Sunday, December 23, 2012

Honoring Noah Elwood Weaver - Photographer of the Greater Miami River Valley - West Carrollton, 1914 Dayton Race Lincoln Beachey and Barney Oldfield and more ----



First posted photos here in Dec 2012, and have had no comments by followers.  
Visited with Dawne Dewey archivist at Wright State University along with grad student Sarah Allison earlier in April 2016, with the support of Don Roden, who enjoys learning about this history of flying around the Dayton area.   Since 2012, the Allison's have welcomed me and my NEW photos at the West Carrollton Historical Society
Written in Dec 2012 "Noah Elwood Weaver ca 1917 West Carrollton Paper Factory
Recently Terry from the West Carrollton OH Historical Society contacted me about using some of my grandfathers images for the Christmas Season at museum.   It is always fun for me to reflect on my grandfather, as he was an early adopter of technology and used the large format camera for taking early photos. "

Here is a photo of my dad, Paul Henry Weaver, Christmas of 1912, 100 years ago, when he was 2 years of age.  Noticing the inside of the home at 321 E Main St in West Carrollton, that I remember visiting as a boy from Minnesota too.  Noah Elwood lived in West Carrollton for many years raising my dad there, with his first wife, Edna Eicher (Weaver) and then hosting us grandkids with his second wife, Virginia Magee.    

A Weaver cousin of mine, recently discovered, Andy Snow of Dayton, is working on a photo exhibit of the 1913 Great Flood of the Greater Miami River.   This is a photo Noah Elwood Weaver took of Shannon Ave in West Carrollton.   
This is one photo he took at West Carrollton High School 1913 (Top Photo) near his home of the students.  Below are some of the names recalled by Martha Werth in 1984 labeled when I visited. 

Lower picture at West Carrollton High School 1913 taken by NE Weaver. 
Refer to the names below recalled by Martha Werth in 1984.  

Names of people in the photos above, written by Martha Werth in 1984.

Some entertainment on Aug 1, 1914 included a "race" between Lincoln Beachey in the biplane
and Barney Oldfield who left bicycle racing for car racing.  NEW has a series of 1914 photos, some in the red album I am scanning now in March 2017 to deliver to Wright State Archives in a good way

Men around Lincoln Beachey and his plane at the Fairgrounds in Dayton OH next to NCR. 

Lincoln Beachey taking off. 

Barney Oldfield in his racing car. 
 B
Lincoln Beachey's plane above a crowd of onlookers.

The Dayton Fairgrounds with crowd for the event. 

Label in cursive on the back "Beachey landing after Looping the Loop, Dayton Fairground, 8/1/1914"

NCR Parking lot by the county fairgrounds, photo by NEW. Scanned and added April 2016
BEACHEY on the wings of the plane here with a 1914 licensed car in the foreground.  Scanned and added April 2016.


 
About 1920?, labeled as "Rhinehard"sic, rather Howard Max Rinehart, who in 1927, partnered with Bernard L. Whelan, he formed the Rinehart-Whelan Company, which served planes and built a prototype all-metal monoplane in 1930.  page 30 Red large album

http://www.earlyaviators.com/erineha1.htm

"Seems like the last we saw of Howard on the eastern seaboard was at Mineola in the summer of 1916 teaching for the Wright Company. In the fall he sold Deeds and Kettering the idea of airplane manufacturing and Dayton-Wright was the result. A couple of experimental tractors were built when the w. k. war put the company into the DH business---on what a scale?
     After the war the company built a commercialized version of the DH and the OW (Orville Wright) coupe for the civil market. Then came the Rinehart-Baumann Gordon Bennett racer of 1920. Upon his return from Europe after eight months of survey he went with Wright Aeronautical Corporation.. Abroad again, eventually bringing back, among other items, an all-metal Dornier which he demonstrated for the company at Mineola.
     He and Bernard L. Whelan then formed the Rinehart-Whelan Company and began work on the everyman's airplane. They completed and flew, 1927-1930, a prototype of an all-metal monoplane, including its own engine, capable of being marketed in the $1,200 class on a production basis. The alleged depression put a crimp in this. Whelan had already joined Pratt & Whitney and Howard departed again for the Amazon to rest up."


