Nov 25

Tombstone Tuesday-Louisa (Alt) Kable

Louisa (Alt) Kable, St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio. (2023 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Louisa (Alt) Kable, located in row 1 of St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Louisa
Kable
1878-1918
CHRIST IS MY HOPE

Louisa Alt was born in Mercer County, Ohio, on 30 April 1878, the daughter of Frederick and Ursula (Koch) Alt. Louisa was baptized on 13 June 1878 by the minister of St. Paul Lutheran, Liberty Township. [1] Louisa’s parents were both immigrants from Germany.

Louisa, age 2, in 1880, living with her family in Liberty Township: Frederick Alt, 58; Ursula, 39; Catherine, 17; Barbara, 15; Sophia, 13; Phoebe, 10; Frederick J, 7; Caroline, 5; and Louisa, 2. The father Frederick was a farmer. [2]

Louisa Alt married Philip William Kable Jr. on 7 February 1895 in Mercer County, married by St. Paul Liberty’s minister S. Hunziker. [3] Groom Philip W. Kable Jr. (1874-1947) was the son of Philip W. Sr. (1850-1915) and Caroline (Koch) (1849-1923) Kable.

A daughter, Mathilda Louisa Kable, was born to Philip Jr. and Louisa Kable on 15 September 1895 (calculated) and died 22 April 1897, aged 1 year, 7 months, 8 days. [4]

In 1900, Philip Jr., 25, wife Louisa, 22, and daughter Clara, 10 months, born August 1900, lived in Liberty Township, Mercer County. The couple reported that they had been married five years, that Louisa had given birth to two children but only one was living, all of them were born in Ohio, and the Philip worked as farm labor. [5]

The Philip Kable Jr. family in 1910: Philip Kable Jr, 35; Louisa, 31; Clara, 10, daughter; and Lawrence, 8, son. Louisa had given birth to 3 children and 2 of them were living. Louisa’s husband Phillip Jr. was a farmer. [6]

Louisa (Alt) Kable died from tuberculosis on 7 August 1918 and was buried on the 10th.  She left behind her husband and two children. [1] [7]

Louisa’s widowed husband Philip W. Kable Jr. married Gertrude C. Maurer (1895-1973) in 1919. 

[1] Records of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio, p.137, newer book, Louisa (Alt) Kable death; p.120, older book, Louisa Alt baptism.

[2] 1880 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 188, p.478C, dwelling 119, family 126, Frederick Alt; Ancestry.com.  

[3] Records of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio, p.234, old book, Philip Kable Jr & Louisa Alt. And Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, Mercer Marriages 1887-1904, p.88, Philip Kable & Louisa Alt, 7 Feb 1895; Ancestry.com.

[4] Records of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio, p.278, old book, Mathilda Louisa Kable death.

[5] 1900 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 85, p.209A (stamped), dwelling 244, family 250, Philip Kaleb [sic]; Ancestry.com.

[6] 1910 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 119, p.9B, dwelling 165, household 167, Philip Kable Jr; Ancestry.com.  

[7] Ohio Deaths, 1908-1932, 1938-1944, 1958-2007, Louisa Kable, 7 Aug 1918; Ancestry.com.

Nov 21

Stringtown School, 1921

Thanks to Denny for sending this 1921 photo of the students at Stringtown School. Stringtown School No.8 was located in Dublin Township, Mercer County, Ohio, a couple miles south of Rockford.

It appears this photo is an old postcard with the names of the students written on the back.

1921 Stringtown School students, Dublin Township, Mercer County, Ohio.

Front row:
Fritz Zizelman, Gail Beougher, Rich Zizelman, Lew Williams, Theodore Koeppel, Cordier Hiles, Ford Koeppel.

Second row:
Elie Koeppel, Hattie Koeppel, Vernon Hole, Mary Hiles, Opal Beougher, Florence Beougher, Inez Hole, Fannie Hiles, Harry Beougher, John Williams.

Third row:
George Maier [?], Mabel Williams, Opal Dietrich, Lowell Frysinger, Koester Hole, Albert Zizelman.

It appears that Lowell Frysinger was the teacher.

A few of those names are familiar to me.

It looks like the students were ready to play ball. Several students have baseball gloves, one has a bat, and another has a baseball. 

I do not know much about Stringtown School or how the name Stringtown originated. The school was located on the corner of State Route 707 and Lombard Road, about a mile east of State Route 118, on the southwest corner of Section 27. Otterbein/Stringtown Church was located about a half mile west of the school, in Section 28. Both were on the north side of 707.

What a nice photo! Perhaps someone knows more about Stringtown School.

Nov 11

Veterans Day

Be sure to thank a veteran today, on Veterans Day.

This federal holiday is observed to thank, honor, and remember our United States veterans.

Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day and was created to commemorate of the end of World War I. Fighting between the Allied Nations and Germany ceased on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. That date is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

Armistice Day became a legal holiday on 11 November 1938, primarily to honor World War I veterans and dedicated to the cause of world peace. After World War II and the Korean War the name was changed to Veterans Day. On 1 June 1954 Veterans Day became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

Veterans deserve our thanks and gratitude and so much more.

