Bedford Historical Society September-November 2005PO Box 46282 Issue 282Bedford OH 44146440 232-0796 bedfordohiohistory.org 50th Anniversary 1955-2005_______________________________________________________________________

Up Coming Events

September 8, 2005 Thursday 8:00pm: Lyceum –‘Vocal Pipes & Organ Pipes!’; Jerry Maddoxfires up the restored 1912 Moeller pipe organwhile soprano, Linda Burgess and tenor, DennisLange bring music to the historic sanctuary ofthe old 1893 church.

October 6, 2005 Thursday 8:00pm: Lyceum-‘The Dunham House Project’; Brett & BeckyJohnson, aka Hezekiah & Clarissa Dunham, willanswer your questions about living in the 1850s.Several of the committee will be on hand toexplain the ‘how & why’ of the Dunham HouseProject.

October 13, 2005 Thursday 1-4pm: Reception atthe inaugural opening of ‘The Lincoln Press’printing exhibit. Members and friends areinvited to see the newest permanent exhibit inthe Town Hall Museum. Chat with thevolunteers who spent hours moving and settingup the exhibit. See a demonstration of the oldChandler & Price letterpress. Try some hands-onprinting yourself.

November 3, 2005 Thursday 8:00pm:Lyceum- On the Trail with Lewis & Clark; SouthEuclid photographer, Karen Beck presents aphotographic journey of her adventure tracingthe famous trail.

Note from President Dave Beveridge:

Greetings fellow history buffs, members, andfriends of the Bedford Historical Society. Oursummer, as usual, began with our AnnualStrawberry Festival and once again Betsy Leeand her many, many volunteers producedanother incredible weekend. We hope YOUwere able to attend and enjoy this special event. As most of you know, our good friend, BobSchroeter Sr, recently completed his tenure asPresident of our Society. Bob had agreed to anextra year as President to assure the satisfactorycompletion of one of the Society’s mostchallenging and demanding projects; theaddition, with elevator, to our 1874 Town Hall.Thus opening this incredible museum toeveryone regardless of any physical limitations. To honor Bob, a plaque is being placed in thenew addition recognizing him and his fifteenpredecessors as President of our HistoricalSociety. I know you all join me in extendingsincere thanks to Bob and this special group ofwho have so honorably and nobly providedleadership to the Bedford Historical Society for50 years! New Officers

The Trustees have voted the following asofficers for the next year: President DaveBeveridge; V. President Brian Melling;Secretary Kathie Rice; Membership SecretaryKathie Williams; Treasurer June Martin.

1800s Dinner Good Fun

Our first dinner was pretty tasty! The prep timestories made us appreciate our modernconveniences. Making butter and ice creamburned up any calories that we put on. We willput the recipes in a pamphlet when the series isover.

AUGUST DATES:Flea Market on the Square on the 13th 9-4;Call Lynn Jones to donate to the HistoricalSociety table.Second dinner -Foods from Bedford’sKitchen (see issue 280) Thursday August18th. Recipes from the 1950s.232-0796

Special Oral History in honor of our 50th

Anniversary.

Joanne Rose continues her four part series takenfrom the oral history of former director andfounding member, Dick Squire. Part III How the Historical Society Began

“ I had an interest in history and the Civil Warand Lincoln while I was still in the service. BillJacka and I decided to start a historical society-,which we did in 1955. The first couple of yearsit barely survived. But then it started to takeover. “ It all started in a little two shelf case in thewindow of my print shop. We startedassembling Bedford High School yearbooks andBedford city directories. Finally, we opened thefirst actual museum in a vacated classroom inthe basement in Central School on WashingtonSt. We were there for about five years. “ Then I started working on the councilmen toget the building we are now in. Every one of thecouncilmen, individually, was in favor of it. Butnot one of them would bring it up in a meeting.Finally, Mort Ake, who was city manager at thetime, said I better go see my owncouncilman…so I did. That was Jeanette Flaggand she brought it up to council. We had achoice of either the Garlick House—or thispresent building, which was in much bettershape and bigger. “ We acquired this building for a tokenpayment of $10.00. We have gone fromabsolutely nothing, to this building with all of itscontents and restoration, and the former BaptistChurch. We always had a good group ofvolunteers. “ There have been a lot of funds from bequestsand that sort of thing, and our own fund-raisingactivities. So we were able to purchase all thesebuildings. “ We are almost unique in the total area here tohave our historical public square surrounded byall these historic buildings. This building wasthe Township Hall and when the townshipdissolved in 1951, it became Bedford Heights,Oakwood and Walton Hills, there was no moretownship. So the township just locked the doorand walked out. Then for nine years, this was theAdministrative offices of the city of Bedford.But the old township records are still here- invarious places- So when we moved in, theserecords were still here.”

