FIFTH MEDINA COUNTY HISTORY FAIR

It's time again for the Annual Medina County History Fair!

Fifteen of the local history and genealogical organizations will be on hand, displaying their collections and answering your questions about the uniqueness of Medina County.

JOIN US FOR A WONDERFUL DAY OF HISTORY!

Stop by the Library's table and say "Hello!" to Lisa, Lauren and myself!

WE'RE BACK!

The new Virginia Wheeler Martin Family History & Learning Center, opened on December 7, 2019.

After a six month hiatus, the popular Genealogist Is In! service is returning in January 2020.

On WEDNESDAY afternoons, from 1 to 4 p.m., one of Medina's crack genealogists will be on hand to assist you with your genealogy and local history questions.

Lisa Rienerth, Kathy Petras, Lauren Kuntzman, 
The Genealogy Team,  will help you solve your genealogy dilemmas.

It is a "first come, first served" program, so if you have to wait your turn, please be patient!

And while we may not be able to discover ALL your family secrets, we can always point you to other sources to research!

Come see us!

WEDNESDAYS 

1-4 p.m.

GENEALOGY AND LOCAL HISTORY COLLECTION CLOSED

Exciting News!

The Virginia Wheeler Martin Family History and Learning Center is opening this coming weekend.

In preparation,  the local history collection is temporarily closed so that it can be moved into the new center...

Closed until the new Center opens up later this week.

I won't post a picture of the new center. We want that to be a surprise!

Donald J. Pease Federal Office Building

 Quote adapted from poem "To A Mouse" by Robert Burns

I had planned on posting about the Donald J. Pease Federal Building, because frankly, I knew next to nothing about it and was curious. So what was my first course of action??

I wandered over to 143 West Liberty, and "GASP!"

What was going on!!

I know the city is planning to build a parking garage where the old Masonic Temple used to be and that they were planning to reclaim the property that houses Porter's Shoe Repair, but surely they weren't tearing down this beautiful brick building???

Relax! No, they are not tearing it down.

But it took me awhile to find that out.

I emailed Bob Hyde to see if he knew anything and left a message with the city building department to see what they could tell me. But waiting patiently to hear back from these two prime sources is NOT my style.

So I posted the pictures on the Facebook page, Roadside History of Medina County

Many people were as concerned as I was. Many others posted their memories of going into that building, first when it was a Post Office and later when it became a Federal Office Building. To see the many uses of the building, go to Bob Hyde's Beyond the Storefronts web site: 143 West Liberty

My quest was fulfilled when I saw this post:

RS I know exactly what is going on. I work for the Federal agency GSA and we are refurbishing the fascia and cupola. The building is historical and is going nowhere soon. Project will be done early Dec weather permitting

And in response to the many questions about how it is being used now:


R B Judge Alice Batchelder's office.

Postcard of  the "Old Post Office" circa 1930's

And the many, many memories from long time Medina residents:

• LH - When I was a kid back in the 50's there was a painting or mural over the customer area. It depicted early settlers harvesting apples in an orchard. Wonder what happened to it or who has it now?  
• LH -Worked there in the 80s. USDA.  
• D N - Remember going there to sign up for the draft.  
• A M- It also had the Social Security office in it. 
• DR - My Dad ED Rice was a rural postal carrier and. he worked in this building many years before PO was moved to N. COURT. As a child during snow days at school, he would bring me here and I'd watch him sort mail then ride along with him on his route. What a memory💓 
• EL - The mural was a WPA government project to employ people during the depression. I was told it was covered up with paint . Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have that art work restored? I’m not from Medina, but I’ve heard it was beautiful. 
• LH - Yeah, walked in and signed up in the U.S.Navy. Left Medina 12 May 1969. 
• MAB - I remember it had a fallout shelter sign on it years ago 
• SM - Built 1937 by Gibbons-Grable of Canton for $55,791. 1939 12’ mural of apple orchard & bee skeps $750 by Richard Zoellmer native of Portsmouth. Life Mag 12/4/1939 says Zoellner is a muralist and watercolor painter studio in Cincinnati. 
• SM - an example of New Deal artwork: “Gathering the Apple Crop,” an oil-on-canvas mural by Richard Zoellner. Completed in 1938 
• EL - Thank you SM. When I heard it was covered up I was shocked since I had seen other WPA art work in other public places and it was an exquisite style of art. I wonder if a professional restorer could uncover it with the technology of today?

