Code,999084
Subject,Kay Laughlin
Date,5/19/2011
Interviewer,Dave Peters & Rob Grossman
Abstract,"Kay Laughlin, a historian of Bay Village, recalls the founding of the village, including a lengthy biographical sketch of the Cahoon family. She describes the pride she felt in living in, and being a part of, the Bay Village community. While discussing her experiences in the village, she notes its relationship to surrounding towns. Finally, Laughlin describes the importance and purpose of historical societies and shares her experience with the Bay Village Historical Society Museum. "
Tags,"Bay Village, suburbs, industrialization, Bay Village Historical Society, Cahoon family"
Special Notes,Bay Village Oral History
Minutes:,1:34:17
0,Kay Laughlin introduction. Her life. Growing up on farm
1,"Her neighborhood. Lake to inner tracks. Lakewood, Ohio. Clifton. 1936, after depression. WPA. Dad banker, had inside track. What was for sale"
2,"Grandfather owned 5 lots on Avon. Built a cottage, came through Foot Farm area."
3,"Farm soil type, with 8 type of apple trees, cherry trees, etc. 1.8 acres. Cottage (house without  basement."
4,"Cottage, no bathroom, single light. Mom was pregnant with her and her sister. Ditch dug to connect sewer. Nov '36 move in. Born Feb 37"
5,Bought buffer land. Great neighbors. Lived there 40+ years.
6,"Russell Road, lives there today. Eagle Cliff up street (not immediate neighbors). Lists neighbors.31011 Lake Road."
7,"All houses that was once there are mostly gone. Her home is still there. Siblings. Paper dolls. ""Paps"""
8,"Metises (?) had best baseball diamond, but they had best hide & seek yard. Hooks family had swing set. Whelan's had ice skating rink in winter. Hills for sledding. "
9,"Little to do in 40-41, had to make own fun. All got along. Remembers soldiers heading East to go overseas in WWII. Air raid warden, her dad."
10,"Felt safe, no one locked doors. No one walked on side walks. Her neighborhood fathers were professionals (shirt 7 tie)"
11,All who came from these (Bay) families succeeded. Park View Elem start. Recalls kindergarten teacher.
12,"Portable buildings, portable school rooms. War days (WWII) saving stamps. PTA in 41, not good attendance. "
13,"Father ran for PTA President (unusual for a man). Bond issue. Won PTA. Front page of Plain Dealer. Francis Polten, Congressperson. "
14,"Bond issue, passed in 1941 (during the war). Definitely an East Side and West Side of the town (Bay). "
15,East vs. West side of town. Farmers farming until '55. West not a populated. Homes more spread out. East side went to Forrest View. Forrest View vs. Glen View. Just a difference.
16,East end vs. West end. West end less expensive. Pride for Bay Village.
17,"Bay Village gave (her) confidence. Rocky River & Fairview was better, but they were better than Avon Lake."
18,"Fathers were professionals, kids belonged to yacht club. Skating and music lessons. Offered many chances to become something. Avon Lake still had a farming mentality. Not uppity"
19,"Kids like her were given opportunities. Dad made something of himself & became VP of CLE Trust Co. Could go out and ""talk"". Learned from that. Ralph Whelan & other boys went to Yale."
20,Different backgrounds but used what they had to make something of themselves. Cahoon. Very successful.
21,Cahoon: Girls weren't as pretty as guys were good looking. Osborn's. Famous folks from Bay Village. James North Patterson. example).
22,"Proud of roots in Bay Village. Got taller when she said she was from ""Bay"". Even in 1955. Kids feel good live in such a nice place. "
23,Calhoun property. Transition to Cahoon.
24,"(Interviewer) moved to Bay in 1988. Cottages were there then, now gone. Was a summer refuge. Her memories? In '36 it wasn't a summer cottage, but a homestead. "
25,Never a concern for AC because of lake winds. No AC. Only got AC 3 years ago. Used it twice. Has many photographs. Now City won't let you add on.
26,"Cottage - definition doesn't have a basement. Example: Huntington mansion was considered a ""cottage"", no basement. Cahoon - how they got here."
27,Background of Cahoon� Charles II (King of England)� granted land to Pacific Ocean. Only Conn & VA refused to give up rights to land.
28,Revolutionary War. Great suffering. 122 miles of land from PA state line granted by New Gov't. Defines parameters. Was the Western Reserve of Conn after the Rev. War for people who suffered during the war. Firelands High School.
29,East Side of Reserve first for sale. East of Cuyahoga River.
