Mass Baptism at Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio

 Mass Baptism at Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio, 1922

Ernst Niebergall Photograph Collection

This photograph of the mass baptism in Lake Erie is part of the Ernst Niebergall Collection preserved by the late Charles E. Frohman  at the Rutherford B Hayes Library and Museums.  It is dated 1919, but according to the Watch Tower History of the Jehovah's Witness International Bible School Association, it was one of the photographs taken during the nine-day convention held at Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio, from September 5th through the 13th in 1922.

The baptism in Lake Erie of some 200 delegates took place on September 6th at sunrise during an open-air, praise and prayer service. The baptism was conducted by the vice president of the association Pastor C. A. Wise of Indianapolis. Participants waded into Lake Erie where volunteers assisted with their immersion. More than 6,000 onlookers attended the baptism. 

More than 10,000 delegates from the U.S., Canada, and Europe gathered to hear talks given simultaneously in 11 different languages.  The Breakers Hotel was packed to "overflowing." Cedar Point management housed attendees in other buildings on the grounds.

                                       

Brother Joseph F. Rutherford speaking in the Coliseum

 

According to the history, the high point of the convention took place on the 8th when some 8,000 people gathered in the Coliseum to hear Brother Rutherford's famous speech "The Kingdom" which urged delegates to "advertise the King and the Kingdom." The audience was "electrified" when a banner above the stage was unfurled and proclaimed those very words.

At this convention a resolution was passed to oppose war, revolution, anarchy, and violence in any form. Members opposed WWI and would do so again during WWII.  It was not until 1946 and 1953 Supreme Court cases exempted members from military service

The convention was filmed, but it has never been located.

 

Tony Jannus at Cedar Point: Lake Erie's Yesterdays on Pinterest

 

Tony Jannus on the Boardwalk at Cedar Point

August 1914

Photograph by Ernst Niebergall

Charles E. Frohman Collection

 

 

 

Above is a picture of Tony Jannus, one of America's most famous early flyers. Jannus was a test pilot for Tom Benoist, who built airboats at Sandusky, Ohio. During the summers of 1913, at the centennial celebration of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's Victory on Lake Erie, and 1914, Jannus flew exhibition flights and took local residents on flights over Lake Erie. On New Year's Day 1914, Jannus flew one of Benoist's airboats on the United States' first scheduled passenger flight, between Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida. Jannus' flight heralded in commercial aviation in the United States. His fete proved that scheduled flights of cargo and passengers could be economically viable. More on Jannus, his life, and the upcoming commemoration of that first scheduled flight in an upcoming post...

 

You can see pictures of Tony and the Benoit airboat on Pinterest on my Lake Erie's Yesterdays board. There are also some of early fliers Harry Atwood and Glen Curtiss making flights over Lake Erie near Sandusky and at Cedar Point. More photos from the Charles E. Frohman Collection can be found by googling Lake Erie's Yesterdays OhioLINK.

 

 

  

 



Glenn Curtiss and the 1910 Flight from Euclid Beach to Cedar Point

Glenn Curtiss

[from the Charles E. Frohman Collection]

It was a more than a strange sight to the 100,000 spectators who jammed Cleveland’s Euclid Beach in late August 1910. A man with goggles, helmet, and an inner tube draped around his neck was stepping onto what looked to many like a box kite. In reality, it was Glenn Curtiss and his Hudson flier, preparing for a flight over the waters of Lake Erie from Euclid Beach to Cedar Point.

Sponsored by Cedar Point and Cleveland’s “Press,” the flight was intended to bring publicity to the Lake Erie resorts. For Curtiss, the 64-mile trip would mean $15,000 in prize money if he could make the trip in under an hour, circle the Breakers Hotel at 3,000 feet, and return to Cleveland the following day. More importantly for Curtiss, it would mean breaking the world record for over-water flight held by the Frenchman Bleriot who had flown the English Channel.

Throwing up sand, Curtiss bounced down three hundred feet of beach, barely missing a retaining wall, before turning to pass over the cheering throngs below. Loaded down with 10 gallons of gas and two quarts of oil, Curtiss’ 850-pound pusher-type biplane could barely rise above 200 feet. The aviator hugged the shoreline to avoid wind currents that began to tax his 30-horsepower engine. Curtiss shifted from side-to-side in his seat to balance the fragile craft.

Few believed that Curtiss could make the daring flight. Rescue boats; stationed off shore at Edgewater Park, Rocky River, Avon, Lorain, Vermilion, and Huron, testified to their lack of faith. More than 300,000 people were strung out along the route to catch a glimpse and perhaps help pluck the “birdman” from the water.

Although Curtiss foresaw the day when planes could carry “up to ten passengers,” he too had his doubts on that August afternoon. Wind gusts slowed the craft at Lorain and Huron. But soon Curtiss could see the Breakers and some 20,000 onlookers waiting for him on the beach. In a slow descent, he skimmed the waves and dropped lightly to the beach. The crowds swarmed the aviator, tearing off his goggles and gloves, and hoisting him onto their shoulders.

Amid rain, gusts of wind, and blowing sand, Curtiss took off for Cleveland the following day. So strong were the winds on the return flight that Curtiss feared that his Hudson flier would break up completely. It took 102 minutes, but the brave pilot landed safely at Euclid Beach where thousands once again mobbed him in a wild celebration.