ac history 2013

Wednesday, January 23, 2013 Gazette Newspapers •1Ashtabula County History

A Gazette Newspapers Publication

History Of

Ashtabula County

2 • Gazette Newspapers Wednesday, January 23, 2013Ashtabula County History

James J. Nance, from Jefferson’s football field to the automotive field

James Nance was a hard workinginnovator whose name and markhave been left on many Ohio busi-nesses and organizations. Phototaken from “The James Nance Lec-tures” given at Cleveland StateUniversity.

BY BARBARA J. HAMILTONGazette Newspapers

As the shiny, sleek and uniquebody of the 1952 Packard rolledoff the assembly line, Jim Nancehad reason to be proud. LeavingHotpoint, he had become thepresident of Packard MotorCompany in May of that yearwith hopes of turning the com-pany around with a merger withStudebaker. Although he had notinfluenced the 1952 design, heplanned to work with designersto keep the bulky taillights anddouble bumper but present anew classy look in the 1955 linethat would dazzle prospective

buyers. Nance also developedtheir first V8 engine and the au-tomatic transmission known asUltramatic.

The Packard-Studebakermerger occurred two years laterthrough Nance’s efforts with thegoal that all four independentautomakers would soon consoli-date. But the expanded mergernever took place and Nance, ru-mored to be wanted by several topcompanies, chose to move to theFord Corporation.

As Vice-President of Ford’smarketing, Nance went intothe company at a time whenFord was turning out a full lineof cars, including the soon to be

doomed Edsel, for the first timein its 54 year history. By thetime he resigned in 1958,Nance had become the head of

Ford’s Mercury-Edsel-Lincolndivision.

SUBMITTED PHOTOSJim Nance exitsa 1955 Packard

Clipper to speakat the 1978

national PackardClub convention

in Los Angeles,California. Photo

credit: StuartBlond, editor of

PackardCollector’sMagazine.

See NANCE page 8

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BY STEFANIE WESSELLGazette Newspapers

JEFFERSON - Moreand more, people fromAshtabula County aremaking a name for them-selves on a national level.

Just this past year,Ashtabula native UrbanMeyer coached The OhioState University Buckeyesto a 12-0 season during hisfirst year as head coach forthem. Prior to that, he no-tably coached the FloridaGators to two BCS Na-tional ChampionshipGame victories, during the2006 and 2008 seasons.

Pretty impressive for a1982 graduate of SaintJohn High School.

Ashtabula County hasproduced other notablesports figures, includingJim Bollman, who servedas the offensive coordinatorof The Ohio State Buck-eyes; Jarrod Bunch, aformer NFL first-rounddraft choice by the NewYork Giants; and MatthewHatchette of Jefferson, aformer NFL wide receiverwith Minnesota Vikingsand New York Jets, amongothers.

But Ashtabula Countyfigures haven’t just madetheir mark in the sportsworld.

Connie Schultz is anAmerican writer and jour-nalist who graduated fromAshtabula High School.She has been a nationallysyndicated columnist basedat The Cleveland PlainDealer newspaper, notablywinning an AmericanPulitzer Prize in 2005 forcommentary. She also ismarried to U.S. SenatorSherrod Brown, and one of

Joshua Reed Giddings

Ashtabula County has its place in historyher books, “...and HisLovely Wife: A Memoirfrom the Woman Besidethe Man” is a journal of herexperiences on the cam-paign trail. Her other book“Life Happens: And OtherUnavoidable Truths,” is acollection of her previouslypublished columns.

Actors and actressesalso have called AshtabulaCounty home at some pointin their life, includingDanielle Nicolet, an Ameri-can actress best knownfrom a supporting role on3rd Rock from the Sun;Maila Nurmi (stage nameVampira), a Hollywood ac-tress raised in Ashtabulabefore moving to Oregon;and Freddie Smith, an ac-tor known for playing Jack-son “Sonny” Kiriakis, thefirst openly gay characterof the daytime soap operaDays of Our Lives.

But it’s not just recentfigures who have made animpact on a national scale.Ashtabula County also isrich with historical figures,from Titanic survivor AnnaTurja to Joshua ReedGiddings and BenjaminWade, two of the earliestand most powerful Repub-licans from 1850–1870.Even today, people can tourGiddings’ old law office inthe Village of Jefferson.The office is a National His-toric Landmark museumowned and operated by theAshtabula County Histori-cal Society.

Giddings led the Con-gressional opposition byfree state politicians to anyfurther expansion of sla-very, and condemned theannexation of Texas (1846),the Mexican War (1846-1848), the 1850 Compro-

mises and the Kansas Ne-braska Act (1854). Follow-ing the war with Mexico,Giddings cast the only bal-lot against a resolution ofthanks to U.S. GeneralZachary Taylor.

Wade was elected presi-

dent of the Senate duringthe Johnson administra-tion and, as such, wouldhave become president ofthe United States had onemore senator voted for theimpeachment of AndrewJohnson.

Other notable historicalfigures include Louis C.Shepard, an American CivilWar Medal of Honor recipi-ent from Ashtabula Countywho is buried in Lakeviewcemetery, Port Clinton, Ot-tawa County, Ohio; PlattRogers Spencer, the inven-tor of Spencerian Script ofwriting; and Decius Wade,an American attorney,judge, writer and politicianwho has been called the“Father of Montana Juris-prudence” for his role inestablishing the commonlaw and statutory law ofthe U.S. state of Montana.

With some digging andresearch, AshtabulaCounty residents can addother historical figures tothat list.

They might also evencome across the oddity ofGeorge Van Tassel, whowas born in Jefferson,Ohio, in 1910. Van Tasselwas a UFO enthusiast andreligious cult leader.

In 1952, over a week be-fore the events of the 1952Washington, D.C. UFO in-cident (a series of uniden-tified flying object reportsfrom July 12 to July 29,1952, over Washington,D.C.), Van Tassel notifiedthe U.S. Air Force, Los An-geles Herald-Examinerand the Life (magazine) ofthe future events of the

1952 Washington, D.C.UFO incident via regis-tered letters.

This event was wit-nessed by thousands ofpeople in and around theWashington, D.C. area andis one of the most publi-cized sightings to have evertaken place. In the said let-ters, he informed the U.S.Air Force, Los Angeles Her-ald-Examiner and Life thatspace craft were going to flyover Washington, D.C. be-fore the end of the month.The events occurred over aweek later.

Air Force Major Gener-als John Samford declaredthat the visual sightingsover Washington could beexplained as misidentifiedaerial phenomena (such asstars or meteors).

Other national figuresspent time briefly inAshtabula County, like as-tronaut Neil Armstrong,who briefly lived inJefferson as a child.

In this special sectiondedicated to the history ofAshtabula County, readerscan learn more aboutcounty figures who havegone on to make a namefor themselves. Alsoshared in this section aretidbits of songs, poetry,movies and more whereAshtabula County is refer-enced.


ANDOVER - An Ameri-can playwright, author,poet and journalist whohelped adapt the novel AllQuiet on the Western Frontby Erich Maria Remarquefor the big screen once hadties to Andover.

Maxwell Anderson wasborn in Atlantic, Pennsyl-vania, the second of eightchildren to William Lincoln“Link” Anderson, a Baptistminister, and CharlottePerrimela Stephenson,both of Scots and Irish de-scent. His family initiallylived on his maternalgrandmother Sheperd’sfarm in Atlantic, then

American playwrighthas ties to Andover

moved to Andover, Ohio,where his father became arailroad fireman whilestudying to become a min-ister. They moved often tofollow their father’s minis-terial posts, and Maxwellwas frequently sick, miss-ing a great deal of school.He used his time sick in bedto read voraciously, andboth his parents and AuntEmma were storytellers,which contributed toAnderson’s love of litera-ture.

This love of literaturecarried on to become a ca-reer, and he went on to be-come a journalist for sev-eral publications as well asa playwright and screen-writer.