And the discussion continues...

So between Bob Hyde's information about the site on his web page and all the information uncovered on the Facebook page Roadside History of Medina County, there is no need for me to do a blog post on the building.  Sigh...

So, what are you reading?!?

A blog about the power of crowd sourcing!

Merriam Webster defines crowd sourcing as:

Definition of crowdsourcing
: the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliers

Which describes what I did! I used traditional sources print and otherwise, and turned to an online resource - The FaceBook group Roadside History of Medina County.

Not only did I get the answer to my question, the discussion went much further, much faster when members of the group contributed their personal memories of the building. It would have taken me weeks to track down that many people and interview them.

I thank each and everyone of them for providing a much richer view of a piece of Medina's History!

SOURCES:

• Quote Fancy  
• Beyond the Storefronts
• Facebook Group Roadside History of Medina County
• Merriam Webster Online Dictionary.

MEDINA'S RADIO STATION

WDBN - A Station of Firsts! 

17 October 1960, Medina's own WDBN quietly debuted at 94.9 FM. There was no ribbon cutting ceremony. No fan fare. No headlines in the Medina Gazette. It was 1960 and FM radio stations were the "sad sisters" of AM radio.

This ad that appeared in the 15 Dec 1960 edition of the Orrville Courier
Crescent  was the earliest mention I could find about the station.

In a year when songs like "Cathy's Clown" by the Everly Brothers and "The Twist" by Chubby Checkers and "It Was an Its Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" were on the top of the charts, WDBN was playing "beautiful music" - instrumental recordings of Montovani and Broadway tunes. No vocals.

Their target audience was adults. Music would last for 15 minutes and then there would be 2 minutes of commercials. 24 hours a day. Much of the programming was automated with staff only broadcasting the news.

But Ted Niarhos and his fellow investors must have had a crystal ball, because FM radio was just coming in to its own. Slowly, talk radio and news programs became the province of AM radio and music went to FM.

With a 188,000 watt transmitter, the station was the most powerful FM station in Ohio (or even east of the Mississippi). Providing a 50 mile radius listening area, people from all over north east Ohio could listen in. Later, the FCC would set wattage limits on FM stations, but WDBN was grandfathered in.

In 1961, the station provided the first stereophonic broadcast service in Ohio.

But it was early years yet for FM radio, and the station struggled financially. Especially after a fierce wind storm in February of 1967 blew down their tower and the insurance wouldn't cover the replacement costs. Once saved by advertisers & citizens of Medina County.

Medina Gazette 16 Feb 1967 p. 1. After a wind storm in February
 1967, the station transmitted on half power for six weeks
while a new 236,000 watt transmitter was installed.

After replacing the antenna, the station had better reception than ever, especially in the Cleveland area.

By 1966, Ted Niarhos bragged to BillBoard Magazine that the station had enough listeners to compete with AM stations for advertising dollars and it was #1 in their market, ahead of 20 AM stations.

Early in 1968, the FCC approved the sale of WDBN-FM to Robert Miller and his associated investors. The price? $1 million dollars! This was the highest price ever paid for a FM station at this time.

Because of a conflict of interest, Miller was also a part owner of WERE in Cleveland, Bob had to resign as officer of the Cleveland Broadcasting Inc and put his stock in that company into a irrevocable trust. The Miller family owned 34% of the Cleveland Broadcasting and Bob owned 46.57% of WDBN's stock, giving the Millers the controlling interest.

Miller was already known in broadcasting circles because of his involvement with WERE. He was the son of former Cleveland Mayor, Ray Miller and had interviewed Presidents Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy.

Meanwhile, Ted Niarhos moved to Florida and bought another radio station, but harbored fond memories of Medina. He still lives there.

