Open Access Kent State (OAKS)

Brothers standing hand-in-hand. Merle M. McCurdy (1912-1968) stands to the right of his older brother, Foster McCurdy (1910-1978). The first child, a girl, of the McCurdy family was still born (1909).

Life for Merle began on the shores of Lake Erie in the port city of Conneaut, Ohio. Situated in the northeast corner of Ashtabula County, the city of 11,000 residents that Merle grew up in, played a significant role in the transport of iron ore from dock to rail. Andrew Carnegie, the well-known industrialist, was instrumental in the development of this transportation hub. In 1898, he purchased over 5,000 acres of Conneaut’s harbor and made a significant financial investments in modernizing the ship yard equipment and infrastructure before selling it to J.P. Morgan who created U.S. Steel in 1901.

Sources

Bureau of the US Census. (1913). Thirteen Census of the United States, Table 1: Population-Ohio, Population of Minor Civil Divisions: 1910, 1900, 1890 (Vol. 3). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

Treese, L. (2003). Railroads of Pennsylvania: Fragments of the Past in the Keystone Landscape. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.

Evelyn Gertrude (Foster) and LeRoy “Roy” Nelson McCurdy, Merle’s parents, were married in Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada on July 20, 1907.

Both the Foster and McCurdy families had roots in the Ohio, before moving to Amherstburg. Prior to the Civil War, both families participated on the Underground Railroad by helping those leaving the bonds of slavery in the United States to Canada or otherwise offering assistance upon freedom seekers’ entry into a foreign land. Following the Civil War, both families had relatives who worked on ships carrying cargo into the United States. The marriage of Evelyn and Roy McCurdy would see a portion of these two families re-establish connections with Ohio, with Lake Erie being the common bond and connection with their cousins to the North.

Source

Journal Entry and Affidavit: Marriage of Roy McCurdy and Evelyn Foster, No. 22310 (Ashtabula Court of Common Pleas 1926).

Serving on a Great Lakes ore freighter as a cook enticed Roy McCurdy, dressed in a bow tie, and Evelyn McCurdy to move from Amhertsburg, Ontario to the port city of Conneaut, Ohio around 1909.

The McCurdy story in the United States is one of fortitude and strength and captures the spirit of other so called 'fugitive slaves' following the same trail to freedom in the 1800s. Roy was the great grandson of Nasa McCurdy, who was released from slavery by Rachel Kennedy in Greene County, Pennsylvania in the 1790s.

Note: The early history of the McCurdy family and how they helped the freedom seekers create schools and establish African Methodist Episcopal churches throughout Western Ontario is well documented in the McCurdy collection found within the Archives of Ontario.

Sources

Franklin County Recorder. (1795, June 17). Franklin County PA Deed Book 3: Manumission of Nasa McCurdy by Rachel Kennedy. Chambersburg, PA: Franklin County

Frost, K. S., & Tucker, V. S. (Eds.). (2016). A Fluid Frontier : Slavery, Resistance, and the Underground Railroad in the Detroit River Borderland. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.

Greene County Recorder. (1797, March 23). Greene County PA Deed Book 1: Manumission of Nasa McCurdy by Rachel Kennedy. Waynsburg, PA: Greene County

Foster (top row, fourth student from left to right) and Merle (bottom right) McCurdy both attended the Dean Avenue School in Conneaut, Ohio.

An African American student who attended the Conneaut Schools described the high quality teachers who taught “a lot about real brotherhood long before civil rights began. [The teachers] were 50 years ahead of their time.”

Sources

Ruffin, R. (1989, April 5). Letter to Brenda (McCurdy) Rhodes [Letter]. Conneaut, Ohio.

Ike Ruffin Remembers Conneaut High Well. (1989, March 9). The HomeTown News.

In the autumn of 1921, the McCurdy family traveled to Amherstburg, Ontario to visit the birthplace of Merle’s mother, Evelyn (Foster) McCurdy. This photo, dated “September 3, 1921”, was taken during that journey when the McCurdy family stopped to visit relatives living in Cleveland, Ohio.

Evelyn (Foster) McCurdy’s grandfather, Levi Foster, was born on March 29, 1811 in Stark County, Ohio, before moving to Perrysburg, Ohio, a known stop on the Underground Railroad located south of Toledo. In 1838, Levi moved his family to Amhertsburg, Ontario where he opened a livery stable. Active in the anti-slavery debates, Levi helped to organize the True Band Society of Amherstburg to assist freedom seekers who fled slavery in the United States to Canada. Upon Levi’s death, in April of 1875, Levi’s sons, including Evelyn’s father, George H. Foster, continued to run the horse stable.

Sources

Levi Foster Obiturary. (1875, April). Amherstburg Echo. Retrieved from http://tubman.info.yorku.ca/educational-resources/breaking-the-chains/the-detroit-river-essex-county-and-the-underground-railroad/levi-foster/levi-foster-primary-documents/

Colored Celebration in Sandwich. (1867, August 5). Chicago Tribune, p. 2

Evelyn (Foster) McCurdy standing to the left at the Foster farm in Amherstburg.

By 1921, the Foster homestead was in a state of disrepair due to death and, in turn, loss of income. Evelyn’s mother, Sarah (Smith) Foster died in 1899, leaving her husband to raise his young family on his own on the farm. Prior to Sarah’s death, George H. Foster, was working as a porter on the Great Lakes fleet. In 1902, George passed away, leaving Evelyn and her younger sisters to live with their Aunt Gertrude “Gertie” Bush. The McCurdy Family’s journey to the Foster Farm in Amherstburg, Ontario in the autumn 1921 was to aid in the home’s restoration.

For more information on the life of George H. Foster review page one of the December 19, 1902 issue of the Amherstburg Echo.

Source

Iron Steamship Onoko. (1882, May 1). Buffalo Morning Express, p. 2.

The Fosters (left to right): Evelyn (Mrs. Leroy McCurdy), Sarah (Mrs. James R. Lee), Philo Smith, Gertrude Bush (Mrs. William), George H. Jr, and Madeline (Mrs. John E. Murrell, DDS).