Anderson adapted the1930 film version of AllQuiet on the WesternFront, a movie considereda realistic and harrowingaccount of warfare in WorldWar I. It was named #54 onthe AFI’s 100 Years... 100Movies at one time. Thefilm was the first to win theAcademy Awards for bothOutstanding Productionand Best Director.

Anderson wrote or co-wrote other screenplays aswell, including for the 1934film “Death Takes a Holi-day.”

Born Dec. 15, 1888, inAtlantic, Pennsylvania,Anderson died on Feb. 28,1959, at the age of 70, inStamford, Connecticut. Maxwell Anderson

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Ashtabula County History


BY DORIS COOKGazette Newspapers

ORWELL-General AdnaRomanza Chaffee is not afamiliar name to manyfolks in the Grand Valleyarea. Few school students,families or youngsters en-joying the picnic pavilion orplayground equipment or asummer concert in ChaffeeMemorial Park probablyknow how the park got itsname.

Adna Romanza Chafeerose from a farm boy whoenlisted in 1861 as an in-fantry private to fight inthe Civil War, then laterrose up through the ranksof the U.S. Army to becomechief of staff and a general.Chaffee did not graduatefrom West Point MilitaryAcademy, either.

Orwell Village’s townhistorian and formermayor, Jim Jones, has ahefty collection of historicaldocuments, photos and col-lected much history aboutthe famous general. AWorld War II veteran,Jones through the yearssaid he’s given a number ofprograms on GeneralChaffee’s career from hisOrwell humble beginnings.

“Here was a kid, a farmboy, who rose in the Armyranks to a lieutenant at theend of the Civil War in1867. He fought in 54battles of the War betweenthe State,” Jones said dur-ing a recent interview.

Much on General A.R.Chaffee can be found inOhio Historical Societyrecords, U.S. Army recordsand in separate articlesfound in national maga-zines, including the Satur-day Evening Post. When at

Orwell’s Memorial Chaffee Park named for famous hometown Army general

SUBMITTED PHOTOAdna R. Chaffee as a 19-year-old enlistee serving inthe Civil War until 1867.

PHOTOS BY DORIS COOKThis Ohio Historic Marker sign in downtown Orwell Vil-lage is dedicated to the memory of Adna R. Chaffee,born in Orwell, who went from an enlistee in the CivilWar to rise in the U.S. Army ranks to become Chief ofStaff of the U.S. Army.

the end of the Civil War,Chaffee was ready to re-sign, his resignation wasrefused by then Secretaryof War William Stantonand Army General UlyssesGrant. During the CivilWar Chaffee received sev-eral awards for bravery andgallantry.

The U.S. Army officialsafter the Civil War thenassigned him to a post outwest to fight with the 6thInfantry and cavalry units.Raised in rank to CaptainChaffee became an Indianfighter. During his timebetween drilling and lead-ing his men into battle,chasing the likes of ChiefGeronimo and other Indianchiefs and scouting,Chaffee often took the sidesof the Native American In-dians disliking corrupt Bu-reau of Indian Affairs offi-cials, according to officialdocuments.

“Chaffee was a man ofhonor and integrity. Fromwhat I have read andfound, he was blunt, coura-

geous and a leader amongthe U.S. Army officerranks,” Jones said.

“One of the true storiesI have in my collectiondeals with Chaffee comingback from a scouting mis-sion in the western Indianwar era. He was challengedcoming back into the U.S.Army lines by an enlistee.The soldier asked Chaffeefor the password, whichChaffee finally gave. Whenhe asked the youngsoldier’s name, he learnedit was Pvt. RodneyGoddard from Orwell.Chaffee is reported to havesaid to the lad, ‘I knew youwere a damn good man asyou’re from Orwell.’ That isthe kind of person he was,”Jones said.

Chaffee during his earlyU.S. Army career out in theSouthwest territory did alot of studying on the art ofwar written in the historybooks of his time. Aftercoming back East from hisduties in the Indian andMexican Wars, Chaffee wasnext sent to lead a brigadein the Spanish AmericanWar in Cuba. He again wasunder enemy fire, andmade a lieutenant generalfor his bravery and com-mand of the troops.

As a friend of TheodoreRoosevelt, who later be-came U.S. president,Chaffee had the distinctionof leading the U.S. Cavalryin President Roosevelt’s in-augural parade in Wash-ington, D.C. In 1898 beforereturning to the states, thisformer Orwell farm boyturned soldier was nowBrig. General A.R. Chaffeeand served a short stint asmilitary governor of Cuba.

In 1900, Brig. General

Chaffee was sent almostaround the world to the FarEast in China to partici-pate in putting down whatwas known as the BoxerRebellion. He made a namefor himself in commandingthe American volunteertroops sent to rescue theAmerican Protestant andRoman Catholic missionar-ies and families trapped bythis group of native peas-ants known for their typeof guerilla warfare meth-ods.

Chaffee was now in his40th year with the U.S.Army forces when he wassent to China on this res-cue mission. Other foreigncountries - England, Ger-many, Russia and Japan -also sent soldiers, horsesand equipment to China toput down the Boxer Rebel-lion peasant army success-fully with a treaty signed inearly September 1901.

Chaffee’s next assign-ment took him to commandthe U.S. forces in the Phil-ippines.

Then in about 1902 herequested and was grantedcommand of the Depart-ment of the East includingharbor defenses of the At-lantic and Gulf coasts. In1904, Chaffee became a Lt.General and chief of staffand later retired from theArmy in 190 after serving45 years.

With his wife and chil-

dren, Chaffee retired inCalifornia. Jones saidChaffee oversaw andhelped direct the large ci-vilian project bringing awater pipeline down fromthe Sierra Mountains toLos Angeles, Californiaarea. He died in 1914 andis buried along with hiswife and son at ArlingtonMemorial Cemetery in Vir-ginia.

Chaffee’s son, the sec-ond Adna RomanzaChaffee, graduated fromWest Point, fought in WWIand also helped develop theM-24 armored tank. Hedied in 1941.

“He was like his fatherand knew that the Armycavalry no longer could usehorses, so he worked ondeveloping the armoredtanks,” Jones said.

The link between theChaffee family and Orwellcontinued after World WarII.

“Our town officials, in-cluding the late MayorRalph Wann, received aletter from generalChaffee’s daughter, HelenChaffee Elwell of EastHebron, NH, in 1962. Sheasked town officials to con-sider putting a memorialstone for her father at thetown park. I was in theOrwell American LegionPost then and am still along-time member. LarryBenton and I took over the

project to get the stone andsign honoring GeneralChaffee,” Jones recalled.

On Memorial Day 1962the light pink granitemonument stone was dedi-cated by the Orwell Villageand township officials, localLegion Post officials and acontingent of the 83rd Di-vision, U.S Army officers ina ceremony in Orwell withMrs. Elwell attending.Jones said the men fromthe U.S. Army’s FortHusduca Post in Arizonawhere Chaffee commandedduring the Indian warswere contacted by theOrwell American Legionofficials.

The soldiers at the postoffered to make the sign andshipped it to Orwell. De-cades later this sign stillremains intact at the OrwellChaffee Memorial Park.

Orwell former mayor and town historian, Jim Jones standsby his collage of photos about Orwell’s famous home-town hero U.S. Army General Adna R. Chaffee.

SUBMITTED PHOTOMajor General Adna R.Chaffee of Orwell aftercommanding U.S. troops inChina‘s Boxer Rebellionwar, fighting in the Span-ish American War and be-fore his retirement in 1906.

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BY MARTHA SOROHANGazette Newspapers

CONNEAUT - Every-one loves a good mystery,and as Conneaut schoolchildren will tell you, noneis greater than that of the“Conneaut giants,” who in-habited Ohio’s northeast-ern-most corner thousandsof years ago.

This is not just legend.Old photographs of gravesfilled with skeletal remainsof giants, and of personsholding giant humanskulls, verify that personsof extremely large stature,some with double rows ofperfectly preserved teeth,once walked the grounds ofnot only northeast Ohio,but northwest Pennsylva-nia, Tennessee, Minnesota,upstate New York, andother states.