To all veterans, thank you for your service to our country.  

Nov 07

Historic County Boundary Maps

If you enjoy seeing how county boundaries changed over the years, you will want to take a look at The Newberry Library’s online Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. Their website provides an excellent timeline with an explanation of the boundary changes.

I will use my home county, Mercer County, Ohio, as an example of how to use this interesting feature.

To go directly to the page: Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries

Click on “Go to Maps” and select Ohio.

Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries

The screen below shows the area that included what is now Ohio in 1778, named Illinois County. You can advance the timeline two ways. One, by using the drop-down timeline on the right side of the page, which includes a description of the map. You can also advance the timeline at the bottom of the page, using the sliding timeline, advancing a year or two at a time.

The old county boundaries are superimposed over a current map and you can zoom in and get a closer look of the area.

Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries, 1778, Illinois County.

Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries, 1778, Illinois County.

There is a brief history with each map. On the first map image, Ohio Map 12/9/1778-2/29/1784 : Change: Illinois County (Va., extinct) created by Virginia to encompass all territory north and west of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River claimed by Virginia on the basis of its 1609 charter; Illinois County included all of present Ohio.

By 1800, the southern portion of Mercer County was Hamilton County and the northern portion was Wayne County. Sort of. The dividing line was at an angle.

1800, Hamilton County, Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

1800, Wayne County, Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

By 1803 we see a change. Our area was called Montgomery County.

1803, Montgomery County, Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

By 1812 what we now know as Mercer County was called Non-County Area 6, part of Montgomery lying north of the Indian Boundary reverted to Non-County Area 6, attached to Darke, indirectly through Darke to Miami for administrative and judicial purposes.

1812, Non-county area, Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

There was a big change April 1820, when Mercer County became a county. It was created from Non-County Area 6 attached to Darke and Non-County Area 7 attached to Shelby. There was no Auglaize County at that time and St. Marys was the county seat of Mercer County. Allen County was directly east of Mercer County.  

1820, Mercer County, Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The next big change was in March 1848, when Auglaize County was formed. Mercer exchanged with Darke and lost land in the creation of Auglaize, and lost land to Allen and Van Wert.

1848, Mercer County, Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The Mercer County boundary timeline ends at 1888.

In addition to the map images, the drop-down timeline on the right has additional features. The first selection is “All Changes.” That page gives the Consolidated Chronology of State and County Boundaries, telling all the state and boundary changes for the selected area. Also in that drop-down is a “Commentary” about Ohio. Both are good resources if you are looking for narratives, not maps.

This gives you an idea of what you can learn from these maps of county boundary changes, for any county in the country.

Very interesting, with a lot of history and very easy to use. Have fun looking through these maps.

Oct 31

Happy Halloween!

All Hallows’ Eve. Monster Night. Fright Night. Witching Hour. All Saints Eve. Trick or Treat Night. Ghost Night. Just a few other names for today, Halloween.

To commemorate Halloween this year, I am re-posting a blog post from several years ago, Haunted Mercer County. It was a fun, unscientific research project performed by Joe and me right here in Mercer County, to prove or disprove some local urban legends.

When you think of haunted places in Ohio, northern Mercer County is probably not the first place that comes to mind. But this area seems to be a hotbed of paranormal activity according to the Internet and some other sources. They identify several haunted places very near here. Legendary places where people claim they have witnessed supernatural activity. And for some unknown reason the majority of these sites are in northern Mercer County, in the Mendon area.

Are these spooky tales perpetuated by teenagers or those that seek out paranormal activity? Or are these places truly haunted?

It was two weeks before Halloween, on a night with a full moon, that Joe and I decided to do a little ghost hunting ourselves. Try our hand at being Ghost Busters. We visited some of the rumored haunts during the day and others under the light of the full moon. Did we see or hear any paranormal activity? Read on.

Palmer Cemetery:

Palmer Cemetery, Palmer Road, Mendon, Ohio. (2013 photo by Karen)

This is a small family cemetery on Palmer Road, west of Mendon. The cemetery is in the middle of a field, about 200 yards from the road. A stately old cement arch by the road marks the location of a grassy lane that leads to the burying ground. Two cement lions with green glass eyes once flanked the arch. It is said that the green eyes glowed in the dark and spooked passing horses. I recently learned that the glowing eyes may have been a result of luminous paint. A broken portion of a lion’s claw is all that remains of those statues at this location.

Palmer Cemetery. (2013 photo by Karen)

A stone wall surrounds the family plot back in the field. During the day the area is quiet and peaceful. Nothing out of the ordinary appeared. In fact, I think the Palmer family would be interesting to research.

Palmer Cemetery

One of the tombstones supposedly glows in the dark and is visible from the road. We drove by slowly in the light of the full moon, looking for a glowing tombstone. One stone did appear to have a pale green aura, but Joe pointed out that the aura was from a distant farm night light, its light seeming to glow around the stone.

