William G. Krejci - Haunted Put-In-Bay

Published by Haunted America

A Division of The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2017 by William G. Krejci

All rights reserved

First published 2017

e-book edition 2017

ISBN 978.1.43966.054.6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016961745

print edition ISBN 978.1.62585.852.8

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to extend a special debt of gratitude to the following for their kind assistance and support while I was writing this book. First and foremost, I wish to thank Krista Slavicek, my editor, for all of her help, suggestions and patience with me while I worked to get this completed. Thanks is also extended to Abigail Fleming, who worked on the final edits. I would also like to thank Dan Savage and everyone at the Lake Erie Islands Historical Society Museum for the terrific photos and resources; Maggie Beckford, likewise, for the use of her personal photo collection; the staff at Perrys Victory and International Peace Memorial for their guidance; Jeff Helmer, Barbara Fearon and Kathy Holbrook for their encouragement; Charlie Holbrook for the great ideas; Steve Elliott for helping me with a few ideas of who I should talk to; Chip Duggan for pulling my leg when I asked him if he had any great ghost stories; Philip Boyles at the Park Hotel for the hours of help you gave me; Bob and Judy Bransome, Kelly and the staff at Ashleys Island House; Nancy Cruickshank, Ohio Sea Grant and the students and staff at Stone Lab for sharing what you know about the lighthouse; Jackie at the Country House; Terry Heidenreich, Robby and Mary Lou at the Put-in-Bay Winery; Melinda Myers and Bridge Francis for sharing your experiences at the Crews Nest; John Domer, your stories are priceless; Hippie Jerry, more of whose stories Im looking forward to hearing; Artie Boyles, Arthur Boyles Sr. and Denise Kaczmarek, I never could have written the chapter on Joes without your insight; Mike Jones, you didnt really contribute much of anything, but youre still a great guy; the staff and patrons of Joes Bar, who helped me to get started with this; Don Thwaite for sharing those great stories about the Skyway; Tommy Dailey, Kylie Simonds, Khloe Zolgharnain, Ken Bodie and Jessica Krueger at the Put-in-Bay Brewery and Distillery, stop talking about Benny; David and Bobby Hill and Sean Koltiska, I really cant thank you all enough; Andy Christensen at the Reel Bar for sharing what you know about the place; Dan Mercurio, Marisa Rence and Eric Booker at Hooligans for your assistance and support; Tim Niese Jr. for taking the time to share your experiences; Kelsey Arnold and Blake at T&Js Smokehouse; Bret Klun at the Keys; Mary and George Krejci, for always being there for me; and finally a huge thank-you to the entire community of Put-in-Bay, Ohio. You really make me feel at home.

INTRODUCTION

Fun in the sun, a quiet weekend getaway, live music, excellent fishing, American history, scenic caves and incredible nightlifethese are some of the images that we conjure in our minds when we think of Put-in-Bay, Ohio. What eludes most people is the idea that many of the places we visit during our little summer escapes from the city hold dark stories of tragedy and misfortune. Ghosts, specters and otherworldly apparitions lurk in the shadows and, in some cases, cause all sorts of disturbances. Its hard to imagine this being the case in such an otherwise cheerful, relaxed and easygoing atmosphere.

In order to understand the stories about to be related, it would be wise to understand the backstory of the location being presented. Lets begin with the name.

Heres the first question that most people ask upon arrival to this little island paradise. Is it Put-in-Bay or is it South Bass Island? Herein lies a little confusion. In all actuality, its both. The formal name of the island is South Bass, and the village located thereupon is called Put-in-Bay. To make matters a little more interesting, the beautiful bay that abuts the village is also called Put-in-Bay, as is the township, which encompasses the islands of South Bass, Middle Bass, North Bass, Sugar, Green, Rattlesnake, Gibraltar and Ballast.

Confused yet? Weve only just started.

Put-in-Bay has actually had many names. On some of the earliest maps of the area, it is referred to as Pudding Bay or even Puddin Bay. This gave rise to the idea that the modern name originated from a description of the muddy bottom of the harbor, which resembled pudding, or the physical shape of the bay, which reminded people of what has been described as a pudding sack, whatever that might happen to be. In all actuality, this was simply a slang on its contemporary name, which was already in use at the time these maps were drawn. The location actually received its name for the harbor, which offered sailors a safe place in which to put their boats to weather out the sudden and severe storms that frequent Lake Erie.

Other names that have been placed upon the island are Put-in-Bay Island, Big Bass Island and even Ross Island, which came from an early caretaker who inhabited the beautiful isle.

Obviously, the first inhabitants of South Bass Island were the indigenous people of North America, though there is little evidence to show that Native Americans actually settled on this island, and few remains or artifacts have ever been found. When Europeans first started to venture into the area, it was noted that the Native Americans primarily used the islands to cross from what is now Ohio into todays Ontario. Along the way, they would stop at these islands to hunt and fish. It is believed that one of the major deterrents for settlement on South Bass Island was the abundance of rattlesnakes.

With the survey of the land west of the Cuyahoga River in 1808, the townships of Ridgeville and Avon (todays North Ridgeville, Avon and Avon Lake) were granted to a U.S. federal judge named Pierpont Edwards, who was a founder of the Connecticut Land Company and owned one-twentieth of the Connecticut Western Reserve. The tracts that he was granted were to measure five miles by five miles each. There arose a problem with this, however. The northern part of Avon Township, which would later become the city of Avon Lake, was missing some land on the eastern and western edges where Avon Point juts into Lake Erie. To make up for this loss of area, Judge Edwards was granted the Lake Erie islands that would later make up Put-in-Bay Township.

In the few short years following Judge Edwards taking ownership of the islands, the United States declared war on Great Britain, bringing these two nations into what would come to be known as the War of 1812. By this point, a few small families had settled on South Bass Island and had even cleared land and brought in a harvest of wheat. Later that year, these settlers were chased off of the island by the British and their Native American allies, and their crops were burned.

Curious to know the state of the islands, Judge Pierpont Edwards sent his eldest son, John Stark Edwards, in the winter of 181213 to take possession of the islands and survey the damage that had been done. Unfortunately, John Edwards would only make it as far as the Marblehead Peninsula. He died there from fever on February 22, 1813.