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1946 Wellington Enterprise Articles

3/17/2019

Jack Kepler broke his leg
Jack Kepler, the eight year old son of Mr. and Mrs Lou Kepler, and who was just promoted to the fourth grade at Wellington school, recently received a broken left leg when a 300 pound tombstone at the Pittsfield South Cemetery fell on him. Jack was teetering on the marble slab over the grave of Francis Avery while his mother and grandmother, Mrs George Hines, decorated graves nearby.
Suddenly the monument toppled to earth pinning the youngster beneath it and fracturing his limb. Jack will be confined for about six weeks.
In a related article I found mention of the news correspondent visiting Jack at a later date to see how he was doing. During the visit Jack's mother, Lou Kepler discussed the early history of Pittsfield including the Avery and Hines families.
Mrs Kepler mentioned she currently uses a wide board as an ironing board. She stated that Pittsfield Undertaker, Ephraim Avery, used to lay the corpse on while the casket was being purchased or made.
Wouldn't it be great if we could find that board. I recently talked to the above mentioned Jack Kepler and he remembered his mother using it and she used to prop it up between the backs of two chairs. (Lorain Journal 6-6-1946; Wellington Enterprise 9-6-1946)

The Knob
At the south edge of Pittsfield, near the black river crossing, a little south and behind what we now call Sugar Hill, and near the old steel bridge that still exists, was a comfortable shack called the “Knob”. Where the “Knob” got its name is unknown to me.
It seems that a number of “40 and 8” fellows and their wives met there to eat broiled steak, pork chops, and fish. “40 and 8” seems to be some type of card game, maybe some of you readers can help me out. The men brought their wives along to be partners in the game.
The story goes that the men were seated opposite the ladies and as one man looked up, he saw a large four foot black snake glide along under the rafters looking for a mouse or some other thing to eat.
Frank Obrig, the gentleman who related the story and a resident of Wellington, said he was so kind hearted, that he didn't kill the woods mouse and her litter of eight. He thought the ladies would enjoy the family later in the summer, besides maybe the snake would get them. The ladies did not see the snake or at least they did not mention it. Mr Obrig went on to say that “We men rather like the company of the snake”. (Wellington Enterprise 8-8-1946)

History Notes From Your Township Historian by Ralph A. Hayes

3/10/2019

PITTSFIELD GAME PROTECTION ASSOCIATION
Allen E. Nash did much for wildlife in Pittsfield by helping to organize and put across the Pittsfield Game Protection Association. Louis Watkins and John West cooperated with him and started a movement which is very beneficial to the farmers of the area. Wildlife protection , reforestation, follow hand in hand to keep and increase our natural resources. (Wellington Enterprise 8-29-1946)

ED HINKLEY
One of the most contented men in Pittsfield is Ed Hinkley. He lives in a cabin all alone and does his own cooking, and other housework. He is very fond of bacon, eggs, toast, and coffee and believe it or not, he can make a stack of cakes, that go very well with pork sausage and maple syrup. In the summer time, he raises a good garden and saves plenty of dry beans for winter use. By the way, Mrs. E.R. McConnell sometimes helps Ed out in his menu by furnishing him a few extra dishes of food. Yes, indeed, she gets early peas, lettuce, and radishes from his famous garden. Ed Hinkley's little cabin was located on the west side of SR58, just north of the Ed McConnell Homestead. (Wellington Enterprise 10-3-1946)

LOCKED HERSELF IN THE HOUSE
Elizabeth Ann McConnell (Betty Hurst) is in trouble again!!! She was two years old at the time. Her mother went to see husband Joe, and Betty hooked the screen and then turned the key in the lock. Her mother had to borrow a ladder of some painters and climb into a window. Betty can't see yet why she should be scolded. (Wellington Enterprise 10-3-1946)

NEW FAMILIES IN TOWN
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Broud and family are now nicely located in their new home on West road across from John Caley's. They enjoy company. The Brouds all came from Seneca County, sometimes designated as the original Garden of Eden.
Mr. and Mrs. A,W. Couch, Wilson, Robert and Virginia are moving from Kipton to the house vacated by the Wesley Pitts family on Whitney road. Mr Couch is educational director of the Lorain County Farm Bureau. Virginia, their daughter is a graduate of the Kipton High School Class of 1946, and is working in Kipton. Wilson will be a Wellington high school senior, while Robert will be a junior. (Wellington Enterprise 9-12-1946)