Following in their father’s footsteps, the male children of George H. and Sarah J. Foster worked as cooks in the shipping industry, one of the few jobs available to those of African descent within the Great Lakes Fleet. Eventually, members of the Foster Family would rise to the level of 1st Steward.

Sources

Miller, A. (1999). Tin stackers : the history of the Pittsburgh Steamship Company. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.

Various articles found in the Amherstburg Echo and Echo Soundings.

Working for the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. and its major receiving port in Conneaut, Ohio, Roy’s work on the Great Lakes would keep him away from his family for lengthy periods of time. At the time when this class picture was taken of Merle (1926), the strain caused by his frequent absences was too much, and Evelyn filed for divorce.

Source

Ashtabula County Court of Common Pleas. (1926). Case No. 2231

Despite the divorce of his parents, and the impeding economic depression that would sweep the county, the McCurdy Family remained in Conneaut. The family survived on the child support awarded Evelyn by the Court in the divorce, Merle’s mother supplementing the family’s income worked as a seamstress.

Source

Bureau of the US Census. (1930). Fifteenth Census of the United States, Population Schedule-Ohio-Conneaut. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

A 1931 graduate of Conneaut High School, according to The Tattler yearbook, Merle was an active student and participated in a number of extracurricular activities including Glee Club, Football, Senior Boys Club and Track. The Senior Class predicted that Merle would fulfill his dream to become a police officer, “where the city’s Mayor would declare him a hero for his crime fighting skills” (p. 81).

Source

Conneaut High School. (1931). The Tattler. Conneaut, OH.

A graduate of the class of 1931, Merle McCurdy is seated in the first row and sixth in on the right side.

Newspaper clipping of the names associated with the1931 graduating class photo of Conneaut High School featuring Merle McCurdy.

Merle would initially follow the employment path of his father, Roy, and other family members. For a brief time, he worked on the ore boats that served the dock-to-rail steel production centers of U.S. Steel, then located near Youngstown, OH and Pittsburgh, PA.

Photo of Merle (far left) and his fellow cooks on one of many ore boats that operated on the Great Lakes.

Written on the back of the photo by Merle, “All our jackets & aprons were dirty, but luckily dirt does not show up in a picture.”

Merle McCurdy dressed in a cook’s attire on the deck of an ore ship on the Great Lakes.

Merle’s career on ore ships was short lived. Pressured by the economic constrains generated by the Great Depression, the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. in 1932 reduced its iron ore shipping volume by ninety percent. Hoping that the market erosion due to the steel industry would be short-lived, the company reassigned many of its experienced sailors to shipping jobs previously opened only to African Americans such as porters, cooks, and stewards.

Merle was suddenly out of a job and with few options available, he moves to Cleveland, OH. He finds work as a bellhop at the Hollenden Hotel, a downtown luxury hotel that was frequented at the time by popular celebrities and industrialists.

Source

Miller, A. (1999). Tin Stackers : the history of the Pittsburgh Steamship Company. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.

It was at the Hollenden Hotel that Merle fell in love with Rosetta “Rosie” Scott who operated the hotel’s elevator.

As described in the Pittsburgh Courier, Merle’s initial attempts to engage Rosie were disrupted by “fleeting departures” as she would always disappear from sight while operating the elevator’s controls whenever he tried to approach. Merle persisted, and was finally able to strike up a conversation with Rosie, a task he later described as one of his more “difficult undertakings" (McKeever, 1959, p. 2).

The couple wed in 1937 and lived in Cleveland with Merle’s mother, Evelyn, who had married Clarence Cowan five years earlier.

Sources

Cuyahoga County Courthouse. (1971). Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013: Cuyahoga: Marriage Records 1933, vol 169. Salt Lake City, UT: Genealogical Society of Utah. Retrieved from https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-B5ZP-P?i=18&cc=1614804

McKeever, D. (1959, June 6). Brilliant Prosecutor Practices Golden Rule. The Pittsburgh Courier, p. 2

Living in Cleveland on East 87th St with Merle’s mother, Merle and Rosie started a family of two daughters, Myrna (right) and Brenda (left).

In the early 1940s Merle explored several occupations, including real estate, to support his new family but had long aspired to work in law enforcement. Stricken with tuberculosis, a bacterial infection that typically impairs the lungs, he spent a significant amount of time recovering at a sanitarium. For Merle, this ended his dream of becoming a police officer.

Sources

Bureau of the US Census. (1940). Sixteenth Census of the United States, Population Schedule-Ohio, Cleveland. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

Conneaut High School. (1931). The Tattler. Conneaut, OH.

McCurdy Rhodes, B. by Dana, R. (Personal Communication, March 22, 2015).

Merle is pictured (left) with his brother Foster, dressed in uniform. Standing to the right is Myron and Bruce Thomas Cowan is knelling.

While recovering from tuberculosis at a sanitarium, Merle roomed with Myron C. Hoff, who was also afflicted with the same condition. The two became fast friends and dreamed of ways that they could help each other in their future careers. Myron would later attend law school at (Case) Western Reserve University in Cleveland and began his law career in 1943 after passing the Ohio Bar Exam.

Sources

McCurdy Rhodes, B. by Dana, R. (Personal Communication, March 22, 2015).

Supreme Court of Ohio. (n.d.). The Supreme Court of Ohio Attorney Directory. Retrieved from https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/attorneysearch/#/search

Photo taken of the Schuchter family brewery workers at the Jackson Brewery during the late 1870s:

Franz Shuchter (1830-1914) is pictured on the first row, 4th from the right at the kegs. Joe F. Schuchter (1872-1941) is the little boy standing 2nd from the right on the first row. The other little boy to the right of Franz is Louis Schuchter (1866-?) and the man behind him is Joe Schuchter (1827-1915). Most of the other people in the picture are Schuchter relatives by marriage -- in particular the Nelters, Steffens, and Lutzs.

