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Wednesday 12pm - 5pm Thursday 12pm - 5pm Friday 12pm - 5pm Saturday 12pm - 5pm Sunday 12pm - 5pm

https://capturingconneauthistory.com/

The David Cummins Octagon House, Conneaut, Ohio, 301 Liberty Street, Conneaut, OH (2026)

10/08/2026

Tales from Tinker's Hollow in Three Parts
The Tinker's of Tinker's hollow made important contributions to Ashtabula County History. Factual, important, lasting industrial contributions. It is important to remember that, because the legend of Tinker's Hollow always comes to fore on Halloween. I used the legend as a backdrop to telll their story. They only haunt Tinker's Hollow in memory. Their contributions are lasting.
https://onwardoctagonohiohistory.blog/2024/10/17/onward-octagon-ohio-history-cupola-chronicles-tales-from-tinkers-hollow/

10/08/2026

Jenny, the Titanic Cat
Dedicated to Socks and Izzy, my dear cat friends from the Octagon House. And there is information about the Titanic there too.
Kathy

10/03/2026

Willard Giddings and the Second Marquette Messemer No. 2

From his early childhood, Conneaut sailor Willard Giddings had a personal relationship with the Great Lakes and the second Marquette Bessemer No. 2 that sometimes turned icy.

In a 2002 interview with Ashtabula Star Beacon Lifestyle Editor Carl Feather, Willard recounted Marquette Bessmer No. 2 stories.
In 1922, ten-year-old Willard succumbed to the lure of car ferries.

At that time, car ferries were common on the Great Lakes, especially in Ashtabula and Conneaut. He heard the news that the car ferry Marquette Bessemer No. 2 sat icebound off Conneaut and he quickly left his home on Harbor Street to investigate. He decided to walk across the ice to the stalled car ferry, with the added incentive of seeing his father Jay, who served aboard the Marquette &Bessemer No. 2 as a steward.

Willard recalled that he had to walk a mile across the ice, and his ten-year-old sense of adventure did not recognize the danger of ice walking with Lake Erie lurking underneath it. He said that as he got close to the ship, “some guys saw me coming and helped me get on board.” He noted that his father was not too happy to see him and later gave him a “warm welcome.”

After spending a few days on the Marquette Bessemer No. 2 waiting for the winds to shift, Willard finally returned to his Harbor Street home. He had not been able to get a message to his mother to let her know that he was safe, so when he returned home, he received another “warm welcome” from his mother.

Four years later, during the summer of 1926, Willard secured a birth on the Marquette Bessemer No. 2, as a porter, working with his father in the galley. His porter duties included washing dishes, waiting on tables, and cleaning the kitchen, for a wage of $60.00 a month, a good salary for a young man in the 1920s.

According to the Carl Feather interview, enthralled by the earnings and adventure of car ferry living, Willard dropped out of Conneaut High School in his junior year. He sailed with his father for four seasons aboard the Marquette Bessemer No. 2. At the end of 1931, the Marquette & Bessemer Car Ferry made its last run from Conneaut to Ontario. Willard, his father Jay, and three dozen other crew members were without jobs in this Depression year.

But energetic and resourceful, Williard would spend many more years sailing the Great Lakes before he retired on land to build an equally long and successful career.

Both Willard Giddings and his father Jay, were Great Lakes sailors, and both were inducted into the Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum Wall of Fame in Rogers City, Michigan.in 2002.

Willard left a footprint in the Ashtabula Maritime Museum as well, and one of his donations is a framed photograph of the Marquette& Bessemer No. 2 Car Ferry.

Photos: Willard Giddings and the Marquette & Bessemer No. 2

09/28/2026

My Answer to Dr. Ben Anthony's Napoleon Comment.
Dear Dr. Anthony and Napoleon,
Thank you for quoting what is probably Napoleon’s most famous quote: “history is a set of lies agreed upon.” Voltaire had pretty much the same idea when he commented that history is a shared story rather than absolute facts. I am well aware of the drawbacks of what we call history. The fact that it is called HIS story has always seemed ironic to me. I could go on for pages and several books about the way women have not been represented or recognized for their contributions to history. History through the centuries has often been a misogynistic discipline.

Napoleon was a master of propaganda. He understood that public perception can be manipulated by people in power and the power of persuasion whether it be words, love, hate, or military conquest. He skillfully transformed his defeats and negatives in his own life and career by reinventing himself and customizing the events in his own life and career to fit his emperor’s persona, and later again reinvented himself as a champion of liberty. We have far too much history in all countries that has been used and rewritten as political tools. Napoleon wasn’t the only historical figure who did this.
I believe that some history is written by people wielding the power of the boardroom and how contemporary society accepts or rejects their interpretations is the version that is often presented to succeeding generations. The story can be changed, but you have to know and understand the story first before it can be transformed from myth and lie into a truth. Objective truth no. I don’t believe there is any such thing as objective history. Historians are human beings with recognized and unrecognized biases.

