March 2017 – Col. H. G. Blake House

March 6, 2017March 6, 2017

Closing the Gap: Underground Railroad Site Restoration Phase One

The Col. H.G. Blake House, on the National Register of Historic Places and beloved home and living museum. Many artifacts that have been found since 1998 are on display for tour participants to enjoy.

Saving Our National History

This chapter of the historic H.G. Blake House’s story begins in approximately 1950.

In the 1950s, the Shepard-Griesinger-McClelland family decided that it was time for Blake House, which had gone approximately 100 years without closets, to finally gain built-in storage space.

By then, however, the upper floor on the west side had bowed enough that the closet built in the corner bedroom was built to follow the curve of the wall. This caused the closet wall to begin at 2 inches wide at the bottom and expand to 4 inches wide at the top.

For decades the house remained stable, a steel cable kept things lashed together well enough that the wall didn’t change. Well, it didn’t change much. With changes in ownership and time, it was lost track of how much of a bow the wall had and if there had been any change.

By the time we moved in, there was a small gap between the closet wall and the bedroom wall. In 1998, I could just barely fit a fingertip into the gap.

Then an earthquake hit Cleveland in 2001. Most in the area have no idea there ever was an earthquake. When it rippled down to Medina, I was sitting on the living room sofa. I noticed movement at the doorway across the room from me as the floor heaved upward in a big rolling movement. I had just enough time to wonder if this historic home from 1848 had poltergeists after all, when the rolling wave popped me and the sofa into the air before it passed on into the yard and toward the town library.

I asked countless people if the house should be checked for damage. I was assured the house was fine, after all, did I see any damage? Well, no, I didn’t, at least nothing that I connected to the earthquake’s passing through.

At some point after the quake, I noticed the corner bedroom’s wall gap had grown. I was to come to realize that it was still growing and was showing no signs of stopping. The bedroom next to the corner one began to show separation of ceiling and wall along the same outside wall that was gaping and the connecting wall between the two rooms was becoming separated from the outside wall. Still, all seemed solid.

When the roof began leaking extensively, it was decided that it was time to have the corner bedroom’s bowed wall examined. After several attempts to find an architect, and two awful architects who sneered at this beautiful historic home and said to tear it down, Bob Arnold of Arnold Architects was finally found to be the perfect fit for the Save the Slate project and a good friend to the house.

He discovered that the 2001 earthquake had, indeed, caused damage. A hand-carved heavy wooden peg that held together the rafter and column together, right where the wall bow was located, had been shattered by the quake, as evidenced by the peg’s remains that were still clinging to the beam.

Bob knew that Gary of Roetzel Construction would have the skills and knowledge necessary to pull the wall and stabilize the 168-year-old house. He was right.

After all kinds of dire warnings from others about the huge task of pulling the wall in slowly over a period of years; that walls and ceilings would crack; other, unknown damage would be caused; and that the project would cost tens of thousands of dollars, we found that not one word was true.

This morning, the day started with a gap large enough that my entire hand could fit into it. By 1:30 p.m. today, the gap in the corner bedroom was completely gone. The walls had not cracked, the ceilings had not fallen. In the bedroom next door, the gaps and cracks between the walls and the outside wall had closed.

Gary had turnbuckles built especially to his specs and combined with steel cables, an energetic helper named A.J., and a few tools, he used his skills and priceless knowledge to help save one of the most significant historic structures located in Medina.

For the first time in 15 years, I can breathe. I no longer feel like my entire being is focused on holding the house together. We have a very long way yet to go, but this miracle today is the nicest beginning I could ask for.

The Col. H.G. Blake House is on the National Register of Historic Places for having been a part of the Underground Railroad, home to a Civil War veteran, and beloved home of the Shepard-Griesinger-McClelland family for more than 100 years.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no help for National Register structures. There are no funds to maintain or preserve them, no help in funding restoration or repairs. In the last 50 years, Medina has lost more than 40 historic structures.

As I write this, the City of Medina is planning to demolish the Masonic Hall, which also is on the National Register of Historic Places, in order to build a parking deck. (Update: The city torn down the Masonic Hall, now it is a large empty space, while city leaders determine what to do.)

If you would like to be a part of the restoration and repair project of the H. G. Blake House, if you love history and know that saving our country’s historic structures is priceless in value, please visit gofundme.com/savetheslate and make a donation, no matter how small.

My family has lived in and worked to preserve the history and structure of the H. G. Blake House since 1998. We have given free tours to hundreds of schoolchildren and countless groups, including foreign visitors. Booklets about the history of the house are provided at our expense to tour participants as our way to give back to the community.