More than half a million German immigrants settled in Cincinnati between 1852 and 1854 and millions more would follow in the decades ahead. These settlers brought with them not only their cultural values and traditions but also a strong brewing tradition and malt drinking culture. It was during this period that Franz Schuchter, a German immigrant and the 3x Great Grandfather to the current of owner of Valley Vineyards, took up residence on Hamilton Road (known today as West McMicken Street) in the heart of Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine district.

Employed at Jackson Brewery as a brewer, according to the 1865 edition of the William’s Cincinnati Directory, Franz would be the first of many Schuchter descendants to work in the brewing industry. Franz’s son, Joe F. Schuchter, during prohibition would eventually leave the area and become a farmer near Morrow, the current location of Valley Vineyards.

Handwritten on the back of the photo: "Florence Ellinwood Allen when 2(?) years old. The dress has red embroidery. […] of EA (Esther Allen) Gaw June, 1952"

1886 was a year of change for the Allen family. Clarence Allen, Florence’s father, left his teaching job in Salt Lake City due to health reasons and Florence’s sister Kate was born and would pass away less than a year later.

Handwritten on the back of photo: "Florence Ellinwood Allen Aged 6 yrs E.A.G. (Esther Allen Gaw)"

At the time when this photo was taken, Clarence Allen, Florence’s father, had recently left a mining position in Bingham, Utah and took a position as clerk for Salt Lake County, which required the family to move back to Salt Lake City. A few years later he started working as an attorney for the law offices of Pence and Allen in Salt Lake City.

The Tuckerman and Allen families on the front porch of the Tuckerman home in New Lyme, Ohio. This historical home still stands on Brownsville Road on its original location.

Esther Allen Gaw is leaning against the far right column of the porch. Clarence “Emir” Allen Jr. is wearing a hat and sitting on the second step from the bottom, in front of Esther Allen Gaw. Helen Allen Shockey is sitting in the middle to the right of the center column, next to a set of guns. To right of the guns, Lois Tuckerman Mook is sitting to the side on the third stair with her leg stretched out. Corrine Tuckerman Allen is standing on the other side of the center column and John "Jack" Alban Allen is sitting in front of her with his arms wrapped around one of his bent knees. Elizabeth Ellinwood Tuckerman is in a chair directly to the right of Corrine. Elizabeth Allen Sloane is sitting next to John, immediately to his left. Florence Ellinwood Allen is sitting toward the front row on the third step.

According to Florence Allen, Jacob Tuckerman “was, in a considerable degree, a feminist. He had been in Oberlin when Lucy Stone, (a prominent American abolitionist and suffragist), was a student there. Oberlin was the first college in American history to admit women to its classes on the same terms as men, so grandfather had a conception of the possible intellectuality of women. He sent my mother one year to Mt. Holyoke and in the first year that Smith was established my mother went to Smith. She was in fact the first girl examined for Smith. My Aunt Lillian and my Aunt Florence graduated at Smith, and this was in an age when too often the women who went to college had to work their way in spite of the opposition of their fathers.”

As noted by Carl Feather, “Tuckerman attended the Kingsville Academy and Oberlin, became a superintendent of schools by the age of 26 and organized the Orwell Academy. The Tuckerman years are often referred to as the Grand River Institute’s golden era — during that time, he was principal to more than 3,100 students from most parts of the United States. After leaving Grand River Institute, Tuckerman continued his success at New Lyme Institute.”

Sources: Rough draft of Florence Allen’s autobiography “To Do Justly” sent to Esther Allen Gaw and others (1956) and Carl Feather's “The Legacy of Education” (2011).

Florence Allen attended the New Lyme Institute in Ashtabula County from 1895-1897, while Clarence Allen, her father, served as Utah's first representative in Congress.

Pictured is the class of 1898.

Back row left to right: Jay Covert, Karl Ayers, Verne Mann, Guy Wright, and Burdette Eddy

Middle row left to right: Ethel Smith, Edith Morgan, Jessie Sperry, Marne Jones, Mammie Dial, Grace Russell, Vida Pinney, Florence Allen, and Lydia Hurlburt

Front row left to right: Ina Howes, Bessie Coleman, Belle, Bernice Johnston, and Edith Root

Merle operating an electric streetcar bound for downtown Cleveland’s Public Square. Streetcars during the 1940s and 1950s in Cleveland, like many other major cities of its time, would be eventually replaced by trackless trollies and buses as the primary means of public transportation.

Ironically, George D. McCurdy, Merle’s grandfather, passed away on October 26, 1919 of an apparent heart on a streetcar in Cleveland’s Public Square.

Sources

Cooley, P. (2016, July 14). A Visual History of Streetcars and Trolleys in Cleveland. Cleveland.com. Retrieved from http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/07/a_visual_history_of_streetcars.html

Cuyahoga County, Bureau of Vital Statistics. (1919, October 26). George D. McCurdy Death Record: File No. 57297-9004.

Theatre production participants on the campus of Western Reserve University. Standing in the middle of the back row is Esther Allen Gaw and sitting immediately in front of her holding a donkey’s head is her sister Helen Allen Shockey.

Growing up surrounded by the performing arts, especially music, had a major impact on Florence, Esther, and Helen. Florence’s mother Corinne Tuckerman Allen, in particular, was a gifted pianist who had played the organ when she was a student at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. After graduation Esther taught music for Salt Lake City schools for 13 years and later became the dean of women at Ohio State University.

Front row left to right: Clarence Allen (1852-1932), Esther Allen Gaw (1879-1973), and Corinne Tuckerman Allen (1856-1931)

Middle row left to right: Clarence “Emir” Allen (1891-1918) and John “Jack” Allen (1894-1924)

Top row left to right: Elizabeth Allen Sloane (1889-1970), Florence Allen (1884-1966), and Helen Allen Shockey (1881-1953)

A family together but divided. It was during this period that Clarence Allen moved back to Salt Lake City to serve as a superintendent and mine manager for the United States Mining Company, while Helen and Esther enrolled at Western Reserve University (Case Western Reserve University) in Cleveland. Florence lived with the Tuckerman family and attended the New Lyme Institute, a co-educational preparatory school in Ashtabula County. Jacob Tuckerman, Florence’s grandfather, was the first President of the school from 1882 till his death in 1897.

