Let’s Talk History
Residents braved rising waters to save lives and deliver vital news amid Ohio’s historic disaster
For Americans since the 1960s, Fred Rogers’ “Mister
Rogers’ Neighborhood” has shown us what it means to be a neighbor. Perhaps
the most lasting legacy of Mr. Rogers is a quote: “When I was a boy
and would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for
the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”
Today, let’s talk
about a time in Coshocton County’s history when neighbors showed up to help
neighbors: Ohio’s 1913 Great Flood. Six straight days of rain and melting snow
were produced from March 21-26, 1913. Unchecked by our modern dams, the rivers
rose dangerously high.
In Coshocton one unnamed immigrant woman,
living in today’s Old Town Coshocton neighborhood on Third Street, found
herself abandoned by her husband with three small children to care for. Calmly,
she picked up one child under each arm and the baby in her teeth by their
clothing, then walked through water up to her knees, in her long Edwardian
skirts, for eight blocks to find safety.
She didn’t stop until she reached the
Bachert building on Walnut Street. But there, too, were heroes whose names have
been lost to history: The “ladies in charge of the lunch room” at the Bachert
building provided the refugees drifting in from across the county a warm meal,
a place to rest and a sympathetic ear.
Still others went looking for problems to
solve. Brothers Melvin and James Marshall, boatmen on the Ohio-Erie Canal, set
out into the 1913 flood to search for evacuees in their canal boat. They went
from Canal Lewisville and Coshocton and back, rescuing as many as they could
along the way and saving many lives.
E.A. Crawford of the hydroelectric light
company worked himself and his crew frantically to provide power to as many
residents as possible, as long as possible, even as the water advanced one by
one into the furnaces. Eventually, they had to evacuate the plant as it flooded
behind them while the water whistle blew to alert locals the power was
going out.
To
keep county residents informed, “newsies” of The Coshocton Morning Tribune
stayed at their posts until the electric power failed, then asked local
advertising companies for the use of their gasoline-powered presses. Finally, a
small gasoline engine from Gray Hardware was jury-rigged to work. Printing
until 4 a.m., C.W. Knoff, Frank Moore, Frank Schleich and two
departments of the Tribune provided this county with hope, news and
lists of resources in a desperate time. These became known as the “flood
editions.”
Perhaps
the most striking story to come out of the 1913 flood in Coshocton County is
that of its post offices. Located at 604 Sixth St. at the end of the
then-brand-new Bachert building, this location was a clearinghouse for all
Coshocton County mail. Under Postmaster Seth Snyder, the Coshocton Post Office
and its workers became heroic out of sheer determination.
Working around the
clock under scavenged kerosene lamps, electricity and heat both out, Snyder led a team that had decided the best way to ease peoples’ minds was
through “word from their folks.” With the phone and telegraph lines out, only
paper mail could carry news of surviving to family members.
When mail could not
pass washed-out roads and destroyed bridges, Snyder sent carrier Leroy Biggs by
boat, rig and horseback to Frazeysburg. Walter C. Chapman, postmaster of
Layland in Clark Township in 1913, even had to row a boat to and from his door
just to get the mail inside. The water had flooded up to and into the store there.
Minnie M. Wheeler, postmistress of Nellie for 25 years, carried mail
bags by hand to higher ground when the Brinkhaven canal locks broke upstream.
These
Coshocton County residents showed up for their neighbors when their neighbors
needed them the most, and I think we should talk about that.
This
essay is excerpted from a longer presentation, “Look for the Helpers: When
Coshocton County Showed Up for Our Neighbors,” being presented at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, April 29 at the library.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yourohionews.com ’
