Home
School Mate? Or Soul Mate?
On one of my daily walks, I noticed this grave in Union Cemetery, which set me a wonderin’. “School Mate” is such a peculiar thing to put on a grave marker! I did a bit of research, and Wendy Ritter Bayer joined me in the effort.
Here is the cluster of gravestones I was so curious about: Carrie Reid, Ellis & Nina Reid, Mary Frances Jones. Carrie Reid’s epitaph says “School Mate” but she shares a last name with Ellis and Nina Reid, and is their general age. Also, she died in her 70s, so it seemed unusual to hark back to her school friends.
Gravestones left to right are: Carrie Reid, Ellis & Nina Reid, Mary Frances Jones. Carrie Reid was Ellis’ 3rd and final wife. Nina married then was divorced from Ellis yet was buried alongside Ellis. Mary Frances is Nina’s child by a previous marriage.
(1) Ellis Harlen Reid was married 3 times:
–Flora Ellen Rice m. 1902. In 1903 he and Flora had 1 son, Russ, who died in 1991. Ellis and Flora presumably divorced.
–Nina Jones m. 1927. For some reason Ellis’ second wife Nina owed his first wife Flora $500 for a real estate matter which was paid in full by May 1937. Ellis Reid filed for divorce from Nina in May 1947, the same year Nina died–in September 1947–after a couple month’s illness “survived by her husband Ellis.”
–Carrie B Quinn m. 1950. Three years after divorcing Nina, Ellis married Carrie B. Quinn, who predeceased him.
(2) Nina was married 2 times:
–Thomas W Jones in West Virginia; he died in 1965 so presumably they divorced. They had a daughter, Marie Frances Jones; Marie died in 1934 and her stone is next to her mother’s.
–In 1927 she married Ellis Reid, divorced him in 1947, and died later that year. Her house at 524 Lincoln Ave was to be sold and proceeds paid “to my niece, Sylvia Cole, and my sister Ivy Robinson, share and share alike, or to the survivor of them.”
(3) Carrie was married 4 times:
–Oscar Bowman m. 1901; he died in 1954 so she must have divorced him. Carrie and Oscar had 2 living daughters: Bertha Leola, born 1903, and Helen E., b. 1906. Their address was 1268 1/2 N. High St. (Bertha married James Dolan in 1921 and Helen married Charles A. Taylor on 16 Aug 1927). Carrie and Oscar also had an infant daughter who died of “pre-mature birth” in 1909. Their address was 1181 Say Ave.
–Elmer Preston Buchanan m. 1918; he died in 1956 so presumably they divorced.
–Loren George Webster m. 1939; he died in 1940 from “barbital poisoning (addict).”
–Ellis Reid, m. 1950. He was 70, she was 67 when they married; she died 5 years after marrying him. He died in 1961.
I’m surprised at the sheer number of divorces–at least 4 between them. Ellis is buried alongside his second wife, rather than his 3rd and final wife, though that’s not all that uncommon; cemeteries and monument sellers often offer a “2 for one” price, so widowers ended up with a plot they might otherwise be unable to use. Also it wouldn’t surprise me if somehow Nina was instrumental in the choice, since her daughter by previous marriage is in the same plot and style stone.
Now, back to my original inquiry. Carrie was born and raised in Ohio, as was Ellis. Nina was born and raised in WV. So if Carrie was a “school mate,” it was with Ellis. I am unable to research whether that happened. But what kind of husband puts “school mate” on his newly deceased, current, wife’s stone? I’m wondering whether she was a SOUL Mate and the carvers got it wrong. If so, what a hoot.
Indian Springs 1922
This is a nice photo from a 1922 Ohio State University masters thesis by Forest Ira Blanchard. I believe, based on the metadata, that it was taken at 70 E Henderson Rd. It is captioned, “Indian Springs will soon be utilized for better-class homes.”
It makes me curious about the “class of homes” about to be torn down.
Blanchard, inspired by the Chicago School of Sociology, sought to study the racial and ethnic composition of the city of Columbus, with a particular focus on the role of transportation (railroads, roads) in shaping the urban landscape.
