Using the Medina County Auditor's Website
-Lisa Rienerth
www.medinacountyauditor.org
Click on the Youtube link to view the video on how to use the Medina County Auditor's website for property research.
Showing posts with label lisa Rienerth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lisa Rienerth. Show all posts
Thursday, January 12, 2023
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
How Comedy Sold WWII War Bonds
Abbott & Costello Go to Medina
-Lisa Rienerth
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| Medina County Gazette, 18 July 1942, p. 1 |
It began when a group of volunteers built a small, white building to sell War Bonds, stamps and corsages here in Medina, Ohio.
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| Medina Sentinel, 23 July 1942, p. 1 |
The completed building was placed on the west side of Medina Square and a grand opening was held the 18th of July 1942.
The building would not have been built without the generosity of the local businesses.
The opening program lasted a little more than 3 hours with speeches from Amherst Spitzer, the War Bond chairman, music by the Akron Defense Council band and a few short speeches by a few local veterans.
On that first day, $1,900 in bonds were sold, along with $97 in stamps and $95 in "stamp corsages". Stamp corsages are exactly what they sound like, corsages made with saving stamps.
One Month Later....
The Treasury Department of Cleveland saw that Medina County was one of the top sellers of War Bond funds and rewarded the county with a special visit from "The biggest singular attraction of Medina County...".
Abbott and Costello were known in the 1940's as the "Leading Laugh Team". They worked in radio & film and became even more popular during the World War II era.
This must have been one of the most exciting things to happen to the area in years, because the Medina Gazette was estimating a crowd of 10,000 people.
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| Medina Sentinel, 13 August 1942, p. 1 |
Plans were made to build a platform and wire the Medina Square with loudspeakers. The organizers of the event wanted to make sure the duo was seen and heard by all. War Bonds were to be sold just outside the beautiful, new War Bond building.
There was also a contest between the townships to see who could sell the most War Bonds before the big day arrived.
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| Medina County Gazette, 21 August 1942, p 1 |
The night of the program a large crowd filled the square.
Abbott & Costello arrived at 7:40 p.m. and according to the papers "Pulled several spontaneous laugh provoking remarks..." and autographed the bonds that they sold that evening.
Liverpool Township won the Bond contest by collecting $21,835 in War Bond sales.
George Wolfe, chairman of the Liverpool township war bond drive committee, was congratulated by Amherst Spitzer and the two comedians
The evening was a great success. $8,000 in bonds were sold at the War Bonds building. The total amount collected by all of the townships for the contest was $225,291, which is equivalent to just a little more than (4) four million dollars today.
The county continued to raise large amounts of money throughout the war. According to Robert Hyde's Beyond the Storefronts, "This is the famous [War Bond] building that at one point raised over 3 million dollars towards the war effort and was also part of the reason why the government decided to film "Hometown U. S. A.” in Medina.*
*This link will take you to a past blog on the film.
And here's the rest of the story...
After World War II, the small, white building was put into storage and then moved to the property owned by Dr. Frederick Fri, who served in the war. Dr. Fri's property was acquired by the Medina General Hospital and the building was left on the land.
In 2001, the Medina Jaycees refurbished the building. Elmer Zarney, who created the original sign, remade a new sign, because the old one was lost. Zarney was a fighter pilot in World War II.
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| Medina County Gazette, 8 Nov 2001 |
The building stayed on the Medina Hospital, n.k.a. Medina Cleveland Clinic, property until this November. The Medina County Historical Society took an interest in it and on the fourth had it moved to the property of the McDowell-Phillips Home, which is also owned by the society.
Historical Society's President, Brian Feron, says the building will be restored and used as a place to display local historical items. It will then be used for educational purposes and someday a "Victory Garden" may be planted alongside it.
This little, white building witnessed Medina's history for the past 80 years. Now, because of the Medina County Historical Society, it can not only be a witness to many more years, but will teach other generations about the history of the county and its contribution and dedication to our nation at a time of war.
Please leave a comment if you were a witness to this spectacular night in Medina. We would love to hear about your experience!
Learn more about World War II War Bonds from Abbott & Costello by watching a Public Service Announcement from that era by clicking on the highlighted link.
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
16 MM FILM DIGITIZATION!
Digitizing 16 MM film is now possible at the VWM Family History & Learning Center!