Plain Dealer 12 May 1968 p. 168. Bragging: "#1 station in Medina, River Styx (where studio & transmitter are), Remson Corners & Barberton, Penninsula, Hudson. #2 with Akron adults. “Darn near tops in Cleveland”

WDBN acquired a number of nicknames during this period, among them, "The Miracle in Medina" and "The Quiet Island." While WDBN never stood for anything in particular, Bob Miller coined the term "Wonderful Days, Beautiful Nights" to describe the listening experience.

Plain Dealer 7 Nov 1973 p. 15

Plain Dealer 9 June 1971 p. 82

In 1971, the station was the first in Ohio to schedule broadcasts in four-channel stereo.

In  order to alleviate "holes" in their broadcast area caused by the hills and valleys of northern Medina and Summit counties, WDBN  revamped the transmission system in 1973. Previously, they had two 15,000 watt transmitters, one in River Styx and one in Guilford Township on Tower Road. These were replaced by three 25,000 watt transmitters and an improved antenna system that gave the station "America's most powerful transmitting system".

In 1975, the station attained a waiver from the FCC that allowed them to move their station offices from the transmitters at Tower Road in Guilford Township to Gateway Drive in Montville Township.

The station remodeled the studios in 1981 to provide cleaner brighter sounds.

Pam Miller, who was Program Director at the time of the 1981 remodel.
Medina Gazette 25 Nov 1981 p. 11.

Battle of Antennas

In 1982, the FCC approved WDBNs request to increase height of antenna from 300 to 700 feet & move it to Paradise Road in Montville Township. What seemed like a simple request at the time became much more complicated:

• Believing the radio station is a public utility, Miller did not seek zoning permit from the township.
• Montville Township officials sought an injunction as they opposed the move and did not believe that a radio station was a public utility. 
• FCC said it was not clear if township officials have zoning authority over broadcast towers. 
• Medina County Common Pleas Court Judge Neil Whitfield said WDBN could be considered a public utility and would not have to seek zoning permission from the township.
• Montville Township Trustees appealed. 
• The Appeals court sent the issue back to Medina County Common Pleas Court.
• The Case went back to Appeals court & they ruled WDBN was not a public utility.
• In 1984, WDBN said it will take its case to OH Supreme Court but later dismissed the case.

Picture of this promotional button provided courtesy of Max Grubb, who was the Account Executive  in the 1970's and 80's.

Meanwhile, also in 1982, the NAACP filed a discriminatory hiring case against WDBN and four other radio stations because no minorities worked at the stations. The group maintained that the stations' licenses should not be renewed. The NAACP said that hiring at the station should reflect the  employment pool represented by standard metro area of the broadcast area, which for WDBN included Cleveland and Akron, both of which had significant black populations.  The NAACP representative admitted that no one from their group had ever examined the company's employment records.

The Millers believed that the case was prompted by the publicity surrounding their zoning issues and their request for their license renewal. WDBN had had black employees in the past and had made efforts to employ black people. Over the years, they had offered jobs to several African Americans who had turned down the employment opportunities. The Millers blamed the station's rural location.

The American Legal Foundation, a conservative public-interest law group that fought inaccuracies in the media, came out in support of WDBN.

It was found that the NAACP case was misguided and contained no substance. WDBN's license was renewed unconditionally. The station made some adjustments to their hiring practices, like reaching out to Reverend Burton of the Medina Second Baptist Church,  to further encourage minority employment.

Photo of promotional mug provided courtesy of Max Grubb.

Because of the popularity of the station and in FM radio in general the station was experiencing windfall profits. With those profits, the Millers decided to broaden their market in 1985 by buying other radio stations. They bought WKSW-RM in Urbana in November and had plans on acquiring more Ohio Stations.

By 1985, WDBN boasted 250,000 listeners per week.

Deregulation of the industry in the 1980's made it much easier to buy and sell radio stations. The Millers received a great offer and sold WDBN in 1988 for 4.5 million to Thom Mandel.

The station changed to “adult Contemporary” format and became Mix 94.9  and the call sign changed to WQMX. The station moved east into Summit County.