If you would like to learn more and keep up with our progress, check in on this site and like and follow at https://www.facebook.com/Save-the-Slate-Underground-Railroad-Site-Needs-Help-106579376371892/ and www.facebook.com/H-G-Blake-House-449472958577273/ Donations can be made at gofundme.com/savetheslate

From outside, it’s hard to see the bow in the wall unless you see it at just the right angle. | Source

June 10, 2016 started with the gap between the closet wall and the house’s outside wall being so wide that my hand will fit completely in. Due to nails and other sharp points, I did not put my hand completely in the gap for the photo.

The gap was so wide you could see the wall paper that was sealed in when the closet was built in the 1950s.

Work started at 9 a.m., by 1:30 p.m., the gap was closed and the wall was stabilized. I can’t even fit a fingernail in now.

One of the most beautiful sights I’ve seen, the wall has been pulled in and the house has been stabilized. Ready now for Phase Two!

Wallpaper that was found behind the closet wall. The closet back wall had to be removed in order to determine the cause of the bowing of the house’s outside wall.

The reason for the bowing wall was discovered to be the hand-carved wooden peg placed in 1848 and shattered by an earthquake in 2001.

The inside of the connecting wall between the two bedrooms, light spots are the lights shining through from the other bedroom.

Gap in the closet ceiling, what the closet’s back wall was covering up.

Roetzel Construction hard at work. They had to cut away the horrible Great Stuff endlessly expanding foam the previous owners had crammed into the gap and then covered it up rather than fix what was a slight bow in the wall at that point in time.

Oof Oof the cat wisely chose to not investigate what was being undertaken upstairs. We didn’t have to worry about him sneaking upstairs and hiding under a bed today!

Roetzel Construction was kind enough to take photos in the attic when they had finished, proof that the noise was not baby elephants learning to walzt after all!

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March 6, 2017March 6, 2017

Cutting Down 112 Years of Tree History in One Day

On her last morning with us, the copper beech gave one last glorious color show when her leaves were lit up by the early morning sun.

The top, or crown, of the 85-foot tall tree, where sky and tree joined.

The plywood arrives. It will be used to make a safe area for the trucks to park without sinking into the yard or breaking the sidewalk.

Plywood is down, the cherry picker truck is in place.

It begins.

85-Foot Tall Tree Felled in Only 6 Hours

It began in the clear crispness of a May morning.

First to arrive was the cherry picker truck that would lift man and chainsaw into the leafy branches.

Then came the chipper that would grind leaves, twigs and branches into a pile of mulch.

There was a slight pause as we all looked up at the regal copper beech, shielding our eyes from the sharp morning sun, a last moment of homage to a tree who had served well beyond her years. She remained strikingly beautiful to the end.

The motor of the cherry picker arm whined as it lifted man and saw into the branches.

The chainsaw motor started growling.

Small branches began to fall, as if testing the ground for the later arrival of the bigger pieces.

Three hours of trimming small branches, then bigger limbs thunked into the ground with the sickening sound of finality.

A piece would fall, sending vibrations through the ground as the “thunk” sounded across the neighborhood, combined with an occasional “clunk” when one piece would land on another.

Each time a piece fell, I flinched with pain as it landed. Yet, I could not leave. As the tree’s guardian and caretaker, it was my duty to be near the 112-year-old copper beech as she was felled.

Old and sick and tired, yet she was still so beautiful that her destruction caused a deep shock and mourning for those driving by. Many had mouths hanging open, shock in their eyes.

At one point, the cable that connected the double trunks was snapped by a falling branch. Both trunks waved in the air, one threatening to fall on the house, the other to fall toward the street.

As the trunks swayed, it felt as though the world stopped, we all held our breath and waited. Then the trunks stilled, and the cutting continued.

The problem with cutting down a tree, believing it to be rotted, is that you don’t really know until it is too late if you are right or wrong.

As the tree was felled and the wood looked so solid, doubt began to sink in.

Then the section of the trunk that had been the first indicator of rot was slowly lowered into the truck, nestled into place, count to three…and the piece shattered.

It was then we all knew how close we had come to disaster.

With the final cut, there was doubt no more. The trunk at ground level had a large area so rotted that it looked like someone had filled the center of the tree with chocolate pudding, as if it were some kind of demented dessert.

The tree cutting crew said that what would have happened is the rotted area of the trunk would have split it in half, causing it to fall in two different directions, leaving the second of the twin trunks to fall toward the house. There was little to nothing structural holding up the immense 85-foot-tall tree.

