Meet George Wickens Part 1

In the history of Lorain, George Wickens was a giant of a man. It's a shame that in 2012, I'll bet that very few people in Lorain even know who he was.

Quite simply, he was a mayor of Lorain and a successful businessman who loved the city and worked tirelessly to improve it. He was one of the city's biggest supporters and most beloved citizens.

As is often the case, the best way to get a measure of a man is to read his obituary, and George Wickens' was quite extensive. I present it below as it ran in the Lorain Daily News on Thursday, March 19, 1908.

After reading it, I'll think that you'll agree that, sadly, Lorain probably has had no one to compare with him since.

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GEORGE WICKENS, CITY'S LEADING CITZEN, DEAD
PASSED AWAY AFTER ILLNESS OF FOUR DAYS

End Came at 7:45 This Morning, Caused by Pleuro Pneumonia
A BIG LOCAL FIGURE
George Wickens Was Lorain's Most Active Advocate of Optimism for Its Future

March 19, 1908 front page

George Wickens, Sr. died at his residence, 142 West Erie Avenue at 7:45 o'clock this morning after a four days illness with pneumonia.

Mr. Wickens, whose death came as a great shock, was one of Lorain's most highly respected and prominent men and his demise is mourned by all. In his death the city loses a man who took a great interest in all things pertaining to the welfare of the city and her citizens and whose place Lorain will be unable to fill.

Mr. Wickens was as prominently identified with the growth and development of Lorain as any man now residing in the city and for years has been prominently connected with the public life of the town. He was a self-made man, one who from absolutely nothing had, by intelligence, energy, business acumen, and unquestioned probity, worked his way from the bottom rung of the ladder to prosperity and comparative affluence. He was a leader in both branches of his business and was well and favorably known throughout the state. In all local matters he was always to be found on the right side, aiming constantly to build up and improve the interests of his fellows and his city.


A MAN OF ACTION
Mr. Wickens was one of the few of Lorain's citizens who was able to accomplish what he set out to do where the interests of the city was at stake and was a man of action. While working for the interests of the city from all standpoints his one great hobby was civic improvement, and towards beautifying Lorain he has done more than any other man. He was an enthusiastic member of the Civic Improvement league, and only yesterday, with the welfare and beautification of the city still uppermost in his mind, he called City Engineer Schickler to his bedside and gave him instructions towards improving several of the city parks and changes that he desired to be made in the plans for the new cemetery to be opened adjoining Elmwood.

In municipal affairs as well as in his private life he was a staunch advocate of Roosevelt's policy of a "Square deal for all" and his life was lived on those principles.

A SHORT ILLNESS
Taken ill on Sunday, Wickens' illness was not thought to be serious, but on Monday he grew suddenly worse and sank slowly until he passed away this morning. Yesterday it was thought that his condition was slightly improved.

The deceased, who was fifty-five years of age, was born in Basingstoke, South England on July 19, 1852. At the age of ten years, he commenced working in a furniture store learning the trade of cabinet maker and joiner. Completing his apprenticeship he came to America in 1871 and for a time lived at St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada. He came to Lorain in 1872.

For ten years he was engaged in carpentry work, contracting and building, and in 1883 embarked in the undertaking and furniture business, with which he was identified at the time of his death.

While engaged in the carpentry business in Lorain, Mr. Wickens built many of the older houses now located on the east side and was the contractor that built the old lighthouse which now stands at the end of the west pier of the river. In 1886 he became a member of the Funeral Directors' association of Ohio and on June 2, 1892, he was elected its president.

In 1875 Mr. Wickens married Miss Celia E. Chapman and one child was born, George B. Wickens. This wife died the following year. In 1877 Mr. Wickens married again and this time in England to Miss Mary A. Colly and three children were born, William A., Elizabeth and Edward M. A little over a year ago, Mr. Wickens was married to Miss Elizabeth Wallace. Surviving him other than his wife is his three children, George, Edward and Mrs. L. M. Lewis.

In 1878 the deceased was granted a preachers license by the second London district of the Methodist church and for many years was a member and preacher in the Lorain M. E. church and superintendent of the Sunday school. He has visited his native land many times, returning at one time in England for four years. Only last summer he spent several months in Europe with his wife and daughter Elizabeth.

HIS PUBLIC CAREER
In public life Mr. Wickens was a most potent factor. In politics he was a Republican but not a radical. His ideas were broad upon public questions, which gained for him unbounded popularity. He was elected mayor of the city in 1894 and served the city as its chief executive for two years. He was mayor of the city when the plant of the National Tube company came to Lorain and had in his possession at the time of his death the first piece of steel ever turned out by the plant. In '97 Mr. Wickens was elected as a member of the council from the second ward and later was a member of the boards of cemetery trustees and water works trustees. He was elected a member of the first board of public service in 1903. At the last municipal election he was again elected to the office of member of the board of public service by a large majority. He was also a member of the board of library trustees.