Florence Allen is standing outside of the Centennial-Eureka Mine dressed in working attire and holding the tools used to do work in the mine.

Florence’s father, Clarence, over the years worked for several Utah mines including the Old Jordan and South Galena located in the Oquirrh Mountains, and Centennial-Eureka situated in the East Tintic Mountains.

According to the August 1932 issue of AX-I-DENT-AX dedicated to the memory of Clarence Emir Allen and Florence Allen's personal recollections in her biography To Do Justly, the miners and her father had a great working relationship. He not only brought prosperity to the mine by finding valuable resources but also stood up for the miner’s rights. In particular, he pushed for laws that improved the miners pay and provided free education.

After graduating with her undergraduate degree, Florence Allen, her mother, and siblings lived in Berlin, Germany from 1904-1906 to further their studies, tour the area, and visit with friends. Florence is sitting at the far end of the table enjoying tea and refreshments. Esther Allen Gaw is standing at the front the table and Elizabeth Allen Sloane is sitting across from her.

Allen graduated with a B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, from the College for Women of Western Reserve University (WRU) in 1904. She entered the WRU Graduate School in September 1907 and received the Master of Arts degree in June 1908. As an undergraduate, Miss Allen was a member of Sigma Psi sorority and YWCA. She was president of the Dramatics Club and editor-in-chief of the student monthly newspaper, College Folio.

Source: Case Western Reserve University, Celebrate Women’s History Month: Florence E. Allen

Florence Allen portaying King Dushyanta is pictured on the front row fourth in to the right.

According to her biography Do Justly, Allen's final fling at college was in persuading her class to present as the Class Day play Sakuntala, by Kalidasa, the distinguished Hindu poet of the fifth century. This was not a highly professional project on her part. Needless to say, she could not read Sanskrit. All she had was a stilted translation, but she had fun working this translation into metrical verse, and they actually performed it. The leading actor of men's parts on the campus was unable to take part, so it fell to her with my strong voice and energetic, though by no means subtle, acting to play the part of the king. It was a terribly hot day and the play was given in the afternoon. She sweltered in the royal purple robe which they had rented from the costume shop, and wished she had never heard of Hindu drama.

Florence Allen and an unidentified friend standing in front of Harkness Chapel on the Western Reserve Campus in Cleveland, Ohio. Florence returned to the university in 1906 after receiving her bachelor’s degree to pursue a master's in political science and constitutional law. After graduation, she attended University of Chicago and then went on to New York University Law School where she graduated in 1913, second in her class, with her law degree.

Glimpse of the front entrance of the second location of the Laurel School on Euclid Ave in Cleveland. Florence is located on the back row second in to the right.

Upon her return from Germany, Florence at the age of 22 started teaching at this all girls school. She also helped the students put on plays and wrote articles as a music critic for Cleveland's Plain Dealer.

Corinne Tuckerman Allen (sitting in chair) and her three daughters Esther (left), Florence (middle), and Elizabeth (right) on the front porch of the family's 1st Avenue home in Salt Lake City, Utah.

During the time this photo was taken, Esther was living in Utah. She was briefly married to Henry Clinton Gaw, an auditor who passed away in 1912. Together they had one son, Emir Allen Gaw. Florence was residing in New York City, attending law school, and assisting clients at the New York League for Protection of Immigrants. In addition, she provided music lectures at schools and libraries in New York City to help cover the cost of tuiton. Elizabeth, the youngest Allen daughter, married Harrison Sloane, an attorney, in 1912 and they moved to San Diego, California to raise their three daughters.

Florence Allen participating in a march for women’s right to vote.

Florence was heavily involved in the women's suffrage movement after she received her undergraduate degree from Western Reserve University. She participated in both the Ohio and New York women’s suffrage groups and attended many of their meetings and rallies.

In 1913, Florence and her law school friend, Bertha "Bert" Miller, took part in the "Votes for Women" pilgrimage. Demonstrators, led by Rosalie Jones marched from New York City to Washington D.C..

Florence Allen speaking to a captive audience at Public Square in Cleveland about the importance of liberty bonds and their value to the war effort. According to an October 13, 1918 Plain Dealer newspaper article, Allen declared "if we women cannot give all we have to stop this carnage and demand such a peace that will end all wars of conquest, selfishness, and despotism, we have no right to call ourselves women."

The following year she would be appointed as the assistant prosecutor of Cuyahoga County and the first women in the United States to hold such an office.

Proud brother, John “Jack” Allen, had this photo featured in his personal World War I Balloon Company scrapbook album.

Handwritten by Florence Allen on the back of the photo: "at 2728 Euclid Ave -The B.W.C. (Business Women’s Club) did this of their own notion - has 1600 members."

On Aug. 24, 1920, the state of Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote. Allen’s friends in the Woman Suffrage Party encouraged her to seek election to a judgeship on the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. Since the primaries had already been held, the only way to place her name on the ballot was to gather the required number of signatures on a petition. In two days, party member gathered 2,000 signatures, and her name was placed on the ballot. Supported by the major Cleveland newspapers, community leaders and several unions, she was elected on Nov. 2, 1920, the first election women could vote except on local matters. Allen became the first woman elected to a judicial office in the United States.

Source: The Supreme Court of Ohio, Florence Ellinwood Allen Biography

On Jan. 1, 1921, Allen assumed her duties as common pleas judge. The court had 12 judges who operated without an administrative head of the court. Material witnesses to a crime could be held in jail for months waiting for a trial to begin. Meanwhile, the defendants could be free on bond. Without a judge supervising the docket, the trials involving jailed material witnesses were not moved to the front of the docket. Allen worked with several women’s organizations to draft a law that would mandate a chief justice of the common pleas court in any county having more than one judge to supervise the docket and manage the process in a more timely manner. The Ohio General Assembly passed the law. From Jan. 1, 1921 to Sept. 1, 1922, Judge Allen disposed of 892 cases, including three first-degree murder cases, one second-degree murder trial and the perjury trial of Justice William McGannon, chief justice of the Cleveland Municipal Court.

