O. C. Duke

Entrance to the Medina County Career Center (MCCC).

Every fall hundreds of Medina County High School students head off to classes at the Medina County Career Center in pursuit of educational training.



How many of them pass by or enter the OC Duke Agricultural Building without knowing anything about the man the building is named for?

Sign outside the O.C. Duke Building

The O.C. Duke Building at the MCCC.

Wild Life Center at the OC Duke agricultural Center at MCCC  December 4, 2015 Cleveland






O.C. Duke, or more formally, Orland Charles Duke, was born in 1901 in West Virginia to John F. And Nellie (Daniell) Duke. He was the second son of the farming couple. He graduated high school and attended college in Kentucky for a year before following his brother to Ohio State University in Columbus.

"O.C." as he was most often known, studied agricultural science and thrived at OSU! He was a founding member of the Tau Gamma Phi agricultural fraternity, which later became Alpha Gamma Sigma.

TGF

In this 1924 Ohio State University "Makio" Yearbook picture, O.C. is with his fraternity brothers. O.C. is in the upper right row, circled in red.  Yearbook photo courtesy of Ancestry Library Edition.

The "Makio" yearbook was created by O.C. Duke especially for the OSU students that graduated in December. 

Upon graduation, Duke was hired by the Medina City School Systems. His 1925 OSU graduation picture is the same one used for the 1925 Medina High School Yearbook.

1925 Medina High School Yearbook

In 1927, O.C. married his wife, Lauraette, in 1927, and they soon settled down in their East Friendship home and started their family, son Ronald, and daughter Marilyn.

O.C. was a man of action and took on many responsibilities, besides teaching. Among his accomplishments are:

• Started teaching in Medina in 1925. MHS had the only agricultural curriculum in the county. Important in a then predominately farming community. He was the only AG teacher until 1950.
• Taught Vocational Agriculture at Medina High School for 42 years – till 1968. Nicknamed “Mr. Agriculture” His classes featured:
• Frequent field trips 
• 10-day summer excursions to Canada, the State Fair and New York City. 
• Opened up the local chapter of Future Farmers of America (FFA) to girls long before the national organization did.

1965 Medina High School Yearbook

• Served Adults & young farmers in the area. Started a farmer’s club
• Promoted the welfare & social activities of farmers and city dwellers with his involvement in:
• Medina County Farm Bureau 
• Medina County Agricultural Society
• Medina County Extension Service
• Agricultural Stabilization Committee 
• Medina County Fair Board – 50 years 
• Izaak Walton League 
• Montville Grange 
• 4-H Extension Advisory Committee member 
• 4-H Club adviser 
• Cleveland Farmers Club 
• Medina County Park System 
• Medina City Uptown Park – promoted the building of the Gazebo that is a city landmark today. Weeded flower beds.

O.C. Duke presenting an award to Joy Anderson, the first young woman to receive the State FFA degree.
Medina Gazette 23 April 1975 page 13.

• Advocated for the development of the Medina County Joint Vocational School District – now the Medina County Career Center.
• His 100th birthday party thrown by the Medina Kiwanis Club in 2001. He was then the oldest active Kiwanian in the world. He was a member for 75 years!
• Long after his retirement, he was a resource for people as he fielded their questions.
• At his East Friendship home, he kept bees, raised chickens planted fruit trees
• Wrote a column for the Medina Trading Post & Mid-Ohio Farmer magazine.

O.C. in front of the building that carries his name with two unknown people.
Photo on FindAGrave.