Where does that leave us, the ordinary people who write the daily stories of our own lives and wonder if they will be part of our common human story? Should we just be content to regard history the way it has so often been taught- names, dates, great men, great conquests, timelines, details without much connected meaning?

I believe we must know our own histories, respect the histories of others, and strive to fit them into a historical arch that stretches beyond our own lives. We must understand that we have a responsibility to acquire the will and knowledge to revise historical myths and lies of our own time. Louise Legaza and Walter Jack did that. We can too.
Respectfully,
Kathy

09/27/2026

What Is History All About?
Every one of us is our own historian. History is telling stories, our individual stories, the stories of our families, friends, region, state, country. We form historical societies and local, regional, state, and national organizations to preserve our history. Before the Internet revolutionized preserving data, much of the ordinary ins and outs of history were obscured by the mists of time and present day. It is important to me as a historian to try to retrieve as much as this ordinary person history as possible and pass it on to new generations; that is one of the reasons I create thicker newsletters than the typical “pay your dues and look what we have doing”. Those have their place, given our busy, swift attention span society, but if we really want to preserve history, we need to explore it deeply and pass it on. Many Ashtabula County Historians have done this. From time to time, I will post mini biographies of them and where to find some of their work. Here are the first two.
Kathy

Local Historians Walter Jack and Louise Legeza Leave Rich Legacies

Writer and historian Walter Jack was born in Pierpont, Ohio on January 31, 1883, the son of Thomas and Inez Morris Jack. He became a well-known journalist and photographer and served as city editor of the Hillsdale Michigan Leader. Walter married Sally Warren on June 19, 1906, at Hillsdale, Michigan and they eventually had three children.

Walter wrote features for the Detroit Free Press and the Ashtabula Star Beacon and old Erie Dispatch. Later he joined the Erie Times News as a historical feature writer. After he retired, he returned to his native Pierpont to farm and continued researching and writing history. His "Wandering" columns that appeared in Erie newspapers in the 1930-1950 period contain priceless information about Northwestern PA in the mid-20th Century.
Walter died September 2, 1961. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Pierpont.

The Ashtabula County Historical Society has preserved his work at the Walter Jack Memorial Library at the Jenny Munger Museum https://ashtabulahistory.com/programs/walter-jack-research-library/
And the https://ashtabulahistory.com/programs/walter-jack-research-library/wjdl/

Louise Legeza
Born December 31, 1934, in East Cleveland, Louise was the only child of Archie and C. Louise Passmore. The cultural life of Cleveland and a cross-county adventure exploring the county with her parents from a travel trailer when she was ten expanded her horizons and enhanced her creative talents. Eventually her family settled down in Monroe Township where they purchased and operated a dairy farm.

Louise graduated from Conneaut High School in 1953, and married George Legeza that same year. They eventually had four children.

Influenced by her grandmother and aunt, Louise developed an early passion for genealogy and eventually put her passion into action by being one of the founding members of the Ashtabula County\Genealogical Society, editing their newsletter, and serving on its board. In 1987, Louise took a job at the Ashtabula County District Library and worked at the Geneva Branch as archivist and staff genealogist, retiring at age 80. The Archive Room at the Geneva Public Library is named in her honor.

Practicing her writing talents in multiple ways, Louise served as the project director of The History of Ashtabula County-Then and Now, as well as writing most of the Conneaut section and several of the other chapters. She had many articles published in magazines, including the national genealogical magazine, “Heritage Quest.” In 1993, she and her best friend Martha Benson wrote a history of Conneaut High School.

In 1996, Louise began writing a weekly freelance genealogy column for the Ashtabula Star Beacon that she continued for over 20 years.

Louise died December 17, 2021, and she rests in Glenwood Cemetery.
Her historical legacy lives on. https://www.acdl.info/event/coffee-and-conversation-23640
https://newspaperarchive.com/ashtabula-star-beacon-may-27-2014-p-10/
(This is one of her 20 years’ worth of columns.)

09/26/2026

Scrapbook Stories
Chapter Two

Mrs. Horace E. Bremner of Ashtaabula compiled several World War II scrapbooks which can be found in the library of the Ashtabula Maritime Museum. She clipped soldier's stories mostly from the Star Beacon and most of the soldiers are from Ashtabula and Lake counties. But she also included some soldiers from all over the country. This story especially illustrates the tragedy of war, any war, and its impact on ordinary people. The Maritime Museum library will publish a booklet and a Powerpoint for Veteran's Day in
November.

Some ironic facts about the death of Marine Corps Reserve Sergeant James “Bob” Robinson Newman who was killed in action by a Japanese shell during the Battle of Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. February 23, 1945 was the same day the U.S. Marines raised the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi. He was a member of the 1st Joint Assault Signal Company that worked with the Navajo Code Talkers.