2000 PINE TREES PLANTED
Jack Kennedy, who lives on the corner of Hawley and Hughes roads, has a farm with a pond on it. Recently Jack planted 2,000 pine trees, locust and hard maple trees which will need attention badly this coming summer. Jack is on the Oberlin College faculty and is planning to go to Europe this next year. He also has a fine acquaintance with Harold Brandt, Boy Scout Explorer Guide and Forester. Allen Knapp, LeRoy Jordan and Jack Krueger of his Explorer Scout group have promised to care for the little forest in Jack's absence. They will be helped by other boys working for badges in conservation. As a result of this, Mr. Kennedy allows the boys to fish and camp on his farm. It s a great opportunity for the boys to have a permanent campsite. The trees are planted seven feet apart, and are growing nicely.(Wellington Enterprise 2-3-1955)

History Notes From Your Township Historian by Ralph A. Hayes

3/3/2019

A PERSONAL HISTORY

I've always had an interest in old cemeteries, probably because I would visit our local cemeteries with my grandmothers, when they would place flowers on the family graves. This particular article is about a family outing I took with my son a number of years ago. A family experience that prompted me to begin our recent cemetery restoration project in our local cemeteries.
The article is a little more personal than I usually write, but I hope you will allow me to share it with you, as most of you will probably agree, our personal lives influence our community life and our community history.
When my son was a junior at Baldwin-Wallace College, he was already thinking about graduate school. During his spring break that year he had made plans to visit some prospective graduate schools. He asked ol'dad to go along to help with the driving, provide moral support, and pay the bills.
So on a Saturday morning we packed the car and headed east for Yale University, in New Haven, and Brown University in Providence. His appointments were not until Monday and Tuesday, but we wanted to leave enough travel time.
I believe how sometimes things just happen and afterward you wonder why? Is it some type of predestination that brings us to a certain place or occurrence in our lives when unexpected things happen. This weekend trip turned out to be one of those times.
That first day of driving brought us in the evening hours to Danbury, Connecticut, where we soon found a motel and settled in for the night. With my interest in my family genealogy, I always knew that my family originally came from Connecticut. It was my understanding that they came from Fairfield, which is located down on the coast.
Since we had all day Sunday to cover the rest of the way to our destination, I thought we'd take the scenic route down along the coast and see what Fairfield was like. That night as I was planning the best route to proceed south, I happened to glance at the map north of Danbury, where a little crossroads town named New Fairfield for some unknown reason caught my eye. About this same time I also glanced over at the nightstand next to the bed and noticed the local telephone book.
I reached for the book to see if any Hayes families were listed. While I was thumbing through it, I saw a local map of the area. Upon examining the map around this little town of New Fairfield, I found some road names and locations that are found in the early records from my family genealogy. All of a sudden I decided that instead of going south on Sunday, we'd head north for this little town of New Fairfield. After all, it was only ten or so miles up the road and we had time.
The next morning it didn't take long to get there. As we turned off the main highway, believe it or not we were on Hayes road. New Fairfield wasn't much of a town. No old downtown remained, just a modern gas station on one corner of the intersection and a small shopping plaza on another corner. There was also a small New England town hall, a library and the local post office.
We pulled into the shopping plaza and I went into the grocery store in hopes of finding some film for my camera. As I was checking out to pay for the film, I asked the cashier if she could tell me where the Methodist Church was located. I knew my ancestors were Methodist. I told her I thought my ancestors were from this area and they might be buried in the local cemetery. She told me the church was located north of town, but added that she didn't think there was a cemetery.
Now you can call it a coincidence if you like, but just at that time in our conversation the woman standing behind me stated that she might be able to help me out. She introduced herself as the president of the local historical society. She then proceeded to explain to me that, yes there was an old abandoned cemetery located across the road from the Methodist Church. It was pretty overgrown with weeds and brush, but she thought some of the headstones were still there.
We then proceeded further north on the road she indicated that led to the Methodist Church. As we drove up that sometimes winding, hilly road, I couldn't help but think of my Grandma Hayes. She aroused my early interest in our family history by telling me about the ancestors she remembered, and stories she heard them tell. Grandma Hayes was also a devout and firmly religious person who believed that when we went to heaven, we would be reunited with our ancestors and loved ones. She died some years ago, but somehow I felt she was looking down and guiding us up this road. Somehow she might be responsible for the strange occurrences that had brought us to this point on this absolutely beautiful Sunday morning.
Sure enough we soon arrived at the Methodist Church, and there located across the road, was an old abandoned family cemetery, that the woman had described. We hurriedly parked the car in the church parking lot and opened the rusty old iron gate at the entrance of the cemetery. My son took one side of the cemetery, and I the other, both of us groping for that recognizable name on the headstones. With headstones more than 100 years older than the earliest ones in our cemeteries around here, the names were terribly difficult to distinguish.
We spent what seemed like hours searching through that cemetery, but with no luck. We were about to give up, as our available time was running out. Then I spotted two headstones near the front of the cemetery, which I had previously overlooked. One of the stones was leaning almost to the ground, but the other was standing straight and tall. The name HAYES was clearly visible on the front of the stone. We had found what we were looking for.
As my son and I stood together over the graves of his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather and mother, I believe we both experienced a closeness and bonding which we will never forget.
I later learned in my research of my family in New Fairfield that the cemetery is located on the Hayes homestead. It was, and hopefully still is, our family cemetery.
By the way, my son eventually got his graduate degree at William & Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia, with a Masters Degree in American History. (I guess “The apple doesn't fall far from the tree”.)