O.C.'s many accomplishments did not go unnoticed. Throughout his long career, he received many, many awards, some of which are listed here:

• Bob Drake Award (Former Plain Dealer Farm writer) 1965
• John T. Tobin Award from Izaak Walton League – 1978, 3rd in country to receive it.
• Building named in his honor in 1980 Was at the rededication after renovation in 2000.
• Scholarship presented to an agricultural student each year in his honor.
• In 1981 awarded the OSU Alumni Association Citizenship Award in honor of his community service.
• 1984 named of the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.
• Medina High School Hall of Fame 2001
• Medina Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame
• Awarded the George F. Hixon Fellowship Award from the Kiwanis 

As O.C. neared his 100th birthday, everyone wanted to interview him and get his insight into life. John Gladden, Sandy Fahning and Sam Boyer all talked to O.C. Here are a couple of his pearls of wisdom:

“I attribute my long life to good DNA. I didn’t drink, I didn’t smoke and I didn’t run around with the wrong kind of women.”  on the occasion of his 100th birthday

And my favorite: 

“Don’t judge people, love everyone, and it's all about helping people the best you can.”  on the occasion of his 100th birthday.

From OC's obituary in the Medina Sun, 16 May 2002, page B3.

SOURCES:

• Boyer, Sam,“O.C. has a hundred years of memories to share”,  The Medina Sun, 23 August 2001, page A 3.
• “Duke’s long, active life comes to an end’, The Medina Sun, 16 May 2002, page B3.
• Gladden, John, “’Mr. Agriculture’ dies at 100”,  The Medina Gazette, 14 May 2002, page A-2.
• “’Historymaker’ O.C. Duke third in nation to get award” Medina Gazette, 18 May 1978, page 2.
• The Medina Gazette 23 April 1975 page 13.
• “Orland C. Duke”, The Medina Gazette, 15 May 2002, page A-2.

While taking photos at the O C Duke Agriculture Building,
this Monarch butterfly stopped by.

Aerial Photographs at the Medina Library

This type of aerial photograph was popular in the 1950's and 1960's.
Potential customers were contacted, and if interested, could have an
aerial photograph of their homestead, for a price.

Aerial photographs were briefly mentioned in the 17 December 2015 post on Historic Home Research.

But today we are going to look more closely at the historic aerial photographs in the Franklin Sylvester Room at the Medina Library.

All of the aerial photos belonged to the Natural Resource Conservation Service/Farm Service Agency (FSA) USDA. When they moved their offices back in the seventies they were going to throw them out and the Soil and Water Conservation District saved them. Later, they did not have a place to store them so the Library took them off their hands. The FSA uses on line aerial now and newer images can be purchased at their web site Farm Service Agency

The photos are useful to researchers because they can help pinpoint how a piece of land has been used over the years or narrow down when a particular house or development was constructed. If the scale is large enough, you might be able to make out details of buildings.

As an example, we will take a look at a particular street in the city of Medina - West Park Boulevard - which happens to be where I live.

With this type of research, as with family history research, you want to start with what we know now and work our way into the past.

HOWEVER, today, we will start with a look at what the neighborhood looks like today and then jump to  the oldest record, 1937, and work toward the present.

For comparison, we will look at the street today using Google Maps.

In this screen shot from Google Maps, West Park Blvd. is right above the red line. It is south west of Medina Square and runs between South Court Street on the east, and Oak Street on the west. It is an older tree-lined neighborhood.

This is the satellite view of the area:

The oval in the upper left is the track at the fair grounds. While there is a 2018 copyright date on this photo, I know for certain that it is at least 1 year older than that. If you look at the Street View, it  is from July of 2013.

So that is how the neighborhood looks today.  And with Google Maps you can zoom in very close.

But how did it look in the past? City and county directories and plat maps can only give you a map. The aerial photographs give you a picture!

Aerial Photographs

The Medina Library has Aerial Photograph sets that cover these years:

• 1937
• 1950
• 1958
• 1965
• 1973
• 1979

Notice that there is nothing from the 1940's? America was busy fighting a war from 1941-1945. IF any photographs were taken, it is likely they would have been destroyed or classified, so they couldn't get into enemy hands. More likely, they just weren't taken.

Each set has a Key that is a map of Medina County. Handwritten across the map are numbers that correspond to the appropriate photograph.