Source: The Supreme Court of Ohio, Florence Ellinwood Allen Biography

Holiday card features photos of the newlyweds Clarence and Corrine Allen and the couple 50 years later.

Weathering through a number of family illnesses, the death of three of their children, multiples moves, and career changes, the Allen family remained united and strong. Florence Allen is living with her parents in Columbus as an Ohio Supreme Court judge when Clarence and Corinne celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in 1927.

Despite growing up and some of the siblings going their separate ways, Florence Allen states in her biography To Do Justly "we had always been a devoted and close-knit family."

Pictured left to right: Mary E. Pierce and Bertha "Bert" Miller holding an axe. A humored Florence Allen is sitting next to a log splitter.

Mary E. Pierce, nicknamed "her cousin" by Allen, lived and worked with Allen from the 1930s till Allen's death in 1966. Allen and Bert Miller, a prominent New York attorney, meet in law school and became life long friends and traveling companions.

Florence Allen and her friends entertaining themselves in front of Allen's cottage in Moraine Park.

Susan Rebhan is standing with her arm around Florence Allen who is helping to support Mary E. Pierce. Bertha "Bert" Miller is below Mary's foot.

In 1926, Florence Allen, a prominent judge for the Ohio State Supreme Court, purchased the land and commissioned O.L. Green, a local builder, to construct a bungalow for her summer residence. Like her neighbors, she used Moraine Park as base for exploring Rocky Mountain National Park. She used it every summer until she sold the property in 1953.

Of all the cabins at Kaley's in the Pines, this is the most handsome. The bungalow has several rustic features that connect it to its forested surroundings. The shingle siding, prominent stone chimney and foundation, and numerous porches mimic nearby National Park Service-built Rustic buildings.

Source: National Park Service, List of Classified Structures

Glimpse of Deer Mountain.

Typed on the back of the photo: "June 21, 1931- Estes Park, Colo. A mountain just across the valley and immediately in front of your cottage. John was climbing the slope when this picture was taken."

F.E. Allen cottage at Moraine Park in Estes Park, Colorado. Known today as the Kaley Cottage.

Typed on the back of the photo: "Estes Park. Positive proof that our 3-year old Ford was at that point within four days after leaving Cleveland."

Typed on the back of the photo: " June 22, 1931 'Timber Line Camp' the building on the right is the Snow Plow (and what a plow!) garage. Our Ford is on the roadway, appearing just left of the 'garage'."

In Tuve’s biography of Allen, First Lady of the Law, Mary Pierce is described as an “expert fisherman, hauling in trout by the sixes and eights.” Typically the trout would be cooked and prepared with pancakes, a specialty of the house, and served to cottage guests.

During 1948, the year this holiday card was sent out to friends and family, Florence Allen was serving as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, a position President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated her for in 1934. This appointment would make her the first female in American history to serve as an Article III judge.

In this same year she was honored by New York University Law School, her alma mater, as “one of the world’s most truly great women” at the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. Allen spoke at the event that evening and “asserted that lawyers have a positive obligation to explain to the peoples who control the national governments the crucial necessity for building up a system of law between the nations as a substitute for war.”

Photos features Anthony Debevc., Sr. on a tractor in the vineyard.

Prior to establishing a commercial vineyard in 1972, the Debevc family made wine for home use and cultivated Concord grapes on the family farm.

In 1959, Judge Allen announced her retirement from active service to the United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. During an official unveiling of a portrait honoring Judge Allen’s career held on October 15, 1959, Justice Potter Stewart of the U.S. Supreme Court noted that Judge Allen's distinguished career included 15 years of service for the Citizens of Ohio, followed by 25 years of service at the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. From the struggles of securing the vote, through 1959, Justice Stewart remarked that Judge Allen then remained "the first and only woman to hold that high judicial office."

Captured in the photo is Judge Allen (center); joined by her eldest sister, Emeritus Dean of Women at The Ohio State University, Esther Allen Gaw (far right), and United States Senator Frank J. Lausche (second in on the left). Chief Justice of the 6th Circuit, the Hon. Thomas F. McAllister (far left), captured the spirit of Judge Allen's legacy by stating the following:

"The heart and mind of Florence Allen will flame for generations as a beacon for thousands of young women who will take their rightful places in government, in the practice of the law, and in judicial service - and lawyers and judges yet unborn will read the words she has written in the endless, ever-old, and ever new quest for justice."

Florence Allen later in life, with a walking stick, standing outside of her home, which was nicknamed “The Briar Patch” or simply "The Patch". Both the house on this property and the historic marker honoring Allen have been removed over the years.

The first planting of grape vines at Markko Vineyard.

Early view of the completed chalet. Constructed in about a year, the winery's grand opening ceremony occurred on May 27,1972.

Ken Schuchter, founder of Valley Vineyards, tying grape vines to a trellis.

Tim Hubbard of Markko Vineyard photographed next to the winery’s stainless steel tanks.

Industry leaders and wine producers, such as French oenologist Émile Peynaud and the legendary Bordeaux producer Château Haut-Brion, popularized the use of stainless steel tanks in the early 1960s.

Stainless steel tanks are very effective at controlling fermentation temperature. They also aid in the prevention of oxidation and enable the winemaker to monitor the fermentation process. Unlike oak barrels, stainless steel containers do not add any characteristics to the wine, which makes them valuable not only for fermentation, but also as holding tanks.

Tim Hubbard, co-founder of Markko Vineyard, testing a sample of wine from a barrel in the winery’s cellar.

The device shown on top of the barrel is a fermentation lock attached to a bung. Still used in wine production, the lock allows carbon dioxide to escape during fermentation without letting air in and the bung, a stopper, provides an airtight seal. Air exposure for any significant period of time will cause wine spoilage.

The original winery site of Debonne Vineyards before the construction of the winery.

"(Grape vine) site selection is the number one preventative in the eastern U.S. for frost damage," Tony Debevc, Jr. explains. "Good air drainage and a higher elevation help. Also the temperature moderation of the lake effect (later spring bloom and extended fall season) and frequent cloud cover are built-in frost protectors."

