15 April 1912 - This Day in History - The Sinking of the Titanic

I, like most of you, first heard about the RMS Titanic in history classes or on television. I knew what happened, the whys and wherefores, and even indulged the movie by the same name starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio.  I learned interesting things along the way, like the fact that it wasn't full - another 1100 people could have been aboard that night, and that it was the largest moving object ever built at the time.  But, it was only as I got older and began delving into not just the dates and places of my personal family history, but the STORIES behind the people, did I really give much more thought to this epic disaster.

Great Lakes Titanic Society

We are in Ohio after all, so who would've thought that there'd be connections here?  Well, Mary Ann Whitley and Janet A. White - that's who.  They are the co-authors of the new book, Ohio Tales of the Titanic: The Buckeye State's Fascinating Connections to the World's Most Famous Shipwreck, and I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Mary Ann Whitley today on this very subject.  Mary Ann is an award-winning journalist and communications professional with experience in the newspaper industry, magazines and public relations. Since 1994, she has been a copy editor at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, one of the nation’s largest daily newspapers. She has formerly been an editor with Cleveland Magazine, The Penn Stater, The Indianapolis Star, The Herald-Times in Bloomington, Indiana, The Corydon Democrat and a feature writer with the Gainesville Sun. Ms. Whitley has handled media relations since 2003 for the Titanic International Society, and was instrumental in creating the Ohio Titanic Memorial found behind the Great Lakes Science Center downtown.

Ohio Titanic Memorial

 
Unfortunately, my equipment failed, and I did not get to record her interview - but I will share with you a few things she shared with me:

 Me: Congratulations on your newest book, with Janet A. White! Tell me, what was your biggest challenge in pulling this piece together?
 
Mary Ann: Oh, finding the time to write it!  Janet and I worked on this for nearly 10 years.  She has been researching Ohio's part in the Titanic for about 30 years - and for me, about 15.
 
Me: Oh wow! In researching everything for the book, what do you feel was your greatest or most fascinating discovery?
 
Mary Ann: Well one of them was meeting Chuck Otter.  His great-grandfather, Richard Otter, died that day, and he had documents from White Star Lines. Those were just so amazing to see. Another discovery was from the niece of Mary Davison.  Mary was headed with her husband back from England to their home in Bedford, Ohio. Her niece had letters that Mary and her sisters wrote each other - they are heartbreaking.  Written before the sinking, she was telling her family that she was packing up and getting ready to go on the ship. After the disaster, she wrote them from the Junior League house, comforting her mother after the disaster, telling them she was fine, and was staying there with 12 other Titanic survivors. There is also a letter from Mary's sister, Alice, expressing her thankfulness that Mary is safe.
 
Me: Incredible. Was there a story that tugged at your heartstrings more than any other? Any stories of triumph that really struck you?
 
Mary Ann: Well, Richard Otter's wife was back in Ohio with a 12-year old son.  He died, and she had no real means of support.  It really devastated their family because she had to send her son to live with relatives. She had to clean homes to survive and finally saved enough to have a house built in Cleveland.  She lived in the top floor and rented out the bottom two floors of the home.
 
Me: Besides reading your fantastic book, what would you and Janet like the people of Northeast Ohio (and all over, really) to know most about the Titanic disaster and Ohio's connection to it?

Ohio Tales of the Titanic

 
Mary Ann:  The stories of these people are still very compelling, 100 years later. And its really the stories of the people that resonate with others. Any type of disaster like this - those first person accounts - are the same kind of thing - they give us that first person account of history. I hope people take that away. A lot of them - these families - were changed forever.
 
I cannot thank Mary Ann enough for giving us an author's insight into her new book on this, the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic! Order it here. 

Archibald Gracie IV

For those of you who would like to hear more stories about those who survived the disaster, we have a remarkable event right here in our backyard.  On April 23rd at 7pm in the Westlake Library's Dover Meeting Room, re-enactor and historian Mel Mauer will bring to life the incredible story of survivor Archibald Gracie IV. Reserve your spot here.