 
Plane likely on McCook field during the 1920's before Howard Max Rinehart and Bernard Whelan joined in 1927 to create the Reinhart-Whelan Co, in Dayton Ohio 
  
After 1923 when Howard Reinart and  Bernard Whelan " formed the Rinehart-Whelan Company to establish a business at the former Dayton-Wright Field at Moraine City, south of Dayton. They engaged in Passenger carrying, cross country trips, training, photography, and overhaul and sale of aircraft, engines and parts"
from http://www.earlyaviators.com/ewhelan.htm 

Monday, December 17, 2012

Coastal Visit ´˜ California - Cemetery Surprise in Saratoga - Glessner and Browns






Here are Kevin and Jeff, two guys  from San Jose I met in South Dakota at a traditional ceremony in August of this year.   Not knowing what was in store for me, Kevin suggested a spontaneous trip to Ano Nuevo State Park, which is north of Santa Cruz on Sunday.  Kevin is a public school math teacher and Jeff is a student at San Jose College not far from where he lives.   Here they are on our way into the park for the 10:30 walk to the area of the elephant seals. 

On our way to meeting our docent, we found out the current census of elephant seals.  The males show up first and the females gradually come in.  We are at the beginning of the winter season I learned. 


Looking back at the visitors center and Hwy 1, we first heard the vocalizations of the male seals, some describe as a Harley turning over without firing.  Wonder how they were described before the internal combustion engine :-)

Rob Wamstad is our docent, who has Norwegian Ancestry and very much interested in the natural history of the area.   This shows the migration pattern of the males and females up to Alaska and back down to the California coast for mating in one season (winter) and molting in the summer!
An effective teacher, here Rob engages Leo, a lad from Sussex England on the sandy trail to where the elephant seals are coming on shore. It was Robs first group of the season, as the park just opened over the past couple of days for the seal walk. 
Here is a female, the light brown one, with gray drift wood nearer. 


Near the end of our 2 1/2 walk,  Jeff took this photo of me with a resting elephant seal on the beach in the background.  Amazing sounds of life and the surf.



Having our long walk to see the seals, Jeff directed us down the coast to Moss Landing inward from the big PG and E power plant where his tribal land has been established.  In the background is a wonderful estuary where we walked along a railroad track noticing all the wildlife, birds, harbor seals and quiet!   Great to see an initi frame here as well. 

Jeff and Kevin sharing a meal of seafood and all, (pickled artichokes, as Watsonville, nearby is dubbed the artichoke capital.) MMMM

Monday morning after a night at Kevin and Nancy's in the east hills of San Jose, I found the Madronia Cemetery where the Glessners, my great uncle Lewis W, his wife Helen Macgill and Robert Glessner's first wife,  Gertrude, are interred in a family plot.  

One big surprise here is that Mary Brown the wife of the famous John Brown of Harper's Ferry at the beginning of the American War of Succession, sometimes referred to as the "Civil War" as if any W.A.R. is civil.    My son Jesse married into the Brown Family in May, so it is very interesting the thread here. 

Glessner family plot - Lewis, Helen, Gertrude. 
The author here leaning on a Metasequoia (dawn redwood). Interesting it was rediscovered in China in the 1940's and introduced around the world.  Unlike the native redwoods, it is deciduous and loses its needles for the winter. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metasequoia

Metasequoia was first described as a fossil from the Mesozoic Era by Shigeru Miki in 1941, but in 1944, a small stand of an unidentified tree species was discovered in China in Modaoxi (磨刀溪; presently, Moudao (谋道), in Lichuan County, Hubei[7]) by Zhan Wang. Due to World War II, these were not studied further until 1946, and only finally described as a new living species of Metasequoiain 1948 by Wan Chun Cheng and Hu Hsen Hsu
1941, but in 1944, a small stand of an unidentified tree species was discovered in China in Modaoxi (磨刀溪; presently, Moudao (谋道), in Lichuan County, Hubei[7]) by Zhan Wang

A view of Silicon Valley as I drove on the ridge of mountains from Saratoga, stopping for lunch at Alice's Restaurant made famous by the Arlo Guthrie song. 

A welcome rest and place to listen to the surf and take a nap. Half Moon Bay, Kelly Beach.  Being really Embodied with Self Awareness of being at one with the ocean and life.  I just love this little group of shore birds.  So dear....:-)


Looking south at Half Moon Beach with a gathering of gulls. 



Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Mission and Castro District Walk and Food on a Sunny Friday!

Nathan lives just a block from Mission Dolores right on Dolores Street and he directed me
to Maxfield's House of Caffeine down the street where I enjoyed the local ambience, a young man telecommuting from his laptop for work in a Silicon Valley place.  Dogs outside barking and all. 
Just a short walk of four blocks on 17th to the iconic corner of 17th and Castro by Market Street here at the end of a trolley line. Notice the usual three story Victorian Buildings. 