WQMX switched to country format on Dec. 6, 1993 - “Akron’s Own Country”

SOME OF WDBN-FM'S FIRSTS:

1. Pioneer FM stereo station – first in Cleveland Metro area & Ohio in 1961
2. 1961 first stereophonic broadcast service in Ohio.
3. Bought for $1,000,000 in 1968, highest price ever paid for a FM station at that time
4. 1971 first in Ohio to schedule broadcasts in four-channel stereo.
5. 1973 "America's most powerful transmitting system".

SOURCES:

• Brewer, Mary Jane, “Public Servant Pamela Miller Gets the Job Done: Medina Local Legends” Cleveland.com, 20 Feb 2018, accessed: https://www.cleveland.com/medina/2018/02/local_legend_pamela_miller_ded.html
• “MILLER, Raymond Thomas” from Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, Case Western Reserve University, accessed: https://case.edu/ech/articles/m/miller-raymond-thomas
• "Robert McBride Miller" Akron Beacon Journal, 27 Aug, 2006 accessed on: www.legacy.com
• "The Dividends of Automation" Broadcasting, 31 July 1967 accessed: https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1967/1967-07-31-BC.pdf 
• Brack, Ray "FM Broadcasters Pain Bright Future" in BillBoard, 9 Apr 1966, page 30 accessed at: https://bit.ly/2Z1oEa0 
• "$1-Million FM Sale Sets New High" Broadcasting, 15 Apr 1968, p. 46, accessed: https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1968/1968-04-15-BC.pdf
• "VOX JOX" BillBoard, 18 Dec. 1965, p. 49, accessed: https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1968/1968-04-15-BC.pdf
• "WDBN-FM", Cleveland Broadcast Radio Archives, accessed:  http://www.cleve-radio.com/index2.htm#WDBN-FM
• "WQMX" WikiWand, accessed https://www.wikiwand.com/en/WQMX
• "WQMX" Wikipedia, accessed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WQMX
• "Top 100 Songs of 1960", Bob Borst's Home of Pop Culture, accessed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WQMX
• Grubb, Max, interview with Kathy Petras via phone, 7 Aug. 2019. 
• Miller, Pamela, phone conversation with Kathy Petras, 13 Aug. 2019.
• "Bennet's Furniture advertisement" Orrville Courier Crescent, 15 Dec 1960, p. 14, accessed from NewspaperArchive.com. 
• Medina County Gazette
• "County Suffers Extensive Wind Damage", 16 Feb., 1967, page 1.
• "Salmagundi" (editorial", 10 Jan. 1968, p. 2.
• "Purchase of WDBM Approved by FCC", 12 April 1968, pp. 1 & 3.
• "The Miracle of Medina WDBN", 26 March 1969, p. 3.
• "WDBN At Half Power For Week", 15 Aug., 1970, p. 2.
• "WDBN To Finalize Change of Location", 29 March 1975,p. 12.
• "Anniversary WDBN Celebrates No. 18", 18 Oct. 1978, p. 25.
• Long, Pam, "WDBN Upgrades Sound", 25 Nov., 1981 p. 11.
• Long, Pam, "Court Battle in Making? WDBN Tower Approval Signals Fight", 22 Sep. 1982, p. 1 & 7.
• Nofel, Pete, "NAACP Files Against WDBN", 29 Sep. 1982, p. 1.
• Nofel, Pete, "Foundation Lends Support to WDBN" 9 Oct. 1982, p. 3.
• Long, Pam, "WDBN Can Build Tower", 31 Dec 1982, p. 1 & 18.
• "Montville Appeals WDBN Court Ruling", 11 Mar., 1983, p. 1'
• Bailey, Steve, "Appeals Court: WDBN is Not a Public Utility", 2 Sep 1983, p. 1.
• Bailey, Steve, "Montville, WDBN Fight On", 30 Nov. 1983, p. 3.
• Bailey, Steve, "Appeals Court Nixes WDBN's Tower", 20 July 1984, p. 3.
• Bailey, Steve, "Public Status WDBN to Seek Higher Ruling on Utility Claim", 26 July 1984, p. 1.
• Bailey, Steve, "WDBN Drops Court Appeal", 26 Sep. 1984, p. 1.
• Webb, Dennis, "WDBN Looking At New Markets", 12 Nov. 1985, p. A-1.
• Plain Dealer
• "Pendulum", 11 April 1967, p. 41.
• "The Miracle in Medina", 12 May 1968, p. 168.
• "WDBN, Medina's FM Voice", 9 Jun 1970, p. 80.
• WDBN Advertisement", 9 June 1971, p. 82.
• "The Struggling Years at WDBN Have Finally Paid Good Dividends", 22 May 1970.
• "Medina's WDBN-FM Now Is Beaming More 'Structured" Adult Music", 16 Apr. 1972, p. 21-E.
• Hart, Raymond, "WDBN To Improve Signal Next Week", 28 Mar. 1973, p. 39.
• "WDBN-FM Stereo" advertisement, 7 Nov. 1973,p. 15.