Source: Putting the Finesse in the Wine Bottle (August 1976), Fruit Grower Magazine.

Building the chalet was a family affair.

Donniella (Debevc) Winchell is standing in the front of the structure holding a roof beam. Standing with a hat on the lower level is Tony Debevc, Sr.. Rose Debevc and her son Tony Debevc, Jr. are poised on the top of the scaffolding.

View of the chalet near the end of construction. The original 40 X 90-foot structure included an underground fermenting, storage cellar, and a hospitality room, which seated 25. A few years later the structure was enlarged by 20 square feet. Today, the seating capacity has grown to 150.

Construction workers building the concrete block foundation of the Chalet.

The Debevc family visited a number of successful wineries, talked to several industry experts across the country, and spent a significant amount of time planning to develop the Swiss-style Chalet.

Winter view of the Debonne farm from the deck of the chalet. Off to the right is the house that the Debevc family built decades before the winery.

Anthony Debevc., Sr. (center) and others bottling the first batch of wine, 5,000 gallons in total, in the new cellar.

In the beginning, the Debevc family purchased equipment suitable for a small winery, in particular, Frederich Morges bottling equipment from Switzerland and a French grape press.

As the winery grew in production, the family upgraded the cellar equipment to meet rising demand.

The Jackson Brewery was first established on West McMicken Street (then Hamilton Road) by the Kleiner Brothers in 1859, a period in Cincinnati’s history when the German lager was gaining consumer favor over local ales and porters. Constructed into the hillside to provide the cavern-like areas necessary for lager production, the brewery by 1885 produced 100,000 barrels annually and employed 62 people. One of the more profitable beers made during this period was the Jackson Pure Old Lager.

Raids of suspected alcohol production facilities by the federal authorities upholding dry laws was a common occurrence during Prohibition. In 1920 the Jackson Brewery along with several other Cincinnati breweries and saloons were assessed fines for unlawful brewery production, distribution, and sales. According to the January 30, 1929 edition of the New York Times, Joseph Sperber, Jackson’s brew master, would also be charged with conspiracy for soliciting for advance knowledge on plant raids and attempting to bribe Bert B. Buckley, Ohio’s State Treasurer.

After Prohibition, the brewery manufactured several varieties of beer, such as Jackson’s Bohemian Style, 1862 Beer (named in honor of the brewery’s foundation date), and Jackson Cream of Cincinnati Ale, as an attempt to revitalize sales to pre-prohibition levels but revenue remained sluggish. The brewery ceased production in 1942 and would later serve as a distribution center for the Gibson Wine Company.

Pictured left to right: William "Bill" Konnerth (1911-2005) and Leon Adams (1905-1995) at Markko Vineyard.

Leon Adams was a well-known author of books, articles and pamphlets about North American wine and the founder of the Wine Institute, a trade organization that represents California's wine industry.

Bill Konnerth, co-founder of Pennsylvania's Presque Isle Wine Cellars, was known to give talks on winemaking while touring Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.

Adams is best known for his book “Wines of America”, a survey and history of American wineries. First published in 1973, Adams visited several Ohio wineries, including Markko Vineyard and Debonne Vineyard, and collected a number of stories that were featured in his popular book. Photos in both collections showcase these visits.

The original hospitality room designed by Tony Debevc, Jr., who is standing behind the bar, featured 100-year old unpainted barn plank walls salvaged from buildings found on family's 30-acre farm. The photo features the initial bar, which was fashioned from 50-gallon oak wine barrels.

View of the initial hospitality room at Debonne. When the location first opened in 1972, the wine selection included two house table wines, a Concord and Niagara.

Today, the location offers 15 varieties of white, a collection of 14 red wines, and 5 dessert and fruit wines to choose from.

Since the beginning musical entertainment has been a tradition at winery.

Dr. Frank (1899-1985) was considered by many as the “pioneer of vinifera growers in the East. This independent man, whose spirit and perseverance was legendary among those of us who knew him. He was a man not easily forgotten, a man of great conviction and purpose, whose contribution to the research and development of vinifera led to an explosion of wineries in the eastern United States”.

Source: Markko Vineyard, The Gadding Vine and Wine List, Fall 1985

Marge Schuchter of Valley Vineyards tending to Aurora white grapes.

Gary Woodbury of Woodbury Vineyards in Dunkirk, NY checking sugar levels with a refractometer.

A follower of the methods of Dr. Konstantin FranK, Gary Woodbury planted his first vinifera vines in 1970 and opened a winery in 1980. By the mid 1980s the family had planted over 100 acres of grapes. The winery is still in operation.

Exterior rear view of Chalet Debonné.

Early winery photo of Arnulf Esterer posed next to the winery sign that hangs near the location’s front entrance.

As production volume increased, the winery invested in more modern equipment to meet consumer demand.

One of the final stages in wine production, the bottling process involves assembling the bottles and washing, santizing, filling, corking, dressing, and labeling.

Tony Carlucci (right) and Tony Debevc, Jr. (left) testing wine in the cellar at Debonne.

Carlucci graduated from Mississippi State University in 1981 with a degree in enology and ran the cellar at Debonne from 1984 to 1996. Winner of over 500 medals, the Double Gold win for his 1992 Lake Erie Johannisberg Riesling at the San Francisco Fair National Wine Competition earned Debonne the prestigious honor of the U.S. White Wine Best of Show.

Since 1996, he has owned his own wine consulting businesses, Carlucci & Associates, and has taught wine education classes for the Geography department at Kent State University for over twenty years.

John Stavisky (right) pictured next to Arnulf Esterer (left) at an industry event.

John Stavisky was very active in the New York chapter of the American Wine Society and held the position of wine logistics. John and his wife Anne Stavisky received the Outstanding Member Award from the society in 1997.

Tony Debevc, Jr. (right) is pictured calculating the results of the winery’s annual grape stomp.

Participants competed in three age divisions and each barefooted stomper climbed into a special barrel mounted on slanted platform and smashed 15 pounds of grapes over a period of an hour and a half. The collected juice was drained and measured and awards were provided for each division based on the amount of juice collected.