Here is the key for the 1937 set:

By looking at the area on Google Maps and comparing it to the Key, we know to look for the

photo marked 12-1087.

The actual photo measures 9 inches X 9 inches, so if you didn't bring a magnifying glass with you, ask to borrow one from the Library.

Here is the area of West Park enlarged:

As you can see, the area is mostly farmland with veryfew landmarks to help orient ourselves.

By careful comparison with current maps, the red line indicates approximately where West Park Blvd. is today.

81 years ago, the City of Medina was concentrated around the Square and a few blocks in any direction. The area that is now in the West Park neighborhood was still part of Montville Township and was predominately farmland. You can even see the dotted patches of the apple orchards that older residents say were in the area.

Here is the same area from the 1950 set of Aerial Photographs:

West Park is a relatively new street here with just a few houses on it. Oak Street, on the western (left) end of West Park has a lot more houses, but seems to lead into an area of construction. There are still plenty of agricultural fields both to the north (above) and the south (below) West Park.

The photograph from the 1958 set:

Nearly all the houses that are currently on West Park are visible in this photo, so we know the approximate dates they were built, 1950-1958.

But notice the gap under the red X?  According to the Medina County Auditor's web site, that house was built in 1966.

There is still a lot of open space east and west of Circle Drive. And look at the open field south of West Park!

Here is part of the key to the 1965 set:

It is only by comparing the surrounding numbers that we are able to make out that the photo for the West Park neighborhood should be marked 3-87.

There aren't a lot of changes visible in this photo, but just out of the frame, below the word "Park" there is a major addition - The Ella Canavan Elementary School. The school opened in 1960.

The 1973 and 1979 sets are 2' X 2' and share the same Key. Originally, someone had handwritten the numbers across the map. Then someone else covered over the handwritten key codes with raised letters. The letters have started falling off, but you can still read the handwriting underneath.

An excerpt from the 1973-79 key indicating that the photo we want is I-6.

Here is a blow up of the West Park neighborhood from the 1973 key:

Notice the development to the north of West Park and to the East of Circle drive. Medina, and this neighborhood, were definitely growing!

This is a blow up from I-6 Photo from the 1979 Set for the West Park Blvd. area with some of the familiar landmarks typed in.

Combine Aerial Photograph research with city and county directories and Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps and you can get a pretty detailed picture of the development of neighborhoods and cities.

The U.S. Geologic Survey has historic aerial photographs online at Earth Explorer. However, today this message appeared:


The Department of the Interior and the USGS have requested a Federal Advisory Committee to review USGS’s current free-and-open policy for user access to Landsat data.

This USGS web page provides a synopsis of frequently-asked questions and answers about the ongoing review.

The Next Generation

Photo courtesy Wikipedia. 

All family historians struggle with how to engage the next generation of genealogists so that the family legacy can continue.

I say, "Get 'em while they're young!"

And the following books can help you accomplish that.

The first three books explore the local history of Medina County and they are appropriate for  younger children, from infancy, when a parent is reading to them, up to about the 4th grade.

A portrait of Captain Martin Van Buren Bates and his wife,
Anna Swan Bates. Photo courtesy of the Medina Library's
collection. 

Most Medinians know the story of Captain Martin Van Buren Bates and his lovely wife, Anna (Swan) Bates, more commonly known as "The Giants of Seville." The couple were once well known throughout Europe, all of America, as well as in Medina County, Their story can serve as an introduction for young readers into the fascinating circle of local history.

The GIANT of Seville a "Tall" Tale Based on a True Story
by Dan Andreasen.

This first book is a little older, 2007, and focuses on the story of how Captain Martin Van Buren Bates chose Seville, Ohio as their home away from the circus. Wonderfully illustrated, it is a fictionalized account of how the citizens of Seville went out of their way to make the Giant feel comfortable in their small town.