30,Division of land in Western Reserve. Warrensville Township. Laid out land like they did in Conn.  Final Red Jacket treaty in 1805. Land sold to 60 businessmen. Conn used money to start school system. Divided into regions  & Lots.
31,"Section 13, township 7. Pa boarder, (CLE was region 12, Euclid 11, etc.). How did they divide land in Western Reserve? Warrensville township."
32,"How they did it in Conn. Ranges, townships and lots. Lincoln chain. 18 or 19 ranges. People purchased lots in townships. Hubbard & Stow purchased Dover township. Nobody came alone, don't picture them in the wildness. Cahoon family."
33,"Reynolds was a Mormon, following Joseph Smith. Etc. People came with other people. Asa Styles. Near creek for milling. "
34,"Samuel (Cahoon)(oldest son) was already here. North Richfield. William Williams, from Newburg, stayed with him in 1810. Amos took one look at  daughter, Polly,  and stayed.1810"
35,"Joseph & Lidia, Abigail, Rachel , Joel and Daniel Kennion, two little ones, and then had Franklin. Passed overturned wagon, and went to their lot."
36,"October 10, 1810. Put up a cabin. Built a gristmill  - also built one for Samuel in North Ridgefield. Not much was happening in Bay (still same today)"
37,"Fishery, tannery, etc. were in Bay, but not much compared to Richfield. Origins of name Cahoon. "
38,"Cahoon - Scottish name. Family story - brothers conscripted to war via British, ended up being given to traders, put on ships to New World as indentured servants. Brothers separated. One drowned in shipwreck. One brother made it to ""new world"", helped establish Block Island off Rhode Island. William prospered, became a free man."
39,"William left Block Island, brick layer."
40,King Phillips War broke. William & other fellow went to help
41,"Indians fighting in Phillips War captured William Cahoon and beheaded him & other fellow. His children were scattered among relatives. Descendants of William also named William, so forth. But - that's how they got here (the Cahoon)."
42,"Cahoon's in ""The Bay"". Put up a grist mill. 1813. Put In Bay. "
43,"Civilized, but had to go to war. Marched to war  - War of 1812. Battle of Migs. Carried Bebe off field, saved life."
44,War of 1812. Still in log cabin. 1818. Joel (Cahoon?) built house that still stands on hill today.
45,"Amos married millers daughter. Daniel (son) went to Saulsberry, NY. Joel stayed until 1822, helped his Dad (Joseph)"
46,"Margaret Cahoon (married to Joel Cahoon)  was educated, grew up on White House grounds in DC. Father a congressional leader. "
47,"Margaret's father was captured by British for 3 days. Sen. Buchanan took mail to their home.  Grew up with Daniel Webster, etc. Education very important to her. Moved to Ohio and set up housekeeping. Joel inherited the farm. Family didn't know how she's make it her, but they traveled all the time. "
48,"Margaret named mansion ""Rose Hill"" ,possibly governor's mansion in Frederick, Maryland. Or, could have named it after rose bush, they were known to have roses. "
49,Margaret was determined to make sure all 11 of her children would be educated. Avid Methodist Episcopalian. Rose Hill was built in 1818.
50,"First Church in Bay Village was Methodist, 1827. Building was built in 1845. Started by Elizabeth Saddler. Gave land corner of Basset. First church became Thompson's store, and then burned down. "
51,1909 first brick church build. Dodd helped build it. Lidia Cahoon started Ladies Aide Society. All girls became school teachers. Taught citizenship classes. All very patriotic.
52,"Leveret (son) almost went to college but had stay home and run business with father, Joel, got sick. Large land owners. Leveret became expert in viticulture (grapes), put all money in grapes. "
53,"Leveret went to Cleveland often, didn't work the fields. Gave people around them jobs. Osborn's took care of themselves, the Aldridge's, too. Cahoon's supplied jobs. They didn't work in the fields."
54,Leveret and John Marshall built a store as teenagers. Grapes were used for jelly (laughs). Not sure what they were used for (grapes)
55,"Migrant workers came in to work grapes. Have photo of migrant workers (pickers). Leveret getting off train, turned knee/twisted it. 41 years old. Ended up in bed."
56,"Leveret got pneumonia (immobile from accident/knee). Got typhoid fever (weak), and died."
57,"How did interviewee (Kay Laughlin) interact with Cahoon land? Skating, sledding, 4th of July. Has piece of paper with all families listed and what they did. "
58,"Merchants in Bay & Rocky River would donate something, prizes under the tree. (I still have everything I ever won). Never won anything big like girls bicycle or boys bicycle. Home grown food. 3-leggged race (""My sister and I were so good at that!"") Firemen shot everybody with water from hoses."