Here at 575 Castro is where Harvey Milk's Photo store was and now an HRC, Human Rights Campaign store where a lot of souvenirs may be had.   Quite a contrast to the Castro I visited in the 1980's!  


This is the first mural I noticed on 16th Street walking up to Dolores from the 16th Street BART Station on Tuesday when I arrived. Honoring the Miwok Tribe who lived sustainably in the area at the time of the first contact with Europeans.  Interesting to learn that murals have been an art form in the neighborhood to add color and political statements over the years.  Grateful for my guide Nathan who has lived in the area for many years. 

Noticing that this Friday is such a beautiful sunny day, I returned with the idea to share lunch somewhere that Nathan could choose.  So he took me on a trip of the alleys of the Mission on our way to  Valencia where many of the trendy restaurants are located

Clarion Alley 20 year Cake! 


Outside of Gracias Madre where Nathan directed us to have a nice lunch and big tables! 

Nathan ordering at Gracias Madre.Note the big tables to invite shared eating!


The Woman's Building 
Bi Rite Store Outside

Bi Rite Store Inside



Dolores Park near the Mission Dolores High School















Friday, December 7, 2012

Marin County - Ecology and Glessner Family History




 
Today I was clear it was time to see the area on Market Street where Lewis W Glessner and son Robert, ran a business.  In 1945 City Directory, LWGlessner and Son, manufacturers agent,was listed at 265 Market and his home at 940 Union.   Here is a corner on Market with the current state flag with the bear, as I walked toward the iconic Ferry Building, the building that survived the 1906 earthquake and fire in this part of San Francisco.

This is the PG&E building at 245 Market, covering the block likely where the Glessners had their business office.   Fun to discover the area of the smaller town that was here, when they arrived in 1925. Lewis died in the iconic Elks Lodge nearby at 456 Post Street in May of 1964.
Entrance to Ferry Building where there are mostly shops now.  I went to find a vending machine on the dock to make my way to Marin County.  Interesting to see a Tsunami alert here at sea level in the bay. No seismic activity today. 
Ferry Building Description 
 
Here is the view of the NE corner of the City with the TransAmerica tower and the Coit Tower in view.  Nice to be out on the bay.
The opening between the bay and the ocean was called the Golden Gate, well before the Bridge was completed in 1937.  Interesting that the Glessners lived in the City, Lewis remaining there and Robert to Mill Valley in 1946.  .Here I am on a journey to see the environment where he lived and worked. 
An image on the 20 cent regular stamp, in circulation in the 1920's when the LW Glessner Family moved to San Francisco.  Only after the Bridge was completed in 1937, did Robert Glessner move to Marin County in 1946. 


History of the maritime "discovery" by Eurocentic explorers.  The Pomo and other coastal tribes lived here harvesting the live oak acorns and other native food plants. 


The Upper one of two buildings now on the site of 432 Live Oak, in Mill Valley.  It looks like Robert Glessner, the oldest son of Lewis moved to Mill Valley around 1946 and was listed there with his first wife Gertrude in 1948 in a City Directory. Robert died in Dec 1975, and on his death certificate his was listed as living in Marin Co for 29 years.  At that time, his second wife Florence continued to live at the address. 


Here is the lower building now at 432 Live Oak.  Likely Roberts home was much more modest back in the day.   No one was home and the neighbors up the street though the current folks have been here for 30+ years.



After visiting the site of the Robert Glessner Home in Mill Valley, my gardener friend Garth noticed this very tall Dahlia, with purple blossoms. The climate here supports so many diverse plant people! 
Grateful for the day and a great walk in Muir woods with Garth with the tall tree nation with intertwined roots that allow stability.   Interesting metaphor for me!   Thanks to the spirit of John Muir as channeled by my tehanshi, Garth. 
We had only a bit of daylight and we went down to Stinson Beach on a back road and then up to Muir Woods, where the recent rains had swelled this river lined with beautiful alder trees. 



Here the shrubs and trees create a beautiful tapestry that made my heart open and cry.  The white flowered one in front he mentioned is a coyote bush, with trees with fallen leaves, willows on the right and alders on the left, with California Bay the green in behind. Wow!

My guide Garth, stopped on the road to Muir Woods with a stream filled with recent rain. First noticing the alders, I became very moved by the somber beauty of this fog and moisture nourished valley. Here is the winter shape of the California Buckeye.  

These beautiful golden orbs are the fruits, the nuts of the California Buckeye.  Interesting to me, the Glessners left one Buckeye State to venture to the golden West with another kind of buckeye. 
Another seminal experience for me on my learning path connecting the history of the tree nation with my family tree!