HIS BUSINESS LIFE
In his business life Mr. Wickens has been most successful and in the last twenty-five years has built up one of the most extensive furniture businesses in this section of the state. In 1900 he erected the three story business block on Broadway now occupied by the Boston Store. In the spring of 1899 a branch store was opened on Tenth avenue. In 1904 the five-story building in which the business in now located was erected, the store opening for business on December 13, '95. The Parkside Chapel, identified with the undertaking business of Wickens and Ransom, was erected in 1903.

Vintage postcard showing the Parkside Chapel

Last summer Mr. Wickens was the delegate sent by Ohio to the International convention of funeral directors held in one of the southern cities and up to his death was one of the three members of International committee on embalming, representing the United States.

At a meeting of the Ohio Furniture Dealers' association held in Cleveland recently, he was elected president of the association.

Mr. Wickens belonged to many secret societies and was a charter member of the Ohio Anti-Saloon league organized at Oberlin a number of years ago. Among the numerous lodges of which he was a member are the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, K. O. T. M., Rathbone Sisters, Red Men, Protected Home Circle, National Union, Modern Woodmen, Woodmen of the World.

DEATH WIDELY REGRETTED
The death of Mr. Wickens has caused a wave of regret from one end of the city to the other. He was probably one of the most charitably inclined men of Lorain and there has been hundreds of little deeds of kindness that have gone unnoticed by those not intimately connected with him. No one wanted if Mr. Wickens was aware that help was needed and he did not wait until some charitable institution had taken up the case but furnished immediate relief.

Funeral arrangements have as yet not been completed.

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On that same page, an article with the headline A WICKENS HOBBY MAY BE LOCAL INSTITUTION tells how an idea of George Wickens foreshadowed Lorain's modern Pride Day. The article stated, "If the suggestions of the board of trade are carried out, Lorain will have regular days set apart each fall and spring as holiday clean-up days. Health Officer Hug, at the meeting last night spoke of the necessity of such a move. "To those who have occasion to pass the alleys and back yards about the city it becomes at once apparent that the conditions are decidedly unsanitary, unsightly and very offensive to aesthetic natures. Clean-up days was a hobby with George Wickens, and a mighty good one, too, and I think it would be an advisable thing to have the city carry out his suggestions. Clean-up day should become a regular institution each spring and fall.""

The suggestion by Dr. Hug was to be presented as a resolution to Mayor King.

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The Elyria Chronicle of March 19, 1908 also reported the passing of George Wickens in a front page article. GEORGE WICKENS, PROMINENT LORAIN CITIZEN IS DEAD was the headline. The article noted that he was a well known popular business man with "many friends in Elyria."

Wickens Place

The recent controversy regarding a new Family Dollar store across from Lorain City Hall once again thrust Wickens Place – that short stub of a road running along the eastern border of Veterans Memorial Park – in the news. One of the reasons the Lorain Zoning Board rejected the variance for extra-wide driveways (here) was because of the traffic safety concerns of people getting in and out of the store from West Erie Avenue and Wickens Place.

Wickens Place was last in the news last September (here) when Lorain City Council considered renaming the street in honor of Airman 1st Class Eric Barnes, who was killed while serving in the U.S. Air Force in Iraq. According to the Morning Journal's article, the idea was dropped when Mayor Tony Krasienko noted that the street was named for "a founding family of Lorain" and that the proposal could face some opposition.

I think it was a wise decision not to rename Wickens Place. It's a link to a part of Lorain's history, and a memorial to a civic leader – George Wickens – who doesn't deserve to be forgotten.

Who was George Wickens? Stop back here next time to find out!

The Honor Roll in Washington Park

Back in June 1964, Lorain was making plans to replace the aging Honor Roll that used to stand in Washington Park (now Veterans Memorial Park). That's a photo of it above by Journal photographer Norm Bergsma.

Dismantling of the Honor Roll - May 1967
(Courtesy Loraine Ritchey)

The short caption that accompanied the photo in the June 17, 1964 Lorain Journal read, "Bearing the names of Lorainites who died in the service of their nation during World War II and the Korean War, the Washington Park Honor Roll is rapidly deteriorating and in need of replacement. Anthony J. Murello, inspecting the Honor Roll, and Michael Repas, foreground, looking over proposed plans for a permanent memorial, are co-chairman of a committee of the Lorain Memorial Association which will present plans at a meeting of the association at 7 p.m. tomorrow at VFW Post 451 Hall, 112 E. 19th Street. The present Honor Roll was erected by the Lorain Moose Lodge. Others on the committee with Repas and Murello are Mrs. Peter J. Carp, president, American Gold Star Mothers; Andrew Gall, a retired U.S. Army colonel representing the Moose Lodge; Joseph Stejno, clerk of the Lorain Park Board, and Francis (Toto) Kovach, veterans leader. The association meeting will be followed by a session at 8 p.m. of the Lorain Veterans Council at the VFW Hall."

It would be another three years before the Honor Roll was finally dismantled and replaced with the 12 foot monument that still stands near the fountain in the park today. (I wrote about it here.)