Return to Spring Grove

The Friends of the Cemetery host a tour of Spring Grove Cemetery every year. This year it will be this Saturday on August 3rd at 1 p.m. and is FREE!

Highlighted people include:

• Sophia Huntington Parker: Her estate provided the funding for the Sophia Huntington Parker home for women. Of course her home is a hot topic of discussion currently in Medina.

• R.M. and Elizabeth McDowell and their daughter Bessie: Prominent members of Medina community. Their home has been in the news as the Medina County Historical Society is raising funds to buy it.

• Florence Phillips: Daughter of F.O. Phillips. Well known and loved history teacher.

• James Collins: died tragically due to suicide in Spring Grove Cemetery.

• Earl Foote, Sr.: was a local housing developer

And this year, the tour will include the Mausoleum:

The 1920's Mausoleum is seldom open to the public and was restored in 2013.

Mausoleum highlights:

• Cornell W. Starr and his wife Sally He was a deputy sheriff and she was a teacher in the Medina Schools.

• And other familiar names: Branch, Spieth, and Foskett.

Join Teresa Merkle and the other Friends of the Cemetery at 1 p.m. for a pleasant and informative stroll around this Medina Landmark.

Meet up at the Chapel.

Tour will be over at 2:30 P.M.

Ohio Obituary Index

The Ohio Obituary Index is the creation of the staff at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library in Fremont, Ohio.

The Front of the Rutherford B. Hayes Museum and Library on the grounds of Spiegel Grove.

Hayes was the 19th President of the United States serving for one term from 1877 through 1881.  He was born in Delaware, Ohio and after getting a law degree, settled in Fremont.

Before becoming President, he served in the Civil War and rose to the rank of brevet major general. He went on to serve in the US House of Representatives and as Governor of Ohio.

After his death in 1893, his home was donated to the State of Ohio and later, in 1916, the library and museum opened as the FIRST Presidential Library.

Hayes was quite the fan of books and libraries and genealogy as can be seen on this photograph and quote in the stairway up to the library:

Hayes' Library in his home in Fremont, Ohio.
He had a large collection of books covering libraries, their history and holdings.
He would have made a great librarian!

Lauren Kuntzman, the manager of the soon-to-be-opened Family History Center at the Medina Library, my co-worker, Lisa Rienerth, and I went to the R B. Hayes Presidential Library to receive training on the Ohio Obituary Index. Some of you may have noticed that we have transferred the MCDL Obituary Index to the one at R. B. Hayes.

The Ohio Obituary Index

The Ohio Obituary Index started out as a "local to Sandusky County" obituary index on 3" X 5" cards in the 1970's. In 1986, the index was computerized and in 2000 it went on the Internet for the first time.

Other libraries in Ohio started joining up and now, nearly 20 years later, over 70 libraries contribute to the over 3.5 million listings in the database. MCDL is proud to be part of this great genealogical resource.

Lisa with Becky and Pat logging in to practice entering
data.

Becky Hill, Head Librarian, and Pat Breno, Library Technician,  taught us about how to use the database and enter data. Every database has its quirks and this one is no different. Becky pointed out the most important features and told us what to watch for. They explained why the database is structured as it is and how to maximize its use.