But who the giantswere, and what happenedto their race, remains amystery. Were they, assome theorize, descendantsof the “Nephilim,” giantsdescribed in the Old Testa-ment?

“The Nephilim were onthe earth in those days, andalso afterward, when thesons of God came into thedaughters of men, and theybore children to them.these were the mighty menthat were of old, the menof renown” (Genesis 6:4);“And there we saw the gi-ants, the sons ofAnak, which come of thegiants: and we were in ourown sight as grasshoppers,and so we were in theirsight” (Numbers 13:33).

Whoever the giantswere, they pre-dated theearliest Indian settlers inConneaut.

Harvey Nettleton, Esq.,wrote in his Geneva Timesarticle, “History ofAshtabula County, Ohio:Sketch of the Early Settle-ment of Conneaut Town-ship,” that the area hadlong been “favorable” toIndians, who left behindmounds and buryingplaces.

“The place itself seemedto combine many of the ad-vantages which aredeemed desirable by un-civilized man,” Nettletonwrote. “The forest affordedplenty of game, the streamthat flowed at their feet, as

Who were the Conneaut giants?

This old photograph shows a man near Erie, Pa., holdinga giant skull and skeletal remains of what appear to begiants. Such remains were found not only in Conneaut,but in western Pennsylvania and other areas across theUnited States.

its name — ‘Conneaut’ is aSeneca Indian word mean-ing ‘river of many fish’ —signifies, produced anabundant supply of fish,while the alluvial landsalong the bottoms fur-nished a soil well adaptedto their rude method of cul-tivation.”

Nettleton wrote that thelast people who residedpermanently in Conneautwere remnants of the Mas-sasauga tribe. Their chief,Macqua Medah, or “Bear’sOil,” presided over 40 fami-lies in a village best knownfor a spring of pure water.

Bear Oil and his tribedisappeared from the areaafter murdering a whiteman who thought an In-dian had double-crossedhim after selling him a rifle.When officers at PresqueIsle arrived to take themurderer, as Bear Oil hadagreed, they found theMassasauga settlementdeserted. The Indiansnever returned.

But before these Indi-ans, another race had in-habited the area, accordingto discoveries by early 19thcentury Conneaut settlerAaron Wright. He uncov-ered small mounds in bury-ing grounds on the easternpart of Conneaut. WroteNettleton, “They are be-lieved to belong to a remoteperiod and are the relics ofan extinct race, of whomthe Indians had no knowl-edge.”

Venerated not only asdepositories for the dead,but as altars where reli-gious rites and sacrificeswere performed, themounds were not immedi-ately recognized as such be-cause they were coveredwith trees. The graves,numbering several thou-sand, were aligned in rows,indicated by slight depres-sions in the surface of theearth. Wright found the de-pressions contained humanbones “which on exposureto air, soon crumbled todust.”

“What is most remark-able about them, is thatamong the quantity of hu-man bones they contain,there are found specimensbelonging to men of largestature, and who musthave been nearly allied toa race of giants,” Nettletoncontinued. “Skulls taken

from these mounds thecavities of which were ofsufficient capacity to admitthe head of an ordinaryman, and jawbones thatmight be fitted on over theface with equal facility. Thebones of the arms andlower limbs were of thesame proportions, exhibit-ing occular proof of the de-generacy of the human racesince the period in whichthese men occupied the soilwhich we now inhabit.”

Nettleton wrote, “It willnaturally be inferred thata burying ground of thecharacter above describedmust have been locatedamidst a populous district,and that the surroundingcountry has once been filedwith a multitude of humaninhabitants.”

The “Giants” were alsodescribed by Martha D.

Spalding in 1833 in “TheConneaut Giants:”

“I was at [SolomanSpalding’s] house a shorttime before he left forConneaut. He was thenwriting a historical novelfounded upon the first set-tlers of America. He repre-sented them as an enlight-ened and warlike people.He had for many years con-tended that the aboriginesof America were the de-scendants of some of thelost tribes of Israel, andthis idea he carried out inthe book inquestion....disputes arosebetween the chiefs, whichcaused them to separateinto different bands, one ofwhich was called‘Lamanites’ and the other‘Nephites.’ Between thesewere recounted tremen-dous battles, which fre-

quently covered the groundwith slain; and their beingburied in large heaps wasthe cause of the numerousmounds in the country.Some of these people herepresented as being verylarge.’”

Further proof of a raceof giants inhabiting thearea comes from RobinSwope’s 2010 article in“examiner.com,” “The giantmound builders of Erie.” Itcontains a lengthy accountof the discovery of an“American goliath” in theroadway of the Philadel-phia & Erie Railroad:

“Among the skeletonswas one of a giant side-by-side with a smaller one,probably that of his wife.The arm and leg bones ofhis native AmericanGoliath were about one-half longer than those ofthe tallest man among thelaborers; the skull was im-mensely large; the lowerjawbone easily slipped overthe face and whiskers of afull-faced man, and theteeth were in a perfectstate of preservation.”

Swope described a skel-eton dug up in ConneautTwp., Pa., of a man at leasteight to ten feet tall, andanother nearby with a“skull of unusual size,” andthe discovery of a brasswatch as big as “a commonsaucer. Another ancientgraveyard discovered inwestern Pennsylvania in1820 contained humanbones that “indicated a raceof beings of immense size.”

The web site“HollywoodPsychics.com”mentions the Conneautgiants in “Humanoid Gi-ants Existed! SmithonianCoverup; Not just Theory— Lots of Evidence!” andrelates one myth that Godsent the Flood to destroyhuge “Nephilim” thatthreatened to become thedominant species onEarth. It points out thatgiants have occurred infolklore through thou-sands of years, namelyGoliath, Hercules, PaulBunyan, Jack and theBeanstalk, and the An-cient Pantheon of theGods.

“The Native Americanshave always said thatthere was another race ofpeople that died out longago. This is where the con-

nections to Bigfoot/Saquatch become interre-lated,” the web site says.

If these giants were real,what happened to them?

Authors of numerousarticles suggest that globalevidence of a race of giantshas disappeared or hasbeen destroyed. RossHamilton, in “Holocaust ofGiants: The GreatSmithsonian Cover-Up,”suggests that theSmithsonian Institutioncovered up such discoveries“to produce a preferred his-tory of ancient America. Inother words, theSmithsonian was a con-spirator in 19th-centurypolitical correctness.”

Swope bases his state-ment on the reputations ofcitizens who found theskeletal remains.

“When you live in asmall community, you tendto get to know everyoneexceptionally well, espe-cially in the pioneer daysof the 19th century. Itwould soon be known if theperson is an honest man,a thief, drunkard or huck-ster. That the discoverieswere documented in de-tails with the finders’names and the location ofthe find is noteworthy. Itspeaks volumes of the ve-racity of the find. I thinkour problem is that in our21st century world view,we tend to look at whosewho lived before the mod-ern era of technology asignorant, uneducated andsuperstitious. We forgetthat many of these earlyarchaeologists were edu-cated and honest men.They found somethingspectacular. What did theydo with the bones? Manywere too fragile to be res-cued and crumbled whenthe finders tried to exca-vate them. Others werehaphazardly discarded byworkers...they seem lost tohistory.”

Swope wonders whetherthe bones were given to thelocal government for his-torical value or remained inthe families or with the dis-covers.

“Further investigationis evidently needed. Be thatas it may, the stories of thegiants and the moundbuilders passed from gen-eration to generation astruth,” he said.SUBMITTED PHOTO



AUSTINBURG TOWN-SHIP - The early pioneerCowles family who wereamong the first settlers ofwhat is now AustinburgTownship put down deeproots. Today at least onedescendent, Ginny TicknorSeifert, has compiled withher late mother, MargaretCowles Ticknor, much his-tory and family genealogy,filling scrapbooks andphoto albums.