Our Thanks to the Following:

Lester Pratt for the beautiful Hosta Gardenalong the east side of the Town Hall. Each hostais labeled so that visitors can learn to identify thevariety. A portion of the garden is miniaturevarieties displayed in a small rock garden.Lynn Jones for the beautiful seasonal planting atthe front of the Town Hall.Steve Angyal for the beautiful Canna display atthe Dunham House and Town Hall.Strawberry Festival Docents: Jean Offutt, JohnStraka, Ralph Deevers, Steve & Helen Batko,Helen Hurtuk, Marg Keene, Judy Magyar, DorisShriver, Doris Pankratz, Iris Dawson, EvaLabuski, Kim Balach, Diane Balach, MillieMcCarty, Elmer Palinkas, Andy Jones, DonNavratil, Wayne & Amy Rhine, Roy & SharenNaylorStrawberry Festival Committee chair-Betsy Leesub-chairs: Raffle- St. Johns; Beer Sales-DonSaunders; Purchasing-Ron Lisy; Bursar-AlmaRhine; Kitchen – Pat Papish; Food relay-MikeSims; Serving- Chris Sweet; Grounds- RichGanofsky; Entertainment- George Kostel;Vendors- Randy Starnoni; Crafters- DotSchwende; Publicity- Frank Caldwell & LisaKropf; Bingo- Post 1082 VFW; Games ofchance- Joanne Harwood & Bedford Lion’s;Ticket sales- Wayne Rhine. There were dozensof volunteers working in shifts helping in each ofthese categories. Without the help of everyone,the Strawberry Festival could not happen. Thetotal netted:app $14K! Our thanks to all.AND THANK YOU FOR PURCHASINGRAFFLE TICKETS! Thanks to Flea Market chair Chris Sweet andLynn Jones for the Society’s table. School docents: Jim & Kathie Rice, AlmaRhine, Dave Beveridge, Sherry Petkovsek, Paul& Merry Anne Hilty, Marianne Bissler, JeanetteHeston, Wallace Murray, Pat Preston, AngelaPevarski, Janet Curran, Betsy Lee, Al & PatRoseman, Ruth Miller and Jim & LaVonneMiller.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our gratitude to Randy Starnoni for his

years of service on the Strawberry Festival

Committee. He steps down as coordinator of

the vendors after 12 years. Thanks, Randy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More about the Sterns Letter‘O we are heartily sick of this Ohio & wish wewere at the east where there is some honestyamongst the people.’ Henry Sterns In the last issue of the Bee, excerpts from the1837 Sterns letter were printed. The letter told ofthe young couple’s struggle to live in Bedford, anewly formed village. Helen Pratt was able totrace two other letters from the couple that wentfor sale on E-Bay. While we were not able to bidon these, we were able to read copies of theletters. Helen Batko has traced the trail of theSterns. We are sad to report that the couple hada series of set backs living here. They moved outof their newly built house on Dunham St ( nowWoodrow, the house still stands). Mr. Sternstailoring business had a few set backs due tounscrupulous customers. In 1839, the couple hadmoved to Cuyahoga Falls where they eventuallyhad two children. Once again, hard times besetthe family. One letter tells how the family cowfell 12 feet into the Cuyahoga River. It survivedwith a few broken ribs. Eventually, the familymoved back to New England. There they had 5more children. They are buried inMassachusetts. Excerpts from the letters: Martha, the wife writes “ Henry says ifbusiness in Bedford gets good enough again sothat he can get a living there he thinks we hadbetter go back again rather than be obliged topay rent. But we had rather live in Sodom thanamong infidels.” Henry writes in a June 9, 1839 letter fromCuyahoga Falls, “ On the 15th day of the presentmonth-June- there arrived in this Buckeye State-Ohio- in the very pleasant village of CuyahogaFalls an individual who claims to be no less apersonage than a grandson of Othniel Hannamof So Deerfield Mass- he calls his name Sterns- -- his given name Wallace Henry. In short wehave got one of the finest boys there in the statehe is a genuine down-easter- a real Yankee thereis not a particle of Buckeye about him.” In two of the letters, there is mention of writingon the margin of newspapers to communicatenews home to Mass. The practice involvedwriting with skim milk, which was invisible.The newspaper was then sent home at a cheaperrate than a first class letter. The recipient of thenewspaper could then heat the newspapermargin over a warm stove or flame and the skimmilk writing would appear.

