Love Letter from Leetonia's Past

Front of envelope

Back of envelope

Page 1 and 4

Page 2 and 3

The string of events started by Fred Espenship who now lives in Evergreen, Colorado. He found the blog and sent the link to his Aunt Fran Weigley who lived in Florida.  Fran was 85 when she started reading my blog in late 2007. She had a deep connection to Leetonia as her Dad, Norman Ottman was a CCC Foreman starting sometime after 1929 and I am unsure of how many years they lived in Leetonia total. But they lived in what she called "The Square Camp", which is Cassel's Red building on the side of the mountain.  Her dad, lived there rent free and supplemented their diet with quite a lot of deer meat.  They then moved to what many know to be the "Herre Camp" and is now "Steele Waters."  Fran had one sister named, Norma, who was Fred's mother. This link shows a picture of Fran and Norma Ottman.

At 85, Fran was not afraid of new technology and followed the blog, emailing me information she thought useful, including several pictures of her family in Leetonia.  If I failed to post on a regular basis she would email me to make sure I was alright.  She even learned how to scan old pictures and send them to me.  The one with her mom, Beatrice,  feeding the bear a bottle is one of my favorites(see link). The one thing I have noticed about people who used to live or even have a camp in Leetonia is they always have fond memories of this place.  Those who have lived here know how hard it is to make a living here and survive what mother nature dishes out.

In July of 2009, my interaction with this family would take an interesting turn. I do a lot of construction work on the places in Leetonia and that summer I worked on the old "Herre Camp".  We replaced windows, painted and replaced all the floor coverings.  We pulled up the old carpet upstairs and saw a letter wedged between the carpet and the floor. The letter postmarked,  Sept 21st 1940 and it was addressed to "Miss Norma Ottman". Norma was the mother of Fred Esphenship. (Original blog story about finding letter).

You can imagine my surprise in finding such an old letter, yet alone knowing the son and sister of the person addressed.  What are the odds such a thing could happen? I opened the letter, which I have transposed here and read it with great interest. The original is also scanned, and I have included it as well, but I thought it would be easier to read this way, since it was folded and in cursive.

September 21, 1940

Saturday 3:00

Dear Norma,

Received your letter today and was glad to hear from you so soon.  Yesterday we went to Atlantic City to see the 1941 Dodge.  I got home around 1:00 Friday night, boy was it hot down there. Geo stayed down for  weekend.  I sold a Dodge 1941 this week. I was down to Leapsons  this week to see how John was coming along. Mr. Leapson had to give some blood last Monday. I guess she is very sick from why(what) they tell me.  But you know how Mrs. Leapson is about that. I have not seen any of the Ricks yet only passing by in the car.  Have you heard from them yet?  I saw mother today and the little dogs  that Sunshine had. How is your kitten? I have not anything to do tonight so I may go to my mothers and go to a show. Bob has not been down all week I may see him tonight down at mothers. Have you been out with anybody yet?

Dear Norma please don't think that about me, really I had the job and was going to start work on Monday, but he didn't need me at the time. He'll let me know when he needs me. Ed is trying to get me into Standard Press Steel.  He got a job there last week some man who works there got him in, he told me he made nearly $30.00 last week, but he worked Sunday.

I am sorry what I said in my last letter saying it was O.K. You know that I still care and always will. If I get this job at Standard Press Steel everything will be O.K. then please don't be mad at me, because I didn't lie to you. I would like to see you some Sunday.

 I guess I better say goodbye.

Love Fred X

P.S. Please trust me Norm.

Say hello to everyone for me.

 Did you get your candy?

The person writing this letter is Fred Espenship who is the father of the Fred Espenship who forwarded my blog to his Aunt Fran. The letter is to his mother Norma, so it became obvious that their relationship continued and they got married. But why is the letter under the carpet in a hallway? Was Norma hiding it from her parents or just saving it and forgot about it? I am afraid we will never know. Norma although still alive when I found the letter,  memories had faded and could not remember the letter.

One thing is for sure having a good job to get the girl was important back then.  I think impressive jobs and money still get the girl today, but we just don't talk about it. I am not sure if Fred stretched the truth about a job he didn't have to make himself look good, but he was determined to make it up to Norma.  Whatever he did it must have worked. He got the girl, Fred was born, read the blog and forwarded it to Fran.  Then sixty-nine year later:  I ended up living in Leetonia; writing a blog making connections to the past; remodeling Norma's childhood home; tearing up the carpet to find the love letter.  Amazing. Life is a great  process of discovering mysteries and it is never dull even in a place as remote as the ghost town of Leetonia.

Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Fran Wiegley(Ottman) memorial continued

Thanks to Fred, Fran's nephew for sending me this picture. Fran is standing next to her sister, Norma and is the last one in the row to the right.
Fran was quite proud of getting this deer and had fond memories of the hunt.
I know she would love being remembered in this way in the prime of life...enjoying the outdoors of Leetonia.
You would hardly recognize the area from this picture as heavy logging had eliminated most of the trees. Today the area is heavily forested. I think the deer hanging rack used here is still at the Herre camp. It is in a different spot but looks the same. Thanks again to Fred for sending me this remembrance of Fran.