One famous ancestor,Edwin Cowles, the son ofDr. Edwin Weed Cowles,was born in Austinburg in1825 and later became thepublisher and editor of theCleveland Leader, an earlyCleveland, Ohio, newspa-per. This Cowles also wasan adherent of the Libertyand Free Soil Parties un-til 1855, then became iden-tified with the Republican

Early Austinburg pioneer Cowles family made their mark opposing slavery

Edwin Cowles, early newspaper publisher and editor ofthe Cleveland Leader.

Party.During his career in

journalism, Edwin, the sonof Dr. Edwin Weed Cowles,finished his education atthe Grand River Institute(Grand River Academy) in1843. Prior to attendingGRI, Cowles learned thetrade of a printer andserved an apprenticeshipwith the Cleveland Her-ald, another early paper inthat city.

The first Cowles family,Rev. Giles Hooker Cowlesand children, came to thispart of the ConnecticutWestern Reserve in 1811from Bristol, Connecticut.

Their journey to thispart of NE Ohio was diffi-cult and they met up withIndians and finally putroots down Austinburg.One offspring, BetsyCowles, went to OberlinCollege, was a staunchabolitionist and againstslavery. She was a school

teacher for many yearsand never married.

Edwin Cowles spent hisearly youth days with hisparents in Austinburg,Mantua in Portage Count,Cleveland, Ann Arbor andDetroit, Michigan. TheCowles family owned largeamounts of the land whichtoday makes up LampsonRoad and Route 45, southof I-90, said Ginny Seifert.

“Betsy Cowles was aschool teacher and is mythird great-aunt. Herhome is next door to myhome here on LampsonRoad and Route 45. Thiswas my great-great-grandfather’s home. It wasempty for about a halfdozen years when my hus-band and I decided to comeback here to live. I grew upin Austinburg right nextdoor in my mom’s home,who is the descendant ofthe first Cowles family,”said Seifert, a retiredteacher in the Genevaschool district.

As her ancestor EdwinCowles continued in thenewspaper field, compa-nies dissolved and newones rose. When the Cleve-land Herald closed in 1845,Edwin Cowles became amember of the firm ofMedill, Cowles & Co., pub-lishing the daily ForestCity Democrat, and nineyears later changed thename of the paper to theCleveland Leader.

Cowles bought out hispartners, John C. Vaughand Medill, who went toChicago to purchase an-other newspapers, the Chi-cago Tribune. It was at the

Tribune that Cowles’brother Alfred became thebusiness manager andEdwin was left as sole pro-prietor.

Records show that afterthe great Chicago Fire of1871, the Leader took overthe publication of the Chi-cago Tribune and it did notmiss an issue. EdwinCowles was know as a“fearless and able journal-ist” and remained so untilhis death on March 4,1890.

He also served as theCleveland postmasterfrom 1861-1866 and wasactive in politics. BeforeCowles became active inthe Republican Party, hewas in the Union League ,considered the forerunnerof the Republican Party.Meetings were held at theeditorial rooms of theCleveland Leader duringthe winters of 1854-1855.

When the RepublicanParty was forming, a na-tional convention was heldin Pittsburgh, Pa. Theparty later made its head-quarters in Washington,D.C. after a conventionwas held in Cleveland inMay 1863. It was also re-ported that AbrahamLincolin attended a politi-cal party meeting of theRepublicans at the Leaderheadquarters.

Cowles’ activity in poli-tics influenced his writingsduring the Civil War. In aneditorial in the Leader af-ter the first Civil Warbattle at Bull Run, hewrote an editorial headed:“Now’s the time to abolishslavery as a war, as well as

a moral measure.”It was denounced by

some of theadministration’s friends,who urged PresidentAbraham Lincoln to re-move Cowles as the city’spostmaster. Lincoln re-fused, noting there was nolaw denying the postmas-ters a free expression ofopinion. (This was reportedin the Cowles Family inAmerica: The History ofAshtabula County book.)

Under Cowles’ manage-ment of the ClevelandLeader, which later evolvedinto the Cleveland PlainDealer, he was an advocateof Republican Party prin-

ciples in Ohio.In the mid-1980s, Edwin

Cowles was inducted intothe Press Hall of Fame withthe award given to his greatgranddaughter, Mrs. ArthurLoesser.

Seifert said that the his-toric marker out front of thetwo Cowles’ family homeson Route 45 was placed hon-oring her third great-aunt,Betsey Cowles several yearsago.

“I have so much historyof the Cowles family on mymother’s side of the familytree. It fills a lot of books.And I still am doing (fam-ily) searches,” said Seifertsmiling.

Ginny Seifert of Austinburg is a direct descendant of the early pioneer Cowles family,who came from Connecticut in 1811. She holds some of the family history, includinga large, hand-drawn family tree with many branches identifying the linked familiesand descendants.

PHOTOS BY DORIS COOKThis Ohio Historical Marker honors Betsey Cowles of the early pioneer Cowles familyin Austinburg. It is in front of the Route 45 home where Betsey grew up and linked nowto another descendant family.

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ASHTABULA - Ifyou’ve seen the most re-cent Quentin Tarantinomovie, Django Unchained,then you’ve seen anAshtabula native up onthe big screen, probablywithout even realizing it.

1986 Ashtabula HighSchool graduate JarrodBunch has a small part inthe movie, described at thewww.imdb.com as “Banjo.”

But that’s not Bunch’sonly acting credit. He hasbeen featured in numer-ous commercials, TVguest spots and movieroles. One of his earliestroles was starring asGeorge Foreman in theHBO movie “Don King:Only in America” withVing Rhames, Bernie Macand Jeremy Piven. Themovie won an Emmy forOutstanding Made forTelevision Movie, amongother accolades.

Bunch hasn’t just madea mark in Hollywood,though. In 1991, he was afirst-round draft choice ofthe New York Giants.

Bunch, now living inBeverly Hills, Calif., withwife Robin EmtageBunch, has come alongway from his days of play-ing football at AshtabulaHigh School.

Bunch attendedAshtabula High School,where he earned the dis-tinction of “student-ath-lete.” He was a star foot-ball player and set a worldrecord for weight lifting atage 16. He also set highschool records in polevault and discus, all whilemaintaining a 3.2 G.P.A.

Since no one from hishome town had nevergone pro or earned a fullathletic scholarship to adivision one college, hewas often told, “Don’t ex-pect to go pro” or “Don’texpect to go to a bigschool.” Those doubtsserved only to crystallizehis resolve and made himeven more determined toachieve against the odds.He became the first stu-dent to be awarded a

From the football field to the big screenAHS graduate Jarrod Bunch has role in latest Quentin Tarantino movie

scholarship to attend adivision one college and togo to the NFL.

At the University ofMichigan, Bunch contin-ued to carve his path toathletic stardom. Andwhile the accolades for hispowers on the footballfield kept coming, Bunchremained focused on ac-complishing his academicgoals. He graduated witha Bachelor ’s Degree inSports Management andCommunications andused the fifth year of hisfootball scholarship to at-tend graduate school. Hewas chosen team captainthat same year.

In 1991, the New YorkGiants drafted him in thefirst round. His success onthe field continued, as in1992, he was selected Gi-ants offensive player ofthe year and his 4.8 yardsper carry was second inthe NFL.

Bunch’s career almostended in 1994 due to de-bilitating injuries to hisknee. After several sur-geries, he continued hiscareer in the NFL with theLos Angeles Raiders butretired in 1995.

It was during his timewith the Raiders thatBunch got interested inacting, as he met peopleinvolved in Hollywood.

“There are a lot of op-portunities for entertain-ment when you’re play-ing,” Bunch said. “Myfriends were in the enter-tainment business.”

They suggested he tryacting, and Bunch discov-ered that he liked it. Hewas reminded of the spe-cial talent that he had al-ways possessed: the abil-ity to entertain and en-courage an audience.

Bunch enrolled in “The

Actors Institute,” a pres-tigious acting school inNew York City, andtrained with privatecoaches. In addition to histhespian pursuits, he be-came a color commentatorfor high school and collegefootball games forComcast Network and amodel for “Casual MaleBig and Tall.” He fought inthe “Tough Bowl” (tough-man for NFL players)2002, winning by a TKO.He also is a Black Beltbelt in Brazilian jiu jitsu,winning multiple champi-onships, and has also com-peted in mixed martialarts contest.