Our thanks to the Pratts for the purchase of theoriginal and Thanks to Helen Batko for tracingthe genealogy of the family.

TheSedlon Art Garden

The restoration of theSedlon Art Garden isgetting off to a slowstart due to timerestraints and funding.Recently, the Cityexpressed an interest inhelping with theproject. The garden,

located at the rear of the historic DunhamHouse, was a showcase and meeting place forCleveland area artists. The garden containedstatuary, murals and whimsical Sedlonbirdhouses. It had a wandering Poet’s Pathwhere inspired writers could write a few linesand post them. Several months ago, community leadersstepped forward to form a Bedford ArtsInitiative . The society looks forward to their,and the city’s guidance and support.

photos from the Bedford Historical Society archives

A Little More on the History of Chocolate

Our Lyceum program on the History ofChocolate and Chocolate Tasting last winterreminded member Elvin Judd of the following:‘When chocolate was introduced in Prussia, beersales went down to the point that the king forbadthe drinking of chocolate saying it was bad forthe health. The king owned or collected feesfrom the Breweries!’ Thanks, Elvin.

FYI- Can We Help You?

The Bedford Historical Society Library andArchives is here to help you. We haveinformation on Bedford, Bedford Township,Cuyahoga County, Ohio and limited informationabout life in America. Your cooperation inhandling these important documents is mostappreciated. Please ask for help from the staff.Society personnel know where to find yourdocument and how to handle the fragilematerial. Here are some pointers:

1. Wear gloves. You will be given a pair ofwhite cotton gloves to wear. Thisprotects the documents for years tocome. Please turn the pages carefullyand do not lean on the documentsurface.

2. Need a copy? If possible, we will copythe page that you request.

3. Material that is to be used forpublication in any media must beacknowledged ‘from the archives of theBedford Historical Society’. You will beasked to sign a form.

4. Original documents are not permitted toleave the building.

The Bedford Historical Society Library andArchives are a treasure left to us from the past.Thank you for your cooperation in helpingprotect these historical investments.

Oscar Time Lynn Jones and Betsy Lee participated in nine

school assemblies portraying the ‘old SchoolMarm and a New Parent’. Thank you!

Documentary on Dunham House Project

A documentary was produced about theDunham House Project. It is running on cableBCSTV. We have a tape of the production at themuseum and will show it at the OctoberLyceum. Classic Teleproductions did the work.It was a wonderful opportunity to presentBedford’s history.

Thanks from the Students… Ed Note: during the Dunham House Project, over200 Bedford City School Students toured ourbuildings. These are excerpts. ‘I had fun in the old church. Today my churchlooked better.’ ‘Thank you for inviting us to the museum. The bestpart was when we played games.’ ‘It was fun to learn what games they used to playwith their friends. The best part was when my teamplayed marbles. Thanks for letting us use the ink towrite our names.’‘I really liked the Dunham House, the church and thetrain depot. Thanks for letting us write with quills.That was very nice of you.’ ‘I am so happy I got to come to the museum. I likedthe Dunhams. Their home was beautiful. I loved itthere. And Mrs. Rice: you were the Best.’ “Thanks for telling all about Bedford Ohio. Ienjoyed learning about the Civil War. I liked thegames they played long ago.’ ‘I really liked the paintings. What I really liked themost was all the old things you had.’ ‘I hope to see you again.’We hope to see the students again!