Palmer Cry-Baby Bridge:

Cry-Baby Bridge, Palmer Road, Mendon, Ohio. (2013 photo by Karen)

Palmer Cry-Baby Bridge is about half a mile down the road from Palmer Cemetery and spans the St. Marys River. There are a several variations of this bridge’s legend: 1) A father threw his baby over the bridge and killed his wife. 2) A man killed his wife and baby and then hanged himself from a tree at the bottom of the bridge. 3) The devil killed a family under the bridge.

It is said that if you park on the bridge at night, turn off your car engine and lights and roll down the windows, you will hear a baby cry. Then a ghost will appear, enter your car engine and disable it. You will have to push your car off the bridge before it will start again. Yes, that sounds very plausible.

Cry-Baby Bridge. (2013 photo by Karen)

We followed all those instructions under the full moon. Twice. Our car started just fine both times. No ghost. No baby’s cries. I thought I heard a howl once, but Joe said it was just the wind blowing through the trees.

As we sat there in silence I wondered if we would be able to push our car off the bridge if it would not start. What would we do if we could not get our car started? Joe said that he could steer our car if I would push it.

Tomlinson Cemetery:

Tomlinson Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2013 photo by Karen)

This cemetery is on Tomlinson Road, at the Mercer-Van Wert County line. The remains of Tomlinson Church are across the road. It is said that if someone stands in the middle of the cemetery and another person walks backward around the cemetery, the person standing in the center of the cemetery will disappear.

This is a rather large cemetery, and I decided not to walk backward around it. Too dangerous. Besides, Joe said he did not want to disappear. And to be honest, I did not want him to disappear either. After all, the legend never explained where the person disappeared to or gave instructions on how to get them back. Way too risky.

Tomlinson Cemetery

Bloody Bridge:

Bloody Bridge, Auglaize County, Ohio. (2013 photo by Karen)

Bloody Bridge is in Auglaize County and crosses the Miami-Erie Canal south of Spencerville. Bloody Bridge looks a lot like Cry-Baby Bridge, probably because both were recently rebuilt. The Auglaize County Historical Society erected a sign near Bloody Bridge in 1979 that tells its spooky tale:

BLOODY BRIDGE
During the canal years of the 1850’s a rivalry grew between Bill Jones and Jack Billings for the love of Minnie Warren. This became hatred by Bill because Minnie chose Jack. On a fall night in 1854, returning from a party, Minnie and Jack were surprised on the bridge by Bill. Armed with an ax, with one swing, Bill severed Jack’s head. Seeing this, Minnie screamed and fell from the bridge into a watery grave. Bill disappeared, and when a skeleton was found years later in a nearby well, people asked was it suicide or justice.

It is said you can see a woman’s face in the waters of the canal when standing on the bridge. The only thing we saw in the water was an old tire.

They Curse of Saint Michael, Catholic Cemetery, St. Marys:

Mooney memorial, Gethsamane Catholic Cemetery, St. Marys, Ohio. (2021 photo by Karen)

A spooky urban legend is connected with Gethsemane Cemetery in St. Marys, Auglaize County. Haunted Ohio IV, a book in the series by Chris Woodyard, tells of the Curse of Saint Michael, a curse connected to a white marble statue of the Archangel Michael, located in the Catholic cemetery in St. Marys.

The Curse of Saint Michael will kill those who look into his eyes. A girl was reportedly paralyzed by just gazing into its eyes.

We visited Gethsemane Catholic Cemetery to take a look and found a life-sized statue of an angel near the west entrance, the Mooney family plot. Although weathered and gray, it looks as though the angel was once a white statue.

The Archangel Michael is a defender in battle and usually holds a sword. This statue may have held a sword in its right hand at one time, but unfortunately, his right hand is missing.

I stared into the face of the statue through my camera lens and walked away unscathed.

Mooney monument, Gethsemane Catholic Cemetery, St. Marys, Ohio. (2021 photo by Karen)

Evans City Cemetery, Pennsylvania:

Evans City Cemetery.

In 2019 we visited Evans City Cemetery in western Pennsylvania, a cemetery that has become somewhat of a cult cemetery. The opening scenes of the 1968 zombie horror movie Night of the Living Dead were filmed in Evans City Cemetery.  

The cemetery is located in a rural, hilly area, situated on the top of a hill. A long winding drive leads up to the cemetery.

The opening scenes of the movie show Johnny and Barbara driving up the narrow drive to the cemetery. They place a wreath on a tombstone and then a zombie appears and attacks Johnny. Barbara runs away in fear and clings to the now famous Nicholas Kramer tombstone, the large white tombstone in the center of the photo below.

Kramer monument, Evans City Cemetery.

Barbara eventually runs out of the cemetery, to the countryside below, and the gruesome movie continues on.

We visited the peaceful Evens City Cemetery on a bright crisp morning and fortunately we did not see any zombies. We did not see anyone there that morning, although, when I looked at my photos later, there was someone standing by that tall monument…

Person standing by tall monument?? Evans City Cemetery, PA.

I was never much of a zombie fan, but I do watch the series The Walking Dead and its spin-off shows, and I find The Walking Dead less disturbing than the original Night of the Living Dead.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween, everyone!