History Notes From Your Township Historian by Ralph A. Hayes

2/18/2019

As most of you probably know, a number of years ago the Pittsfield Township Trustees appointed me as the official township Historian. Since that time I've been involved in a number of projects in preserving the historical heritage of Pittsfield Township.
One of those projects was helping establish the Pittsfield Township Historical Society, along with the restoration and preservation of our 1840s one-room schoolhouse. Periodically I have written articles for the Township Talk, a township newsletter published by the trustees every quarter, and I hope to continue that effort.
Recently the Pittsfield Township Historical Society Board of Directors asked me to write some history articles to be posted on their web-site, which is hopefully the beginning of what you see here.
Many of these articles are from the newspaper files and records we currently have in our archives, supplemented by additional information of my knowledge. During the course of printing these articles, I welcome any input or corrections from you readers. In recording local history I think it's extremely important to be as accurate as possible and as I get older I'm finding that my memory is not as sharp as it once was. I won't be offended if any of you correct the information I have presented.
When most of us think of history, we have a tendency to immediately think of the early settlers and residents of the township. I'm starting these articles with some news items that appeared in the Wellington Enterprise from the not to distant past.
I hope some of you enjoy your trip down memory lane.

BOYS 4-H EXPANDS MEMBERSHIP TO INCLUDE GIRLS
For many years Pittsfield had a boy's and a girl's 4-H club, the Pittsfield Progressive Workers (boys) and the Pittsfield Minute Maids (girls), but in 1946 the Pittsfield Progressive Workers added four girls to its membership. They were Harriet and Jane Forney, with calf and lamb projects, Alice Betts, a calf, and Marion Johnson with chickens.
At that time those who exhibited livestock at the fair were required to feed and water their animals and keep their quarters clean. (that hasn't changed through the years). So, in order to have everything shipshape bright and early the next day, the exhibitors stayed on the fairgrounds overnight.
This has always been easy for the boys, but now it seemed to be a problem for the girls (or at least the club leaders thought it might be). Soon this was arranged, however by the leaders of the two 4-H clubs, Norman McConnell and Mary Green. Norman's truck provided the sleeping quarters and was occupied by Harriet and Jane Forney, Marian and Wilma Johnson, Alice Betts, Betty Arndt and Mrs. Mary Green. Warren Green supervised the boys. They were all up and ready for breakfast soon after 4:30. (Wellington Enterprise 8-29-1946)

JOE McCONNELL WANTS TO PLAY “POST OFFICE”
In browsing through the old newspaper colmns, we constantly find reference to the many local social activities that were available to our residents. The list of these organizations is endless. People didn't wander far from home for their socializing.
One of those local organizations was the Hi-Neighbor Club. They met regularly in the members homes. In the Fall of 1946, on a Thursday evening the club met at the home of Roscoe Campbell. Mrs Howard McConnell (Jean) had charge of the entertainment and did a fine job. After two guessing contests, Joe McConnell suggested that they play “post office”.
All right Jean told Joe, “post office it will be”, but quite different from the time you played it when a small boy thirty years ago. So they were all given the names of post offices in Lorain County and when two were called out, the towns changed and the postmaster tried to get a seat. When “parcel post” was called, everybody changed. (I'm not sure what they were doing, anybody help me?) The news article went on to state that the Hi-Neighbors had a hilarious time and did so until the sandwiches and grape juice were served. There were even five children under two and a half years present, and they were the life of the party. (Wellington Enterprise 10-3-1946)

I hope you folks enjoyed these articles, continue checking our website for more trips down memory lane.

Ralph A. Hayes

1946 Wellington Enterprise Articles

History Notes From Your Township Historian by Ralph A. Hayes

History Notes From Your Township Historian by Ralph A. Hayes

History Notes From Your Township Historian by Ralph A. Hayes

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