It took 112 years to grow, but only six hours to cut down, chip and haul the tree away. Six hours and it was over. It seems like it should have taken longer out of respect for nature’s work.

It is time for change, a time for a new tree, a new look, and perhaps a change in life’s path from a long stretch of unemployment to success.

We are looking forward to the tomorrows to come and to finding the tree who will earn the honor of taking the place of our beloved copper beech tree.

The beautiful patterns in the wood can be seen in these logs.

One of the many house windows that was once filled with a tree-side view. Within a few hours, even the remaining trunks were gone.

Even without branches, the tree dwarfs man and truck

The chipped tree

Using the crane to lift logs into the back of the truck

Trimming logs that are too long for the truck.

Guiding the fall

In the background, on the ground, is the final piece of trunk turned on its side. The extensive rot is now obvious.

Where a limb fell

A view not seen since 1900.

The rot at ground level

The rot has the consistency of chocolate pudding. There were other, less obvious signs of decay, almost 100 percent of the trunk had died and rotted.

For the first time in decades, the side of the house is exposed to sunlight.

For the full story on the copper beech tree’s history, please see the post 112-Year-Old Copper Beech Tree Loses Her Battle.

March 6, 2017March 6, 2017

112-Year-Old Copper Beech Tree Loses Her Battle

Looking beautiful in her final days.

Time, traffic and pollution take their toll on history

Her leaves play in the sunlight and breeze.

Flipping each elongated side up and down, looking for all the world like she is a child wiggling her fingers in the delightfulness of the day.

Sunlight bounces off leaves that are red, now green, then red again as the breeze dips them into shadow, changing color as only the unique leaves of a copper beech can.

Birds tweet above.

They flit from branch to branch, enjoying the solid feel of her arms, the smoothness of her bark.

Countless squirrels have raced her branches. Young ones learning to navigate their first tree fell many times from her arms to the soft ivy below.

There are no facelifts, no hiding of age for her. Every line and bump and crack show her age, giving her an elegance of survival, showing that the years have never been easy ones.

In places her bark is so smooth and clear, it is as if she were once again a young sapling first taking root.

Other areas show odd twists and scars and lines gathered in her 112 years of surviving storms, animals and children.

It was only eight years ago that she showed how strong she still was by destroying an entire sewer line and collapsing it. Her roots were smacked back and the line replaced with modern plastic pipe, but there is no doubt that she has been wrapping around it since then, trying to squeeze her way into the free-flowing nutrients inside.

In 1900, she was planted in honor of the birth of a little girl who was to become known as Pauline Griesinger-McClelland. It was Pauline’s father, Christian Griesinger, who planted her. At the same time, he planted an entire apple orchard about 200 feet away from the copper beech.

The story passed down within the Shepard-Griesinger family is that he was so happy to finally have a daughter that he ran out and planted the trees in her honor. I have always thought, though, that it might have been the screaming of his wife giving birth that drove him outdoors to plant!

Through the years, the copper beech, the apple trees and Pauline grew strong and then grew old together.

Pauline was known for tending to her flowers in the 30-plus gardens on the grounds. The gardens had been planted by her family in the 1880s.

As Pauline aged, she wanted to ensure the property and house would be protected. She knew her family’s home would be at risk when the time came that she would die. She was a ferocious guardian of the home her family had lived continuously in for 100 years of its existence.

Being a corner property, it had long attracted the interest of local developers . One of the developers who was particularly anxious to gain possession of the property was well known in the area for “demolition by neglect”, where he would allow the property to decay beyond repair, then shrug and tear down the building.

While Pauline had other family members, they had spread out and had their own lives and homes and no one wanted to return to the house. Her death would mean it was time for a new family. She would leave the task of finding the new family to her survivors.

Through Pauline’s efforts, the house and grounds gained official historic status and were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house had been a station on the Underground Railroad in the 1850s and it was that, combined with its importance to the community, that gained it recognition.

By the time Pauline died at the age of 86, the apple orchard was long gone. Yet, the copper beech continued to grow and flourish by the side of the house so long loved and cared for by Pauline.

Pauline’s remaining family members, in honor of her wishes to preserve the property, had a restriction placed on the deed that kept the property from being subdivided. This action ended the developers’ interest in the property.

About 14 years after Pauline’s death, the copper beech gained recognition from American Forests for being a historic tree.

Now, sadly, the copper beech’s life also has come to an end. Through the leaves

The effects of time and pollution and the intense increase of traffic on the road over her roots has taken their toll. She has rotted from the roots up. The depth of her illness was discovered this spring.

