This & That from The Willshire Herald

One of my favorite pastimes is looking through old issues of The Willshire Herald on microfilm at the Van Wert County Library. Below are some interesting articles that I recently found.

Sustains Injured Hand
John Scaer, farmer residing on route 2, Willshire, had the misfortune of cutting four fingers and the thumb off the left hand while operating a buzz saw at his home late Saturday afternoon.

Mr. Scaer was taken to taken to [sic] the Adams county hospital at Decatur that same afternoon, where the injured hand will be given the best of medical care. Although the injury is very painful, Mr. Scaer is getting along as well as can be expected. [1]

The Willshire Herals, 12 February 1925, p.1.

The Willshire Herald, 12 February 1925, p.1.

John Scaer was my maternal great-grandfather, the father of my grandmother Hilda (Scaer) Schumm. He was was 61 years old when this accident occurred.

John Scaer (1865-1940)

John Scaer (1865-1940)

Other injuries and some genealogical information from The Willshire Herald:

Chattanooga—
The daughter of Wm. Becher got her fingers caught in a pulley and was severely injured while her father was making hay.

Geo. Fender was kicked on the arm by a horse, breaking both bones.

Mr. and Mrs. Fogle and Miss Rosa Kuehm visited with their mother, Mrs. Wm. Betzel, Sunday.

John Bollenbacher and family took dinner with Perry Gibbons and family, Sunday.

J.F. Smith and family and Mes Dames Frank Hurl and Clyde Jones of Wren, Ohio, took dinner with H.B. Cowan and family, Sunday.

Ed Merkle of Ohio City, was here over Sunday. [2]

Some entertainment in Willshire in 1928:

An Old Fiddlers Contest will be held at Dull’s Theatre next Wednesday night, which will furnish plenty of entertainment and amusement. Garfield Martin will bring his gang from Neptune, Doc Fetters, Ed Brune and others from Celina and St. Marys. Some of these are well remembered by the entertainment they gave here two years ago. This contest is open to local talent also. The same entertainment will be given at Rockford the following night. [3]

I wonder how just how old you had to be to compete in that fiddlers contest?

Linn Grove Bank Robbed
At 10 o’clock Tuesday morning, four bandits entered the bank at Linn Grove, and took $1900 in cash. Murl Lybarger, formerly of the Willshire bank here, is cashier, and was alone at the time of the robbery. This is said to be the third time for this bank. [3]

Concrete Road Ordered
A concrete road has been ordered from the north line of Liberty township south through Chattanooga. The Willshire road through Blackcreek township has been ordered improved, by grading and the applying the first course of a built up traffic bound road this year. [4]

I wonder if this was the first paved road in Chatt?

One of Zion Chatt’s ministers receives a gift:

Rev. Yahl Surprised by Gift of Radio
Rev. Carl Yahl, pastor of the Zion Lutheran Church at Chattanooga, was the victim of a pleasant surprise recently when he drove his new automobile for the first time and found it equipped with a fine radio.

The radio was the gift of Carl Andrews, the dealer, and a member of his congregation, and the congregation itself, and was a complete surprise to Rev. Yahl. To say that he is proud of the gift and the good will that prompted it is putting the way he feels about it very mildly. [5]

Rev. Carl Yahl, pastor at Zion Chatt 1931-42.

Rev. Carl Yahl, pastor at Zion Chatt 1931-42.

The news was always interesting back then in The Willshire Herald.

 

[1] The Willshire Herald, Willshire, Ohio, 12 Feb 1925, p.1.

[2] The Willshire Herald, Willshire, Ohio, 14 July 1910, p.1.

[3] The Willshire Herald, Willshire, Ohio, 1 March 1928, p.1.

[4] The Willshire Herald, Willshire, Ohio, 16 February 1928, p.1.

[5] The Willshire Herald, Willshire, Ohio, 18 April 1940, p.1.

6 comments

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    • Miriam on November 28, 2014 at 10:10 am
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    I like that he was the “victim” of a pleasant surprise. (Rev. Yahl article)

    1. Yes, they certainly had a different way of phrasing things then.

    • Mary Goodwin Haddad on December 2, 2014 at 7:32 pm
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    Thanks, Karen, for the news from the Willshire Herald. I didn’t realize it was that old a newspaper. I lived in Willshire during the 40’s and 50’s and read the paper many a time. Even after I graduated and moved away. It was always fun to come home and read Mom’s past papers.

    1. Those little newspapers had the best news, didn’t they! Thanks for reading.

    • John Vining on December 10, 2014 at 7:30 pm
    • Reply

    Hi Karen,

    I was interested in the Willshire Herald entry from March 1, 1928. The Dull Theatre was owned by my great grandfather, Wilbert Dull. My mother, Rosella (Dull) Vining, used to talk about selling tickets in the ticket office at the theatre when she was little. She also talked about have to race into the projection room to fix the projector and film when it “skipped a loop.” If I correctly visualize what she told me, I believe the theatre was located right next to (north of) the old Jones & Byer auto dealer/Sohio gas station. When I was little, Clarence Dailey used to complete auto and tractor servicing/repairs in that storefront building. I think the Dull Theatre was a victim of either the Great Depression or the move to “talky” movies; it shut down in the early 1930s.

    Thanks so much for posting all this information from the past!

    1. I am not sure where the theatre was located but I am sure someone will remember. I see their ad in just about every old issue of the Willshire Herald but do not know when they closed. I will try to notice when the ads stopped. There might even be an article about the closing. Interesting to think of Willshire having its own theatre.

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