred miles of Cleveland". Their necessity is urgent is urgent since the present site is woefully inadequate.

The proposed site covers 243 acres at West Richfield, southwest of Brecksville. It is 22 miles equidistant from the Public Square, Lakewood, and Cleveland Heights, and its well-constructed dam provides it with two lakes. It is not raw land but is already equipped with buildings remarkably equipped with buildings remarkably appropriate to the uses of the Scouts; a lodge for eating and recreation, a mill house for crafts, an 11 room heated house for winter weekends and a boat house.

The Scouts ask us to consider these facts:

1. Permanent possession of this site witll make it possible to train 1400 more girls each year and to take care of younger girls.

2. The new camp will be open 52 weeks in the year.

3. Present facilities make it impossible for all the agencies for girls to serve more than 10 per cent of the girls in Cuyahoga county.

4. Cleveland is the only city in the region that does not have its own Girl Scout camp.

5. Figures from Akron, Dayton, Cincinnati, Toledo, and Columbus show that the cost of the camp and its nessessary equipment is less than those cities have had to pay for a similar set up.

The goal for the Camp Fund Campaign is $60,000; part for the land purchase, the balance for the necessary remodeling, the erection of tents and other necessities to operate the camp on a year-around basis. Mr. Warner Seely is chairman of the campaign: Mrs. Benedict Crowell , vice chairman.

Since the soliciting organization is not a large one, Interested Junior League members will be doing their Scout-leader friends a very great favor if they don't wait to be called on, but step right up with their contributions.

Who Donated Camp Crowell/Hilaka?

2011-11-25T20:00:00.001-08:00

With the revelelation that Mr. Guy Renkert's family had donated the land for Great Trail Camp and was still keeping an eye on making sure it was used properly, lots of people have been asking "who donated the land for Crowell Hilaka? " Here is the answer:

Instead of getting a land donation and then deciding to put a camp on it, the Cleveland Girl Scout Council was looking for a place that they could turn into a camp. The main qualification was that it have a lake large enough for swimming and boating.

One description of the camp search said that real estate agents kept showing them abandoned farms with creeks that " could easily be dammed up to create a lake" and that they were all getting tired of crawling underneath barbed wire fences.

When they found the Kirby property in 1936, they were thrilled. Two lakes, a boat house, dining hall, main house ( to be used for camp staff and adult trainings) and the farm buildings. Plus the mill was so pretty it would inspire arts & crafts.

The property was valued at $85,500.00 Kirby said he would take $48,500.00 for it because of it was for the Girl Scouts. The committee figured that they needed to raise $60,000.00 because in addition to buying the property, they would need to set up campsites and outfit the dining hall.

They decided that Eleanor Garfield would start by heading up the "special gifts" division of the fund-raising campaign. ( I think this means asking the wealthier citizens for large contributions. As the wife of a US president's grandson, she probably had the society connections needed to pull that off. ) There was a Scout family division and a Public division. They planned with the media to get continuous coverage of the campaign which would run from February 9 to February 26 (1937) . They got endorsements from a star-studded list of respected pillars of the community*. They developed a brochure explaining why the Girl Scouts needed the camp and why the place they had chosen was so perfect.

The official campaign kicked off with a dinner and entertainment at the University Club of Cleveland. Mr. Kirby attended, as did Mrs. Benedict ( Julia) Crowell. Girls enacted a "pantomime" called "Camping through the Calendar" . Following the event, newspapers and community bulletins kept up a steady stream of reports on how much money had been collected and encouraging people to give more.

5,050 individuals donated toward the purchase of the camp. Amounts ranged from 10 cents to 10 thousand dollars.

Donations came from "every corner of Cuyahoga County". The youngest donor was seven years old.

At the time, there were 3,626 Girl Scouts in the Cleveland Council.

So the answer to the question of "who donated the camp?" would be "the people of Cuyahoga County."

Endorsements for purchase of a camp for Cleveland GS Council 1936 / 37 came from

Eleanor Rooseveldt

Lou Henry Hoover

Elliot Ness

Junior Leauge of Cleveland

Charles H. Lake

Mrs. R.N. Rutledge

Mr. & Mrs. Max Hellman

Rabbi Abba H. Silver

Dr. A Caswell Ellis

Mrs. F.W. Reindel

Mrs. E.L. Shupe

Paul Bellamy

Mrs. Robert H. Jamison

Mrs. Frank L. Session

Fred Ramnsey

A.G. Knebel

Edward D. Lynde

Rabbi B.R. Bricker

The camp planning committee was headed by Harold L. Madison, director of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Mary Colley, age 15, was selected as the "representative Girl Scout" pictured on the campaign flier.

Opening Banquet

Mrs. Carlton W. Bonfils was chairman of banquet arrangements

Mrs. Alexander C. Robinson was program chairman, assisted by:

Mrs. John A. Kiggen Jr. ( publicity chair)

Mrs. Stanlee Orr ( chairman of hosteses)

Mrs. Fred Harroff

Mrs. J. Jones Hudson

Mrs. E.A. Fisher

Mrs. George Jones

Mrs. Normal Siegel

Mrs. W.A. Roberts

Mrs. F.O. Fleming

Mrs. Howard Dingle

Mrs. Edwin Parkhurst

Proffessor Henry Miller Busch of Cleveland College was the keynote speaker

GS Troop 89 (captained by Mrs. Clifford Jorns) and GS troop 120 ( captained by Mrs. William C. Russell) took part in the " Camping Around the Calendar" skit.

Girls Jo Anne Galberach, Elizabeth Izant, and Peggy Camplejohn were pictured in the Plain Dealer laying logs on a pretend fire in the skit

Mrs. Clifford E. Jorns - author of skit lyrics

additional entertainment by radio stars Delma Lee and the Kay sisters

a motion picture by Mrs. Warner Seely of the new campsite was shown

According to the Cleveland NEWS, the following accepted invitations to sit at the speakers' table:

Mayor & Mrs. Harold H. Burton

Mr. & Mrs. Edward D. Lynde

Mr. & Mrs Hal Griswold

Mr. & Mrs. James R. Garfield

Mr. Harold Madison

Mr. George Green

Banquet attendees pictured in the Cleveland Press report:

J.B. Kirby

Mrs. Benedict Crowell

Menry M. Busch

Mrs. Henry Friede

Mrs. Hal Griswold

Harold L. Madison

Miss Grace Courtade

Miss Mary Driver

Miss Fay Stein

Miss Jean Warwick

Mrs. Stanlee Bates

Warner Seely

Mrs C Bonfils

George E Greer

Mrs Rudold Garfield

Mrs B.F. Quate

Miss Ann Wright

Stanlee T. Bates

support also came from

Mrs. Cleaveland Cross

From the Financial Report of the Capitol Account Drive. Cleveland GS Council February 26, 1938

Campaign Executive Commitee

Mrs. Henry Friede , Comissioner

Mr. Warner Seely, General Campaign Chairman

Mrs. Rudolf [Eleanor] Garfield, Special Gifts Chairman

Mrs. B.F. McQuate, Public Division Chairman

Mrs. Clifford Jorns, Scout Division Chairman

Mr. James B. Garfield, Treasurer

Camp Construction Committee

Mr. Morris A. Black, Chairman

Mr. Alexander Robinson, III

Mr. W.F. Schickler

Mr. E.A.Fisher

Mr. Gilbert R. Osterland

Mr. James B. Kirby

Mr. Henry Friede

Dr. R.W. Markwith

Mr. Harold Madison

Mr. John Homer Kapp

Special mention was made to Glidden & Co., The Electrical League, The Ohio Edison Co., Walsh & Co., and the newspapers for their invaluable publicity

The estate of Mr. & Mrs. James B. Kirby became the property of the Cleveland Girl Scout Council on April 7, 1937

The deed for the property was formally presented at the dedication ceremonies held at the camp on June 20, 1937. ON this date the camp was named in honor of Mrs. Benedict Crowell. Garfield Lodge was dedicated August 9th. Kirby house was dedicated on August 17th.

403 different girls between the ages of 7 and 18 attended the first summer camp sessions. From September 1, 1937 to February 26 when the first financial report on the camp was written, the camp was in "constant use" . 16 troops comprised of 252 girls camped on the weekends, 260 girls were served during 3 snow days. 8 conferences and training courses served 238 adults

Cleveland GS council -1937

Miss Anne Wright, Director [ CEO ]

[ the following are what today we would call the board officers ]

Mrs. Henry [Linnea] Friede, Commissioner

Mrs. B.F. McQuate, first deputy commissioner

Mrs. Stanlee T. [Margaret] Bates second deputy commissioner

Miss Grace Cody , third deputy commissioner

Mrs. Morris A. Black, corresponding secretary

Mrs. John H. Kapp, recording secretary

Mrs. John Pavlik, treasurer

Mrs. Bennett Chappele, of Middleton, OH; regional chairman

information for this history snippet comes from the 1938 CGSC report / 39 clippings provided by Farnham Publicity Service 1937 /

courtsy, archives of the GSNEO history committee

For newspaper articles and other information about the campaign to raise money to buy Camp Julia/Crowell, click here. But be warned: This is a 46-megabyte file, and it's going to take a long time to download.

