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Ottawa County Time Traveler Eastern Ottawa County Past & Present DECEMBER 2025 |
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by Linda Higgins The first Roman Catholic Mass in the area was served in the late 17th century on Middle Bass Island for the Huron Indians, the region’s first known Catholics. They lived around Lake Erie and its islands, having been converted to Catholicism by Jesuit missionaries from Detroit and Canada. Mass was offered again in 1749 to the Hurons at their settlement near Sandusky Bay. The Indian missions were abandoned when the Jesuits moved on. The French-Canadian missionaries, however, often gave silver crosses to native converts to wear, and some of these have been found in burial grounds along the Portage River, possibly evidence of more permanent missions here. Wyandot and Ottawa tribes, probable offshoots of the Huron tribe, lived here when, in 1823, white men first claimed land in the area, settling as fishermen and trappers. The Cincinnati Diocese covered Ohio during this period and Mass was served for the settlers when possible. Ezekiel Haines, who founded Port Clinton in 1828, had reserved block 16, lots 4 and 5, for a Catholic church. This site was located on the south side of East Third Street, between Adams and Washington Streets. The construction began, but a high wind destroyed the frame. Consequently, Father Joseph P. Machebeuf, founder of Holy Angels in Sandusky, served Marblehead and Port Clinton Catholics at The Germainia House, a hotel on Madison Street in Port Clinton. He wrote to his brother in 1832: “. . . I visit Port Clinton, a colony of French Canadians who live along the borders of the lake, the swamps and the rivers supporting themselves somewhat like the Indians.” In 1847, the Cleveland Diocese was formed and included this area. Fr. Machebeuf moved west in 1851 and was eventually called the Apostle of Colorado, having become Vicar Apostolic and the first bishop of Denver. After Machebeuf left here, mission priests visited every six months to a year. A marriage would be performed by a civil authority and then a priest would bless it on his next visit. Incidentally, the character of Father Joseph Vallant in Willa Cather’s novel, Death Comes for the Archbishop, was based on Fr. Machebeuf. In time, 12 Catholic families regularly received Mass from Father Louis Molon in Port Clinton until a formal congregation was formed in 1859. Fr. Molon bought two lots on Fourth and Madison Streets in 1861 and built a 34-foot by 68-foot wood church, dedicated to The Immaculate Conception in 1862. Father Verlet became the first resident pastor that year. Then, due to a shortage of priests (Few seminaries existed then and cholera took many of the priests tending the sick.), a number of different priests each served briefly during the following years. By 1902, the parish consisted of 65 families, and a fund that Father Francis Hroch had begun was used to build a stone building at Fourth and Madison Streets at a cost of $40,000. Classes for children and adults were added as the church grew. Fathers Plumanns and Lang traveled to Catawba Island to hold Mass in homes, enabling the five Catholic families there to go to confession and make their “Easter duty.” When the Toledo Diocese was formed in 1911, it served the lake region east to Huron and west to the Ohio border. As the Immaculate Conception parish grew, more improvements followed, debts were paid, and a permanent school built. A printing press was purchased and used to print a monthly bulletin, “The Immaculata,” while Reverend Father Kinnane was pastor, from 1923 to 1927. Then Father Karl Brand became pastor for 38 years. He helped the church and community through the Depression and solidified Immaculate Conception’s position as integral to the Port Clinton community. The World War II era saw major growth here, due in large part to Erie Proving Grounds and Camp Perry. The parish’s rapid growth during this period necessitated adding room for a larger school-age population. Father Paul Mueller, the first associate pastor, and, later, Father Earl Schmidt oversaw a project that enlarged the sanctuary, added seating and attached the church to additional school classrooms. Immaculate Conception Catholic Church has continued to support the larger community’s spiritual and physical needs throughout the years since. It remains a vibrant church community, projecting the values that the early missions encouraged in all who worshiped here so long ago. Use this link to see or share the article online: Linda |
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by Lorrie Halblaub In this series we are taking an historical look at an area that covers approximately a mile of Main Street in downtown Marblehead. Heading east from the Village limits, we will discover the facts and the stories of how Marblehead became what it is today. [This is the 9th article in the series.] The next building at 806 West Main Street, east of Madam Rosie’s Boutique and Gallery, has had many uses. It was once Brown’s Department Store, Bob Anderson’s electric shop, the home of Celia Grover who earned her living as a seamstress. Then it was Pitzer’s Pizza and Subs, Bill Hammond’s Pizza and video rental store, The Village Peddler- Antiques and Such, La Habana a Cuban Restaurant, the art Gallery of Bailey Van Kirk , the office of Nature Conservancy and is now, again, a private home. This one building is a good example of the evolution of Marblehead. Before the Bay Bridge connected the Marblehead Peninsula with Bay View and made Sandusky a destination accessible by car instead of by ferry or train, shops in Marblehead sold practical things that people needed, like fuel oil, tires, clothing, shoes, kitchen utensils, bolts of cloth for sewing, etc. However, with the bridge, it was easier to get to Sandusky