Next, we were given our logins and passwords and we sat down to practice with our able teachers standing by to field questions.

Lisa and Lauren, three floors down from the library, deep in the stacks.

Then we did a "behind the scenes" tour of the library.

Lisa had many relatives in northwestern Ohio and was thrilled to see all the incredible information available on her family, including photos of pages from a family Bible.

I also had relatives from northwest Ohio, but I found zilch! I was positively GREEN with envy!

Finally, we did a quick tour of the Hayes home.

The mansion was built 1853-1863 by Sardis Birchard, Hayes' uncle, guardian and benefactor.

Some of the rooms have been restored to how they were in R.B's time and feature original furniture and decoration.




Once we have mastered the intricacies of the database, look for a blog that explains how to optimize your obituary searches on the site!

Looking for an Ohio trip for your family this summer? Think about visiting the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museum!

SOURCES:
The Ohio Obituary Index (Scope)

"Rutherford B. Hayes" Wikipedia

Lighting up the Town

Last week's post on Memorial Day in Medina featured a lot of pictures of the parades around the Square. There was a marked difference in the photos pre-1900 as opposed to after that date. Did you notice?

Medina Square 1889

Medina Square circa 1897

Do you see it now?

Sometime in the intervening years, Medina installed electricity. Didn't really impact last week's blog, but it put that little kernel of curiosity in my brain. Exactly WHEN did Medina get electricity?

{Some of the lines are also telephone lines.}

Bob Hyde's website Beyond the Storefronts is a great place to start off place when researching any  history surrounding the Medina Square. And since he installed a search function, VOILA! Anything I want to find, I can. And I did!

Bob had this picture of the Power Generating Station, and accompanying history about its location at 121 West Smith Road.

According to Bob:

"#121 West Smith Road:

Medina Electric Light and Power Generating Plant, Albert G. Oatman and Ozro Sanders, Props.   (1897-1905)

1.  Albert G. Oatman and Ozro Sanders under the company title of the Medina Electric Light and Power Company have erected substantial brick structure equipped with necessary machinery, power, and dynamos for supplying the town with arc and incandescent lights and power.

2.  The plant was put into operation on September 15, 1897 and already there are 800 incandescent lights supplied to stores, offices, residences and shops in the village.

3.  The rates in effect are reasonable and range from one to five lights furnished for 60 cents each, per month; from five to fifteen at 50 cents and from fifteen to twenty-five lights at 40 cents each, per month.

4.  The Company is equipped for furnishing arc lights for streets, but as for now no contract has been made with the village.  In a few places lights have been provided on a private subscription basis

5.  The plant is equipped with one K. W. generator, one 125 horsepower engine and one 150 horse power boiler, the largest in the town.

6.  Simon S. Oatman bought out A. G. Oatman’s interest in 1905.

Phillips Electric Generating Plant, Judge F. O. Phillips, Prop. (1905-1915)

1.  S. S. Oatman sold Medina Electric Light and Power on Lot 16 to F. O. Phillips for $14,000 in 1905.

Pennsylvania Power Co., Cleveland Southwestern Power Co., Western Reserve Light andPower Co. (1915-1931)

1.  Judge F. O. Phillips sold Phillips Electric to Charles A. Moore of Chicago in 1915.

So, from this information, it looks like Medina got electricity in 1897. 

The Medina Electric and Light Company West Smith Road
Circa 1900-1915

Bob's history on the short lived company seems pretty complete. But is it everything that can be found? Probably, because Bob is an excellent historian.

But to make sure that is ALL the information available about the company, I need to do more research. That is called due diligence.

This cutout is from the 1897 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, a database available from within the library. The earlier Sanborn maps, for 1885 and 1892, don't show any kind of power plant.The  Power Company, circled in red, is near the corner of Elmwood and Smith Road. It was there early enough that it could be included in the publication for 1897. But does it predate 1897??

Joann King's excellent book on 19th
century Medina County. 