After many trials and errors, we now feel confident we can help our members digitize their old 16 mm films.
There are a few things to know before you reach for the phone to make your appointment!
First, MAKE AN APPOINTMENT!
Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate walk-ins. We have to reserve a special room and equipment needs to be set up.
To set up an appointment call at 330-725-0588 x 5017 or email us at makerspace@mcdl.info.
When you do make your appointment we will need to know the following information:
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| 16 MM 8 MM |
Do you really have 16 MM movie film? The photograph to the left shows the difference between 16 MM and 8 MM film.
How many canisters of film did you want to digitize? How big are the reels? And are they full?
The process is done in real time (no pun intended). If the reel is 5-7 inches in diameter and is a full reel it could take about 30 minutes to digitize.
Do you have a smartphone, i.e. iPhone, Samsung, etc.? The phone will be used to capture the film and save it digitally.
If you are not sure there is enough memory on your smart phone or you don’t own a smart phone, just let us know so we can provide a video camera to do the filming instead of your phone.
When you come for your appointment we will have the projector set up and in the reserved room. Someone will walk you through the process and depending on how comfortable you are, we may be with you through the whole appointment or just the first 10-15 minutes to get you started. We will always be available for any questions or problems that arise.
We have found the results may differ due to a few variables. The type and age of you smart phone and quality and age of the film will determine how the digitized video comes out. Also, the digitized recording may need to be edited, due to jumpy film or awkward framing. Watch the clip below to see an example of what it may look like.*
*You need to click on the center arrow and then the arrow in the left hand corner of the viewer to play the video.
Herman Fulmer family,16 mm film, ca. 1946
Fishing trip in Canada
If you have any questions about the process, please call us at 330-725-0588 x5017 or email us at makerspace@mcdl.info. We will be glad to answer any questions you may have.
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
IT'S HERE!! The 1950 Census is Now Available!
by Kathy Petras
Access to the information in the 1950 census was restricted for 72 years because of a rule that the U.S. Congress passed in 1978. The National Archives released that information last Friday at 12:01 a.m. on April 1st. What a wonderful April Fool's Day surprise!
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| Form P1 is the form used for enumerating every U.S. citizen in 1950. |
The release at the National Archives went smoothly despite many people's predictions (mine included) about crashing the site. By using Artificial Intelligence Optical Character Recognition, AI-OCR, the archives created an indexing and searching system that works surprisingly very well! Within minutes of sitting down to my computer early Friday morning I had found both of my parents and three out of four of my grandparents. Others were reporting similar results.
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| Excerpt from the 1950 Census showing my grandfather, Lunas, his second wife, Della, then my father, Lawson, Uncle Ed (aka Bud) and Aunt Dorothy. 20 questions were asked about every household member. Four people on each page were asked an additional 20 questions. Uncle Ed was one of the people selected for the additional questions. Since he was just a 13 year old school boy, many of the questions didn't apply to him. |
Because of quirks in the indexing system, it is not, at this time, an every name index. So I haven't been able to find my other grandmother and several sets of aunts and uncles - YET!
Start searching on the National Archives site HERE. If you know the address or the enumerations district for your relatives, you can browse the district.
Later that day, the images started appearing on the FamilySearch website. 1950 census images can be browsed on FamilySearch via this MAP.
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| 1950 Census logo from FamilySearch |
And the images are also being uploaded to the Ancestry.com and the My Heritage as well as other web sites.
Ancestry and FamilySearch are working together to refine the indexing provided by the National Archives.
To learn more about the 1950 census, how to use it and what you can find in it, register for the Family History Center's Genealogy Slam! program on May 7th at the Brunswick Library HERE. The three hour event (1-4 p.m.) will also cover U.K. Census Records and tips for locating that hard-to-find ancestor.
Hope to see you there!
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
The Irish of Medina County
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| Jeff Schmaltz - NASA Earth Observatory |
The people of Ireland were among the earliest settlers in America, falling only behind the English in immigration during the colonial years.
Indeed, the first St. Patrick's Day Parade on this continent was in 1601 when the Irish vicar, Ricardo Artur, organized a parade in St. Augustine, Florida, which was then a Spanish colony. Then, in 1737 and 1762, homesick Irish soldiers in the English army marched in St. Patrick's Day Parades in 1737 in Boston, and 1762 in New York City.