where there were larger stores with more variety in their inventory. Over the years, Marblehead shops changed to restaurants, gift shops, and art galleries. Marblehead slowly evolved into the tourist-based seasonal economy that it is today. However, not all practical businesses changed. The next building on the corner of Main and James St., 802 West Main St., was built by Louis St. Marie in 1895 out of the formed concrete blocks sold by the quarry. It was the first site of the Marblehead Bank founded in 1907. Louis St. Marie was the first president of that bank, and it remained at this site until 1957 when they built a larger bank on the south side of Main Street. The bank only took up half of the downstairs of the St. Marie building. The other half was George Ward’s Grocery Store. When the bank moved across the street, the Knights of Columbus took their space. The upstairs of that building was once a dance hall, then a lawyer’s office, and for a while a vinyl graphic’s business run by Drew Jenkins. Since 1992, Marblehead Mayor John Starcher owns the whole building and the downstairs is Village Pro Hardware. The Marblehead Bank on the south side of the street at 709 West Main Street has had one enlargement since they moved to this spot and celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the founding in 2007. This bank annually receives Bauer’s Five Star Ratings and is one of the safest banks in America and even staying solvent during the Great Depression. This year it merged with State Bank and Trust Company of Defiance, OH. The well-respected State Bank specializes in community banks and both banks assure customers they will enjoy additional products and services. Photo of the Marblehead Bank when it was in the Starcher Hardware Building. L-R Bank employees: John Danchisen, Truman Carnicom, Josephine Monak and Barbara Halblaub. You can use this link to read or share this article: Lorrie |
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Alone At Home: Southport Senior Shenanigans
by Bob Adamov
In Southport, North Carolina, a Christmas tale unfolds when 80-year-old George Ivers is left alone at home while his wife visits a sister for five days. George has to watch the cat he dislikes, resulting in a series of comical escapades. Picture a man who's a blend of the gruffness of Archie Bunker, the stone-age charm of Fred Flintstone, and the nearsighted blunders of Mr. Magoo, and you've got George. His days are filled with hilarious mishaps, from a battle of wits with a cheeky seagull to the relentless interruptions by neighbors. George's quest for peace is perpetually sabotaged by the precocious grandson of the lady next door among other uproarious incidents. Alone At Home is a heartwarming story of redemption. As George grapples with a haunting memory, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery. It's a Christmas classic in the making, peppered with wit, the resilience of the human spirit, and the transformative power of forgiveness.
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Do you have a copy of your grandmother's baptismal certificate? Other documents or small articles you'd like to keep, but don't know where? Treasured photos of previous generations? Feel intimidated about writing chapters of your family history? Here's another option - Genealogist Laura Best provides a colorful book dedicated to techniques for preserving precious ancestral memories through scrapbooking.  745.593 BEST 2005 |
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For those of us who vaguely remember the push to change from U.S. measurements to the metric or decimal system, or who know a smattering of Latin, you know that December is from the Latin word decem meaning ten. So you may be asking, why is the twelfth month of the year based on the word for ten? In the earliest Roman calendar, attributed to Romulus the founder of Rome, December was the 10th month of a 10-month lunar year that started in March. [From an earlier issue: March, named for Mars the god of war and which marked the beginning of military campaigns, was the beginning of the Roman calendar year.] Winter time between December and March was treated as a "dead" time, without any specific name(s). Around 700 BCE, the calendar was reformed by adding two new months - January for Janus, Roman god of beginnings, transitions, and endings, and February named after Februalia, the Roman festival of purification. But these months were added on after December, and the calendar year still started in March. It wasn't until Julius Caesar, in 46 BCE, that January became the first month of the year officially, at least for the Roman Empire. Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, a solar-based system that was better than the earlier lunar calendar. He chose January 1 as the start of the year. January not only honored Janus, but it coincided with the time when the newly elected Roman consuls took office. January was therefore both a practical and symbolic choice for marking the beginning of the civil and political year. But it wasn't until 1582, with the implementation of the Gregorian calendar by Pope Gregory XIII, that January 1 was recognized as the start of the year by [most of] the Western [European] world. And consequently moving December from 10th to 12th place in the calendar year. January evokes the dual nature of time [beginnings & endings] from Janus. He is depicted with two faces, one looking to the past and the other to the future. This dual imagery is a reminder to look to the past for perspective and understanding, while looking forward with hope and purpose. Something to consider in making any New Year's resolution. |
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Photo of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church taken December 18, 2025. |
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