[Courtesy of Forest Ira Blanchard, An Introduction to the Economic and Social Geography of Columbus, Ohio. Thesis (M.A.), Ohio State University, 1922; digital version from City of Columbus Historic Map Collection.]Rosemary & Rosemary South Plat Map 1923
Here’s a nice plat map from 1923 of the Rosemary housing development.
138 East North Broadway
138 East North Broadway. Ralph Taylor Van Ness (1902-1989) and his wife Norma Thorp Van Ness (1910-2000) bought this house from North Broadway Methodist Church in 1960 and remodeled it.
Their daughter Margaret Van Ness (now Margaret Nelson) is shown on the porch.
Margaret writes,
Father dug out the basement and built his office downstairs. We lived next to the warden of the State Penitentiary. One time we bought a set of golf clubs from the warden’s sister. Another time, when my parents found an old safe in the attic of the garage, my father asked the trustees if there were any safe crackers amongst them. The answer: “No, Doc, but maybe next week.” My parents sent the safe to a company that could open it, so, we’ll never know if there was a treasure or a treasure map inside! Living on the other side of us was Arch Heck, a professor at Ohio State University, in charge of the Fulbright program, bringing students from abroad to study at OSU. Thus, my parents became hosts to several students, one from Nepal who, he told them, slept on the floor rather than messing up the bed.
The Van Nesses lived at this address until 1971. It has been significantly remodeled and expanded since the Van Ness time.
[Photos and narrative courtesy of Margaret Van Ness Nelson]Olentangy Park, from Alex Campbell
Transportation expert and collector Alex Campbell sent along some Olentangy Park pictures. Though you may or may not have already seen these pictures, Alex’ knowledge is invaluable. From Alex:
This is the streetcar and pedestrian entrance to Olentangy Park. Olentangy Park was purchased by the Columbus Railway & Light Co. in 1897 as a way to generate business. The high Street line ended at Arcadia. The North High Streetcar house was on the northeast corner of Arcadia and High Streets and directly across the street this park entrance. The Clintonville–Worthington streetcar line terminated at Arcadia as well hence the need for the pedestrian walkway.
Glenn Echo ravine runs east-west along the north side of the ravine. Crossing under the bridge is a north-south ravine that paralleled high Street. More on the north-south ravine on Wednesday.
The single track branches into two tracks, perhaps a loop. There is a loading platform beyond the arch. The single track into the park is going to be unsatisfactory as you will see on Wednesday.
In 1907 the streetcar entrance to Olentangy Park was rebuilt. The ravine paralleling High Street was filled in eliminating the bridge. The inbound and outbound cars no longer had to share a single track. The Clintonville-Worthington visitors still had to walk in using the gravel path to the left of the entrance. (The CR&L Co was wide gauge and the Worthington line standard gauge.)
In 1899 the CR&L Co. sold the park to the Dusenbury brothers who transitioned it from a nature park to an amusement park. The brothers also built a 2248 seat theater.
When the theater let out the surge of streetcar customers must have required tens of streetcars. If they packed the cars with 60 riders each they would need 37 streetcars. That may be the reason the company made the improvements to the park streetcar loop and terminal.
At 5 cents a ride they would have collected $112, good money since they paid so little to their employees.
Alex also put together a super helpful Olentangy Park Chronology as an aid in dating all the Park photos that have shown up in the last few years. (Ohiomemory.org has a number of good Park photos.) Many of the chronology dates came from websites–so they are susceptible to error. Still it does give a sense of the life cycle of the park.
[ca1900 photo from the Christopher Trumbull Collection, by way of Alex Campbell. Postcard postmarked 1909 from the Alex Campbell Collection. Chronology courtesy of Alex Campbell]25 and 29 Tibet Road
Margaret Nelson grew up in Clintonville and has kindly shared her treasure trove of pix of Clintonville with us. This is the medical office building her father, Dr. Ralph Taylor Van Ness, built in the 1950s at 25 Tibet Road.
Below is a view of the inside. You can see patients in the waiting room, the nurse, Margaret Deckard, at her desk, and Margaret’s father, Dr. Ralph Taylor Van Ness, in another room. The photo on the right shows Mrs. Deckard in the supply room.
The Van Ness family lived next door to the medical office, at 29 Tibet Road.
Here are Margaret’s parents in their 1950s kitchen. They sold to Dr. John Gardiner in 1959 and then moved to 138 East North Broadway.