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| Destitution in Ireland. Failure of the potato crop illustration was published in The Pictorial Times on 22 August 1846 Image courtesy Researchgate.net. |
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the influx of Irish immigrants created a powerful political force in cities. They helped immigrant Irish get jobs, become naturalized and VOTE! And with this new pride and power came celebration of Irish culture, food and music.
It's impossible to say who the first Irish man (or woman) was who entered Medina County, but it is safe to say that they were among the earliest settlers. The early histories of the county Pioneer History of Medina County (1861) and The History of Medina County and Ohio (1881) are almost silent on the topic except for a few nameless individuals:
Page 479 of the 1881 History of Medina County
and Ohio. The man lost his life and his name,
apparently.
This Irishman, last name "Clark", accompanied Justus Warner who pioneered Liverpool Township in 1811!
and Ohio. The man lost his life and his name,
apparently.
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| History of Medina County and Ohio, page 538. |
No "Clark" appears in the 1820 Census for Liverpool Township. And without his first name, his identity would be difficult to find in land records.
These few examples show why the first Irish person in Medina may never be known.
What we are able to tell is, that by 1850, 216 people who had been born in Ireland then resided in Medina County. While we might want to assume that these Irish-born immigrants came to Medina as a result of the potato famine, a sampling of the individuals indicates that a large portion had been in the U.S. for 10 years or more and only a very small number had immigrated in the last 5 years.
The "born in Ireland" population in Medina, even in 1850 at its height, was never more than 1%.
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| Censuses of Medina County, showing residents reporting "born in Ireland" 1940 is the most recent census available. The 1950 Census becomes available later this year. |
Also, the Irish immigrants in 1850 did not settle evenly throughout the county. Brunswick, which ranked 6th in overall population, had the most Irish-born residents. Homer had the next most Irish residents which is surprising because it ranked 16th in population (out of 17). The top five townships with Irish populations were:
- Brunswick - 38 people
- Homer - 23 people
- Litchfield - 22 people (12th in overall population ranking)
- Medina - 36 people (first in overall population ranking)
- Montville - 12 people (last in overall population ranking)
But by the time the 1881 History of Medina County and Ohio was published, the descendants of those early pioneer Irish were eager to claim their heritage with numerous claims of "of Irish descent", "born in County Donegal, Ireland", "of Irish stock", "native of Ireland" and "of Irish extraction."
Many Irish surnames are familiar in Medina, including, Dague, Martin, Burke, Warner, Berry, Munson and Canavan.
And while we can't track recent "Irish born" Medina County residents, we do know that 16% claimed some Irish ancestry in 2019...
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| 2019 American Community Survey from Census.gov |
Although Medina County doesn't host a St. Patrick's Day Parade, Medinians have celebrated the day for over 100 years.
SAINT PATRICK'S DAY IN MEDINA THROUGH THE DECADES
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| This tiny snippet in the 14 March 1879 Medina Gazette informs us that they knew when St. Patrick's Day was. |
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| Medina Gazette, 15 March 1907 |
This 1907 article may be one of the first events commemorating St. Patrick's Day in Medina. "The Story of Ireland by One Who Knows It" by Father J.R. Kenny. As reported in the 1910 Census for Medina County, Father John R. Kenny was born in Ireland in 1871 and came to the U.S. in 1902. He was a naturalized citizen.
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| Medina County Naturalization Records. John O'Rourke Kenny's Petition to become a naturalized citizen no. 4031 |
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| 14 March 1913 Medina Sentinel from Newspaper Archives March 14, Page 5 |
By 1913, St. Patrick's Day was an excuse for a party. The W.CT.U. - Women's Christian Temperance Union - utilized the Town Hall for their "social". Note the error in their announcement - Feb. 14 instead of March 14.
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| Medina County Gazette from Newspaper Archives April 19,1935, page 7 |
During the height of the Depression, Medina housewives were urged to use green in their color scheme for their St. Patrick's Day meal. Their suggested meal for the 1935 event included celery, green olives, creamed lobster, Shamrock rolls, Emerald Isle Salad and green tea. Creamed lobster in the middle of the biggest economic depression that this country has ever known?
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| Medina County Gazette 9 Mar 9,1951, p. 5 |
By the 1950's advertisers had claimed
St. Patrick's Day for their own purposes,
a trend that won't go away.