Pictured left to right: Former Governor George Voinovich, his wife Janet Allan Voinovich, Beth Debevc, and Tony Debevc, Jr..

Agribusiness support from the former governor helped expand the wine and grape industry in Ohio during 1990's. As governor, Voinovich created new investment credit programs designed to expand wine/grape acreage in Ohio and increased the actual dollar funding for wine and grape research and marketing.

The Blessing of the Vines is an annual symbolic celebration, based on an ancient European tradition, that the winery hosts every year. The event begins with prayer and song and ends in celebration with food and wine in the woods that surrounds the winery.

The summer of 2016 marked the 34th annual Hot Air Balloon Festival at Debonne. Guests listen to music, sip wine, and dine under the stars as illuminated hot air balloons pass by. Tethered hot air balloon rides are available on scheduled days during the summer.

Tony Debevc, Sr. keeping a watchful eye on the crusher-destemmer machine process.

The device shown serves two purposes; it separates the grapes from their stems and gently breaks open their skins. The grapes are tumbled from a massive bin into a large metal hopper and then they are funneled into a destemmer, which rotates to remove the stems while at the same time lets the berries fall into a separate machine where they are lightly crushed. Typically, the grapes are then transferred to containers to begin fermentation with the skins or they are moved directly into a press.

Gene Spaziani (right), then president of the American Wine Society, presents the organization’s annual award of merit to Arnulf Esterer (left) at the American Wine Society’s national conference held in Pittsburgh, PA.

The Award of Merit, the organization’s highest honor, recognizes substantial and meritorious contributions to the wine industry.

As noted in the Fall 1997 of Markko Vineyard’s Gadding Vine:

“This award is gratefully accepted as recognition of the next generation of Dr. Frank cooperators in vinifera winegrowing. He gave the leadership and inspiration we all needed….Now the next generation picks up the challenge to Dr. Frank’s mission to develop, and perfect the eastern appellations to that ‘Americans…drink the best’.”

Gene Spaziani, writer for New England Wine Gazette, WineMaker Magazine, and the American Wine Society Journal, co-wrote The Home Winemaker's Companion in 2000 with Ed Halloran.

Written on the back of the photo: “Merle & Best Friend, Elmer Selman – Grad from Western Reserve.”

In 1947, Merle graduates from (Case) Western Reserve’s College of Law, and is admitted to the Ohio Bar on July 31, 1947. He is still living at 2200 E 87th Street in Cleveland, an integrated neighborhood comprised of wealthier African American and Jewish families during this time. Brenda McCurdy Rhoads, Merle’s daughter, recalled living next door to the Goldberg family who treated them “wonderfully”.

Sources

McCurdy Rhodes, B. by Dana, R. (Personal Communication, April 2015).

Supreme Court of Ohio. (n.d.). The Supreme Court of Ohio Attorney Directory. Retrieved from https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/attorneysearch/#/search

Dr. Garth Cahoon (1924-2012), a native of Delta, Utah, earned a degree in technical soils from the Utah State University in 1950 and a Ph.D in Plant Science from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1954.

He worked as a horticulturist at the University of California at Riverside from 1953 to 1963 before coming to Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) in Wooster as an associate professor in horticulture. Promoted to full professor in 1967, in 1983 he was named the assistant chair of the department. Professional assignments in India, Somalia and the Caribbean broadened his knowledge of small fruit horticulture.

As professors, Dr. Garth Cahoon and Dr. James Gallander, an OARDC colleague inducted in the Ohio Hall of the Fame in 2001, taught and inspired a whole new generation of winemakers in the techniques of growing grapes and making wine. Both were instrumental in the creation of the Ohio Wine Producers Association and the Ohio Grape Industries program.

Sources: Ohio Wine Industry Honors Founding Fathers with the Creation of the ‘Ohio Wine Hall of Fame’ Press Release from the Ohio Wine Producers Association (2001), and Ohio Wine Producers Association Hall of Fame website.

Dr. James Gallander, born in Peoria, Illinois in 1937, earned both a bachelor's degree in 1960 and doctoral degree from Ohio State University in 1964 in food technology. He began his career at Ohio State University in 1963 as an instructor at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) at Wooster. He received the rank of full professor from the department in 1972 and developed the center's enology program.

Working with Dr. Garth Cahoon, an OARDC professor also inducted into the Ohio Wine of Fame in 2001, Gallander helped to plant the first hybrid grapes on the Wistar Marting farm in Clarksville. This event marketed the beginning of the ‘modern’ Ohio grape-wine industry.

Gallander has authored hundreds of studies on food science and enology, has organized the Ohio Wine Competition for many years, and has served as the advisor to the Ohio Wine Producers Association. In 1985, he also received the award of merit from American Wine Society, a non-profit, educational, consumer-oriented organization for those interested in learning more about all aspects of wine.

Sources: Ohio Wine Industry Honors Founding Fathers with the Creation of the ‘Ohio Wine Hall of Fame’ Press Release from the Ohio Wine Producers Association (2001), and Ohio Wine Producers Association Hall of Fame website.

Nicholas Longworth (1783-1863), recognized as the person most responsible for bring winemaking to the Buckeye State, was the first inductee to Ohio Wine Hall of Fame.

Ohio owes the rich heritage of its wine industry to Longworth, whose passion for growing native grapes and producing wine in the Cincinnati region led to the development of the Ohio wine industry in the 19th century. Longworth’s vineyards and winery produced more wine than any other in the country.

In 1842, Longworth created America's first champagne, which he called "Sparkling Catawba". With praise from across the country and as far away as Europe, he could hardly keep up with the demand for his champagne and Catawba wine. A lasting tribute "Ode to Catawba Wine" was written by the well-known poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Sources: Ohio Wine Industry Honors Founding Fathers with the Creation of the ‘Ohio Wine Hall of Fame’ Press Release from the Ohio Wine Producers Association, and Ohio Wine Producers Association Hall of Fame website.

Robert Gottesman (1918-2000), owner of Paramount Distillers as well as Meier’s, Mon Ami, Firelands and Lonz wineries, was responsible for leading the resurgence of the wine industry in the early 1970s.