The Sapsford Farm and the Determined Children

2011-10-14T16:58:00.000-07:00

The Sapsford farm was located somewhere around the middle of camp. The remains of the farmhouse are up near the stables. If you were driving in from the stable entrance on Oviatt Rd., just past the barn, on the left side, is a clump of trees and bushes that obscure the old foundations. The Kirbys bought the Sapsford place to add to their estate - so it was included in the parcel sold to the Cleveland Girl Scouts in 1937.

I was googling around & found this reference http://www.ohiofarmmuseum.com/?page_id=75 which looks to be a collection of oral history - Lynn

The SAPSFORD FARM -- The DETERMINED Children

The Sapsford family farm was on Oviatt Rd. in Richfield Twp. Summit Co. They raised their children, Chalice, Blanche, Clyde, Ray and Ruth during the Depression. Quietly, some people called the children crazy. More openly they were known as “determined”. Many stories are still remembered of their many escapades.

Just to the west of their farm, on Rt. 303, is West Hill. It’s one of the longest, steepest hills in northern Ohio. Back then there were a number of flat areas carved into the hill so that the horses pulling wagons up the hill could stop and rest without the wagon pulling on them. One day, the brothers decided it would be a good idea to “sled” the hill. They took one of the farms’ buggy running gears that had no seat or shafts and tied a rope to the front wheels to steer with. One of the brothers sat on the frame and the other pushed the buggy off. As it went screaming down the hill, it hit the “flats”, launched into the air and kept flying on down the hill. By the time the buggy and brother reached the bottom, they were completely out of control, missed the bridge over the river and landed in the water. It was a wonder he wasn’t killed.

In that same river there was a place to ford. The family had a horse who was trouble so when they hitched it up to a buggy, they kept the check rein tight so the horse couldn’t lower it’s head. One time the children went out for a drive. They crossed the river and the horse was thirsty. The children forgot to loosen the rein and the horse couldn’t reach the water so it simply lay down in the shafts, turned the buggy over, and got a drink. It took a lot of work to unhitch, right the buggy and pull it from the ford.

One of the kids was out riding a horse one time. But the saddle girth wasn’t fastened tight enough. Slowly the saddle started to slide around the side of the horse, with the child in it. An upside down ride was inevitable. Grandma was watching but couldn’t do a thing about it. She just turned away and walked into the house saying, “Those kids are going to kill themselves one day.”

Another time. the boys dad told the boys to go get the horses in from the back field. Many hours later, dad had to go get the boys and horses. Ray and Clyde had taken a bottle of hootch (probably gotten from Sam Nemer) and were passed out in the field. Severe consequences awaited them. Of course, the boys weren’t the only ones to get a nip. One time Ruth got into the hard cider. For years after the family kidded her about the time Ruth kept telling everyone she heard the canaries singing.

When the girls made up their minds to to something, they did it. Growing up in the Depression, there was no money to go to town. The girls wanted to visit Akron so they simply got up early, walked the 18 miles, saw the sights, did a little shopping, and walked home. Never thought a thing of it. Years later one of the sisters got a job at a tractor repair shop in Richfield. This wasn’t really considered ladies work, but that never stopped her.Unfortunately it didn’t go so well for her. She was out mowing with a tractor to see if it was fixed. She backed up under a tree, hit a branch and broke her neck. She died shortly after.

As the “kids” grew older they continued their “determined” ways. When Ray was older, he walked out on the back porch one morning. A skunk was there to greet him. Well, he wasn’t going to have that, so he kicked the skunk off the porch. His family had to bury all the clothes he was wearing and it was quite awhile before the porch was put to full use again.

Ray also had a small cannon he liked to shoot off on special occasions. But one day it seemed like a good idea to just let fly with it loaded with gravel. -You know, just to see what it would do. Unfortunately, all the dish towels had just been hung out on the clothes line to dry. That was the day the towels became holey.

Chalice later lived “in town” near Richfield Center. She wanted to build a garage, but her husband didn’t want to help, so Chalice made all her own cement blocks and built the garage herself. She used the outhouse behind the house until her passing in the mid 1980’s.

Landscape Forensics

2011-07-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

A collection of vintage photos of Camp Crowell/Hilaka, provided by council historian Sunny Baddour, is now on line at http://www.flickr.com/photos/65282355@N00/sets/72157626948137609/ . In reply to the announcement of this link on the Friends of Crowell/Hilaka mailing list, Kathleen Bradley wrote:

"I notice the trees on the dam got quite big in some years- not allowed anymore of course for safety reasons. The lake seems much lower in many of the pictures, too. Most of the girls in the photos seemed older. Do you think they were all campers or were some counselors?"

Lynn replies:

I don't know - that's part of the fun of looking at these- the more you look, the more you notice, and then the more you question.   It's like working a puzzle!

I showed the series of Kirby House gardens to a friend who is very familiar with the camp.   After he stared at them a while, and flipping back & forth between them, he pointed out that the one with the woman standing on the right was taken much later than the other three.

How can he tell?   There is a small room added onto the back of Kirby House that isn't in the other, and that reeds have grown up in the middle of the pond.

   Does this make a difference to anything? Probably not --- but the act of figuring it out - that's fun!   And I bet this kind of landscape forensics would be intersting to girls if presented correctly. MOst of the time when I camped there with troops we were so busy with our planned activities, the kapers, the sight-seeing to obvious places, that we never thought to look.   But I bet there is a tremendous amount of history / mystery there, Mostly on the south, but probably some lurking in the woods of the north.
      This spring, Suzanne Czaplicki found and pointed out the remnants of garden architecure behind North House: If you stand at the fire circle with the porch to your right, there is an almost hidden path on the left that goes down to the water.   A small creek feeds into the lake .    there are stone foundations on either side of the creek: there had been a bridge there at one time.   It must have been mostly decorative -- You can hop over the creek - but imagine the elegant & myserious Mrs. Neal strolling along this garden path.    I keep thinking that there had to be a boat landing around there somewhere.
      Suzanne also noticed that upstream of the creek is a bridge that is still there!    It goes over a culvert & connects North House lawn with the back of Spiff's Garden. I have been told that the site of Spiff's Garden was, at one time, a clay tennis court. The owner builder of Amity was the son of the owner/ builder of NOrth. If so -the tennis court was right in the middle for both sets of families to use. Makes sense - as does the size & shape of the Garden.

     My current lanscape archeology pursuit concerns the possible existence of an ice house on the south side.   ONe of the things in the GSNEO history committee archives was a report that a girl wrote about the camp that meantioned an ice house. It's also on a map. I can't remember if the girl drew the map or if the map was separate.   Anyway. Both seem to indicate that the Nature Hut that hangs off the side f the hill was it.   Which can't be right.
    First, for those not familiar with an ice house It's where people got blocks of ice in summer before freezers were invented.   It got filled during the winter when slabs of ice would be cut from a nearby pond.   The sides of the ice house were heavily insulated. As layers of ice were stored, layers on more insulating material ( like sawdust) would be packed around them. and between the layers.
    OK, so we got the pond.    We know that Kirby had electricty early on, but the rest of Richfield did not. Kirby did not need the income from an ice business, but it might have been something he worked out with a neighbor. ( He also didn't need the income from a farm, but he had one anyway). However : Ice is Heavy.   No one is going to haul it up a hill. Also , the way the Nature hut hangs off the side ofthe hill, it is hardly insulated.
    But -   just below the nature hut is a garage. The garage is set back INTO the hill and is on a level withthe road which runs right alongside the pond.    PLus, if you look at pictures of Kirby house, you can see that there used to be a garage underneath the back porch kinda by the giant oak tree. You can look at the pattern of the brickwork and see that the original garage door opening was bricked in ( just like the one at Coach House).
    THEORY ( ok, really hypothesis)   The original garage was the garage; and the current garage was originally an ice house.   This still does not explain the nature hut. Laura G says she was told it was a house for a worker.   Couldn't have been Kirby's main farme manager, because that person lived in the Oviatt Farm house.   But it was something before it was a nature hut. It's sitting there right in the middle of one of those vintage pictures. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm..................

Memories of Mable Smith

2011-05-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

Kerrin Winter-Churchill contributed this memory of Mable Smith, for whom a shelter at Camp Crowell/Hilaka is named:

My mother went to work for the Cleveland Girl Scout Council in 1949. Like all Girl Scout staffers of the day, she went to Camp Macey, in upstate New York for a month of intensive training. When she came back to Cleveland, she shared an office with Mable Smith. Mrs. Smith was not a volunteer. She was a paid, professional employee of the Cleveland Girl Scout Council, which officiated over Chagrin, Bedford, Richfield, Elyria, and those districts in the Westpark area. My mother was a Field Director.
Mable was the Director of Camps. It was she that scheduled troops at the various campgrounds. She met regularly with the staff that trained the leaders. It was a different world back then. Imagine: every single person who worked at the Girl Scouts had to go through training at a special camp up in New York. Another of Mable's responsibilities was to take the staff out on nature hikes. They would go out with "A stick and a bundle" (which was also the name of the instructional booklet that Mable and my mother wrote and published) to teach about wildflowers and medicinal plants. Other hikes would be all about identifying animal footprints and wild birds. Mom said that so many people would want to go on these walks that they would have to schedule additional days.