Obituaries

Roland Bondono; Member, Roland Bondonopassed away on June 5, 2005 in Utica MI wherehe and his wife had moved to be closer tofamily. He is survived by his loving wife, Olivia(nee: Fogoros) , daughter Amy ( Carl) Goodwinand son Jeffrey. Roland served his country in theU.S. Army Air Force.

Dean Thomas; Dean Seidel Thomas passedaway on June 23, 2005. He was a member since1971. Dean was the loving husband of Nancy( nee Dugger) and the father of George ( Anita),Hank ( Dayna) and Molly (Cash) Hoyt. He wasa loving grandfather. Dean served in the U.S.Navy during WWII and was a science teacherfor the Bedford City School District.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The society extends its sincere sympathy toBob Schroeter Jr. and his family in the loss oftheir son, Bobby. Bobby was the grandson ofpast president, Bob Schroeter Sr. and the great-grandson of member, Ralph Deevers.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An Idea for Grandparents

Here is an idea from an 1891 baby album inour archives: An autograph page. Ask yourgrandchild to sign each year from age 4 to21. Use a good acid-free paper so it lasts theages.

Jack’s Pumpkin

Members Ron & Sue Martin send this picture ofgrandson Jack with the pumpkin he grew.Grandma and Jack attended the historicalsociety’s Grandparent/child Tea in the spring of2004. We gave the guests seeds to grow.

From the Newspaper

While researching the 100th Anniversary ofCentral School, Margaret Bierman found a May20, 1905 article in the Plain Dealer aboutBedford Township voting to remain “ dry”. Theelection was called for by the “wets”. The votewas 154 to 73.

Society Receives Award

On July 22nd, the Bedford Historical Societyreceived an award from LEAP ( LinkingEmployment, Abilities and Potential, a localADA affiliate). The Award was presented at aluncheon in Cleveland honoring the society formaking the Town Hall Museum handicappedaccessible. Past president, Bob Schroeter, Sr.and current president, Dave Beveridge acceptedthe honors for the society. LEAP officials werehelpful as we planned the addition and exhibitareas.

Gift Shop on Line

Wayne Rhine is working with Betsy Lee to setup the historical society’s gift shop on our website. When it is completed, shoppers can reviewour gift shop items, print an order form and sendit and a check to make an order.

Building Addition Dedication Update

The one-year anniversary is approachingmarking the completion of the addition to theTown Hall Museum. Additions and correctionsto the memorial booklet and lobby plaques arebeing drafted. If you wish to make a donation inhonor or memory of a loved one, there is stilltime to do so. Please call the office to discussyour request. The additional sheets will beavailable in late fall.

Stamp Album Update

Your continued interest has helped theSociety’s stamp collection continue to grow.Thank you for sending correspondence with abeautiful array of US postage stamps.

Society Receives Archives of Jack & Heintz

The Bedford Historical Society became theofficial archivist of one of Bedford’s mostfamous companies, Jack & Heintz. The recordswere delivered to the Society in June and arebeing processed into the archives. They hadbeen held by all of the companies that owned thecompany over the past 50 years. It was necessary to purchase additionalarchival shelving for the collection. We thankmembers, Myrtle Ake and John Dennis fortimely donations that were used to cover this.Evelyn Sawastuk and Doris Pankratz havestarted to sort and process the information. Ifyou have time to help with this, please call ourarchivist Joyce Maruna.

The Lincoln Press Print Shop

Our big project this summer is taking place inthe lower level of the Town Hall museum. Apartition wall was removed, hundreds of storedobjects were relocated and our tool collectionswere placed in a new ‘Tool Room’. Now we arecreating a new exhibit “The Lincoln Press’. Wehave had a great team of volunteers tackle thejob. Our youngest volunteers are 12, our oldestvolunteers, well we won’t tell. It has beengrubby work but fun. We contracted with Jimand Mercury Movers to move the bigequipment. It took 50 minutes to move the 100-year-old Chandler & Price letterpress into place.Reserve the date October 13th for the GrandOpening reception.

You are invited

To attend

The opening reception

Of

“The Lincoln press”

A print shop from yesterday

Thursday October 13, 2005

1:00 – 4:00

Town Hall Museum30 South Park (Squire Place)

Demonstrations - Hands on activities for all ages - Refreshments Remembrances of the Lincoln Press - See the new Tool Room