Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Aug. 2
1813: The British Army attacks Ft. Stephenson in Fremont but is repelled by the American troops and the clever use of a cannon named “Old Betsy.”
1899: John Brown, Jr., son of the famous abolitionist John Brown, dies at his home on South Bass Island in Ottawa County.
1917: Dr. John Newton of Toledo, who has been recovering copper from the sunken ship Pewabic in Lake Huron, says he and his crew have pulled up $40,000 worth of copper. He also says they have recovered leather for shoes. The lake freighter, Pewabic, sank in 1865 but was so deep at the bottom that ordinary diving equipment couldn't reach it. Dr. Newton has been using special diving suits made by Toledo inventor Ben Leavitt.
1931: Toledo native Kay Carroll, star of the "Vanities" Broadway show in New York, dies of peritonitis at St. Vincent Hospital in Toledo. The 25-year-old star, whose real name was Mildred Schafer Ryan, was at home to visit her family and husband.
1934: A major windstorm tears through the region. Heavy damage is reported on the Lake Erie islands.
1940: Toledo police raid several notorious gambling dens in the city. Twenty-five people are arrested and gambling equipment and tables are axed.
1972: Four dozen people, including 40 teenagers, some as young as 13, are arrested at the Gigolo Club on West Central Ave. The business was busted for serving underage kids who have been partying there for several weeks.
Aug. 3
1795: The Treaty of Greenville is signed as a result of General Anthony Wayne’s victory at Fallen Timbers in 1794, requiring Native American tribes to give up large tracts of land in Ohio.
1846: Samuel “Golden Rule” Jones born in Wales. He later became Toledo’s most famous and influential mayor.
1898: Ground is broken for the new Edward Ford plate glass factory in Rossford.
1931: Toledo-based Standard Stove Company says it shipped one of its very large stoves to the home of William Wrigley in Chicago, the chewing gum magnate and owner of the Cubs.
1936: The so-called “Tin Can Tourists” (today called RV'ers) begin to descend on Sandusky with 500 trailers for an annual camping conclave.
1945: Toledo zookeeper Louis Durliat loses two fingers and a thumb when they are bitten off by “Bob” the chimpanzee while he was cleaning its cage.
1963: "The General," the famous locomotive commandeered at Big Shanty, Ga. by “Andrews’ Raiders” in the Civil War, arrives at Toledo's Union Station. The daring hijacking episode ended eventually after a dramatic chase by Confederate soldiers. Several of the “raiders” were caught and executed. Others escaped and were awarded the first Medals of Honor. Many of the Andrews’ Raiders' 19 crew members were from Northwest Ohio.
1972: Southwyck Mall on Reynolds Road opens for business. It would close 36 years later on June 29, 2008.
Aug. 4
1887: The city of Toledo says over 500 people were arrested in July. Some of the offenses include 11 people arrested for family abuse, 24 arrested for prostitution, 85 people arrested for creating disturbances, 107 arrested for drunkenness, 18 arrested for living in a house of ill-fame, 15 others arrested for keep of a house of ill-fame, 7 jailed for violation of bathing ordinance, 11 jailed for begging, 32 people for assault and battery, 26 for larceny, 3 for cruelty to animals and 2 people for cutting with intent to wound.
1894: Fire lays waste to a large area of downtown Oak Harbor, including the Portage Hotel.
1910: Mayor Brand Whitlock orders Toledo police not to arrest boys for swimming in the Maumee River until “suitable” swimming pools are built in the city for their “rightful” use.
1916: A long heat wave that started in July is continuing. Toledo’s humane officer says at least 25 horses have died from the heat, and police say the heat wave has triggered a crime wave.
1922: A 68-year-old Toledo washer woman inherits $365,000 from two wealthy uncles. Mary Ann Wiggins Shultz, who had spent much of her life doing cleaning work at the Pythian Castle, will now get to enjoy a much different life and future.
1981: Cynthia Anderson, a secretary working for a law firm in North Toledo, vanishes from the office. She is never found. It is speculated that she may have been kidnapped and murdered by unknown people involved in drug trafficking.
Aug. 5
1887: The Toledo Blade reports that too many people are riding the draw on the Cherry Street bridge when it is opened for ship traffic. They say as many as 500 people crowd onto the swinging draw and they fear a “terrible accident” is going to happen as everyone rushes to get on the side of the draw facing the boats out over the river.
1952: Toledo Mud Hens owner Danny Menendez is indicted for season ticket sales fraud after moving the team to West Virginia.
1979: The Gulf Oil Refinery on Front Street in East Toledo catches fire after a lightning strike. The roaring blaze consumes a million gallons of gasoline and the pillar of black smoke that rose above the city could be seen for over 40 miles.
Aug. 6
1864: The Battle of Utoy Creek near Atlanta is a deadly day for many young soldiers from the Toledo area as they fight to the death in the intense battle. Many others from the area are wounded in one of the deadliest days for Genoa and Clay Township soldiers in the Civil War. The battlefield today is in a suburban nature preserve.
1893: Five people are killed and many are injured in a train collision near Lindsey. The express passenger train of the Lakeshore and Michigan Southern clipped a freight train sending the passenger train off the rails.
1902: Toledo records show that there are now some 88 automobiles in use around the city.
1908: The fashionable Hotel Secor opens in downtown Toledo with much fanfare as opening festivities host the “who's who” of the city and feature the finest of food and hospitality. The hotel says it has 304 rooms and 189 of them have private baths. Nightly rates start at $1.50.
1935: The old Milburn Wagon Works factory in Toledo is readied for demolition with the old bricks being salvaged for use on projects at the Toledo Zoo.
Aug. 7
1912: The Humane Society reports that over the past month there have been 54 reports of fathers and two mothers neglecting their children in Toledo.
1914: TPD patrolman Albert Schultz is killed in the line of duty when he was shot while investigating a burglary.
1923: Thousands of people head for Deshler to watch the passing of President Warren G. Harding's funeral train as it travels to Washington, D.C.
1946: Progress is being made in Genoa this week on installation of lights for a night football at Bergman Field. The lights are hoped to be up and ready for the Comets’ football season in September.
Aug. 8
1880: Toledo’s population is reported to be 50,137 people.
1894: It's reported that an interurban train now links Toledo and Perrysburg.
1911: A premature blast of dynamite at the White Rock Quarry at Clay Center kills one worker and injures seven others. John Tell of Clay Center was killed when a charge of dynamite exploded early for some unknown reason.
1916: Toledo is coping with the worst mosquito invasion that locals can ever recall. The health commissioner expresses concern.
1951: A U.S. Air Force pilot and ground witnesses see a strange cigar-shaped object flying in skies near Port Clinton over Lake Erie.
1962: Stanley “Skip” Jechura, owner of Raceway Park, and another man, are killed in plane crash near Flint, Mich.