I have learned so much about nature from my mother, always identifying plants and birds. My mom told me tonight that Mable taught her so much about this. So it has been handed down to me, and to my sister's children, and beyond. I am sure there are hundreds of other families handing down Mable Smith's legacy in the very same way.

Second from Left, my Grandmother, Berta Phanholzer-Schmoter playing

in Rocky River with her fellow "Campfire Girls" in 1919... by this

time, the Campfire Girls and other such organizations were taken

under the wing of what was called "The Cleveland Girls' Council."

1951, My mother's fellow Cleveland Girl Scout Council staffers - from

left to right, Gene "Billy" Hill, visiting GS from South Africa,

Sammie Green, Director of Public Relations for the Cleveland Girl

Scout Council and Virginia Payne-Wentworth, Director of Leadership

Training (left GS in 1958 to pursue a career as noted children's

author.) Note from Lynn: I believe that this picture is taken on the road north of Kirby House. That would be the roof of Cricket's Corner on the right, the Kirby garage on the background.

In 1950, Mable and my mother rented a rustic limo, filled it with

supplies, hooked a trailer with more supplies and set off with a
couple extra girls for a long weekend of primitive camping in the
Mohican Wilderness. They had all been studying a manual on primitive
camping and this weekend was to prove to themselves they could
survive by roughing it, if they really had to. They set snares for
food, dug their own latrines, learned to sterilize water by fire -
speaking of fire, they learned how to make it without a match. Mom
said they "had a wonderful time."

From Left to right "unknown", Field Director, "Little Lois

Smith" , Executive Director of the Cleveland Girl Scout Council,
Helen Tolman Murray and Lois Schmotzer (later Smith) Field Director
of Chagrin, Elyria and West Park Districts.

Mable Smith at far left of camera - (older glasses and plaid jacket)

and the rest of the Cleveland Girl Scout Council - taken by my mother
Lois Smith) at Mable's home in North Royalton a year before Mrs.
Smith died of cancer.

My core Girl Scout troop, Troop 180 - led by our wonderful leader,

the late, Mrs. Lucille Manica and Mrs. Lois Schmotzer Smith - we were
state Canoe racing champions of Ohio Girlscouts in 1974 .

Kneeling, first row - left to right, Kerrin Smith (now Winter

Churchill) Linda Dyson and Denise Besida. Standing, left to right,
Lynn Geragach, Lucille Manica, Cindy Platt, Jan Carter (brunnette)
Doctor Susan Schuckert, (Susie), Kristin Smith (Sullivan) and Mary
O'Neill.

Julia Crowell's Husband

2011-04-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

There is very little information available on line or at sources such as the Western Reserve Historical Society about Julia Crowell, after whom the south half of Camp Crowell/Hilaka was named. But there is a lot about her husband, Benedict. Benedict Crowell was in charge of miliary procurement during World War I. That meant that he coordinated the entire American effort to manufacture and transport all of the materiel used by the American forces in that war! After the war, he wrote extensively about how he did it, and about how the US armed forces should prepare themselves forthe next conflict. And during World War II, while he did not have an official position that we know of, he was a close advisor to Secretary of War Henry Stimson.

Below are a speech and two articles found in the Western Reserve Historical Society archives. The speech and one article are biographical, and the other article was written by Benedict Crowell in 1921 about "Modern Preparedness". You can click on an image to display it sized to fit on your screen, and then click on it again to display it in its original size, where you will be able to read the text more easily.

Jim Kirby's letter

2011-04-09T17:37:00.000-07:00

One of the things in the Mother Lode was a letter from Jim Kirby to the Girl Scouts describing what they had purchased, and how to take care of it. Here it is:

The Mother Lode

2011-04-09T17:08:00.000-07:00

A box recently arrived at the GSNEO History Committee office. Sunny took one look , saw what was in there, and gave me a call.

Where it has been all these years? She says they didn't have all this information available to them when they wrote "A Promise Kept" - but hey - better late than never!

I couldn't resist immediately sharing the letter from James Kirby himself! Some of the information is not new - but I never had a source to really confirm. I like that Kirby capitalized the names of trees! I like that he called his workshop " the power house" . I especially am happy to hear how sturdy the dam is!!!!!!!

The most surprising thing to me is that when the Girl Scouts bought the property, the mechanism for the self-clarifying lake was still operating!!! I wonder if the old council ever realised what a unique structure this was & tried to maintain it? I wonder if anyone ever took care of the ballbearings in the millwheel per Kirby's instructions?

Stuff I want to find out more about - evidently there was some sort of farming operation still going on. a chicken coop? extra barns? whooa! what's up with those? I'm more pumped than ever to do some archeology!!!

Next up: the official description of the land when the council was getting ready to buy it, the campaign to raise the money , old maps. Tons of stuff about the early council. Poor Sunny had to pry my hands off the xerox machine and drag me screaming out the door. She promises to let me back in if I promise to behave.

Some of it I will summarize instead of repeating everything - but Rob has agrred to scan everything so it can be posted on the history blog!

Lynn

Celebrity Endorsements

2011-04-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

Purchase of the Kirby estate to be a Girl Scout camp was SPECIFICALLY endorsed by:

Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin Roosevelt
Lou Henry Hoover, wife of former President Herbert Hoover
Eliot Ness, crimefighter

Eleanor Roosevelt said:

"I was very much interested to hear whatthe Cleveland Girl Scouts are planning to do, and I wish them every success in their campaign for funds with which to buy a camp site. I think camps for girls are very valuable and are greatly needed."

Those of you who have run programs at camp about solving mysteries, Crime Scene Investigation, etc - you were more appropriate than you knew. Elliot Ness was the saftey director of Cleveland. He noted that there was much less juvenile crime in areas where there were organized Girl Scout troops. He supported the purchase of this camp!!!!!

Here's the introduction of "Elliot Ness: The Man Behind the Myth", a biography written by Marilyn Bardsley:

Ever since Eliot Ness first published The Untouchables in 1957, the public has fallen in love with the adventures of this authentic American hero. His book was a runaway best seller because it was the exciting true story of a brave and honest lawman pitted against the country's most successful gangster, Al Capone. The television series that followed in the 1950's and the Kevin Costner movie in 1987 built fancifully on the same theme. Then again in 1993, the television series has been remade for yet another generation to watch Eliot Ness battle it out again with the Capone Mob.

Every school child knows what Eliot Ness did for two years in Chicago, but what happened to him afterwards when Al Capone went to jail? Almost nobody knows. Does that mean the young hero retired to a quiet life?

Not by a long shot! With a new group of "Untouchables," Eliot Ness went right on fighting the mob for another decade: staging daring raids on bootleggers and illegal gambling joints, catching criminals with his bare hands, and generally putting organized crime on the run. After Capone, he broadened his crusade to include labor racketeers, crooked cops and the country's most vicious serial killer, the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run.

So why didn't Eliot Ness write about his adventures after Chicago? Actually, he had planned to do just that, but he died of a heart attack just before the publishing of The Untouchables.

Ness's career in law enforcement continued for a decade beyond the Capone years, a decade in which his very considerable talents flowered. At the age of 33 in Cleveland, he faced the challenge of his career when he took over the corrupt and incompetent police force in a city that had become a haven for gangsters.
Never one to sit behind a desk and administrate, Eliot took to the street with a new group of trusted confidants, mostly undercover investigators and reporters, until he cleaned up the police force and put the mob chieftains behind bars.

Drawing on his master's degree in criminology, he turned the miserable Cleveland police force into one of the most modern, efficient and respected departments in the world. Crime in the city dropped 38 percent after he was on the job just a couple of years!

Eliot Ness was so much more than just the courageous guy who battered down the door of Capone's biggest brewery. It's time the American public knew about the rest of his accomplishments, which are at once exciting, inspiring and long lasting.

comment from Corey :
this is completely not related...but I'm currently working with the materials from Al Capone's hide out to add detail to my professor's home...after the hide out was shot out during their stand off, my professor's professor gutted it for architectural remnants...all his detailed windows and doors are in my professor's garage and he's asking a few students to hang the elements around his house...
...Lucy, this is the contemporary history professor I was telling you about that specializes in mid-century modern and design in America between the wars...

comment from Lynn:

the wife of this proffessor donated her hand-stiched 1960's senior GS uniform to the Richfield Historical Society

History's Jigsaw Puzzle

2011-01-30T12:14:00.000-08:00

Tracking down an unwritten history is like working a jigsaw puzzle - where all the pieces are playing hide-n-seek. Spent the morning at RHS. No particular objective. I have come to realize that in this small town where everything and everyone is connected to everything and everyone else, I might as well just go through and read everything.

