New book takes history buffs on trip through 200 years of Damascus
The 266-page book is dedicated to an ex-businessman who collected photos.
DAMASCUS — Readers can dive into 200 years of local and American history when they pick up a copy of “Damascus Through the Years 1808-2008.”
The book is finally in print, and it delves into the history of the unincorporated community in southwestern Goshen Township in Mahoning County and northwestern Butler Township in Columbiana County.
The 266-page, soft-cover book is a fascinating look into an active rural area.
Clarence Sekerak, a former minister and later an investment adviser, edited the book.
David Stratton of the Salem Historical Society and Museum said Sekerak occasionally would call him about an item, adding, “He would say he wanted to get it right.”
Sekerak, in turn, credited others, including Atty. Kenneth Bandy, Eleanor Kampher and Donna Lautzenheiser, in making sure facts, dates and other material were correct.
The book is dedicated to the late Fred Delzell, a former businessman who collected old photographs, often in the form of postcards with images of the sender.
“Damascus was called Springfield” early in its development, Sekerak said.
Quakers were the first settlers, escaping high land prices back east.
The book replicates a colored, hand-drawn map by Horton Howard, a minister and the first presiding clerk for Ohio and western territories. The map showed that water would partly flow to the Mahoning River, and the rest would eventually wind up in the Mississippi River.
There is no index in the book, so readers can dive in at any page.
One of its tidbits contains a newspaper story on the death of Anna Talbott McPherson in 2003 at age 98. She was the author and often an illustrator of some 20 books.
Another news item dated Sept. 7, 1918, says two Damascus men were killed July 28 while fighting in France. One was Cpl. Arthur H. Bye, and the other was Allen K. Reynolds.
The book also shows a Duncan McDonald gearless steamer, a water-powered car. “That’s what we ought to have” today, Sekerak said.
According to the Web site www.american-automobile-com, the steam-car roadster had a 25-gallon water tank and could go as fast as 70 mph.
The book also shows the local graduation class for 1930 and the valedictorian address by Ethel Bauman. She wrote: “Yet today, many things are sought as idols. Cannot wealth, position, beauty and culture and many others be idols?”
The book is available for $15 at three locations — Damascus Hardware, 28983 state Route 62; Damascus Friends Church, 28857 Walnut St.; and Damascus United Methodist Church, 300 Valley Road.
wilkinson@vindy.com