March 3, 1837 - This Day In History... A Tale of Two Cities, Cleveland-style

I married a west-sider. After meeting at The Ohio State University, my then-boyfriend always said, “Yep, I’m from Cleveland. Where the west side is the best side, and the east is the least”. He always said it with a wry grin, and being a Columbus-ite myself, I didn’t really understand the significance of his words. Fast forward to just over 15 years later, when we were looking for a place to live in the Northeast Ohio area. I found some lovely homes in Shaker Heights, Solon, University Heights, etc. and was quite excited. When shown these, he responded with a furrowed brow and remarked, “I’m not even sure they would allow me to live on the east side. We better stay west of the river.” I thought he was kidding. The east suburbs are lovely, full of beautiful historic homes, sweeping lawns, brick and stone and some gorgeous family neighborhoods.

Cleveland in 1835

Now, those of you reading this who have lived here for some time are smiling right now. But newbies like myself thought he might be a bit crazy. When pressed further, I learned that there was an old joke that you needed a special “pass” to cross back and forth over the Cuyahoga River. Once you lived east or west, you tended to stay that way, and do your business (including your career) pretty much on that “side”. To a girl who grew up in circular Columbus, this mentality was pretty foreign.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that there had actually been a Cleveland ‘civil war’ of sorts! It appears that these east v. west roots ran inordinately deep: way back to 1836, in fact.

You see, the Columbus Street Bridge was the first permanent bridge over the Cuyahoga River. It was built in the spring of 1836 to the tune of $15,000 and was, in part, financed by the Mayor of Cleveland at the time, John W. Willey. It promoted the commercial development of Cleveland but at the expense of Ohio City. 
 

Columbus Street Bridge - 1837

The bridge was 200 feet long, 33 feet wide and 24 feet high, with a draw at the center allowing ships to pass. Travelers could now bypass Ohio City entirely, including the old floating bridge there that was owned jointly by Cleveland and Ohio City. When they saw their trade diverted to Cleveland, Ohio City residents boycotted the new bridge.

The westsiders obviously objected on the grounds that the people from Brooklyn, Elyria, and the countryside, would go over to Cleveland by the new route, instead of passing down into Ohio City, for their trading. This meant a direct loss, as each year brought hundreds of teams in, from the south and west, loaded with wheat, flour, corn, pork, etc. – not to mention the loads of goods that were carried away in return.

To make matters worse, at the direction of a cunning Mayor Willey and his financial partner Mr. Clark, the Cleveland City Council ordered that their half of the Ohio City-Cleveland floating bridge be destroyed. It was done in the dark of night, and when the westsiders awoke to a rising sun, they saw their direct communication and commerce to Cleveland utterly destroyed. They realized that to reach any point of Cleveland at all, they would be forced to travel south and use the hated Columbus Street Bridge.

To say they retaliated is a bit of an understatement. They tried (in vain) to powder explode one end of the new bridge. A group of 1,000 Ohio City volunteers began digging deep ditches at both ends of the bridge, making it impossible for horses and wagons to reach the structure. But the westsiders were still unsatisfied with this and took to using guns, crowbars, axes, and other weapons to finish off the bridge. In the midst of all this, their rallying cry could be heard: “Two bridges, or none!”

Mayor John. W. Willey

Well, the Cleveland eastsiders quickly caught wind of this, and a militia armed with rifles as well as the old cannon used during July 4^th celebrations were brought to defend the new bridge. When Mayor Willey stepped up to try to calm the situation, he was blasted with stones thrown by the westsiders. The Ohio City residents began tearing up the bridge planks and threw them in the river. Meanwhile, Old Deacon House slipped over to the east side and disabled the antique cannon. But gunfire was exchanged and approximately eight men were injured.

Eventually, some may say amends were made and Ohio City was annexed by the City of Cleveland in 1854. So, there you have it. A deep-seated, longstanding rift between the people who flank either side of the Cuyahoga.

Which brings me to two wonderful Northeast Ohio associations which I’d like to highlight: The Cuyahoga West and Cuyahoga East chapters of the Ohio Genealogical Society. These two fine groups of genealogists do not merely serve just their sides of the Cuyahoga. It's clear that they cheerfully exchange the information that benefits all of us who are interested in family history. Please visit their websites for a treasure trove of material, or attend one of their monthly meetings. Use whichever bridge you like.