To date, Bunch’s televi-sion and film credits in-clude various lead andsupporting roles for suchshows as: CSI Miami,Rozilli & Isles, Entourage,The Forgotten, The Unitand many others. He hashad supporting roles in 14other films and has beencast as a principal per-former in more than thirtynational commercials.

Bunch enjoys acting somuch that he can’t pick afavorite role he’s done.Whatever he’s doing atthe time is his favoriterole.

“The one I like the mostis always my next one,”Bunch said.

Bunch met his wife of14 years, Robin, when shewas the make-up artist forhis first head-shot photog-raphy shoot. They own thebusiness “SILKtage,” anorganic hair and skin se-rum, together. The prod-uct is sold at Whole Foodsbut hasn’t made its way tothis region yet.

Bunch’s next movieproject involves him di-recting a documentary onfootball players

transitioning from collegeto the NFL.

Bunch still returns toAshtabula County fromtime to time, as hismother, Willietta BunchMarbury, still lives inAshtabula. On those vis-its home, though, Bunchsaid he notices that mostof the places that werearound when he wasyounger no longer exist.

Bunch’s advice forother people looking to getinvolved in acting is towork on their craft. Evenif they can’t leave for Hol-lywood of NYC like he did,they should get involvedwith places like theAshtabula Arts Center orattend workshops inCleveland.

“Every opportunity youhave to do that, you have totry,” Bunch said. “So whenthe big opportunity comes,it’s not something new.”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JARROD BUNCH.COMJarrod Bunch is a 1986 Ashtabula High School graduatenow starring in commercials, television and movies.

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For personal reasons henever shared, Nance tookthe next two years off frompublic life and work. Per-haps the fast track he hadbeen travelling through thebusiness corporate worldwas taking a toll.

We do know that henever forgot his hometownof Jefferson and we alsoknow that even during hissuccessful rise in the busi-ness world, he always sub-scribed to the Jefferson Ga-zette and followed the localhappenings. He was a goodfriend of Jefferson Gazetteowners, E.C., E. L. andJohn Lampson, havingspent his school years livingin the brick home across thestreet from the Lampsonhome on North ChestnutStreet. The Lampsons pre-sented Nance with a specialplaque in 1982 as the long-est subscriber at that timein Jefferson Gazette’s his-tory.

Nance was born inIronton, Ohio, in LawrenceCounty to parents, Georgeand Florence Nance. Hespent his very first years onthe family farm. Butshortly afterwards, his fam-ily moved to Jefferson, Ohio,where he attended the localschools, graduating fromJefferson High School in1919 in a class of only sevenboys. Fellow classmates hadfamily names still found inJefferson almost 100 yearslater such as Case, Chapin,Hawley and Beckwith.

As a junior in the 1918Jefferson High Schoolyearbook, “The Hub,”Nance was described as“Jimmy, the cheerleaderwho worked as hard at agame as the players them-selves.” He lettered in bothbasketball and football, aswell as managed the schoolyearbook. This early traitwould follow him into ev-ery executive position hewould hold and gain him areputation of a greatleader and innovator inevery industry challengehe faced. His early respon-sibility as basketball man-ager and the regimen of ahigh school football playerwould develop his charac-ter and contribute to skillsthat would eventually aidhim in leading many com-panies to success.

After graduation, Nanceattended Ohio Wesleyan,graduating with honors in1923 followed by graduatework at The Ohio StateUniversity. His first upwardstep came when he went toDayton to train for fouryears in their executive de-velopment program in 1924.He married Lara Battellethe following year and thecouple had two children.

He was full of ideas andready to work, but a highsalary was never one of hisgoals. He started workingfor General MotorsFrigidaire division in 1928for $75 a week while lead-ing a $7 million advertising

program right through thedepression. According to hisbio in the Dayton Hall ofFame of the Dayton DailyNews of 1961, he is creditedwith making Frigidaire ahousehold name.

Leaving a lucrative posi-tion of commercial managerat Frigidaire, Nance movedto Chicago to work for Ze-nith Radio Corporation, anelectronics firm. A stintwith the War ProductionBoard during WWll was fol-lowed by a move to GeneralElectric Corporation at thewar’s end. With his skills, hewas made president ofHotpoint only a year later.

His time at Hotpointcould only be described asremarkable, for him and forthe company. He turnedHotpoint from an electricstove only company to amulti- appliance giant thatmoved from tenth to thirdplace in the industry in fouryears. in 1946, when Nancetook over the reins,Hotpoint was making $20million, in 1950 they weremaking $200 million.

His amazing leadershipskills were noticed by manyother top companies hopingto turn over greater profits,including Packard andNance was offered the posi-tion of president in 1952,which he took.

After leaving Ford in1958 and taking a two years’hiatus from executive in-dustry work, Nance re-turned to the market in1960 as head of Cleveland’sCentral National Bank. Hehad past experience inbanking when he was in

Chicago working as a direc-tor of the Chicago NationalBank. He was now on theflip side of the industry andlooking forward to seeingwhat changes and ad-vances he could make. By1962, he was made chair-man and CEO of CentralNational.

Nance was now 62 anddecided to make a breakfrom public industry andgo into private consultingby establishing his ownfirm in Cleveland. Hemade his main residencein Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

His community andphilanthropic work be-came more extensive.From 1964- 1970, he waschairman of the Board ofTrustees for ClevelandState University. He wasalso a trustee on theboards of NorthwesternUniversity, Ohio Wesleyan

NANCE From page 2

The Packard Club Convention of 1984 was held on July13th in Houston, Texas. Jim Nance confers with other par-ticipants in his last public appearance. He died oneweek later at his Michigan home.

James J. Nance, known inJefferson as “Jimmy,” let-tered in basketball andfootball at Jefferson HighSchool and graduated in1919. Photo taken from JHS’s1918 yearbook, “The Hub.”

At the 1980 Packard meet at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, Jim Nance posedin front of a 1955 Packard Caribbean convertible once owned by Jean Peters, wife ofHoward Hughes, who purchased the car for her. The man on the left in the light col-ored suit is Stuart Blond, who is writing Nance’s biography. Photo credit: Jim McGuire

and University Hospitals.The College of Business

Administration Academicsprogram and building atCleveland State wasnamed in his honor. Ac-cording to a recent phoneconversation with thebusiness college depart-ment, Nance’s name wasremoved from the buildingand renamed the MonteAhuja Business College inJune of 2011 after a largedonation from Ahuja, thepresent chairman of theBoard of Trustees.

Stuart Blond, currentlyworking on a biography onJim Nance, has discoveredboxes of personal paperson the industry giant do-nated by the Nance familyto Cleveland StateUniversity’s library. Other

PHOTO COURTESY OFSTUART BLOND

In 1982, the Lampson fam-ily, owners of the JeffersonGazette, presented JimNance with a lifetimeaward for being the long-est subscriber to Nance’shometown newspaper.

history and papers can befound in the National Au-tomotive History Collec-tion in Detroit and at theHenry Ford Museum.

James J. Nance died inJuly of 1984. He was pre-ceded in death by his wife,Laura. But Nance’s legacyhas left a mark in multipleindustries that were im-proved and changed by hispresence and expertise. Henever forgot his humblebeginnings and kept intouch with his friends andhometown of Jefferson.He was an honest manwith a big smile and bigdreams. The difference inNance and most of us wasthat we also dream, but hehad the ambition, talentand vision to make thosedreams come true.

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BY SADIE PORTMANGazette Newspapers

On a blue and clearday last August, peoplefrom across the Genevaarea came together tohonor a former Genevaresident who developedhis own script, Platt R.Spencer, as they unveileda monument placed infront of the AshtabulaWestern County Court-house.

Spencer was born onMay 16, 1800, and sawmany changes as he movedto the Ashtabula Countyarea at the age of six.

Spencer grew up inJefferson but would laterreside in the Genevaarea.