Adeline Axtell ( who owned the driveway parcel) continues to be a mystery - altho there was plenty about her husband - the governer of the New Mexico territory - in the Cleveland Leader, November 5, 1878. After a lengthy tale of Axtell's western adventures, there is a final paragrph referring obliquly to the Oviatts. Then this: "One place of interest, which deserves more than a passing notice, is located at the foot of the hill upon which the West village is built. It is the cider mill, where the average Richfielder imbibes enthusiasm and patriotism. In proportion as the texture of the cider approaches that of a grindstone, the Richfield citizen becomes more patriotic. Much more might be written of this place, but lack of space and a great love of my fellow man bid me forbear."

The foot of the hill would be at Oviatt & 303, by the south entrance of camp. The cider press could have been across the street where the golf course is now - but there's that odd, unconnected reference to the Oviatts. So at first I thought this was a nice little mention of a place to get apple cider. But the more LInda and I talked about it, it feels like an "insider's" code. Kind of the way gossip columns used to hint at scandals without actually making an accusation. Maybe that last line is kind of a threat.

We know there was a sawmill behind the Oviatt farm house in 1834. Which mysteriously (and frustratingly) disappeared from the town records. Did they turn it into a cider mill - as in hard cider? The more the citizens drink, the more patriotic they become - as in generally more emotional? Hmmmmmmm. Well, it's a theory. But if these guys were running an unofficial tavern - maybe that will turn up in the archeology!

As usual, anytime anyone came in, Linda asked if they had any connection with the Girl Scout camp. Turns out that the reason Ed came in was to purchase on of the wooden millwheels from Green Cottage crafters that RHS still had on hand. It further turns out that Ed is one of our camp neighbors whose property adjoins Crowell HIlaka! We had a good time talking history & the need for kids to get out into nature.

Next - up to the Kirby Company on W. 114th to look through the last box of their archives. Most of the archives had been lost or destroyed and there is almost nothing left. The staff were very friendly and they set me up in a quiet room with a good cup of coffee. Tucked in between all the 1970's photos was three versions of this old picture:

There is no label, no name. The only context is that it was in the box of company photos. So its likely a group of employees. 1920's, early 30's? The guy in the front row 4th from the left in bow tie & jacket looks like it could be Kirby, and I would suspect a couple of the other front row bow tie guys are Scott & Fetzer, Kirby's business associates. I like to imagine that this is at camp. On the dam hill. We know that the Kirby Co held at least one picnic on camp land. But if that's a shadow of Kirby House on the far left, the giant oak tree is missing. Altho maybe it can't be seen from this angle. Or maybe this is a completly generic, insignificant hillside nowhere near the camp.

Not only are the jigsaw puzzle pieces hiding, but pieces from other puzzles are mixed in at random.
sigh. :-(

Lynn

History of the Outhouse

2011-01-30T12:02:00.000-08:00

Even more than ghosts, the favorite fear of campgrounds to the uninitiated is......................the ominous outhouse (cue scarey music).

The dead of winter seems an appropriate time to tell outhouse stories. There was always the fear of dropping critical items down the hole. Especially your glasses. Or your flashlight. Or yourself. My biggest nightmare used to be that a monster from the depths would reach up and pinch me right when I was most vulnerable. Tips for outhouse issues will have to be a subject of a later article. For now, I present a historical perspective.
- Lynn

History Snippets: The Outhouse
by Ranch Harper
The Richfield Times
July, 1991

When electricity came to Richfield many people remodeled their homes to accomodate a bathroom. One old stalwart on a farm on Broadview Road north of town positively refused to install a bathroom in his home. He didn't think it right and proper to "do your business in the same house you ate in."

Modern day campers might think the pit toilets in many of today's campgrounds are similar to the old fashioned outhouse of yesterday. We old-timers can tell you - the only similarity is in the shape of the hole in the seat........

.......A couple of local carpenters have a little experience in outhouse construction. In Richfield's back.......A couple of local carpenters have a little experience in outhouse construction. In Richfield's back yard is Camp Julia Crowell, which belongs to the Cleveland Girl Scout Council. That 400-acre camp today encompasses the old Jim Kirby estate. Jim KIrby was the inventor of today's vacuum cleaner and is the uncle of Richfield's own Virginia Baumgardner.

It was the Buell Davidson Company that went into that undeveloped back country and constructed the first primitive outhouses for Camp Julia Crowell. In those days there were no electric lines running back there among the steep clefts and rocks with spring-fed streams and rocky hillsides covered with virgin timber and brush.

Harold Davidson and Johnny Gabriel were the carpenters assigned to construct those first nessessities. Harold said there were drawings or blueprints of the basic buildings to be constructed. Everything went fine until they discovered the prints did not show any specifications for the holes in the outhouse seats - nothing to indicate size, shape, beveled or sharp edges; no specs. Well, that didn't bother Harold who though usage in his younger days had acquired a "feel" for the proper size and shape for those old time nessessities. So Harold, taking saw in hand, proceeded to cut a beautifully bevel-edged hole of the proper shape and proportions. Johnny was profoundly amazed at what Harold had done and said, "What a memory, what a memory."

Benedict, but not Julia

2011-01-22T18:38:00.000-08:00

I was all excited because I accidently found an entry on Benedict Crowell (husband of Julia Crowell) in the encyclopedia of Cleveland history. It cited its source as the Benedict Crowell file at the Western Reserve Historical Society. So the next available moment, I was at WRHS library asking for the Crowell file. I had just a limited time (lunch hour at work), so I decided to look at the picture file thinking there'd be a wedding picture. There was NOTHING with Julia. It was all military. I feel unreasonablely grumble-some over it. The librarien suggested that I contact the Cobb family (JC's maden name). They are a prominent family - still around - may have something. That may be - but it would be in a collateral line. I may someday, when I get time. I'm still chasing down Kirbys and Oviatts.

Real Cider

2011-01-22T18:20:00.000-08:00

Dr. Alan Lee, an archeologist, wrote this in response to a history snippet:

Lynn,

Virtually all references to "cider" in C19th America, and elsewhere in the world to the present day, mean the somewhat alcoholic fermented juice of the apple. The insipid apple juice that Americans buy as "cider" at the grocery store and serve to the kiddies at Halloween parties, is an artifact of prohibition times. Today, sadly, so-called cider by law is pasturized by the producer beyond all possibility of fermenting into real cider. It is illeagal for even the owner of a small orchard to market cider that is capable of fermenting. I say this with regret because as a boy, in the late 1950s, I helped make cider with my grandfather, using our apples and our cider press, and still recall fondly the wonderful and changing complexity of flavors as the resulting beverage slowly aged and matured.

Just by coincidence, NPR ran an article on cider just recently. Here is a reference:
http://www.npr.org/2010/12/15/132054630/cider-winter-kitchen-s-secret-weapon

Gives a whole new perspective on "Johnny Appleseed", don't you think?

Regards,

Al

Unauthorized!

2010-09-21T13:29:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned before that when I visit the Richfield Historical Society on Tuesday mornings, there are usually people from the village dropping in. And that because Richfield is a small town and most of the families have been there forever, most of the people turn out to have some connection with Crowell Hilaka.

What I haven't mentioned before is that most of the men of a certain age grin sheepishly - then admit to having having snuck in. Or at least trying to. No names to be revealed - just historic trends.

One elderly gentleman liked to sneak over at night while the Kirbys still lived there. He liked to stop the millwheel from turning with his bare hands and then see how long it would take to start up again. Another guy confessed that he and his buddies would ride their bikes over to the camp before there was a fence, creep up to a tent unit, and make scarey animal noises. They considered it a triumph if they could get the girls to scream. Then they'd peel out on their bikes before getting caught. (I told that guy that he owed us. He agreed.)

All that changed once the fence was up. Today's informant liked slipping into the tank proving grounds on a regular basis. But he made it a point to check through the fence to see if there were any girls in view. Sometimes the girls were already up at the fence already, and they would talk. This was in the late 1950's and early 60's. I have never been able to pinpoint WHEN the fence was installed. But by getting rough dates and correlating them with the degree of male sneakage, it had to have been put up between the mid 1940's to late 1950's. The fence is so unusually heavy-duty for a GS camp even now, let alone fifty years ago. My guess is that it went up when the proving grounds came in. I would not be suprised to find out that it was paid for by the proving ground people - either the military or GM - as a condition of being able to locate so close to a girls' camp. But that's just my theory.

Today's informant spoke at length about the tank testing operations: The proving grounds were located in what is now Rising Valley Park. The entrance was on Newton instead of Oviatt. The tanks were built at the GM plant in Cleveland (now the I-X Center) and tested in Richfield because of the hilly terrain. At one point the tanks went down a hill into a creek. The water got to six feet deep and the tanks had to go all the way under and emerge on the opposite hillside without stopping.