As snow and freezing temperatures gave way to warmer breezes and dancing sunlight, a large piece of the copper beech’s bark also gave way and revealed a huge hole in her main trunk.

The hole in the trunk goes two thirds of the way around, and the rot has extended well above the hole and below as well. Tree companies were called in to rescue her but there is to be no second chance.

Despite her illness, seed pods can be seen among her leaves. She tries every year, despite having been infertile for at least the last 10 years.

It is a period of deep mourning as an old friend leaves. Not quietly in the night, but violently with saws and the cracking of limbs and a crane to carry her away in pieces.

Today she stands in noble grandeur, twice the height of the house. Her leaves playing in the sun and breeze, stroking my cheek as I pass.

The copper beech dwarfs the historic home it grows beside. The house was already 60 years old when the beech was planted.

In the background, the traffic that passes the copper beech 24 hours a day can be seen.

The smooth, light gray bark of the copper beech.

A conk is an indicator of rot within a tree. The copper beech has conks growing at ground level and up to approximately 20 feet above ground level.

The limb that once held a baby swing, until it was noticed it was hurting the tree. The swing was quickly removed.

Depending on the light, the leaves look pink, red, green, and even a rich chocolate brown.

Despite her desperate condition, the magnificent copper beech is attempting one last time to make seeds. She has not had fertile seeds for more than 10 years.

The horrible rot in the tree can be seen just above the midpoint of this photo. The tree continues on for many feet above the point of rot.

The part of the tree we try not to look at because it underlines the helplessness and hopelessness of saving her.

It took only 6 hours to take down this beautiful 85-foot tall tree. If you would like to see how it was done, please see the post Cutting Down 112 Years of Tree History in One Day.

Comments

Nancy McC. Wilson 4 years ago

I am daughter of Pauline who was born in the Western Reserve farmhouse beside the copper beech, which will be taken down on May 15. My mother’s lifelong affection for trees is surely linked to the history of that eminent tree. Her loyalty has entered the family gene pool, and has shown up in me, my daughter, and my 17-year old granddaughter. It is wondrous beyond belief that Amy, the present owner and steward of that property, an in-town mini farm a block from the town common, shares this gene of love for this mighty old tree and will be there holding its branched hand as if falls this week. Thank you, and our deep sympathy to you, Amy. Through your words, the story of this tree will last.

A. Barnes 4 years ago

Thank you so much, Nancy, for your kind words and love through this very difficult time. I am deeply honored by your friendship and guidance.

Mary S. Griesinger Lincoln 4 years ago

Dear Amy,

Thank you so much for memorializing the tree under which I played as a girl. I am Pauline’s grand niece and was named for her mother, Mary Shepard Griesinger, who tended the gardens at 314. That love of trees and plants has extended down my branch of the family as well. My daughter has certainly caught it and I hope her son has as well, though at 3 1/2 it’s too early to tell. Our family is so grateful that the house and the tree are in such loving hands.

A. Barnes 4 years ago

Dear Mary,

Thank you for the additional family history and encouragement! I am honored to preserve and promote a part of your family’s history and to safeguard the home.

There is a very strong feeling of history and connectedness here that can not be reproduced and that my family and I value highly.

Joe Vanable 4 years ago

My connection with all this is through my wife, Jane, sister of Bennett Wilson, late husband of Nancy. Jane and I often dropped by to see Pauline and Mac during our many visits to Medina, and always admired this magnificent tree. It is so sad that it is no more; I had thought that it would be there forever. However, I am happy to report that, in a sense it lives on: in one of our many visits to Medina, back, I think, in the 70s, Pauline dug up a very young descendant of this copper beech as a treasured gift to us. We transported it back to West Lafayette, Indiana, in the trunk of our sedan, and planted it in our yard. It has thrived here: I can’t really estimate its considerable height, but its girth at about four feet from the ground is 40 inches, making its diameter well over a foot. It is far and away the most beautiful plant growing in our yard!

A. Barnes 4 years ago

Thank you so much for sharing your memories of this most beloved tree. It seems her reach was far beyond her branches.

Should your tree ever have offspring, we would love to have one to plant here, this time in the back of property where the apple orchard once was.

For the exact spot where the copper beech grew, we are looking to plant a mahogany tree. I know that they grow in Connecticut, I have a feeling that one would do very well in the beech’s former spot.

After the beech had been taken down, I measured across the trunk base that remained in the ground. It measured 6 feet wide by 4 feet 1 inch.