Ashland Memories: An early 20th century Rowsburg homecoming and playground dedication
Perry Township was the native place of a number of prominent people who made their name in Ashland and beyond.
The Studebaker brothers, famed manufacturers of wagons and automobiles, hailed from Pleasant Ridge, just west of Rowsburg. Two US senators − William B. Allison of Iowa and Edmund G. Ross of Kansas − were born in Perry township.
The Freer brothers had roots in a Perry Township farm and J.L. Clark, co-founder of Hess and Clark, was born in a log house in Perry Township. Before they became giants of Ashland industry, F.E. and P.A. Myers were farm boys in Perry . And Alavesta Hohenshil, who became Mrs. F.E. Myers, also grew up in Rowsburg.
An early 20th century playground dedication in Rowsburg
On August 23, 1922, Rowsburg hosted a homecoming celebration centered on the dedication of new playground equipment for the school. The equipment had been donated by the children of F.E. Myers in honor of their maternal grandparents, Solomon and Catharine Hohenshil.
The dedication, held on the schoolgrounds, attracted a large crowd of former students, present and former residents of the town and dignitaries. There were many speeches, interspersed with musical numbers and readings to entertain the audience.
John C. Myers gave the presentation speech and Ezra Kramer, president of the school board, followed with an acceptance speech. The full texts of these speeches were later printed in the newspaper.
In his speech, Myers noted his brother, Jay, sister, Mayme, and himself were born in Rowsburg. Although Jay and Mayme attended school there, the family moved to Ashland before he started school. Still, he had fond recollections of attending entertainments at the Rowsburg school.
Reminiscing at 1922 homecoming in Rowsburg
Speaking to the crowd at the 1922 homecoming, Myers confessed to having fallen in love as a young boy at one of these Rowsburg school events. The focus of his schoolboy crush was not one, but two girls who sang a duet together. As the Myers family frequently visited their Rowsburg grandparents, he took every chance to admire the girls from afar, although he never rallied the courage to speak to them.
Miss Birdie Noel, who had once taught at the Rowsburg school and taught in the Ashland schools for 36 years, also made a “splendid address” at the homecoming.
The descendants of many former students were present that day, along with eight former teachers. A letter was read from Henry Solomon Lehr, founder and first president of Ohio Northern University. Dr. Lehr, who was then in his 80s, had taught school in Rowsburg in 1864.
A memorial plate was installed inside the school to commemorate the gift of the playground equipment from the Myers children in memory of their grandparents, “Pappy and Nanny” Hohenshil, who were residents of Rowsburg for nearly fifty years.
The playground equipment was the most modern available in 1922. It included a miniature merry-go-round, a “shoot the chutes,” teeter-totters, horizontal bars, swings, a trapeze, and a “giant stride.” In future years, some of these devices came to be considered unsafe for children, but I’m sure they were fun.
It is highly possible that this equipment was made by the Ashland Manufacturing Company. That company manufactured auto jacks and playground equipment on Miller Street, and outfitted many other local playgrounds.
After the formalities, a splendid picnic dinner was laid out by the women of the village on three long tables. The meal was followed by ice cream. The Times-Gazette reporter who covered the event testified that no supper was necessary after partaking of the plentiful noon repast.
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland Memories: 20th century Rowsburg homecoming and dedication