Here, Captain Martin Van Buren Bates enjoys stack after stack of
flapjacks at a fictional boarding house. Later in the tale, he crashes
through the floor during a square dance. The illustrations are not to scale!

The True Tale of a GIANTESS by Anne Renaud is a new release and focuses on the life of Anna Swan who married Captain Martin Van Buren Bates and became part of the largest married couple in the world during the 1800's.

It is beautifully illustrated and sticks a little closer to reality. Anna was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada and this book follows her as she grows up and leaves the farm to become celebrated across Europe and the United States. It ends with the couple settling down in Seville.

Soon coming to the Medina Library collections, this September 2018 copyrighted book will
delight any young reader. The will be thrilled to learn that GIANTS actually lived in their county!

In this charming illustration, Anna is coaxing her pet monkey, Buttons,
 out of the tree on their Seville Ohio farm.

Also, a little older book, Olden Days of Medina a Children's Guide to Medina History by Mollie Wilson and Susan Lucht gives a child-sized introduction into the history of Medina County. This title is harder to obtain, as all of the remaining copies are "FOR IN-LIBRARY-USE" only. You could contact the publishers, History Galls Publishing at 8344 West Smith Road in Medina.

Cover of the Medina history book for children, Olden Days of Medina.

Entry on Letha Morse House. Besides the foundation that still bears her name, there is also a county park named for her.

The last title is National Geographic Kids Guide to Genealogy by T.J. Resler. This book came out just spring of this year and is geared towards an older audience, grades 3-6 and is an introduction to genealogy.

This book is packed full of all the information a promising young genealogist will need to start their quest for their family history.

It is nicely illustrated and includes tips and trivia along the way. 

Did you know that Benedict Cumberbatch, the actor who plays Sherlock Holmes on the TV show, is a 16th cousin, twice removed of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the creator of the character?!

And if you want to know what it means to be a cousin twice removed, be sure to investigate  this book for yourself.

This would make a perfect gift for a budding genealogist. And if you don't believe me, check it out and see for yourself!

DNA and Genetic Genealogy featuring CeCe Moore

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

This past Saturday, I was privileged to be in the audience (along with 300+ other people from NE Ohio and western PA) at the Akron Library to hear CeCe Moore's presentations on using DNA for genealogy research.

If you have never attended any of the free genealogy workshops at the Akron Summit County Public Library, I HIGHLY recommend them. The library brings in nationally renowned and respected speakers and you attend for FREE. Their local history and genealogy programs can be seen HERE.

CeCe's name may be familiar to you as she is the genealogist that various law enforcement departments have been using to bring closure to unsolved murders. She uses her extensive knowledge of genealogy research techniques AND genetics AND open genealogy DNA databases, such as GedMatch, to narrow down the suspects to just a few. Then detectives use traditional law enforcement techniques to narrow their suspects down to one person. Her official title is investigative genetic genealogist. Her CV would include the following credits:

• The genetic genealogist for Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr since 2013
• Founder of The DNA Detectives where you can get genetic genealogy help.
• Co-founder of the Institute for Genetic Genealogy
• Writer of blog Your Genetic Genealogy
• Works to reunite individuals with unknown parentage, like adoptees, with biological relatives.
• And as a media consultant she has appeared on:
• The Today Show
• Good Morning America
• NBC Nightly News.
• Nightline
• CBS This Morning
• Fox News
• The Dr. Oz Show
• The Doctors 
• Crime Watch Daily
• Nancy Grace
• Finding Your Roots
• Genealogy Roadshow
• And she has just been hired by a company called Parabon NanoLabs to head up its new "genetic genealogy unit."
• Oh, and she was an actress before all of this genealogy stuff took off!

She offered 4 sessions, two in the morning and two in the afternoon, with breaks in the morning and afternoon and a 1 hour lunch (many of us brought bag lunches).

CeCe was extremely generous with her time, talking with audience members throughout the breaks, answering questions and sharing stories. She also provided excellent handouts of her presentation and her projected slides and talk supplemented the handouts. One special audience member shared the same somewhat unique maternal haplogroup with CeCe!

