This is an old matchbook from the Fred A. Smith Lumber Co, Schumm, Ohio. This matchbook dates back sometime between 1952-1958.
Fred A Smith Lumber Co., Schumm, Ohio
Printed on the front:
Fred A. Smith
Lumber Co,
The Business That Service
Built since 1922
Saw Mill, Planing Mill
And Lumber Yards
Schumm, Ohio
P.O. Willshire, Ohio, RFD 1
Fred A Smith Lumber Co, Schumm, Ohio. Back of matchbook.
The back reads:
We are always in the market and pay cash for Choice Indiana and Ohio Timber Tracts and Logs within 100 mile radius.
See us before you sell
Keep Ohio Green
Member Ohio Forestry Assn.
Catering to our good Van Wert County and adjoining Ohio and Indiana counties farm and industrial retail trade.
PREVENT FIRES
W.P. Robinson and Fred A. Smith became business partners at the Schumm sawmill in 1923. The sawmill was named the W.P. Robinson Sawmill until 1953.
Schumm Sawmill, c1924.
Here are a few Van Wert newspaper articles about the old sawmill at Schumm.
Walter Merkle hauled wood from the Schumm sawmill Tuesday. (Van Wert Times Bulletin, 9 Oct 1937) It must have been a slow news week.
The sawmill was a popular place to visit:
Students Inspect Schumm Sawmill (Van Wert Times Bulletin, 12 May 1939; NewspaperArchive.com)
About 26 boys of manual training classes of Van Wert High School and the Marsh Foundation visited the W.P. Robinson Company sawmill at Schumm Wednesday. They saw the operations in the manufacture of long oak timbers and went through the Henry Dietrich woods northeast of the mill.
And:
About 23 Boy Scouts and their dads from Troop 31 of the First Methodist Church visited the Fred A. Smith Lumber Company’s sawmill at Schumm Monday night, the guests of Fred and Max Smith. (Van Wert Times Bulletin, 20 May 1953; NewspaperArchive.com)
27 Oct 1953, Van Wert Times Bulletin; NewspaperArchive.com
Logging could be a dangerous occupation:
Sawmill Employee Seriously Injured (Van Wert Times Bulletin, 10 Apr 1945; NewspaperArchive.com):
Ben H. Handwerk, 49, of Schumm, employee of the W.P. Robinson Sawmill Company of Schumm, is in Van Wert County Hospital suffering from injuries sustained Monday in a tree-cutting accident near New Knoxville, Auglaize County.
According to the attending physician, Handwerk has fractures of the hip, shoulder and one rib, all on his left side. Handwerk and several other men were reported to have been using a power saw when the tree fell opposite to what was expected and he was pinned to the ground. He was brought to the hospital in a car.
A sawmill could be a dangerous place as well:
Van Wert Man Injured At Schumm Sawmill (Van Wert Times Bulletin, 29 Oct 1951; NewspaperArchive.com)
H.B. Youtsey, South Washington Street, Van Wert, was taken to the Van Wert County Hospital after suffering of a head injury at the Schumm Sawmill. Youtsey, his son Myron, and son-in-law, James Bowersock, were loading wood onto a truck when Youtsey was struck by a chunk of wood that fell from the wood conveyor. Youtsey was partially conscious, in fair condition, and lost his hearing in one ear.
Youtsey’s injuries ended up being rather severe and he sought a judgment for them:
Asks $26,247 For Injuries At Sawmill (Van Wert Times Bulletin, 4 Dec 1952; NewspaperArchive.com)
Judgment for $26,247 for injuries allegedly sustained in an accident October 26, 1951, is asked in a petition filed in the Court of Common Pleas by Hanklin Henry Youtsey of Van Wert against the W.P. Robinson Company, Schumm, Willshire Township.
The petition states that Youtsey, in company with two other men, appeared at a sawmill owned by the defendant company for the purpose of purchasing wood. It is claimed that Fred A. Smith, a partner in the defendant firm, directed the plaintiff to a pile of scrap wood.
The petition charges that while the plaintiff was on a pile of wood, six feet high, without warning, he was struck in the head by a large chunk of wood which flew over the south side of the conveyor.
…he was rendered unconscious and was hospitalized from October 26 to November 4. It is claimed that he has lost his hearing, taste and smell and that he has difficulty in walking.
At the time, he declares that he was a carpenter earning $80 weekly, and he claims that the accident was due to negligence on the part of the defendants. Youtsey is represented by Attorney C.B. Thornton.
At one time, the Fred A. Smith Lumber Co. had a company house at Schumm:
Fred Smiths Sell Elson Ave. Home (Van Wert Times Bulletin, 6 Jan 1956; NewspaperArchive.com)
In 1956, Fred A. Smith sold his home at 729 Elson Avenue, Van Wert, to Miss Mary Sawyer. Fred, wife, and son Max temporarily moved into a Fred A. Smith Lumber Company house at their sawmill operations in Schumm. The Smiths built their new home at South Race Street and Ervin Road.
‘ 4 Nov 1953, Van Wert Times Bulletin; NewspaperArchive.com
Robinson sold his share of the sawmill to Smith in 1953 and the name changed from Robinson to Smith.
Next week, more about Schumm’s sawmill.