Before deploying, "Bob" promised his 17-year-old sister, Frances Newman, that he would get her orchids and the prettiest evening gown he could find for her 18th birthday. Following his death, his sister honored his memory by celebrating her 18th birthday with a dance dedicated to him.

When the U.S. military implemented its repatriation program after the war, his parents Gerald W. and Sarah Clifford Newman, brought his body back to Georgia to be laid to rest in the family plot at historic Wesley Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery in Stewart County, Georgia near his hometown, Lumpkin, Georgia. He died three months before his 21st birthday. He was born on May 14, 1924.

Close by is a family member from a previous generation. James Robert Newman was, born August 29, 1898, in Stewart County, Georgia, the son of William Henry and Sarah Slaughter Newman. He too, his buried in the Wesley Chapel Memorial Church Cemetery and he too died at age twenty, on his 20th birthday, August 29, 1918. There are no military records to support the idea that he died fighting in World War I.

These two relatives are separated by a generation, and two world wars, but their symbolic similarities resound. The older James Robert Newman died in August 1918, three months before the November 1918 Armistice. Sgt. James R. “Bob” Newman was killed in action in 1945, during the battle of Iwo Jima, six months before VJ Day in August 1945. Both men had deep roots in the same small town Georgia community, both had the same names, and both of their lives were bordered by the endings of two world wars. Both died when they were twenty years old and both are buried in the Wesley Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery in Stewart County, Georgia.

09/26/2026

Scrapbook Stories

Chapter One

Mrs. Horace E. Bremner of Ashtaabula compiled several World War II scrapbooks which can be found in the library of the Ashtabula Maritime Museum. She clipped soldier's stories mostly from the Star Beacon and most of the soldiers are from Ashtabula and Lake counties. But she also included some soldiers from all over the country. This story especially illustrates the tragedy of war, any war, and its impact on ordinary people. The Maritime Museum library will publish a booklet and a Powerpoint for Veteran's Day in
November.

Ashtabula Star Beacon
Thursday June 14, 1945
Marines ‘Pinch Hit for Buddy-Keep Date with Sister
Macon, Georgia-June 14

Dawn shattered a dream today for 18-year-old Frances Newman who danced till late by candlelight last night in a soft white evening gown to keep a birthday date with her brother.
Sunup and make believe was over. She was Frances Newman, a year older. Her brother lay buried on Iwo Jima. The other Marines here who danced with her brother Jim had planned was on his way back to his barracks. At the foot of her bed was the $100 evening dress, bought by the 4th Marine Division, and in a water glass, drooping a little, were the two white orchids she wore last night.
Eight o’clock and she was on her way to work at Robins Airfield.

Two years ago, her brother James R. Newman promised to get her the loveliest gown, and the finest orchid money could buy on her 18th birthday. He would be back by then, he said, and they would go dancing. Then he went away to war to become a Marine sergeant and to die on bloody Iwo.

Tells It to the General

Frances wanted to tell his general what a fine brother Jim was. She wrote Birg. Gen. Clifton B. Cates, commander of the 4th Marines. It was a story about a boy and his sister who loved each other very much.

The Marines won’t let a buddy down. Jim would do the same for them, his buddies said. They pitched in $100 to buy the white chiffon evening dress. Gen. Cates sent the orchids. They were Frances’ first. The Marines sought a proxy for the dead brother to take Frances to the dance.

Proxy Knocks at door

Last night Staff Sergeant William P. Angelos, Jr., Denver, Colorado, of the 2nd Marine Division, knocked at her door. He had just returned to this country after 33 months in the Pacific – at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese first struck, at Guadalcanal and Saipan.
Her fellow workers were there when the couple entered the enlisted men’s service club at Warner Robins Field. It was lighted by candles.

“It’s like a dream,” Francis told Sgt. Angelos.
“I wish brother could see me” Frances said.

09/22/2026

Pittsburgh Sidelights
May 1957
April Fool Reminder is this picture of a Pittsburgh ship in a peculiar position. Conneaut (Ohio) News Herald ran this photograph to remind their readers of April Fool's Day.

09/22/2026

Pittsburgh Sidelights
May 1957
Fleet Is Blessed at Conneaut
In a traditional ceremony almost forgotten until a few years ago, five Division ships and their crews participated in the Blessing of the Fleet at Conneaut, Ohio, on March 29th.

Over 100 Pittsburgh Steamship officers and crewmen assembled on the deck of the Steamer Thomas F. Cole to hear services conducted by members of the Conneaut Ministerial Association.

A 60 voice ca****la choir from Conneaut's Rowe HIgh School provided the music, and the local Explorer unit of the Boy Scouts of America acted as the color guard. HIghlighting the program was the presentation of Mrs. Gordon Means and her family, who symbolized those left behind when the lake men sail. Her husband, Gordon, is First Mate of the Steamer Richard V. Lindabury.

09/22/2026

Maritime Cameo Critters
Pittsburgh Sidelights
May 1957

The David Cummins Octagon House, Conneaut, Ohio

10/08/2026

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