He wanted to create awritten language inwhich people could showtheir own personalitythrough the loops andwaves of the script.

“It allowed people tocreate a language on pa-per that was very fastand rapid and very per-sonally expressionable sothat you could make yourwriting look just like youwanted it to,” MichaelSull, master penman andfounder of theSpencerian Saga, said.

Spencerian Script wasdeveloped in 1820s,manifested in 1830s andbecame popular in the1850s and began to cre-ate a more literate soci-ety.

“His handwriting wasso beautiful and so easyto do that it encouragedpeople in the 19th cen-tury to want to learn howto write, and you can’t

Platt R. Spencer scripts a Geneva legacy

Platt R. Spencer was born on May 16, 1800 and devel-oped his own Spencerian Script. Although he was bornin New York, he grew up in Jefferson and later found hishome in Geneva.

write if you can’t read,”Sull said.

Spencer loved thesounds and naturalcurves of nature andused them when develop-ing Spencerian Script.

“When Platt R. Spen-cer was inspired to be-come a master penman,he would be along theshores of Lake Erie andwhat inspired him foreach of the strokes of hischaracters in his alpha-

bet was the wind thatwould blow off of LakeErie and create thegentle curls of waves onthe water,” MichaelPenzenik, principal ofGeneva Platt R. SpencerElementary School, said.

Spencer was a strongbeliever of education andgave Geneva its first li-brary, which is now theWestern County Court-house.

“Platt R. Spencerfounded the original li-brary of Geneva in the1830s and the whole ideaof learning and growingand making yourself abetter person was firstand foremost in hismind” Sull said.

“ [Spencer] bel ievedvery strongly in the

beauty of nature and inthe power and presenceof God,” Sull said.

Spencer not only cre-ated an elegant script, ashis script is consideredone of the f irst to bewidely accessible to thepublic and was more eas-ily learned than previousscripts.

“He felt the ability forpeople to think and toshare their emotionswith others is a God-given blessing that eachof us have,” Sull said.

His first publicationson penmanship were is-sued in 1848 under thetitle Spencer and Rice’sSystem of Business andLadies ’ Penmanship,working closely with Vic-tor M. Rice, which waslater published under thetitle Spencerian or Semi-Angular Penmanship.

Spencer’s other publi-cations on penmanshipappeared from 1855 to1863. The NewSpencerian Compen-dium, which was issuedin parts, was completedin 1886.

Spencer also workedwith United States presi-dents and developed andtaught at Bryant andStratton Colleges.

Spencer gave his finallecture at Bryant andStratton in Brooklyn,New York in the winter of1863 and moved back toAshtabula County.

Spencer, eventhroughout his time inWashington, D.C. andNew York, always foundhis comfort in Geneva.

Spencer died at hishome in Geneva on May16, 1864, but his legacystill lives on in Geneva atthe monument andschool all dedicated tohis name and life’s workof script.

Sadie Portman, re-porter for the Gazette, maybe reached at [email protected].

Ashtabula in songBob Dylan declares Ashtabula as one of the

places he’ll look for his lover in the song “You’reGonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” fromthe 1975 album Blood on the Tracks.

Ashtabula is quite the contrast with the otherlarge cities of Honolulu and San Francisco.

Dylan sings:“I’ll look for you in old HonoluluSan Francisco, AshtabulaYou’re gonna have to leave me now, I know.”

Ashtabula in poetryThe poet Carl Sandburg wrote a poem withAshtabula name checked in the title, “Cross-ing Ohio When Poppies Bloom in Ashtabula,”which is about the transitioning of spring tosummer.Ashtabula is referenced by name toward theend of the poem, with the lines, “Pick me pop-pies in Ohio, mother. Pick me poppies in theback yard in Ashtabula.”He also writes, “shoot up this back yard inAshtabula, shoot it up, give us a daylight fire-works in Ohio, burn it up with tawny red gold.”

Platt R. Spencer’s signature was the epitome of perfectSpencerian Script.

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BY BARBARA J.HAMILTONGazette Newspapers

JEFFERSON - Sinceformer astronaut NeilArmstrong passed awayon Aug. 25, 2012, in Cin-cinnati, his exploits andaccomplishments havebeen lauded. But a por-tion of his early life hasbeen missed by the me-dia.

Armstrong l ived inJefferson in the mid-1930s on two separate oc-casions as a young childand attended JeffersonElementary School forseveral months eachtime. His father Stephenworked for the OhioAuditor’s Office as an ex-aminer and was assignedtwice to AshtabulaCounty. The seniorArmstrong would laterbecome assistant Direc-tor of the Ohio Depart-ment of Mental Hygiene.

The Armstrong familyrented from FrankMarvin, a relative of

Man on the moon once walked Jefferson’s streetsFrank Jones. Marvinowned the building todayknown as the PainesvilleDental Group office onthe east side of NorthChestnut Street and ad-jacent to the Circle Kstore.

Dentist Dr. CliffordWaters l ived with hisfamily across the streetfrom the Armstrongs.Their house was acrossfrom today’s Rite Aiddrugstore. Dr. RichardWaters, a former dentistand son of Dr. CliffordWaters, said he can re-member his sisterShirley, now of LongBeach, California, walk-ing to school with youngNeil.

Dr. Clifford Waterswas young Neil’s dentistand kept his dentalrecords and passed themon to his son, Richard.Two years ago, whenRichard’s granddaughter,Nicole, of San Francisco,California, had a schoolproject, she sentArmstrong a copy of those

dental records with a let-ter of explanation. Muchto her surprise, he wroteback saying that he, ofcourse, could not remem-ber his dentist or dentalvisits, but he had been avery young child at thetime.

A news report sinceArmstrong’s death statedthat his signature hastripled in value whilesigned photos havedoubled.

Neil Armstrong wasborn in Wapakoneta,Ohio, on August 5, 1930,and was interested inaviation even as a youngchild. At the age of six, hetook his first airplaneride and by the age ofnine was building modelairplanes.

He began taking flyinglessons when he was four-teen and received hispilot’s license when hewas sixteen. His firstwife, Janet, died in 1994and his second wife,Carol, died this year.Armstrong is survived by

two sons.After graduating from

Blume High School in1947, Armstrong servedin the Korean War wherehe flew seventy-eightcombat missions. Return-ing from the war, he wentto Purdue University forhis B.S. in aerospace en-gineering, graduating in1955. He received hismaster’s degree from theUniversity of SouthernCalifornia in 1970.

He became a test pilotfor the U.S. governmentand participated in sev-eral flight tests in rocketplanes. He joined thespace program as an as-tronaut in 1962 workingfor NASA. On March 16,1966, he soared throughspace on the Gemini 8.

His famous flight tothe moon in the Apollo 11took place on July 27,1969, Armstrong andBuzz Aldrin landed on themoon. Armstrong becamethe first man on the moonas he took those televisedslow steps on the moon’ssurface.

Like the rocket thattook him to the moon, hiscareer and fame skyrock-eted. But no matter

where he went orwhat he did, heseemed to keepthat small townboy’s spirit.

At his death,his family re-leased a state-ment which inpart said, “Whilewe mourn theloss of a verygood man, wealso celebrate hisremarkable lifeand hope that itserves as an ex-ample to youngpeople aroundthe world to workhard to maketheir dreamscome true, to be willing toexplore and push the lim-its, and to selflessly servea cause greater thanthemselves.”

The football team ofArmstrong’s alma mater,Purdue University’s Boil-ermakers, added a memo-rial to Armstrong on theirhelmets this past season.His name, birth anddeath dates are on theback of the helmet justabove the American flag.The new helmets wereseen at the Notre Dame

game for the first time.When the family was

asked how Armstrongcould best be honored af-ter his death, they re-plied, “Honor his exampleof service, accomplish-ment and modesty, andthe next time you walkoutside on a clear nightand see the moon smilingdown at you, think of NeilArmstrong and give hima wink.”

Neil Armstrong, youhave gone beyond themoon.

Neil Armstrong

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Breakfast of ChampionsAnother recent

Ashtabula County nativeto garner national recog-nition is Tammy Cochran,an American country mu-sic artist.