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| Medina County Gazette, 15 Mar., 1969, p-4 |
This "ad" from 1969 took the form of an old Irish Blessing.
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| The Lodi Advertiser February 14th, 1973, p. 5 |
These two items from the 1970's:
The first reminds us that "We are all
Irish on St. Patrick's Day"
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| Medina County Gazette from Newspaper Archives February 23,1979 Page 32 |
And the second is a fun event at the Medina County Community Center, at the Medina County Fair Grounds.
These two articles from 1986 shared space on the newspaper page with articles about debris still being found after the space shuttle Challenger explosion.
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| Medina Gazette 8 March 1986 |
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| Medina Gazette 11 March 1986 |
A dubious addition to St Patrick's Day celebrations, green beer, was being offered at the Medina Bowling Lanes in 1995:
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| Medina Gazette 16 March 1995 |
In 2002, The Gazette ran a word scramble contest featuring local businesses some of which no longer exist. How many can you make out?
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| Medina Gazette, 12 March 2002. This is just months after the 9/11 attacks. The war in Afghanistan was just heating up. |
This rather bad scan of a 2012 ad for the On Tap restaurant was probably originally in color, green of course! Their celebration included Karaoke, corned beef and cabbage and Killians beer.
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| Medina Gazette 13 March 2012 |
And remember, we are all Irish on Saint Patrick's Day!
Including this "Irish Lass". DNA tests estimate that I have as much as 29% Irish ancestry, thanks to my 4X great grandmother, Fair Sabra Connolly, and my JOHNSON forebears.
Friday, March 11, 2022
WILL THEY SHOW UP!?
March 15th is the day the buzzards are supposed to return to Hinckley. Many will be there to witness the event and then the celebration will begin!
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| Wonderful World of Ohio, March 1970, p 21 |
Why do they celebrate buzzards in Hinckley?
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| Cleveland Memory Project |
In 1957, a Cleveland Metropark's patrolman told a Cleveland Press reporter how the buzzards return to a certain area in the Hinckley Reservation every year and how their return was logged for over 30 years. The reporter wrote up the story and then other media reported on it and the word spread. That year area bird watchers, along with about 9,000 others, came to see if it was true. They were not disappointed, the buzzards did return.
However, Hinckley was not prepared for the number of visitors and area restaurants actually reported running out of food. In later years, The Chamber of Commerce rallied together and began offering a pancake breakfast and other activities. The official "Buzzard Day" is now the first Sunday after March 15th. It has grown into a full blown festival with the pancake breakfast along with crafts, history and other entertainment.
Why do the buzzard's return each year?
Folklore and some of the local history books will tell you it was because of a "Great Hunt" in 1818. The story says that a group of over 450 men came together to hunt and reduce the number of bears and wolves that were causing problems in the area. After the hunt a lot of carcasses were left behind which led to the arrival of the buzzards.
There wasn't any information as to why they come back on March 15th, but the event was compared to the sparrows who always return to San Juan Capistrano on March 19th.
Do they truly come back on March 15th every year?
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| Medina County Gazette, 15 March 1984 |
Most every year the buzzards do return to Buzzards Roost on March 15th. However, in March of 1984 they failed to appear. According to an article written in the Medina Gazette, the buzzards broke a 150-year tradition and did not show up!
Are they really buzzards?
Technically, they are turkey vultures. Yet, early Americans identified them as buzzards and the name stuck. So, they can go by either name.
How can you celebrate Buzzard Day this year?
The Hinckley Chamber of Commerce will be celebrating on Sunday, March 20th, with a pancake breakfast, arts & crafts, animals and storytelling. For more information, click the link to the Chamber of Commerce website:https://www.hinckleyohchamber.com/
We can only hope the buzzards don't get lost this year and show up on March 15th!
Sources:
Virginia Wheeler Martin Family History & Learning Center (VWMFH&LC), Medina Library, Landmark files, books 40 & 41, 9 March 2022.
VWMFH&LC, Medina Library, hanging files, Hinckley, 9 March 2022.
Perrin, William, History of Medina County and Ohio...etc., etc., (Baskin & Battey: Chicago, 1881) volume 2, p 607-611; Virginia Wheeler Martin Family History & Learning Center, Medina Library, 9 March 2022.
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