CeCE answering questions during the break!

Here are some of the highlights.

SESSIONS:

9:45 am: The Power of DNA: Genetic Genealogy Basics - covered the types of DNA testing, mtDNA, Y-DNA and autosomal DNA, and the major companies that offer the tests. CeCe also claims that DNA is an essential part of genealogy research. And that DNA tests are the introduction to genealogy research for many, many people. Incredible! She also said that we need to advise people who are considering being tested, that DNA tests can reveal unexpected surprises! Like parents and siblings that you didn't know you had.

11:15 am: Who Am I: Exploring Ethnicity Estimates - Ethnicity Estimates are the weakest aspect of DNA testing, because it is such a new field. But is also one of the main reasons newbies (new to genealogy or new to DNA) want to get tested. And I'll admit. I wanted to see if my DNA would show the Native American ancestry that oral tradition said was on my Dad's side. (BTW, it didn't!) Ethnicity estimates are also very useful as a marketing tool by the DNA test companies. How many of you have seen the Ancestry DNA commercials about people finding their Italian ancestry? But the science for ethnicity estimates is too new to be truly accurate for two main reasons: 1. Not enough people are being tested and 2. Some entire populations are not being tested at all. Also, the way the different companies interpret the results can cause errors.

My DNA Ethnicity Estimates from Ancestry DNA. This has changed over time and is different than the other companies'
estimates. The "Germanic Europe" is lower than on FamilyTree DNA and the "England and Wales" is much higher.
Notice there is NO Native American ethnicity showing. None. Nada. Zilch. So I have to revise our family oral tradition.
Wish me luck! 

1:30 pm: I Have My Results, Now What? - For those of us who are scientifically challenged the DNA results can be quite overwhelming.  CeCe defined  STR and SNP and cM, Mb and maternal haplogroup and paternal haplogroup. She made recommendations on which companies to test depending on your needs  and talked about how to make sense of your results and about the importance of doing DNA comparisons with your closest matching cousins. Lastly she talked about how relationship predictions can be skewed by how the companies define them.

3 pm: Breaking Through Genealogical Brick Walls with DNA - Instead of using the relationship prediction that the companies use, CeCe formulates her own based on the length of the DNA segments that are shared. She looks at the matching cousins and then which of their cousins she also matches to figure out which family line is involved. She will use traditional genealogy research methods to build family trees for those matching cousins who don't share or upload a tree with their DNA. And she uses pencil and paper to do it!

In CeCe's closing comments, she emphasized the importance of continuing your education as things will change quickly and dramatically in this field over the next couple of years as advancements are made. She suggested that social media, such as Facebook, is a good way to become aware of changes and developments.

On another note...

One of the nice benefits of going to workshops and conferences is the opportunity to check out materials that other libraries own. Here are four Akron Library titles that caught my eye:

This is a good primer on using DNA
in your genealogical research. MCDL
owns a copy of this 2015 book.

This book is also from 2015, and yes,
MCDL owns a copy of it, too.

   

This is an older, 2006-7, book that specifically
deals with the DNA test provided by National
Geographic called Geno 2.0. It only tells you
about your very ancient DNA. It is how I know
that I am 1.8% Neanderthal

In this 2017 book, Houston weatherman,
Frank Billingsley, relates his journey to find
his biological parents using DNA.
MCDL will be buying this title soon.

SOURCES:

• "About CeCe", Your Genetic Genealogist, (accessed 27 July 2018).
• "CeCe Moore," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, (accessed July 31, 2018).
• "CeCe Moore - Genetic Genealogy Interview", The Family Tree DNA Learning Center, (accessed July 27, 2018).
• Murphy, Heather, "Genealogists Turn to Cousins' DNA and Family Trees to Crack Five More Cold Cases" New York Times, accessed 27 June 2018.