Cochran was born andraised in AustinburgTownship. Its tranquilsetting would be justright for a country song,according to her biogra-phy on AllMusic.com. Sheknew all of her neighborsand people smiled andwaved when someonewalked by.

There was also enoughsadness and pain inCochran’s life to write acountry song about. Shewas the last born of threechildren, the only daugh-ter of Mabel and DelmarCochran. Cochran hadtwo older brothers,Shawn and Alan, bothtragically born with cys-tic fibrosis. Shawn wasonly 14 when he lost hisbattle with the disease in1980. Alan made it to1991, to the age of 23. Herbrothers’ lives, illnessand deaths touched

SUBMITTED PHOTOAmerican author Kurt Vonnegut referenced Ashtabula in his 1973 novel “Breakfast ofChampions.” Set in the fictional town of Midland City, it is the story of “two lonesome,skinny, fairly old white men on a planet which was dying fast.”

Snapshot: Tammy Cochran

Cochran in a way thatshows in her music, espe-cially in a touching songshe co-wrote called “An-gels in Waiting.”

Cochran signed to EpicRecords Nashville in 2000and released her self-titleddebut album that year, fol-lowed a year later by Life

Happened. These two al-bums produced a total ofsix chart singles for her onthe Billboard countrycharts between 2000 and2003, of which the highest-charting was “Angels inWaiting” at No. 9. A thirdalbum, Where I Am, fol-lowed in 2007.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

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Locations in Ashtabula Countyhave been used in several films, in-cluding “The Dark Secret of HarvestHome,” a 1978 television miniseriesthriller starring Bette Davis. The filmis about a young couple that movesto a quiet New England village, onlyto soon find themselves mixed upin mysterious rituals.

Kingsville also has another claimto fame, as it is the setting for StewartO’Nan’s book “Songs for the Miss-ing.” The novel is about an Ohiogirl’s disappearance and its effect onher community.

Kingsvillein the

spotlight

Ashtabula County’s Joshua Giddings’Law Office still preserved for posterity

PHOTO BY DORIS COOKThe tiny white clapboard wood law office of famous lawyer and anti-slavery movement leader Joshua R. Giddingsis preserved and maintained today by the Ashtabula County Historical Society. It is open for tours by scheduledappointments.


JEFFERSON - A small whiteclapboard office building on busyNorth Chestnut Street in the vil-lage was the law office of JoshuaGiddings, Ashtabula County’s abo-litionist movement leader.

Giddings was not a native son ofthe county, but born Oct. 6, 1795, inBradford County, Pennsylvania.

Giddings was a school teacherfirst, then studied law to be admit-ted to the bar in 1821. He came toJefferson to establish a law prac-tice.

A member of the Whig Party,Giddings in 1826 was elected tothe Ohio House of Representa-tives. By 1831 he formed a part-nership with another lawyer, Ben-jamin F. Wade.

Both men became leading advo-cates in the anti-slavery move-ment in Ohio. Giddings was less afirebrand for the cause than Wade,but both became famous as theabolitionist movement gainedprominence in the North beforethe Civil War.

Giddings law office was built in1823 and still stands at 112 N.Chestnut Street (State Route 46).

It is owned today and maintainedby the Ashtabula County Histori-cal Society.

Both Giddings and Wade wereelected to the U.S. Congress andspent most of their careers as fi-ery outspoken opponents of sla-very. Wade was elected presidentof the U.S. Senate during the An-drew Johnson administration andwould have become president ofthe United States if one moresenator would have voted to im-peach Johnson.

Meanwhile, Giddings in 1842was forced to resign from Congressafter he was censured for defend-ing slave mutineers aboard theship Creole. The African slavesoverpowered the crew and mur-dered one man, then sailed theship to Nassau, Bahamas wherethey were declared free.

A diplomatic controversyerupted and Giddings as an OhioCongressman and lawyer arguedthat once the ship was out of U.S.territorial waters the mutineers(slaves) were entitled to liberty,early records show. Giddings wascensured by the House of Repre-sentatives and resigned, but hewas quickly reelected and sentback to Congress.

For his 20 years in Congress,Giddings continued to use thenation’s capitol building to debatethe issues of slavery. His home inOhio served as a station on the Un-derground Railroad before and af-ter his election to Congress.

In 1861, President AbrahamLincoln appointed Giddings as theU.S. general consul general toCanada. Giddings died inMontreal, Canada on May 27,1864.

The ACHS formed in 1836 inJefferson and later became own-ers of Giddings Law Office, stillpreserved today as it resembledthe famous lawyer when he firstpracticed law here.

Giddings was also one of thefounders of the Republican Party.With his son-in-law George Julian,Giddings and he were part of theRadical Republicans in Congress.

The law office site was namedto the National Register of His-toric Places in May 1974. Tours aregiven at the Giddings Law Officeby appointment only. To schedulea tour, call the ACHS at (440 466-7337 or Cher Shepard at (440) 813-8618.

(Historical information fromACHS archival records.)


Mysteries of D-DayWas Axis Sally from Conneaut?

BY BARBARA J.HAMILTONGazette Newspapers

When Mildred Gillars,step-daughter of Conneaut,Ohio, dentist, Dr. R. B.Gillars, graduated from Conneaut HighSchool in 1917, no one could have guessedthat the petite, blond girl would one day betried for treason.

Gillars had a flair for drama anddreamed of being an actress. She has beendescribed as a refined, lovely and musicallytalented woman.

The mother of Conneaut resident,Nancy Bachelor, was a friend of EdnaGillars, step sister to Mildred Gillars.Batchelor ’s mother, Isla Howard, tookNancy, as a young child, to tap and balletlessons given by Edna in the old ClevelandHotel, Conneaut. While talking withBatchelor recently, she told me her mothersaid Edna rarely talked about her sister.

After high school, Gillars studied dramaat Ohio Wesleyan College, but instead ofgraduating, she followed her acting hopesand went to New York.

Just before the World War II broke out,she went to Dresden to study music. In1940, she got her break when she was of-fered a job with Radio Berlin. as an an-nouncer and actress of live radio plays.

She stayed with Radio Berlin until theend of the war.

She made the ill-fated choice to perpe-trate propaganda to the Allied troops. Sheplayed on the loneliness of soldiers andfound out personal information on many of

them and fabricated unfaithfulness in thewives and girlfriends of our men.

She attacked President Roosevelt, hispolicies, our military and anything thatwould demoralize our soldiers. She playedAmerican popular music as her backgroundin hopes of stirring up homesickness in themen and seeking to lower morale.

Our soldiers nicknamed her “Axis Sally, “butshe referred to herself as “Midge At The Mike.”

Her most damaging broadcast airedshortly before D-Day on May, 11, 1944. Theplay, “Vision of Invasion,” used sound effectsand distressed voices portraying scenes of amother whose dead soldier son comes to herin a dream and calls out to her as he is dy-ing a horrible death by fire aboard an inva-sion ship in the English Channel.

The famous line from the announcer of theplay is, “The D of D-Day stands for doom...disaster...death...defeat...Dunkerque orDieppe.”

When the Germans surrendered on May6, 1945, Gillars melted into the disappearedinto the throngs of displaced persons.

But, since everyone, military and the gen-eral public knew of her and the damage shehad done, the hunt was on the mysteriousAmerican who sold out to the Nazis. Fornearly three years, she was on the run andin hiding. Perhaps her acting talents kepther undiscovered during that time.

She was captured inGermany in 1948 and sentback to the United Stateswhere she was chargedwith ten counts of trea-son.

After six weeks of tes-timony, in which she showed no emotion,she was found guilty on one count, and thatwas based on her damaging broadcast play,“Vision of Invasion.”

Of her cool unflinching courtroom air,her half sister, Mrs. Edna Mae Herrick, tolda reporter with the Charleston, West Vir-ginia Gazette, “I don’t think EthelBarrymore could have received the verdictany better.”