Addendum to the apple story: When I told my dad about Neal Fruit Farm, he said when he was a kid during the second world war, he and the other kids in Bedford would get taken on a YMCA bus down to Richfield to pick fruit during the summer and on weekends. All the men were at war and even migrant workers weren't enough. He wasn't at Neal's himself, but somewhere nearby. The amazing thing? Not that Dad picked fruit, but that my own FATHER turns out to be one of the folks with an old-time Richfield Connection!

Apple Trees and Civil War Soldiers

2010-09-20T18:11:00.000-07:00

The part of our camp that we are allowed to use was once a fruit farm. The Neals ( who built the fancy houses) ran the Neal Fruit Farm as a sideline. The Giant Eagle next store started out as the Neal's "Country Counter". In the mid 1800's, well before the Neals, it was the Freeman Fruit Farm, one of the largest orchards in Ohio. Mrs. Freeman was the daughter of Nathaniel Oviatt, one of the first pioneer settlers in the village.

So.....how did it all start? I was wondering if there may have been a connection with Johnny Appleseed (yes, he was a real person). But altho Johnny may have made some contribution, he worked mostly in the Massillon area when he was in Ohio. The Freeman fruit came came from somewhere else - probably right next door.

The land that the camp's long drive crosses has had some interesting owners. The first recorded owner (1834 tax map) was Isaac Welton, Revolutionary War veteran and fruit farmer. It was his family that carried varieties of Connecticut apples by covered wagon to Richfield. From these, their family grew what became known as the Richfield Nonesuch Apple and the Welton Pie Apple. These varieties were well enough known to be described in a mid-nineteeth century English booklet on American apples.

The Richfield Nonesuch was very much a local claim to fame. But it was small and tart, and fell out of favor with large growers. I was in the Richfield Historical Society last week reading about how interest in the Nonesuch revived from time to time. And each time, a few cuttings of the historic trees were carefully grafted and nourished. I mentioned to Linda that it would be cool to see one. "Oh, c'mon then," she said. "I'm just about to lock up and get some lunch". I tagged along with her across the street and into the neighbor's yard. There were trees loaded with every color of apple. "This one" she pointed out a tree loaded with bright pink and yellow apples. We both munched into the Richfield Nonesuch. Historic Research: Delicious!

* * * * * * *

Back in the archive after lunch, Linda told me about some college undergrad coming in to research a couple of Civil War soldiers who were brothers. Both died during the conflict, but one had kept a diary. After his death, the family had the diary published. The soldier's name was John Oviatt. The name didn't ring a bell to me. Not a surprise - considering that there were probably several hundred Ovaitt's in NE Ohio at the time. But I poked through the introduction. Lo, John's parents were Nathaniel & Julie - which made him the brother of Ruth Oviatt Freeman. Yup, that's OUR girl!

The Millwheel - 1972 - The Times, They Are A'Changin'

2010-05-05T15:42:00.000-07:00

The 1970's were tough on Girl Scout identity.

Millwheels through the 1950's & 60's had a jaunty tone. The favorite topics were camping, service projects, and the Dollaballoo. Leaders were almost always shown in full uniform - including the hat.

Then bam! 1970. Cover articles start to worry about fundraising. 1971. Leaders begin to be shown out of uniform!!!!!!!! 1972. Girl Scouts struggling to remain relevant. A leadership conference includes these courses: "Action Now - Ecology" , "Grassroots: Drugs and Sex" , "Women's Lib"

The March 1972 issue has this headline : "Suppose one of your girls said 'I am in real trouble' ?", and gives sound advice on listening to and counseling girls with serious issues - including addiction and pregnancy.

The same issue has an OK article about camp, but the tone of the headline suggests that perhaps the old ways are .....well, maybe just a bit quaint, and perhaps even slightly embarrassing. “ Why should Girl Scouts bother about camp? “

" At camp there is time for making the winter day dreams come true. There is a chance to be independent: and a chance to prove to yourself you’re as grown up as you think you are. New friends are there for the asking… maybe of a different religion or race, but still a sister Girl Scout. There are adventures to be found in the out of doors. There is no better place to learn the principles of conservation, the need for good housekeeping practices, and to try out the ideals of Girl Scouting. Camping can turn the dull hot summer into an exciting experience. Living out of doors is like wearing new shoes: the more you wear them, the more comforatble you feel. Try it on for size. From the smallest Brownie to the tallest leader there’s a place for you at camp. Remember, financial aid is available: check your camp folder for a campership application. "

Everything this writer says is true. But do you notice that she is working really hard to justify the value of camping? We're not just talking campfires and nature crafts here - we have positive race relations, conservation, proving you are grown up and independent. Also the explanation that resident camp can be hard to get used to at first - like a pair of new shoes, but that it gets more comforatble.

Does this sound familiar? Doesn't it sound like us - Trying to convince people that camp is worthwhile, even in this time of radical social change ?

Yeah, I thought so, too. The funny thing is that from the perspective of 40 years later, we know that camping became wildly popular again in the 1980's & 90's . Times change. But the basics stay the same.

Lynn

History Research and a Hiking Destination

2010-04-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

Fairview Cemetery in Richfield.

I knew there was another old cemetery in Richfield besides the one right near Crowell Hilaka. Tonight Rob & I scoped it out and found several history hints.

Fairview cemetery is on Rt 21 (Brecksville Rd). From camp, drive or hike out the Broadview Rd entrance. Turn Right (South ) to West Richfield center. At Rt. 303 turn left (East) to Rt 21. Turn Left (North). The cemetery is a short way up on the left side. The sign is not hugely obvious because it is set back on the hillside. The first thing we noticed from the road was the row of white crosses.

The second thing we noticed was that the front wall is the same kind of stonework as the Kirby House fireplace and exterior chimmney. It has this half-rounded mortar that looks like a thick cord going around all the stones. Very distinctive and probably the same guy did both. We drove up the hill and parked at the windmill.

Familiar names from Richfield history jumped out at me, although none were attached to any ghosts. The oldest graves are at the top of a beautiful hill. We found the common grave for the children of John and Mary Ann Brown next to a huge tree. Since the family was still near destitute at the time, the neighbors must have pitched in to buy the headstone. Walter & Mildred Kirby. (Walter was our Mr. Kirby's brother and business partner.) Several Oviatts. Mason's father and some of his brothers. The eccentric Lord Farnham.

Being fond of old cemeteries, we prowled around noticing things - the ground full of white violets, purple heal-all, and moss. We heard (but did not see) a large woodpecker nearby. At the base of the far side of the hill, there is a headstone with a very large martini engraved on the back.

Lynn

Questions

2010-04-14T16:03:00.000-07:00

I have been reading through some of the old camp director reports from resident camp in the 1960's and 1970's.

I never went to resident camp, so I don't know what some of these things are, I am going to copy them to this list when I have time, but in the meanwhile: WHAT is a floating campfire ? What is a floating lunch? It sounds like they had a raft anchored in one of the lakes. Was lunch there, or on a canoe? What is a water carnival?

One of the constant favorites seems to have been a hike from Crowell Hilaka to Whipp's Ledges. Has anyone done this? I want to try it sometime this spring. anyone interested in hiking with me?

Lynn

How Girls Can Help

2010-04-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

As I am working on camp history displays for the open house this weekend, I keep thinking this: As fascinating as the historical research has become, the really important message is How Girls Can Benefit from Camp NOW.

It is so much better if girls at the different sites could say "Our troop camped here and we had a blast!!!!" than "the 93 acres of what has become known as "Camp Hilaka" were purchased as an extension of camp Jula Crowell in 1956 primarily to protect the northern shore of Lake Linnea" ( yawn).

People may be curious about the old houses, but it probably doesn't matter much if anyone knows whether they were bult in 1904 or 1924. A little mystery won't kill anyone. However, pointing out that the grand staircase at Amity is perfect for fashion shows and the staging of fairy tales, that can get the ideas rolling.

This may be a sacreligious thought from a historian, but we're not running a history museum on Sunday, we're trying to save a camp. So don't be afraid to help.

We can use more volunteers for the open house. No expertise required. There are some sites that have adult volunteers with a small display or two, but it would be helpul to have all the sites covered, if we could, and girl enthusiasm to ANY site is a very welcome addition!!!!!!

How did they get him home?

2010-03-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

E-mail from Lynn to Dr. Alan Lee, an archeologist:

I was getting ready to write to you about a different puzzle concerning Mason Oviatt - so he dies in California in July 1850. They shipped his body home and he's buried in the West Richfield cemetery. Very sad, but not questionable.

I'm reading the history of Summit County by Samuel Lane from 1898. He was also a prospector of 1850. He left Akron the same month as Mason altho in a different party. He gives a great description of the very arduous journey. Lots of hopeful prospectors died along the way or at the destination - mostly cholera. They were buried along the trail or in California. Being shipped home was not an option.

Sure, Mason had the very rich Uncle Heman who may have financed it. But how the hell would they have arranged it? There were no railroads. There was no dry ice. They could have packed him in brine -- but even so -- who is going to drag a body in a heavy barrel in a wagon where there is barely enough room for survivial provisions? Not to be gruesome, but someone had to have worked a miracle to have arranged this. Does this make sense to you? What am I missing, here?