59,"Parents organized events, still has paper from 1942. Who was in charge of what. "
60,"Dances, brought 78 records. Had names on records so you could get record back. "
61,"Kids at dances picked decoration, planned everything. Once a month. Community House. Also dances at 4th of July. Wore dresses, danced with boys. All home grown. Different today. Mom not home, dads are busy. "
62,"Can't go back. Glad lived through it. No help from the city. Looked different back then, all open fields."
63,"Creek -wasn't a deep. Land filled in - had beach club. Now all pushed in, don't know why. Old pool dumped in there. "
64,"Girl scouts located there, crossed bridge. Cabin used to be a fish pond. WPA put terracing in. Girl scout meetings."
65,"Land still shaped as it was when gristmill was there. Rose Hill was the Library when (Kay) was growing up. IDA passed in 1917, will executed in 1919."
66,"City purchased Cahoon lands (after Ida died). Needed ""real"" school"". Started with High School. First graduating class was 1927. Before then had to go to Rocky River if you wanted to to to high school. No Wolf Road then, hard to imaging. Red Brick school was overflowing. Had to build High School."
67,Rose Hill needed to be kept as either a school or a library.
68,Rose Hill residents (live long) Mrs. Pope (wife of their minister in Cleveland). Rose Hill/Cahoon family's personal library seeded/started the Dover Library in Bay Village.
69,"Bought property to corner lot and moved books there until 1972, when Osborn home torn down & built library where it is today."
70,"Ida Cahoon gave city land that City Hall sits on now. Ida gave land to what became the Presbyterian church, too. Cahoon's gave more than land, gave will to be all you can be to the community. "
71,Ida's will: Joel was sick. 1881. Whole family got together and decide to get together and make a will. Granddaughter died of typhoid fever. No one married (no heirs).
72,Will stated that land would be dedicated as a memorial park in their name. Stipulated Sunday be a day of rest. Avid churchgoers. Remember timeframe 1880s. Didn't want to hear tennis balls or swimming noises on the day of rest. Put that in will.
73,Teetotaler's. Stipulate no alcohol in their memorial park. Made brandy for medicinal purposes. Saw the evils  of drink. Margaret ruled the roost.
74,Will stands today. No swimming on Sunday to this day.
75,City made a mistake putting the pool in a park that prohibits swimming on Sunday. Not wills fault. Was the mayor's fault.
76,Mad about swimming on Sunday. Ebert (1982) (mayor?) adamant about swimming on Sunday. Wanted to change will. League of Women voters put it to a vote.
77,Cleveland Teacher's Assoc involved (would inherit land if nobody wanted it)
78,The mayor lost the argument/court case re: swimming on Sunday. There are exceptions.
79,"Should not have put swimming pool there. 2/3 of people voted to keep things as they are (no swimming). Be thankful for what we have. Picture ""Gold Coast"" condos."
80,Interviewer switches (1st goes to class). Kay started in 1968. New blood.
81,Library upstairs. Downstairs artifacts on shelving. Hale Farm consulted to open as a museum.
82,"Kay's sister became president and wrote history of (Bay Village a Way of Life) Margaret Seibert (high school English teacher) gave $1,000 towards project. Included everyone in the book. "
83,"Aldridge family. Opened up archives to Kay & other writers. Treasure trove. Christmas 1974 opened as a new museum and gave out books (History of Bay Village). Mass mailing earlier, bought sight unseen. How she got involved in the Historical Society. "
84,What kind of a role does it (historical society) play in life? Gives community a chance to put a face to names we hear and know about � like Tuttle and Aldridge and Drake. Gives us roots.
85,"Told her kids everything, if their grandparents struggled, etc. Kids (school kids) have more solid foundation if know where they came from. "
86,"Roots keep kids well planted, if they know what their parents, grandparents, great grandparents, etc. came from. Plans for the future for the Historical Society? Afraid for the future. "
87,Important to know that somebody else struggled and succeeded. Maps with overlays.
88,"Maps, overlays, wards, panels, photos in museum. Let family know their past. "
89,Kids get lost without roots. Volunteer opportunities?
90,"Show kids where they live, who lived there before them. Golf course. "
91,"Question Clemmons woods. Neat named roads after people. Enjoyed living in Bay Village. Take kids in the car, show them around. Show them. "
92,Talk of visual history. Trolley tours. Lolly the Trolley. Very popular. School bus tours. One time grant.
93,You get me started and I could talk all day.