In 1994, he was inducted into the Ohio Agricultural Hall of Fame and was a founding member of the Ohio Wine Producers Association. He was also instrumental in initiating legislation that created the Ohio Grape Industries Committee.

Sources: Ohio Wine Industry Honors Founding Fathers with the Creation of the ‘Ohio Wine Hall of Fame’ Press Release from the Ohio Wine Producers Association (2001), and Ohio Wine Producers Association Hall of Fame website.

Donniella Winchell joined the Ohio Wine Producers Association in 1978 and held the position of executive secretary. In 1984, she became the association’s full time director. During the ensuing years she helped build the organization from a fledging cluster of 9 farm wineries to a dynamic group of nearly 65 wineries and several dozen growers.

Under her leadership, the industry initiated the Vintage Ohio wine festival, which served as a model for similar events in several states. She has been active nationally with the Winegrowers of America, the American Vintners Association, the National wine Vision strategic planning group and the Wine Market Council. She also serves on several state and local tourism committees, underscoring her belief in both regional tourism and economic development.

Source: Lou Heineman and Donniella Winchell Named to the Ohio Wine Hall of Fame Press Release from the Ohio Wine Producers Association (2002)

Lou Heineman was honored for his leadership on the board of the Ohio Wine Producers Association and for his role in bringing his century old family business on Put-in-Bay into a new generation of Ohio winemaking. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, Lou carried the tradition of making fine island wines such as his renowned Pink Catawba. He also helped guide his son Edward, as the winery moved to producing French American hybrids and European style varietals.

He served as a founding member of Ohio Wine Producers Association and also as it's president in the 1980s. With his background in local island government, he lead the industry toward a realization of the importance of becoming politically active to build awareness of the importance of the industry to both the agricultural and tourism communities.

Source: Lou Heineman and Donniella Winchell Named to the Ohio Wine Hall of Fame Press Release from the Ohio Wine Producers Association (2002)

Inspired by Dr. Garth Cahoon, a well-established viticulturist and an Ohio Wine Hall of Fame inductee, that his family farm in Warren County had the ideal soil and weather condition to grow grapes, Ken Schuchter (1931-2016) started Valley Vineyards in southwest region of Ohio in 1969. The vines and winery began to thrive under Ken's leadership.

Early on Ken was involved. He assisted in the formation of the Ohio Wine Producers Association and the Ohio Grape Industries Program. He served on the association’s Board of Directors for ten years and for twenty years he acted as a board member for the Ohio Grape Industries Program.

Over the years, Ken and Valley Vineyards have earned countless awards and recognition for the excellence of their wines.

Dr. Thomas Quilter (1921-2006) and Mary Quilter (1921-2010) were inducted for their years of pioneering in the Ohio wine industry. In 1972, the couple began growing a wide variety of wine and table grapes as an experiment and hobby on a grain farm thirty-three miles north of Columbus. They learned that certain grape varieties such as Seyval, Marechal Foch, Concord, and Niagara are, in general, more winter hardy and therefore more suitable for the region. A hobby turned into a business when, in 1984, Shamrock become a bonded winery.

Tom and Mary Quilter emphasized the pairing of French-American hybrids with traditional foods of the area. Tom served six years on the Ohio Wine Producers Association Board of Directors and represented the wine industry in many agricultural meetings. Mary's dedication to the winery and vineyard made it possible for Tom to serve the wine industry.

Source: Ohio Wine Producers Association Hall of Fame website.

Arnie Esterer and Tim Hubbard (1923-2000) planted their first vines in 1968 and built the winery in 1972 in Conneaut. Known locally as the godfather of Ashtabula County winemaking, Arnie Esterer began his tutelage under the late Dr. Konstantin Frank, a well-known viticulturist and winery owner who promoted the vinifera varieties in the Finger Lakes area in New York and other areas along the East Coast throughout the 1960s and into the early 1980s. Under Frank's direction the winery became the first in Ohio to successfully grow European vinifera grapes.

Photo features Arnie Esterer and the late Linda Frisbie (1940-2015), veteran wine taster and employee at Markko’s Vineyard for over 40 years.

Tony Debevc (1916-2010) and Rose Petrovic (1921-2017) were inducted for their enduring spirit, success, and commitment to the Ohio grape and wine industry. In early 1970s Tony, with the help of Rose and his son Anthony (Tony) Debevc and the recommendation of Dr. Garth Cahoon and others, transformed their small Concord grape production into a small A-frame winery with 35 seats. The winery emerged as a local labrusca producer but grew to become one of the largest in Ohio.

Running the business was a family affair. Tony managed the vineyards and Rose managed the books. Anthony, Jr. and his wife Beth pursued a dynamic business plan based on growth and quality fruit and fine wines. In 1995, the family was the first establishment to be named by Vineyard & Winery Management magazine as “Wine Family of the Year”.

Source: Ohio Wine Producers Association Hall of Fame website

Allan Klingshirn of the Klingshirn Winery in Avon Lake served the industry as a visionary who helped guide the early years of the 'new' industry in the early eighties, first as a member and then as a two-term president of the Ohio Wine Producers Association.

Allan purchased the family farm in 1955 from his father Albert, who had established the winery in 1935 following the repeal of Prohibition. Under Allan's leadership, the winery more than quadrupled in size and its buildings were expanded to include a retail tasting room. When his son, Lee joined the business in 1986, vineyards were expanded to include a wide range of vinifera and hybrid wine grapes.

Source: Ohio Wine Producers Association Hall of Fame website

Dr. Michael A. Ellis, emeritus professor of fruit pathology at the Ohio State University, has guided the Ohio grape and wine community to produce the best grapes possible. His influence can be seen in thousands of thriving vineyards from the Ohio River to the shores of Lake Erie. Specifically, he was recognized for his research and extension work in grapes. However his enthusiasm, energy, can-do attitude, clear presentations and willingness to be ever helpful made it easy for well-established growers and those just starting out to adopt his recommendations.

Source: Ohio Wine Producers Association Hall of Fame website.