Seneca County Historical Society

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Then and Now – About a month ago, the folks at the Clover Club shared some great historic photos with us of the Dehmer b...
09/05/2026

Then and Now – About a month ago, the folks at the Clover Club shared some great historic photos with us of the Dehmer building back when it was a cigar shop. We posted one of those photos on August 5th, and today we’re sharing another one of those photos, comparing views at the 266 S. Washington Street in Tiffin, Ohio. The top vintage photo was taken in the late 1800’s and this was John Dehmer’s to***co and cigar shop that was here from 1893 to 1912. We’re not sure who everyone is in the photo – probably John Dehmer, his family and his dog. The bottom left photo is how it looks today. In that earlier post we also commented about the great cigar store Indian that’s also in the picture. But it wasn’t until just now, that we remembered that there was much more to this story.

Several years ago, this writer learned that there was a cigar store Indian in existence that had been made in Tiffin and it was on display in the general store at the Greenfield Village in Dearborn. When we went to the museum we were disappointed to learn that they had removed the Indian statue and put it away into storage. While at the Greenfield Village information center, they provided us with the photo that you can see on the right. The following is some history on this statue:

Compared to other cigar store Indians, this statue is very tall standing 85 inches high. The figure has a carved headdress of red, yellow and green feathers in a gilt headband with red decorative accents, long black hair and a gilt necklace. The figure holds a r***e in his left has a bunch of ci**rs in his out-stretched right hand. The statue is made from basswood and stands on a square wood base. The Native American statue was known as “Seneca John” and also “The Tiffin Tecumseh”. It was carved by Arnold Ruef, a pioneer wood carver, and his son Peter of Tiffin in the late 1860’s or 1870’s. The Ruefs had a shop in Tiffin in the 1880’s. It was carved for John Dehmer, a cigar maker, who displayed the figure in front of his shop. Dehmer’s son, Lewis, later sold the cigar store figure around 1916 or 1918 to an Ohio farmer, Albinus Elchert.

Albinus Elchert, from New Riegel, farmed for most of his life, but he also worked as a printer, roofer and manufacturer of patent medicines. But most of all, he was known as a collector of Indian relics, stamps, matchbooks, glass flasks, buttons, gourds, bee hives, coins and swords. Around 1928, Albin became acquainted with Detroit automaker Henry Ford, who was busy purchasing historical items for his museum. Elchert and Ford agreed to the price of $100 for the statue, and the story of Ford’s purchase was reported in newspapers all across the United States. Incredible as it may seem, this historic piece of art that once stood outside of Dehmer’s Cigar Store (now the Clover Club) for years, is currently being stored away in one of the Ford Museum’s - Greenfield Village’s seven huge warehouses.

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views looking west on Court Street in Tiffin, Ohio. The left photo was taken in t...
09/04/2026

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views looking west on Court Street in Tiffin, Ohio. The left photo was taken in the early 1940’s and we’re seeing work being done on the central tower where the original features of the old 1884 Seneca County Courthouse were being stripped away, and to be replaced with a more modern appearance. We love those great vintage cars parked along the street and in the distance we can see the storefronts of the buildings along S. Washington Street at the end of Court Street. The photo on the right is how this same view looks today after the 1884 Courthouse was replaced with this new Justice Center building.

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views looking at the Laird Building facing S. Washington Street in Tiffin, Ohio. ...
09/03/2026

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views looking at the Laird Building facing S. Washington Street in Tiffin, Ohio. It was 50 years ago on September 16, 1976 that the Laird Building suffered a terrible fire. The top vintage photo was probably taken a few days afterwards when the area was cleared of debris and the building was boarded up. You can see the sky through the upper windows where the roof caved in and blackened wood along the top edge along the roofline. Thanks to the great efforts of Bob Bollinger and others, the historic Laird Building was saved and is still very much in use today. The bottom photo is a current view.

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views looking across the E. Market/S. Washington Street intersection towards the c...
09/02/2026

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views looking across the E. Market/S. Washington Street intersection towards the courthouse square in Tiffin, Ohio. The top photo was taken in the late 1970’s to show how things looked before the downtown streetscape project. The bottom photo is a current view and we can see that a lot has changed in the last 45-plus years. The Old Trinity Church is the last survivor on this block.

Death on the Diamond – We recently came across a story in the September 3, 1888 Tiffin Daily Tribune and Herald about a ...
09/01/2026

Death on the Diamond – We recently came across a story in the September 3, 1888 Tiffin Daily Tribune and Herald about a fatal accident during a baseball game. It happened on Saturday afternoon, September 1, 1888 at Republic, Ohio where the Bellevue and Bloomville, Ohio baseball teams were playing. In the bottom of the second inning, Amos Teal pitched to the batter and the batter foul-tipped the ball, which struck the catcher, Henry Seickemeyer in the chest just above the heart. Seickemeyer picked up the ball, took two steps and threw back to the pitcher… and then collapsed to the ground. A Dr. Foster from Bloomville was in the stands and he immediately rushed to the boy. When he turned him over the doctor felt right away that he was dead, but they rushed him to the nearby hotel to see if they could revive him. After Dr. Foster and another doctor, Dr. Spooner worked on him for 3 hours, they pronounced him dead.