It opens up the possiblilty that there might be some record somewhere at the California end.

Lynn

Western Reserve Historical Society Library

2010-03-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

Today I looked through a set of Oviatt family documents dated 1756 - 1876 at Western Reserve Historical Society library. They are on microfilm because the originals are stored in "the vault" somewhere. Included are:

a draft of a resolution from the Congregational Church of Richfield 1846 condemning slavery
The organizational charter of The Sabbath School May 9, 1847.
A copy of the deed for the northwest quadrant of Richfield from Benjamin Tallmadge to the Oviatts;
Either a short contract or a very elaborate receipt between John Brown and Heman Oviatt 1846
A couple of short business letters from JB
A description of the Richfield Town Reunion 1880

There is also a faded document that is pretty much impossible to read on the microfilm but the annotation says it is a "copy of JW Weld deposition in the case of Old John Brown".

I am up trying to decipher the handwriting from these bad copies of already fuzzy microfilms. I don't think there will be any stunning new revelations here. But I am glad to find our people in Richfield formulating their abolitionist stance:

"...Resolved - that there appears to us a strange inconsistency in the action of the Ecclesiastical body to which most of our ministers belong inasmuch as they declare slavery to be sinful and yet take no measures for disciplining ministers or members for this sin...... "

In other words, they are getting tired of just talking. They are especially angry about hypocrisy. They are moving towards doing something. This is 1846. Fourteen years before the start of the Civil War.

Then of course later John Brown went from being a stealth abolitionist and underground railroad conductor to actual fighting against slavery and leading a raid at Harper's Ferry. The juxtaposition of a deposition for his trial with his everyday business letters just makes me think. Average, ordinary people - going about their work - just trying to make a living - but at the same time, standing up for what's right. Not letting the status quo dictate to them.

This is something that girls should be able to read about when they come to Crowell Hilaka. This stuff all happened right there in Richfield - and especially because the whole camp was at one time Oviatt land.

I transcribed the letters below. Looks like a lawyer is coming after JB asking about the ownership of some land. And someone else hasn't paid a debt.

If anyone else want to look at the source material, it's microfilm 777 Oviatt Family Papers WRHS

Akron 28th [????] 1845

Darius Lyman Esq

[???]

The deed from Aaron Clark [ transfer ? ] to Augustus Baldwin [in the deed referred to? ] it is for land included in the Mortgage. Brown, & Thompson's addition to Franklin Village does not include all the land intended to secure Oviatt. The amount in Village & in farming land as near as I can tell I gave to Cap't Oviatt more than a year ago with the map I had, & I doubt not he has them yet. Without those [papers?] I could not be [????} about the number of acres in each. The addition includes some Lots sold before the date of the mortgage, & marked on the map. I lent to Capt. O. without it I cannot [?] them out. The addition includes ( I think) 2 of the reservations in my deed from Haymaker [?] one to himself and one to Mrs. Warner; I can think of no more that are incorporated in it. The addition was laid out on township lots eleven & twelve. The exact amount of land included in Village or left for farming I cannot well determine but I suppose the statement I made out for Esq Weld & gave to Capt O to be nearly correct

Respectfully Yours

John Brown

Springfield [ Mass ? ] 7th Sept 1848

Marvin Oviatt Esq

[draft?]

Yours of the 1st. inst returning my order on the McClellands is received. I do not wish this note given to Mr. Perkins but I would rather you would write to McClellands that unless they take care of their note immediately you will put it in a way of being collected. The prospect of sales is good & I think we shall begin to realise soon on wool but at present have not & we have to pay about $1000 per week for frieght bills.

Respectfully Yours, John Brown

Mom's Memories

2010-02-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

Kathleen Bradley and I crawled through the swampy parts of camp in September, making a list of plants we recognized. By the time we made it down to Cook's Cabin, we were pretty whipped. I flopped down on a ridge in front of the cabin and found myself eye to eye with a miniature, spiny pink seed pod hanging under a leaf. I pointed it out. Kathleen has an encyclopedic knowlege of plants, and she identified it right away as "Heart's A-Burstin". The tiny pod had already split, liberating even tinier red seeds. It did indeed look like a valentine heart that had burst open. It's also called strawberry flower, but I like the first name better.

My mother-in-law, Ele, is a fan of wildflowers. She taught me most of the ones I know. A day or so after the hike I told her about our hike and asked her if she had ever heard of "Heart's- A- Burstin". She hadn't. But she was very interested in where we had found it. "Sunny may have planted it" she said. "Not the Sunny you know. Her real name was Mary Hoyt. She used to run resident camp. One summer, she planted a wildflower garden between Cook's Cabin and the creek."

I asked Mom to tell me more. Mom had been volunteering at camp and was stationed in the Nature Hut - the little cottage just off the path between Kirby and Hilltop. Between visits from girls, she was poking through a stack of old camp newspapers. In one of them she found a poem written by her daughter Cindy. It was unexpected, and made her happy.

She said there used to be a campsite on the far side of the lower lake. It was called "Innisfree", after the poem by W .B. Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

"Innis" is Irish for "Island" . This particular campsite was isolated, beautiful, and high above the lake with the waterfall below. One could imagine being on some misty Irish Island in a storybook time. Naturally, the waterfall right below was called "Innisfree Falls". Logically enough - especially since it fits with the spirit of the poem, listening to the sounds of the water.

Mom later met another leader who had never heard of the poem, never heard of the old campsite, but had been on a hike one time and thought she heard it called "Industry Falls". So that's what she always called it, even though it totally made no sense.

- Lynn

Ruth Freeman's Identity

2010-02-09T10:22:00.000-08:00

......so far on " Camp Stories Not Suitable For Children" ........... Milton R. Freeman is well known as the prosperous farmer who owned vast orchards including what is now the northern one third of Crowell Hilaka. Descendants of the neighboring farmer (in the middle third) have raised the suspicion that a couple of the children of a certain generation look a lot more like Mr. Freeman than their own illustrious ancestor. And it has only recently come to light that Mrs. Freeman's name was Ruth. According to her 1862 diary, Ruth was an extremly hardworking farm wife.

Today's installment: Ruth's True Identity Revealed!

Not only was Ruth an Oviatt; she was one of the daughters of the land's previous owner - Nathaniel Oviatt. In my mind, this changes the whole perspective. It's not some bold adventurer, seeking his fortune, buying some land , and marrying a local girl to raise apples together. Now it's more like some guy comes along, finds out that the beautiful princess is heir to the kingdom, and marries her so that he can take over.

Well, OK. Maybe not that dramatic. Maybe Milton was a nice guy after all who just happened to fall in love with the daughter of a major landholder. I don't think they inherited - I think I have a deed upstairs showing that some money changed hands.

Not scandalous enough for you? In 1856, the owner of a large chunk of the middle (I'd guess from about Wonken Tonken up to the Adirondack Unit) was "R. Gargett". I showed this to Linda Fleming at the Richfield Historical Society, and she popped out with: "Oh yes - the Gargett's. They were part of that big murder story. - It was very famous. The last man to be hung in Summit County." To which I said, "They weren't murdered in camp, were they?" (You can see what my priorities are here.) She hastened to assure me that it was elsewhere in Richfield, and she isn't even sure how closely related these Gargetts are to those Gargetts. The Gargetts were the murderees, not the murderer. The murderer was, I believe, a doctor from Michigan named Hunter. He was was courting one of the Gargett daughters. When she soured on him, he couldn't handle it. But I will leave the details for someone else to google.

Lynn

Now we know how the mill worked!

2010-02-02T15:08:00.000-08:00

New Treasures:

the 1936 promotional flier to raise the money for Cleveland council to buy the West Richfield property for a camp. It's called "3,000 girls depend on you!" and proceeds to list all the reasons why this is the perfect location. Sunny Baddour had scored this from ebay many moons ago, and she lent me a copy.

A copy of the the application to register the mill on the National Register of Historic places. It does not include technical diagrams. HOWEVER there is an 8 x10 close-up of the axle mechanism. I stared at it for a million years and figured out that it doesn't look normal. I showed it to Rob who figured out where the ball bearings would be & how that would work!!!!!!!

They are enclosed in a sort of a donut that goes around the axle. I thought all loose, Rob thinks maybe sitting in a groove. Either way, the axle is actually resting on the ball bearings. Since ball bearing are not a stable surface, anything sitting on them will roll off. But the thing that it rolls off onto is the next ball bearing in the line and the line is enclosed by the donut. So the axle doesn't slide off. It just turns. That's what made it turn so easily.

PROGRAM - TIE IN: Do I think girls are going to get excited over ball bearings? Hell, no. How will we demonstrate it so it makes sense? We play games. Ever see people log roll someone else? I did - on stage - it was the coolest thing

Here's the demo: first, take a an 80 pound sack and drag it across the grass. Heavy, isn't it? Easier way? Let's take this girl right here. Now honey, we're going to drag you across the grass. That don't sound too fun, does it? OK, let's get your troop mates to help. The rest of you, you are all the ball bearings. Your job is to roll. Yeah, go ahead & roll down that hill for practice. I'll wait.

