Friday, January 29, 2010

Marbletown N.Y. vs Marbletown, Delphos, Ohio

I have not posted in quite awhile. I have been too busy living life. I am a history researcher by trade and I have been using those abilities to track my genealogy. What I have found out has set me square on my, well, you figure it out. Although I was born in Lima Ohio at the Lima Memorial Hospital I spent all of my early years growing up in Delphos, Ohio. I lived in a section of town that was known to the locals as "Marbletown". Hence The Marbletown Memoirs is the name of this blog
Growing up in Delphos was the greatest influence in my life. People never locked their doors or windows. They never locked up their cars and a lot of folks just left the key(s) in the ignition. We never stayed indoors because there was always too much to do outside. TV was black and white and we usually only got a couple of channels so it wasn't that important to us.
It was kinda strange though how the Miami-Erie Canal split the city. I lived in Van Wert County but went to school in Allen County. Little did I know that Delphos would become such a pull on me later on in life.
I no longer believe in coincidences. My real name is Richart Eugene Bogart. I am the third time that there has been a union between a Bogart and a Medaugh and NO I'm not inbred. Both families were Dutch. My adopted name is Richard Eugene Schramm. No one in my family ever told me or spoke of their roots. I only got little bits and pieces of information that I would store away in my memory. I found it very strange then when I found out that I had lived one township over from where my GGG, GG, and G Grandfathers are all buried and many of their descendants were still alive. Even more of a shocker was that Don Schramm, my adopted father, had all of half of his family roots right there in town. Delphos, Ohio is where his father was born and raised. Even worse was the fact that his grandmother lived there and he knew it. We went to see her once and mom and we kids remained in the car while dad talked with her through the door as she had opened it partially. We were there less than 10 minutes. You know, I kind of feel cheated by my elementary and high school education. There is very little I have used from that era to live my life. The history books were a bunch of things that other people decided that we should learn. I would have loved to have studied the History of Lima or the History of Allen County. Ever heard of the CCC? I hadn't. It stands for the Civilian Conservation Corps. Many of the structures, trails, and bridges they have built are a real tribute to them as most of the ones I saw were still standing.
Another odd thing was most of my ancestors had lived and were buried in, get this, Marbletown, N.Y. That is the only actual city in the United States named Marbletown. But when I lived in Delphos, Ohio I would be asked where I lived and I would say 729 South Erie Street, the folks back in Delphos would say, "Oh you live in Marbletown". And Marbletown had a reputation to be sure. They (towns people) were a very mixed crowd. Best group of people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing...

Regards,