Fran Wiegley(Ottman) memorial

This year brings an end to another Leetonia favorite of mine, Fran Wiegley. She passed on the end of March and even though in her late 80's watched the blog faithfully. If I went as long as I have this year without a post, I would surely be admonished and/or worried about by Fran.

Although, I never met her in person, the common love of Leetonia made for sad news of her passing. I have been looking for the picture she sent of me in her hunting outfit and have been unable to find it. But if I do it will definitely be posted.
This picture is of her mother in Leetonia, August of 1934 bottle feeding a bear. She was the daughter of Norman and Beatrice Ottman who moved to Leetonia after the crash in 29'. My understanding was that they lived in the "Square Camp", which I believe to be the older Cassel place which is Red. Her dad was able to live rent free and she believes he feed them mostly with free deer meat. Later on he worked at the CCC camp in a manager position.
Another soul is walking the streets and woods of Leetonia. I'm sure I will see her soon. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

I

CCC Camp Leetonia

Here is another picture from the files of Fran Weigley. If you know any of the missing names for people in this picture let me know. Left to right.
Harry Butler
?
Norman Ottman
Paul Long
?
George Foreman
?
?

This was taken in the early thirties in Leetonia.

Now and Then Wilsbach and Stratton

I have added this picture of the front so you can compare to the front of the old Stratton place easier. You can see a big difference.

The second picture shows the Wilsbach camp"Valley Hi" as it now looks from the back. I did the remodeling on it which added this large area to the back and left side as you view the picture.

Fran sent me a picture of the camp in the early 30's. It was then known as the Stratton Camp and is hardly recognizable as the same camp unless you know what you are looking at. The front wrap around porch is gone and so is the camp you can barely see in this picture to the right of it, which for years was known as the "Elkhorn Camp". A large set of Elkhorn antlers that hung outside of that camp now
hangs inside the new addition to Valley Hi.

More Cabin Pictures from the Past

This is the Herre Camp from the files of Fran Weigley. Another picture from the 30's. You can see that there isn't a garage on the building like there is now. The most startling difference is the trees. The entire mountain behind the camp seems bare compared to today with tall pines so thick you can't see much of the hill. It is amazing what nature can do in a short period of time to change the landscape.

We got more snow tonight and are scheduled for my favorite: "wintery mix," which means everything nature can think of will come out of the sky. Where did Spring go? Have a great Leetonia day! Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Square Camp or Cassel's Place

Here is another picture from the files of Fran Wiegley. Her family lived in this camp, which she called the, "Square Camp". It is now owned by the Cassel family. Although there is no date on this picture is appears to be taken at about the same time as the bear picture during the early 30's.
The camp is now aluminium sided but the shape hasn't changed in 75 years.

Fran's Dad worked with the CCC boys during the period of time Fran lived in Leetonia. I have more camp pictures she has sent and will post another one tomorrow. The cold temperatures has caused me to unthaw my water line to the well the last two mornings. It is not pleasant temperatures, we currently have light snow, which is supposed to get heavier this evening. Snowmobilers should be happy today, since it has been a pretty poor year for snowmobiling so far. I went through a cart load of wood in less than a day yesterday and today looks about the same for wood burning. Stay warm and if you live somewhere warm try not to gloat about it. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

The Bear Facts

A special thanks to Fran Weigley, who with the help of her niece scanned and sent me this picture. This is her mother in Leetonia, August of 1934 bottle feeding a bear. The bear is not very old, but is still large enough to do some serious damage to your arm when you run out of milk. It looks like the bear has a nice hold on the arm. I am wondering if Fran's mother had any scratches after feeding the bear.

I would NOT suggest trying this activity. Although I am sure you could get a bear to cooperate it might not end nicely. Fran sent a bunch of great pictures of camps in Leetonia during this period and I will try to get them up soon for you all to see. You might see your place. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Fran Weigley "Ottman"

I just finished talking to Fran Weigley who is now 85 and lived in Leetonia during its CCC days. She is the daughter of Norman and Beatrice Ottman who moved to Leetonia after the crash in 29'. My understanding was that they lived in the "Square Camp", which I believe to be the older Cassel place which is Red. Her dad was able to live rent free and she believes he feed them mostly with free deer meat. Later on he worked at the CCC camp in a manager position.

I talked with Fran for nearly two hours and you can always tell a true Leetonia person. Their love and memory of the place never dies. The town has changed alot since she lived there and I will be sharing much more with you when I get it all written down. For now here are a few things to think about and add to if you know any information.

Fran mentioned a water wheel in Cedar Run Creek near the Petite Camp. She thinks it was purely decorative, but isn't sure if it had any real purpose. The Ottman's also lived in the Herre Camp for a while after the Square Camp fire, so if any of you Herre people remember information about that let me know. If you were part of a bucket brigade to put out the Square Camp Fire you may also add to that conversation. Do you know anything about a pet bear keep by Mr Lutz at the Herre Camp in the 30's please add? For now I am gathering pictures and collecting all of the memories Fran gave me tonight into something that will be fun and educational to read. You all have a Great Leetonia night and dream of a time when the CCC worked and lived in Leetonia and there were only two phones in town. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.