Now , if you were all the ball bearings in the millwheel, you wouldn't be all rolling around loose. You'd be in a line. [stage direction; help girls lie down side by side ] Ok now all turn together [ they do it ] now all together to move your friend. [Axle girl gets to fly over all her friends & I can guarantee that they will all want to take turns trying it. }

Follow it up with a quick synopsis of the physics, and that's enough formal education for the day. Don't pile too much in at once---- leave 'em beggin for more

OK - back to the application - the person leading the NRHP registration effort was Clare Dowdall (thank you, Clare, wherever you are) Much typewritten correspondence. In the margin of one of these, she scrawled a little note, " I'm sure you don't want us to mention the "ghost" but it might make it more interesting - Clare". That's the only thing she says about it. Too bad. (Dammit, Clare, we DO want to know about the ghost!)

She also includes the name of the guy who built the mill: "Mr. Pardee". "The spokes and rim are made of cypress and the buckets are made of oak."

Signing off for now to read some more - just had to share because I'm excited!

Lynn

Lynn,
> Excellent info! Thanks for including Sunny and me on your information list.
> Two other thoughts for possible info sources:
> Joe Prioreschi (sp) was incharge of all the camps for awhile. He might be
> a good source of info.
> I think he likes the camps, too.
> Peg Gaggini did much of the research on the camps when we were working on
> "A Promise Kept". She might be able to supply info or suggest where to
> look in the book papers to find info.
>
> I like your thoughts about an activity to help girls understand ball
> bearings. Your description sounds like maybe ball were used to make what
> is now called a roller bearing. Girls shape fits rollers. One would need
> to explain that balls were actually used when the mill wheel was built.
> Was a patent obtained on the idea of increasing mill wheel efficiency by
> the use of this type of bearing?
> How about relating this activity dealing with ball and roller bearings to
> the STEM programs? STEM is the current "in" terminology. Maybe money is
> available to do STEM activities. STEM means science, technology,
> engineering, and mathematics.
> I'm glad we spent some time on gathering this info.
> Luise
>

ah - I had not hear the term roller bearing before, but it makes sense.
I know there are lots of ways to expand that concept, either taking it in
the direction of industrial pieces/parts OR the concept of taking what one
knows and tweaking it to apply to a new situation.    IS STEM actually a
specific program , or just a handy grouping of subjects?  Yeah - I
should have used that terminology in the property report.   I feel like I
could write a fat sequel with just the material that we found on
Tuesday!!!!!

If there was a patent on the mechanism Kirby used for the mill, it was not
taken out by Kirby.   Rob & I hit the patent records when you suggested that
before. We found tons of cool stuff - bt not that. [Little known fact
that I don't feel I can announce publicly at this time:   Kirby's very
first patent was a vibrator. ]    Which begs the question- why not?   He
had patents on all kinds of everything. Hypotheses [is that how you spell
the plural of hypothesis? ]  He may thought of it as an individual
solution, but not commercially viable. OR he may have designed it jointly
with the millwright - Mr Pardee.   Maybe Pardee has a patent.   - something
I intend to check.

One of Mason Oviatt's relatives - not sure exact relationship- lived in
Richfield & had a bobsled factory& patented the design.   That's an
interesting story. I sent it to the general FoCH group. copied below

About 1878, the Oviatt Manufacturing Company was organized and suitable
buildings erected, south of the depot, for the purpose of manufacturing the
patented inventions of Mr Solomon E. Oviatt, formerly of Richfield -
Oviatt's thresher and separator, common sense wagon, independent runner
sled, etc.   But though promising for a year or two, either from lack of
adequate capital, proper enterprise, or judicious management, the company
came to financial grief and the business was abandoned."       -page 840,
Fifty Years Later , by Lane

More invention patents from our peoples!    Yowza.     Charles Brush lived
in Richfield, too. What IS it with this place and inventors?    Maybe it's
something in the water.

After reading the info in Lane's book at the Historical Society, I popped
over to Akron to take a look at the patents.
The first three inventions were from the years shortly before setting up in
Akron. But the bobsled patent was from a while earlier - 1863. It is well
known in Richfield history that Salmon Oviatt (or Solomon) had a bobsled
factory in town.   Evidently he was pretty successful, but then as his
repertoire expanded, he made the move to the big city.

While hunting up those patents, I accidently came across another one - a
type of cook pot lid invented by Luman B. Oviatt of Brooklyn Village,
Cuyahoga County.   Here's the eerie part :   When the Lake Erie Girl Scout
council sold Camp Margart Bates, the title transfer lists all the previous owners

of the land. The oldest deed transfer was from December 8, 1869.

......................... to Luman Oviatt

Lynn

Remember the Ladies

2009-11-24T18:02:00.000-08:00

I took time out from a wild goose chase yesterday when the trail of the elusive tax records seemed to end in the Akron library. Right next to the useless tax duplicate indexes was a book called "Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve". It turned out to be a treasure. I called Linda Flemming to see if she wanted me to xerox extra copies of the Richfield chapter for her. Turns out that RHS already has a copy - but when she found out what I was doing , she told me to check the U of A archives down the street. So I did, and there were the records! For Summit county, anyway.

I am doubly fond of the book- first for itself, second because it brought me good luck!

Richfield Basic History Part 2

2009-11-24T15:34:00.000-08:00

This information is from the Combination Atlas / Map Summit Co. , OH 1874

in 1809 the first white settlers came wandering in: Bob Mays and his wife. They came to get away from all the Yankees back east. Mrs Mays stated that she'd rather eat raw potatoes boiled in cold water than live among Yankees. The second white settler was Henry Mallet. He started his own mint and manufactured hard currency to order. Less enterprising neighbors took exception to the practise . They encouraged Mr Mallet to take his business elsewhere by torching his money factory.

With Richfield all neatly parceled up, it was pretty easy for four different investors to to get control over the whole place. The town neatly split along it's major roads: Streetsboro Road ( Rt 303) running East/West & Cleveland-Massillon Rd ( AKA Brecksville Rd ) ( Rt. 21) running North/South.

Then, when there was some fear of possible Indian uprising, one of the investors decided to sell out cheap. Heman Oviatt from Hudson took advantage of the bargain basement pricing and bought the Northwest quadrant for $5,000 ($1.25 per acre) in the year 1811. {Lynn's note: Heman had ten brothers & sisters. Nine of them moved from CT to the Western Reserve. Many of them moved with Heman to Richfield. On the 1834 map; his brothers Nathaniel and Salmon are major property holders. Heman's son O.M. was a major investor. Salmon Oviatt had eleven children, two of whom, Uri and Mason, have large tracts. Among the Non-Oviatts, several were related by marriage. ex. Everett Farnham was married to Emily Oviatt}

"In the fall of 1811 there was a large increase in settlers, including Denton E. Buck. He erected the first mill in the township, which consisted of a large oak stump hollowed out on top with a pedestal worked with a spring pole. "

Land in the center of town was purchased for investment by John Newton. But when settlers came from the east and saw the high cost for land at the crossroads in the center of town, they kept right on going. Many of them settled a half mile further west, starting a second town center. For many years, East Richfield and West Richfield maintained an informal rivalry.

"The Indians inhabiting the town were the Wyandots and Tawas, or Ottawas; who, on retreat of Captain George after the battle of Tippecanoe, abandoned the township. After the conclusion of the War of 1812 a party of 15 or 20 returned to their former homes; but they were strangers to the land of their birth. They asked permission of those holding their former homes to erect huts to protect their families. Subdued and broken hearted, they again left for the Far West. Their homes were desolate, the deer that constituted their food destroyed, and they had to leave the graves of their fathers or starve."

More on Mason

2009-11-17T14:18:00.000-08:00

Since I STILL cannot find out how old the Oviatt farmhouse is, I shall instead pass along today's history snippets .

This is from a scrapbook page. It looks like a rough draft, and I have to question some of the accuracy. I do not know who wrote it, but he/she is writning about & quoting Jennie Oviatt ( a granddaughter of Fanny & Mason )

"MIss Jennie Oviatt has in her home at West Richfield, a beautiful maple chest of drawers with the original glass knobs leaded into it. This chest was brought by her great-grandparents from Goshen, Connecticut. Matching the chest of drawers is a hand-turned bedstead of maple made at a shop that stood on the site which is now occupied by the Girl Scout Camp.

"Miss Oviatt and her sister Mrs Ingersall recalled how their grandfather would take cheese, which was made on his farm, by oxcart to Cincinnati to sell. The trip took six weeks. They relate also that dairying was the chief occupation of the early Richfielder's. The name Richfield came from the fact that a certain plant grew in the fields of pasture that afforded excellent food and tonic for the cattle and sheep. Hence the name "Richfield".

