The Gilder Anvil

The Museum at the Old Town Hall is home to many items from North Ridgeville’s past, but none with a story as detailed as the Gilder Anvil.  It is about 127 pounds in weight, is over 100 years old and shows the wear of a well-used item from the past.  Made in England by the Peter Wright Co. we are unsure how it made it’s way to our town, but here’s a little of the story we do know.

Edward and Sarah Gilder emigrated from England in 1872 and originally settled in Olmsted Falls.  Their middle son, Charlie, caught gold rush fever and left for California in about 1891 to seek his fortune.  He discovered upon arrival he was too late and he joined hundreds of other fortune seekers who were homeless and penniless.  He approached the owner of a livery stable that had an attached blacksmith shop and offered to work for a place to sleep.  The man offered him an arrangement that would benefit them both-Charlie would work for room and board and would be taught the blacksmith trade to help in the shop.  Six years later Charlie returned to North Ridgeville by train with $50 in his pocket, a new trade and a plan to open his own blacksmith shop.

He purchased the blacksmith shop of Chuck Maple on Root Rd. in what was then called Field’s Corners (the corner of Root Rd. and Butternut Ridge Rd.)  and, with the help of his brother Allen, opened for business.  We’ve been told the anvil was used at this location by Charlie- the first generation of Gilders in North Ridgeville.  In about 1900 he was given the opportunity to purchase the Casper Barres property on Center Ridge. ( across the street from the former Middle School property)  There was a blacksmith shop and grist mill on one side of the small creek that ran through the property and a small house on the other side.  The creek offered water power and a place for wagon wheels to soak as part of the wheelwright trade.  A large barn was in the rear of the home and Charlie enlisted some friends to help move it towards the front of the lot with the use  of a horse team and his shop was started.  The main floor became the blacksmith and farrier shop and the upstairs area was used to store fertilizer, which came to Ridgeville via the train at Shawville Station.

Charlie’s business grew along  with the small town of North Ridgeville.  His reputation was quite good- he had a natural ability with horses and mules and a good farrier was hard to find.  Customers came from near and far to have him care for their horses, including many of the Cleveland Dairies.  Charlie and his wife Mary (Marshall) started their family and continued to thrive along with their family business.

The couple’s son, Ralph, was soon showing an interest in the business.  The advent of the automobile had come, and he wanted to modernize the shop by adding auto service to their business.  The Gilder and Son Auto Repair was born about 1920- with Charlie’s blacksmith and iron works occupying half of the barn that had a wooden floor and horse stalls and Ralph in a back portion for auto repair.  Towing was done with a horse team until the 1930s when Ralph purchased an old truck and used his own blacksmith skills to fabricate a towing boom.

Ralph married Helen Perkins, a Cleveland native and soon the third generation of Gilders was showing an interest in the family business.  Their son Bob loved playing in the trucks and shop near his home.  A few years later brother Don (Murph) was born and both of the boys enjoyed turning found pieces and parts into something new.  Charlie Gilder’s health declined and he died in 1941- leaving his son Ralph (41) and grandsons Bob (15) and Don (8) to carry on the family business.  The next twenty years the business employed many area mechanics and family members- including some of the Gilder women who helped with bookkeeping and various odd jobs.

Bob registered for the draft in 1944 and soon found himself in Europe. The family business adapted when Bob returned from war in 1946, married his high school sweetheart, Jean Beesing and returned to work for his father.  His brother-in-law, Wes Dreger had been helping at the business, but was soon drafted himself.  Don and Bob helped their dad with the business as North Ridgeville’s population grew and more and more cars needed service.  A single gas pump was added to accommodate the business, but soon area residents found themselves in need of gas too.  No one pumped gas during the day, but sometimes cars needed gas at night.  Don and friend Wayne Diederich pumped gas to help fill tanks until people could reach the next station- often miles away.  The two friends were allowed to keep any money they made during the evening sales.

Ralph supplemented his income from the garage by driving a school bus part time- a job he would hold until his death.  Gilder’s Garage also provided mechanical work to the city’s fleet of school buses.  The business was able to adapt as time went on- earning a towing contract for the then new Ohio Turnpike in the 1950s- which called for additional wreckers and required being on call 24/7.  Bob and Don found themselves using skills learned from their father and grandfather as they repaired customer’s autos and maintained their own growing fleet of trucks by welding parts of trucks, replacing with parts from other trucks, fabricating fenders, etc.- all as part of the business.

In 1962 Bob Gilder and Wes Dreger partnered in one of the first corner gas stations on Center Ridge and Avon Belden Rd.- first with a Shell Station at the northeast corner, then later an Atlantic Station at the southwest corner.  As often happens in a family business, some generations don’t feel the call to continue in the same path and yearn to seek their own ventures. Such a thing happened in the Gilder family.  Bob’s youngest brother, Alan, went into the military, Don (Murph) relocated to Atlanta, Georgia to use his auto knowledge working for General Motors, the next generation was all college bound, and in 1968 Bob and Wes dissolved their partnership.  Bob joined the North Ridgeville Fire Dept. as a full time firefighter, and Wes joined the North Ridgeville City Schools system as a bus mechanic.

The old building that had seen so many changes over the years continued to be used by the family for various projects for many years.  The anvil was still used occasionally during these projects.  The former grist mill, blacksmith shop, and auto repair building finally succumbed to the wrecking ball in 1990 for a new office building.

Bob saved as much as he could from the original building as preserving history was always in the forefront of his mind.  He was a longtime member of the North Ridgeville Historical  Society and we have many items from his collection which we will always treasure.  In 2008 Bob generously donated his Grandpa Charlie’s Anvil to our Museum- hoping others would enjoy a look into the  past and maybe ask about it’s history.  The next time you visit the Museum at the Old Town Hall take a minute to admire this anvil which represents more than just an ordinary tool from the past.

[Thank you to Marcia Orcutt, daughter of Bob, for helping with this story.]