Henry’s body was placed on a wagon and taken to his home in Bloomville where his mother was told the terrible news. Henry Seickemeyer was only around 19 years old and was the one supporting his widowed mother. His father was recently killed by a falling tree while cutting wood. Plus Henry’s brother fell down the stairs and broke his neck, so the family was heartbroken again by more bad news. During a post mortem exam, it was determined that the death was caused by paralysis of the heart. The funeral was held at the Reformed Church in Bloomville.

While researching this story, we found that the death of Henry Seickemeyer while playing baseball had been reported in the newspaper “The Australian Town and Country Journal” in Sydney, Australia and the “Auckland Star” newspaper in Auckland, New Zealand. The reason for reporting this death by the countries “down under” was because this area of the world was getting ready to start promoting their own baseball teams and maybe they were having second thoughts because of the dangers. It’s just incredible to us that a tragic event that happened in 1888 (138 years ago today) in Republic, Ohio, was reported in newspapers on the other side of the world. It should be noted that the Tiffin newspaper that originally reported this story had spelled Henry’s last name as “Seickemeyer”, but when the story spread to other newspapers, they mistakenly misspelled his last name as “Zickemeyer".

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views of the building at 45 S. Washington Street in Tiffin, Ohio. The top photo w...
08/31/2026

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views of the building at 45 S. Washington Street in Tiffin, Ohio. The top photo was taken in the late 70’s when the city was taking photos of the streets and sidewalks before work was to begin on the downtown streetscape project. When approaching Reino’s Italian Restaurant, Frankie Reino (the owner) saw the photographer and couldn’t help but pop out and say “Hi!”. Reino’s later moved to 73 E. Market Street and this building was used for several other businesses over the last 45 years. The bottom photo is how this view looks today.

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views of the building at 162 S. Washington Street in Tiffin, Ohio. The top photo ...
08/30/2026

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views of the building at 162 S. Washington Street in Tiffin, Ohio. The top photo was taken in the early 1980’s before the downtown streetscape project was going to start. On the left was the old Gibson Restaurant and the City Loan was on the right. The bottom photo is showing this building in the process of going through a major renovation to make it into the “Empire” boutique hotel. The windows are all boarded up to allow work to continue on the inside. We’re also seeing a concrete barrier on the street allowing for sidewalk access in front of the building. Once again, we’re very eager to see this awesome architectural building when it’s completed.

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views of the Foster Block in Fostoria, Ohio. The top image is from the 1874 Senec...
08/29/2026

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views of the Foster Block in Fostoria, Ohio. The top image is from the 1874 Seneca County (Ohio) Atlas and it’s labeled: “FOSTER’S BLOCK – Fostoria, Seneca Co. Ohio”. There are also notations on the bottom left indicating where the residence of C. W. Foster is located, and on the bottom right where the residence of Hon. Chas. Foster is located.

According to the 1874 Atlas, C. W. Foster was born in Brookfield, Mass in November, 1800. In 1827, he married Miss Laura Crocker, moved to a town called Rome in Seneca County and immediately opened a store of goods. The rival town of Risdon adjoined the town of Rome. The Fosters gave birth to their son, Charles Foster in 1828 and both Charles W. Foster and his son, Hon. Charles Foster, worked to grow the two towns. Due to their enterprise and foresight, the two towns of Risdon and Rome consolidated in 1852 into one town – Fostoria. The Hon. Charles Foster went on to be a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1871 to 1879. He was elected governor in 1879 and reelected to a second term in 1881. He also served as President Benjamin Harrison’s secretary of the treasury from 1891 to 1893.

The bottom photo is how the Foster Block looks today. The current Foster Building is being renovated with new businesses on the ground floor and condos being offered in the upper floors.

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views along the west side of Benner Street in Tiffin, Ohio. The top vintage photo...
08/28/2026

Then and Now – Today, we’re comparing views along the west side of Benner Street in Tiffin, Ohio. The top vintage photo is a view of the Wagner Bottling Works. The business was started in 1876 by Adam Wagner and he first operated out of a small building south of W. Market Street along Benner Street. By 1890, the brothers Christian and Anthony Wagner took over the business and in 1901 they built the new bottling plant, seen in today’s photo. In 1919, they started bottling Coca-Cola in this plant until Wagner’s moved to their new plant at 435 W. Market St. This old bottling plant on Benner Street was demolished years ago, and the bottom photo is how this area looks today.

Then and Now – We recently posted a “then and now” comparison of the work being done to the back of the old Columbian Hi...
08/27/2026

Then and Now – We recently posted a “then and now” comparison of the work being done to the back of the old Columbian High School in Tiffin, Ohio. This castle-like structure is being saved and transformed into some private residences. There are major renovations needed where the old auditorium was demolished and was just “chopped off” the main part of the building leaving an ugly scar. However, there’s also major work being done all around the building including the replacement of all of the windows and other various repairs.

We found a great old vintage photo (on top) showing this school building from the 1890’s. It’s such a nice summertime image with the trees, the children along the sidewalk and some buggies parked on the street. To the left of the school we can see the old “Church of Christ” building that was demolished years ago. The bottom photo is how this view looks today. The church is gone, but the all-important school building is still standing tall with better days ahead.

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