" The [John] Brown family was not held in very high esteem by their neighbors and their fortunes were anything but but good while living in Richfield. Here, John Brown became bankrupt and in that process was stripped of everything but a few articles the court decided nessessary for their maintainence. Among the things they were allowed to keep were: eleven Bibles and testaments, one book entitled "Beasties of the Bible", one "Church member's guide", two mares, two cows, two hogs, three lamps, seven sheep, nineteen hens, and three pocket knives. All their other belongings went under the auctioneer's hammer."

end of quote. This is me talking again. I was pretty skeptical about Mason spending six weeks hauling cheese to Cincinnati. As if Cincinnati can't get cheese from any place closer. How realistic is that? I mentioned this to Dr. Lee, the archeologist. He actually supported the Miss Jennie quote!! Very shocking. But the reasons are - Cincinnati, being on the Ohio river, was a major port for moving products to St. Louis, the major jumping off place for anyone traveling out west. Anyone traveling a long period of time would need provisions, but there were very few foods that could be kept without spoiling. Cheese was one. Whiskey was another.

Therefore, there was a HUGE market for cheese and whiskey. It was not at all unreasonable for farmers in the Western Reserve to turn their crops into these two products. The money they got for them made travel time well worth it.

However - Miss Jennie was born 14 years after Grampa Mason died. So any recollecting she did was of Grandma Fanny talking about him.

On the plus side : The foundations of the shop are still there.

The Quest Continues: One Good Deed

2009-11-05T10:27:00.000-08:00

Since I have been going around complaining that I can't find out the date the Oviatt Farmhouse was built, historically-savvy people have told me to check the property tax records. A sudden increase in valuation means a building was added. Property tax has been around here since the 1820's. Summit county wasn't established until 1840 - so I'd have to check Medina County records. Then it occured to me that before I look for taxes, I ought to check there for the deed transfer.

Medina County's deeds index was a huge old book, about 2 feet tall and pages 15 inches across , with all the property transfers in Medina County from 1818 to 1843. Rough alphabetical order. There were TONS of Oviatts: Benjamin Oviatt, Mason's grandfather who was a Revolutionary War soldier; Salmon Oviatt, Mason's father whose house is still standing on Rt. 303 just east of Broadview; Heman Oviatt, the rich uncle; plus various other uncles, cousins, and one aunt. There were also tons of now familar names from the histories I've been reading recently: Newtons, Nortons, Farnhams and Hudsons. Sometimes the parcels swap around between the main charactors. No Mason to be seen. Whatever else he may have been, Mason Oviatt was NOT a major player in the real estate market. A little note at the bottom of the last column refers back to another page. There's a bunch more "O" entiries out of order. Three quarters of the way down the page is our man.

Mason bought the land from his parents for one thousand dollars. The deed starts out with a hello to anyone reading the document. If you have read this email so far, the message is for you, from April 5, 1836: " To all persons to whom these presents shall come, greeting." Then it gets all legal. The western boundary of the land went all the way to the Hinkley border. It measured one hundred and one acres. Although the land had been owned jointly by Salmon and his wife Mary, the title only transfers to Mason, not Fanny. You have to wonder why. Did her in-laws not like her? Were they trying to make sure her relatives, the Carters and the Farnhams (who were big wheels in town) never got control of it? Was Mason opposed to having Fanny on the deed?

Whatever the reason, it wasn't an oversight. I was surprised at how many women were listed in the index holding their own property. Plus, the ammendment to the deed transfer certifies that the county recorder made sure that Mary was included in the deal - that she understood the legal issues and that she was OK with them. This appears to have been part of his routine function:

" Personally appeared before me - Salmon Oviatt & Mary Oviatt his wife who acknowleged that they did sign and seal the forgoing instrument, and that the same is their free act and deed, And I do further certify that I did examine the said Mary Oviatt separate and apart from her husband and did then and there make known to her the contents of the forgoing instrument and, upon that examination she declared that she did voluntarily, sign, seal, and acknowledge the same and that she was satisfied therewith.
- Martin Chittenden, Justice of the Peace // Recorded June 3rd 1837 //
Oviatt Cole, Recorder.

History research: Basics and Beyond

2009-11-04T16:07:00.000-08:00

Here is some very basic historic/geographic info in case anyone wants to also research camp lands. There is some that has to be done by going on site somewhere and sifting through old records. A lot can be done via internet. But the most interesting will be done from talking to the descendants of the many families who lived on our land. And those descendants can be anywhere.

When the Connecticut Land Company had title to the Western Reserve, they parceled up the land by dividing it up into squares - 6 miles on a side. They called those the Townships. Townships were then divided up into smaller grids - 10 squares to each side called sections. When people bought the land, they bought it sight unseen. Based on the numerous early land transfers in the Medina Recorders' Office; it seems that once people found their designated land, they were just as likely to exchange it as keep it.

Land was measured by chains (roughly 80 feet) and links. They also described direction in some way that makes no sense to me. 89.5 degrees east seems redundant, but OK /// 89.5 degrees west makes no sense. RHS is checking with a surveyor to see if he understands what this means. Also - instead of metal surveyors pins, most of the Richfield boundary markers consisted of "post and stones" . Early surveyors were aware that posts would be relatively short-lived. But they had to use was they had handy. To lenghthen the span of usefulness, they piled up stones around the base of their post. We think one of Spazz's kids may have found one such pile when we were looking for the Green Cathedral - but there's no way to know for sure.

Needless to say, I'm a bit fuzzy on on exact parcels, but luckily for us, the section numbers are clearly evident on the early maps and listed on the early title transfers. Crowell Hilaka consists of sections 16 and 25. The western edge is shaved off by Oviatt Rd. The Driveway runs all the way across section 17 and the tip of it at Broadview sticks out a little into section 18.

On a map, the land is a rectangle standing on one end. Historically, the property boundaries ended up dividing the land into thirds. Don't know why. But I can see it happened that way.

In 1834, the property ownership was:

North third: Nathaniel Oviatt ( who also owned a large chunk of surrounding land ) and S. King ( he had just the one strip)

Middle third: Salmon Oviatt (who had a house in the midddle of town plus assorted scattered parcels)

South third: Mason Oviatt

Driveway: Welton:

in 1856:

North third : Nathaniel Oviatt

Middle third (plus the strip formerly occupied by S. King) : Robert Gargett

just south of that: a strip owned by Welton

South third: Mason Oviatt

driveway : Welton

1874:

North third: Milton R. Freeman ( plus large adjoining chunks)

Mid third : James Sammons

South third: Mason Oviatt

driveway: Adeline Axtell

Supposedly Freemans sold to the Neals, but I found an atlas from 1881 saying that Milton Freeman had moved to Michigan, and his daughter Hattie was living in the family farmhouse with her new husband Milo Halliwill, and they were running the place. I also found some fuzzy title transfers from JAMES KIRBY to Claire Neal! He wasn't supposed to be up that far North! A puzzlement.

I do not know ANYTHING about most of the people in the middle - but it does seem to me that the presence of these historic mid-property owners indicates that SOMEWHERE in camp must be the remains of some other old houses. One of our current service team members, Lynne Carter, says that her father used to work for Ohio Edison and helped clear the gas cut. They did not find anything of archeologic interest there. So - we can rule that location out. But if anyone wants to take on any of these other families as a research project, that would be great because I'm too obsessed over Mason and Fanny Oviatt to deal with anyone else.

Some possible leads: LInda at RHS mentioned, when I brought up these other names, that the Gargett's were the family that had the famous murder. But she assured me that the murder did not take place on camp land. There is some scandalous possible link between the Sammones and Mr Freeman. The 1881 atlas says Milo Hallliwill's father Joseph was a famous sheep expert. I'm telling you we should install some sheep at camp - Or sell little Halliwill sheep dolls. As for Adeline Axtell - owner of our driveway in 1874 - I never heard of before yesterday. But her husband has a sketch in the 1881 atlas. It seems they were a typical second-generation pioneer family. She went out with him to California in 1851, and while out there, he picked up a law degree & got into politics. He was governor of Utah territory 1875 [the Mormons were settled in, but hadn't yet renounced polygamy at that time], then New Mexico, then back to Ohio. Hmm. we might be able to work that into something: "The Adeline Axtell Memorial Driveway"

Heman Oviatt Endows CWRU Chair

2009-10-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

Heman Oviatt endowed the first chair (professorship) at Case Western Reserve University. An article about the endowment, including a picture of Heman, can be found here.

But wait, there's more!

In 1815, Heman Oviatt lent money to a guy named Zenath Kent and went into a business partnership with him to open a general store in Ravenna. The store was very successful. With this excellent start, Zenath was able to buy Oviatt out and move on to several other developments in the town of Franklin Mills.

Zenath's son carried on this business tradition. He was so influential in bringing railroad business into Franklin Mills that the town voted to change the name of the town to Kent. As in Kent State University.

Don't you get the feeling that Heman Oviatt was pretty much the Forest Gump of the 1800's? He was involved in damn near everything.

Does this have any bearing whatsoever on camp?

Maybe.

If we play our cards right.

Something good will come of it, eventually.