Mysterious Green Island?

Does Green Island hold a long lost secret?  A forgotten lighthouse lost in obscurity, overgrown with vegetation and now a state owned bird sanctuary.  In the 1820’s the island was known as Strontium Island because of the crystallized Celestine or Strontium discovered in the cliffs along the eastern side of the island, by Major James Delafield.   Delafield was an agent of the International Boundary Commission as established by the Treaty of Ghent.  In 1851 the U.S. Government purchased the island from Alfred Pierpont Edwards.  A frame lighthouse was completed by November of 1855.  The light was destroyed in a New Year’s Eve fire in 1863.  The lighthouse keeper Colonel Charles F. Drake and his family were the only residents of the island escaped with barely their lives; a storm of freezing rain ravaged the island the very night of the fire. The family dragged a feather bed into the privy and huddled beneath it  until a rescue party reached them. Rescuers moved the family to Put-in –Bay where they gradually recovered from their ordeal.  Colonel Drake’s hands and face were severely burned in the attempt to save his family.  In Harry Ross’s book Enchanting Islands of Lake Erie, he writes about the islands role in the Manhattan project.  Many local residents disregard the premise.  In 1990 Green Island was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park service.

Part two will be featured next month

GERMAN & ITALIAN P.O.W.s @ CAMP PERRY

 

          While working on our local Bataan collection; and, in my involvement with the Ottawa County Historical Society’s oral history project, it became quite clear that we needed more information in one central location regarding the German and Italian prisoners housed at Camp Perry.

 

          Donna Bovia, our late local author, created a legacy in print to those passed through the gates of Camp Perry. There are also newspaper articles from the Port Clinton Herald and Republican from October 1943 when the POWs first arrived until they departed in December 1945. These articles have been very useful in my research. The Italian prisoners were the first to arrive and they were settled into their five-man huts. The prisoners had their own mess hall where the meals were prepared by their own cooks. Prisoners also had their bakers, laundry and cobblers for shoe repair.

 

          German prisoners began arriving in June 1944. In July 1944 a larger group arrived after their capture in Normandy, France. All prisoners were put to work as farm laborers, if physically able (unwounded). Local farmers and fruit growers who were within a 50 mile radius of Camp Perry were provided with laborers. The prisoners were paid $.80 per day plus a basic allotment of $.10 per day. The local farmers, growers and others who were provided with the laborers paid the U.S. Government a fee of $2.00 per day for each worker. Anna writes that “in 1945 $2,000,000 was paid to the U.S. Treasury” from the German and Italian P.O.W.s working in the fields and at side camps.

 

          The prisoners also tended a 5 acres vegetable garden at the Camp which resulted in a $5,000 savings to the amount that was necessary to feed the prisoners. Over 1,000 bushels of potatoes alone was produced from the garden.

 

          The oral History Committee has collected a number of stories about this time period at Camp Perry. We are also interested in adding to these stories. If you are interested in contributing to our local history, please contact Connie Cedoz at the Ida Rupp Public Library, (419) 732-3212.

 

 

 

Sources

 

          Bovia, Anna L. and Maj. Gary L. Wirzylo. Camp Perry 1906 – 1991. The Hubbard Company, Defiance, Ohio. 1992.

 

          Ottawa County News. July 13, 1945.

Ottawa County Courthouse

The Ottawa County Courthouse is a picturesque building. I have answered many questions regarding the style, cost, etc. Here is a concise description of what I have discovered. The source of the following information is primarily newspaper articles.

            The structure is in the Richardson Romanesque style, constructed of North Amherst, Ohio sandstone and Pink Tennessee marble. Construction started in 1898 and was completed in 1901. The contract price for the Courthouse was $47,500; additions and changes brought the price to $60,000. This did not include the steam heat, furniture and other fittings. The total cost was $65,500. The cost of decorating the 3^rd floor Common Pleas courtroom exceeded $1,000.

            The tablet that records the name, company and regiment of every soldier and sailor from Ottawa County who served in the Civil War was paid for by the funds generated from a ¼ mill property tax levy which was approved by the voters.

            During construction a five ton stone was to be transferred from the south face to the north face. While the stone was being moved, a cable on the derrick parted and the stone & derrick fell. It fell on Conrad Balduf knocking him to the ground. Miraculously, Balduf was not seriously injured. The construction firm presented him with jersey cow. “Coonie” had just lost a milk cow shortly before the incident.

            In 1974, the Ottawa County Courthouse was added to the national Register of Historical Places.

          Etienne Brule was often treated as though he were a mythical character. The facts are these: there were no letters or diaries left behind by Brule to give us his account of life as one who literally became a native with the Hurons.

 

          Brule fully integrated himself, learning the language and the customs. It was in 1610 that Samuel de Champlain the exchange with the natives. Young Brule was 16 years old and he was one of eight who managed to survive the winter of 1608 and 1609 with Champlain in Quebec.

 

          Brule was aid to be strong and adventurous; often called “first runner of the woods.” When he did return to Quebec, he was said to be unrecognizable. The Frenchman was accepted as a native of the Metis Nation. He had an impact on Canadian history. It is accepted as local history that Etienne and his fellow travelers landed at the Toussaint Creek of the Portage River on November 1, 1615, All Saints Day. This tributary of the Portage River was named for the date of his discovery. Toussaint means All Saints.

 

          Here he trapped muskrat and beaver for the fur trade with the natives. In 1629, Brule was killed by the Hurons for a betrayal that he committed. He was stabbed, dismembered and his remains were consumed by the villagers, as was their custom.

 

          Brule was born in 1592 in Champigny-sur-Marne, France. He died a Toanche, on the Pentanguishene Peninsula, Ontario, Canada.