When the judge asked Gillars if she hadanything to say, she began, “I shall neverbe able to understand why I was foundguilty...”

Although the maximum sentence wouldhave been the death penalty and the mini-mum penalty, five years imprisonment,Gillars received 10-30 years with the pos-sibility of parole in 1959. She waited twoyears to seek release after 1959; most likelyfor fear of retaliation.

She moved into a Columbus, Ohio, con-vent and then taught English and Germanin a Catholic prep school in Columbus.

In 1973, she returned to Ohio Wesleyanto get her degree she had passed up before.

Gillars, born in 1900, in Portland,Maine, died at age 87 on June 25, 1888 inColumbus.

To hear an actual portion of one of AxisSally’s broadcast, go to Earthstation1.comand click on “Axis Sally.”

SUBMITTED PHOTOMillard Gillars, 1917 ConneautHigh School graduate, workedin Nazi propaganda for RadioBerlin and gained the name,“Axis Sally.” Captured in 1945in Germany, she was tried fortreason and served 11 years ofher 30-year sentence, neverdenying her involvement.

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BY SADIE PORTMANGazette Newspapers

When people think of history,they think of men and women ofthe past. Many forget history isbeing written every day, andAshtabula native and EdgewoodSenior High School graduateFreddie Smith is one of those rareglimpses of history in the making.

Smith was born on March 19,1988, an only child who woulddream beyond the borders ofAshtabula County and the watersof Lake Erie.

Smith, after graduating fromhigh school, decided to move toLos Angeles, California, and pur-sue an acting career.

“It’s very exciting,” said hismother, Renee Smith ofAshtabula, who is also Freddie’sbiggest fan.

Freddie’s first big break wouldcome in 2008, when he appearedin a cameo role in the NationalBroadcasting Center ’s (NBC)series “Medium” playing a seniorboy. His role is uncredited during

that episode.Freddie would take small steps

to achieve a name in Hollywood,appearing in two short films in2010, Weak Species and OneWish.

Eventually Freddie would beseen in both Kay Jewelers andVerizon Wireless commercials andmagazine advertisements.

Freddie received his big breakin 2011 when he joined the castof the CW series 90210 in a recur-ring role as Marco.

Freddie ’s character Marcowould become a role model for gayteens as Marco was a gay soccerplayer who became involvedwith the character Teddy Mont-gomery.

After it was announced Freddiewould not be on 90210 past thethird season, Freddie continuedhis path in Hollywood when hewas cast as Jackson “Sonny”Kiriakis on the NBC daytime soapopera, Days of Our Lives.

Freddie continued his legacy asa role model for those dealingwith being gay in America as

Kiriakis is the first openly gaycharacter on Days of Our Lives.

Freddie f irst appeared asKiriakis on June 23, 2011, andstill enjoys the character.

“He is the center-of-attentionkind of guy but in a good way. He’svery confident and mature, he’straveled the world and is veryopen-minded. I’m very excited toportray him,” Freddie said in aninterview with TV Guide in itsFeb. 5, 2012 issue.

This past summer, on July 19,2012, in Washington, D.C,Freddie went to the United StatesCongress and spoke about bully-ing, keeping sports programs inschools and foster care mentoring.

“I wanted to let people knowthat parents need to get involvedat an early age. They need to un-derstand that it isn’t just funny,it has a negative effect on peoplelater in life,” Freddie said.

Freddie continues to advocateagainst bullying in schools.

“I am very proud of all that hehas accomplished,” Renee said.

SUBMITTED PHOTOFreddie Smith is a 2006 graduate of Edgewood SeniorHigh School and has now appeared on both 90210 andDays of Our Lives.

Freddie Smith finds successand advocacy in Hollywood

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Lawrence Morgan “Larry” Kelley

Lawrence Morgan “Larry” Kelley, an Ameri-can football player for Yale University, was thesecond winner of the Heisman Trophy.

Kelley (May 30, 1915 – June 27, 2000) wasborn in Conneaut, Ohio. He played end for YaleUniversity. While at Yale he was a member ofDelta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and Skull andBones and was the second winner of theHeisman Trophy in 1936, the year it was re-named in honor of John Heisman. His jerseynumber was 19.

Kelley was an All-American end and the cap-tain of the Yale football team. Following his ca-reer at Yale, he played for the Boston Sham-rocks of the American Football League in 1937.He is a member of the National Football Foun-dation and the College Football Hall of Fame.Following his career in football, Kelley was ahistory teacher and alumni director at thePeddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey, hisalma mater.

He taught English at Cheshire Academy andspent 12 years in the glove-manufacturing in-dustry.

Conneautnative won

the HeismanTrophy

Novels have been written about Ashtabula County, too.Published in 1960, “The King from Ashtabula” by

Vern Sneider is a satire on that time period’s ideas andattitudes, recounting the adventures of a SoutheastAsian boy who goes to college in Ashtabula, Ohio, butis called home to be king of the Nakashima Islands.

The novel can still be purchased today or found inlibraries.

A quote: “He was at a Cambridge College in a placecalled Ashtabula, Ohio.”

The King from Ashtabula

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Notable people fromAshtabula County

“Hey, no skin off myAshtabula. You want tostay here plucking cows,that’s your business.”

— Ernie Capadino,portrayed by Jon Lovitz in themovie A League of Their Own

PHOTO BY COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION 1992

Andover• Maxwell Anderson ,American playwright, au-thor, poet, journalist andlyricist

Ashtabula• Jim Bollman, offensivecoordinator of the OhioState Buckeyes

• Charles E. Burchfield,American watercolorpainter

• Edwin Cowles (1825–1890), born in Austinburg,publisher and editor of theCleveland Leader and oneof the founders of the Re-publican Party[7]

• Joshua Reed Giddingsand Benjamin Wade, twoof the earliest and mostpowerful Republicans from1850–1870

• Jesse Fuller McDonald,16th governor of Colorado

• Anna Turja, Titanic sur-vivor

• Urban Meyer, head foot-ball coach at The OhioState University andformer head football coachat the University of Florida

• Joseph Naper, founderof Naperville, Illinois

• Danielle Nicolet ,American actress bestknown from a supportingrole on 3rd Rock from theSun

• Maila Nurmi (stagename Vampira), Holly-wood actress raised inAshtabula

• Decius Wade,was anAmerican attorney, judge,writer, and politician whohas been called the “Fa-ther of Montana Jurispru-dence” for his role in estab-lishing the common lawand statutory law of theU.S. state of Montana.

• Sheila McCarthy, 1994state runner-up in highjump• Tim Henson, creator ofThe Distorted View Show,an online podcast.• Freddie Smith, Actor,known for playing Jackson“Sonny” Kiriakis, the firstopenly gay character of thedaytime soap opera Daysof Our Lives.

Conneaut• Mildred Gillars, Ameri-can female radio personal-ity (Axis Sally) duringWorld War II, best knownfor her propaganda broad-casts for Nazi Germany.

• Osee M. Hall, a U.S.House Representativefrom Minnesota.

• Joseph Russell Jones,appointed by Ulysses S.Grant to Minister Residentto Belgium.

• Larry Kelley, Americanfootball player for YaleUniversity, second winnerof the Heisman Trophy

• John R. Pillion, Repub-lican member of theUnited States House ofRepresentatives from NewYork.

• George MortonRandall, United StatesArmy general.

Jefferson• Julius C. Burrows,U.S. Representative and aU.S. Senator from Michi-gan.

• Theodore Elijah Bur-ton, U.S. Representativeand U.S. Senator

• Matthew Hatchette,former NFL wide receiverwith Minnesota Vikingsand New York Jets

• Elbert L. Lampson,Lieutenant Governor ofOhio, former state Senator

• George Van Tassel,UFO enthusiast and reli-gious cult leader

• Benjamin FranklinWade, lawyer and U.S.Senator, President protempore of Senate

Orwell• General Adna Chaffee, aLieutenant General in theUnited States Army

• Russell Allen, as of 2006the oldest living AmericanOlympic cyclist

Urban Meyer

Andover/

Orwell

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