Joann King, another excellent historian, wrote Medina County Coming of Age 1810-1900. And she has a lot more to say about the beginnings of electrical power in Medina:

"In Medina, council gave Ozro Sanders the first utility franchise to build an electric plant. Individual industries already had their own dynamos used primarily to power machinery, [A.I. Root was one such company] but this company was solely for the benefit of the private subscriber. Sander's first order was for 150 individual lights, 125 were to go into the Phoenix Block. In 1898, this company officially became Medina Electric Light and Power under the leadership of A.G. Oatman and Sanders. In one year, they had 800 light bulbs shining in offices, stores, and homes."  p. 471

It doesn't give the date that the council gave the franchise to Sanders, just the date that the company was named.

Later in the book:

"In 1892, the Ohio Legislature passed a bill allowing Medina Council to hold an election for the purpose of levying the residents 2 mils for electric lights... Voters approved the light plant 355 to 166." And in the next paragraph:

"O. Sanders started building Medina's first electric plant on the northwest side of town near the depot... Three months later he had 500 subscriptions for incandescent lamps and an order from the village for twenty arc street lamps. Medina Council installed four of those lamps in November..."

Slowly lights began to appear around town. In 1897, the Medina Electric Light and Power Company started its engine and nineteenth century life in Medina was a thing of reality."

It still isn't clear when Medina got electricity. Here is what we have learned:

•  In 1892, the Ohio Legislature passed a bill so that city council could put a levy on the ballot for citizens to be taxed for electric lights. And the levy passed.
• When did the Ohio Legislature pass the bill?
• When did the citizens get to vote on the levy?
• Ozro Sanders won the franchise to build the first electric plant. 
• When did city council award the franchise to Sanders?
• When exactly did he build the plant?
• "Slowly lights appear around town" and then the power plant is turned on? What is powering those slowly appearing lights?

From this information, we can estimate that sometime between 1892 and 1897, the city of Medina generated enough electricity to power lights around town.

In order to pin the date down more exactly, more research was needed.

Question #1- When did the Ohio Legislature pass the bill that enabled Medina City Council to try for the levy?
Judy Russell, the Legal Genealogist, is always blogging about tracking down the original laws. She makes it seem easy. It isn't. But...

In the online Journal of the Senate of the State of Ohio, Volume 89, page 372, I found this:

The bill was read 2 more times.
"Mr. Strock" is Mr. Charles Strock from Niles in Trumbull County, Ohio.

"Tuesday, March 15, 1892.
H.B. No. 612 - Mr Strock (by request): To authorize the council of any incorporated village in the state of Ohio, which contained at the last federal census of 1890, or which at any subsequent federal census may contain a population of not less that two thousand and seventy-three nor more that two thousand and eighty-three, to issue bonds and levy a tax for the payment of the same and interest thereon for the purchase and erection of an electric light plant."

WHAT? Did you catch that wording? " population of not less that two thousand and seventy-three nor more that two thousand and eighty-three". That is a very specific size population, with only a 10 person difference. According to Wikipedia, Medina's population in 1890? 2,073. This bill, while not naming Medina specifically, targeted the town especially.

The bill passed the following day.

Question #2 - So, by mid March of 1892, Medina was permitted to put a levy on the ballot. But when did the election take place?

To find this information, I have been scouring the Medina Gazette newspaper microfilm. I have not found the date of the election, but I did find some more information.

Medina Gazette 12 May 1892, page 4.

So the Village Council had approved the tax by mid-May 1892, but Mr. Herman Holmes was not happy with their decision and was filing a lawsuit to stop them from going forward. Mr. Holmes was a Civil War Veteran and Medina business man. His main complaint was that the proposed plant was too expensive. Oh, and he didn't want any poles put on his East Liberty Street property.

Since the common pleas court only met every quarter, progress on the suit was very slow...

Medina Gazette 21 July 1892, page 1

So now we have narrowed the date that Medina got electricity from 1893 to 1897...

And just like the court case, this blog will have to be continued to allow time for more research...