Here's a few other pictures of the Honor Roll through the years. It's a shame that it was taken down; it seems like a much more personal memorial to the fallen.

Amvets Joseph Mihalik and Joseph Nemeth standing guard in front of the Honor Roll on Memorial Day 1951
(Courtesy Lorain Journal)

That's Mrs. Louis Sivinski (left) and Mrs. Joseph Mihalik standing guard on Memorial Day 1963
(Courtesy Lorain Journal)

Happy Father's Day – 1964!

Here's a Faroh's Candy ad that ran in the Lorain Journal in June 1964, just in time for Father's Day. There's quite a selection of candies mentioned, including – flying saucers!

I like the clip art representing what a dad apparently looked like back then.

Anyway, please consider a gift for your dad from Faroh's in Downtown Lorain for this Father's Day!

1960s Huron Frostop Drive-in Ads

May 26, 1961 newspaper ad

Many local Baby Boomers probably remember the Frostop Drive-in stand that used to be on U. S. 6 just a little bit east of where the highway crosses the Huron River.

The huge, rotating root beer mug really left an impression on me. Little did I know at the time that I was living in the tail end of the Golden Age of roadside architecture and signage.

Strangely enough, I really don't remember if we ever stopped there. We were always on the way to or from somewhere else, it seems – probably Cedar Point. (Besides, we were more likely to stop at the A&W Root Beer stand in Vermilion, which was closer to home.) But the iconic Frostop mug remains a childhood memory.

That well-known mug is nowhere to be found in the ad at left, however, that appeared in the Sandusky Register on May 26, 1961 announcing the impending opening of the drive-in.

Here's another Sandusky Register ad from a few years later; it ran on May 29, 1964. It's funny how root beer always tastes better in one of those frosted mugs.

I'm not really sure when the Frostop Drive-in closed in Huron. Its former location has been the home to Berardi's since 1979.

Courtesy Berardi's

For some history about the Frostop chain, visit the official website. And to find out what some of the old Frostop Drive-ins look like today, stop by the website of RoadsideArchitecture.com.

Sheffield Lake's Dutch Treat

It's starting to get hot again, and of course that makes me think of ice cream...

Remember way back here when I asked if anyone knew anything about the Dutch Treat drive-in that for years used to be on the southeast corner of East Lake and Abbe Roads in Sheffield Lake? (There's a vacant lot there now.)

Well, here's an ad that ran in the Lorain Journal on April 3, 1953 that announces its transformation from a Dairy Queen to Dutch Treat. Since it had only opened as Dairy Queen on May 4, 1952, it's surprising that it didn't even make it to its one-year anniversary. DQ licensing fees must be pretty stiff.

Nevertheless, the ad above is amusing for a few reasons, specifically the vapid, soulless eyes of the Dutch girl mascot, as well as the creepy, demented look of the "Bad Seed" clone attacking her ice cream cone. The little boy clip art is great, though and they managed to crop the 'Dairy Queen' sign from the photo of the building.

I have a few questions though: what the heck are Boston Coolers and Brown Derbies?

That House by Lakeview Park Part 2

After finding out that this house at 1405 West Erie was one of the most expensive kit homes featured in the Aladdin catalog, I wondered: Who had it built?

Naturally, I hit the Lorain City Directories in the library to find out.

The 1915-16 directory did not include that 1405 West Erie address. The two nearest addresses were 1348 West Erie (H. O. Wurmser – gee, this blog is becoming his P.R. machine) and 1422 West Erie (the address for Capt. Richard Thew, founder of the Thew Shovel Company). Now that's good company.

The next available directory in sequence at the library was the 1919 book, which revealed the home's owner as being Allison H. Babcock, the president and manager of The A. H. Babcock Company (which specialized in real estate, insurance and surety bonds) and his wife Minnie. So his is the earliest name that I can find that is associated with the house.

His biography in A Standard History of Lorain County Volume 2 states that he was born in Lorain on January 21, 1874 and was the son of Allison H. Babcock and Mary (Hill) Babcock. The elder Babcock was a Civil War veteran, and later a merchant and large owner of real estate in Lorain; he also served several terms as mayor. The younger Babcock organized the A. H. Babcock Company in 1898; he was a member of the Masons as well as the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and was "one of the leading and influential citizens" of the community.

The house at 1405 West Erie continued to be listed as the address for A. H. Babcock until the 1926 edition, which indicated that Morris M. Atkin, the president of the Benmor Electric Company was the current owner.

Judging by my emails, in the latter part of the century the house seemed to be mostly identified with the Cooper family, with several people emailing me to share a reminisce about the house or family.

Ironically, the spouse and I were even interested in the house when it went up for sale in the early 1990s. We called for an appointment to see the house, but if I remember correctly, the house sold shortly after it was listed and we were never able to get in to see it. We were told that someone in that neighborhood who had admired it for years snapped it up immediately.

That's not too surprising. It's still a grand looking house with a lot of class.