SOURCES:

Beyond the Storefronts http://www.medinasquare.org/

Historical Highlights of Medina
Medina County: Coming of Age
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
Wikipedia - Medina census population
Journal of the Senate of the State of Ohio, Volume 89
Medina County Gazette 

CHANGES

Usually, the first Wednesday of the month's blog is dedicated to an instructional topic. This month's topic was slated to be IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION.

But... we've been a little busy and time got away from us.  What have we been up to?

Glad you asked!

If you have not been to the Medina Library in the last two weeks be prepared for some MAJOR changes!

In preparation for the renovation on the second floor, the Reference Staff (including me, Lisa and Lauren) have been moving a few things around.

The eastern half of the second floor of the Medina Library is undergoing a major renovation to make room
for the Family History Center made possible by a gift from Virginia Wheeler Martin.
Read more about that HERE.

During the renovation the materials that used to be in the Franklin Sylvester Room have been moved to the 1907 Room. Because of the delicate nature of some of these materials, Library Staff boxed up, loaded up and moved the materials. THANKS, Collection Development Staff and Lauren!

Local history and genealogy materials used to be in the
Franklin Sylvester Room.

Materials were packed up and moved by Library Staff to assure proper delicate handling.

The 1907 Room, which had been used for meetings and Teen Programming had to be cleared out to make room for
the Local History and Genealogy materials and equipment.
Thank you to our Teen Staff, Sean Rapacki, Rachel Rundle and Kathy Staufer!

The Local History and Genealogy Materials have been moved to the 1907 Room
at the back of the Teen Room

Lauren and the Collection Development staff did a grand job of fitting everything into the 1907 Room.
Our Technology Department got the microfilm machines and computers set up in no time!

 But it is not just the local history materials that are getting moved around. Our staff workroom has been moved up to the third floor, which meant packing up all of work files and materials. A lot went into storage and we each have one small file box for the duration of the renovation.

The Reference Desk had to be moved also.

The temporary Reference Desk has been moved to where the New Non Fiction is shelved near the top of the stairs.

The whole eastern half of the 2nd floor has been blocked off so that the Library can stay open during the construction. 

Since the eastern half of the floor isn't available, many MANY things had to be moved!

The non fiction materials have been squeezed into the area that used to have study desks and seating for reading
newspapers and magazines. 

SOME  of the computers have been moved into fiction area in front of the fireplace.

Thanks to a donation, lap tops have been set up for the teens to play their favorite online games.

 Then, this past weekend we had our biannual Genealogy Slam!  Kelli Bergheimer talked for 4 hours on DNA testing and how to get the most out of it for your genealogical research.

Kelli is a nationally known speaker on the Genealogy Conference circuit. 

Kelli answered questions throughout the talk.

SIXTY people attended the program.

As always, there were dozens of tasks to be completed in preparation. It was well worth it.

92% of the survey respondents gave Kelli an EXCELLENT rating!

For the last 20+ years, the Medina County District Library has hosted an online index to
 local obituaries and death notices. For now, obituaries can still be requested here. But new obituaries,
since the end of February, are not being added at this time.

And as part of updating our services in preparation for the new Family History Center, we are migrating our obituary index to the RBHayes, Ohio Obituary Index. This will give the collection wider exposure and boost use.  Lauren and I have been busy working with the Techy people to handle formatting and data entry issues that have cropped up. And keep cropping up.  But when finished, the database will be a tighter, better product.

The Ohio Obituary Index hosted at the RB Hayes Presidential Library in Fremont, Ohio.
Many Ohio Libraries host their obituary indexes here. And soon, MCDL will, too!

So, in the last two weeks, we have:

• Moved local history materials from Franklin Sylvester Room to 1907 Room. 
• Closed out our staff room and Reference Desk & moved to other side of the building.
• Hosted a very successful Genealogy Slam. 
• Migrated obituary data to a new host at RB Hayes.org

Oh! Did I mention that this weekend is the Ohio Genealogical Society Conference? Lisa, Lauren and I often attend this conference to learn new techniques and sources. And this conference? This weekend?  Lauren will be attending AND presenting a program on Alsace-Lorrain Research?

Busy? You betcha!