Port Clinton, Prohibition & the Haunted Island House Hotel

Most of us think of Port Clinton as a summer tourist destination.  Indeed, it is.  And yet, it's so much more.

Few know of the haunted structure that sits on the corner of Madison and Perry Streets.  The Island House Hotel is a rumored home for lost spirits, including a famous mobster, sheriff and orphaned immigrant turned proprietor.  They make their presence known to staff and guests alike.  

Come hear the tale of a ghost hunter and founding member of Haunted Toledo.  Christopher Tillman shares the story of an investigation of the historic structure.  The hotel’s staff was eager to welcome his team and share their stories.

Beneath the claims of ghost sightings lies Prohibition Era history that deserves a good telling.  So sit back, raise a whiskey sour and soak in the knowledge of how it all came to be.

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And as always, keep wondering…

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to Ohio folklore. I'm your host, Melissa Davies. I have a special announcement for you Ohio folklore fans. Ohio folklore is about to have its first contest. You may know that I've often requested that you write a review on Apple podcasts, because it helps people find the show. Now, when you do, take a screenshot of your review, and email it to me at Melissa at Ohio folklore.com. Doing so we'll enter your name into a raffle. The winner will be drawn soon. The prize is the honor of picking the topic of a future Ohio folklore episode. How cool is that? Got a legend you've always wondered about? Want to know the truth behind it. Then get to writing that review. Now, let's get on with today's episode. Today, we're exploring one popular Ohio tourist destination. Its long history includes a rags to riches immigrant turned entrepreneur. It includes an international bootlegging scheme during the heady times of prohibition. And lastly, it includes one historic structure that stands yet today. A home for lonely spirits, known all too well by staff, and hotel guests alike. I'm talking about the little known legends of Port Clinton and the island House Hotel. Most of us have some familiarity with the lakeside community of Port Clinton. Although its residents number only about 6000. It claims fame as the walleye capital of the world. That's due to its strategic location at the mouth of the portage river where the fish are plentiful every year. About 45 miles east of Toledo these fertile fishing grounds drew early settlers. Today however, most of us visit port Clinton for its easy access to the lake shore. hotels and restaurants abound. Eager to serve vacationers filling the beaches and marinas. The city is a great spot to disembark on a ferry to the islands. Ohioans and non Ohioans alike come far and wide to soak in areas of summer sun and waves. Few of Port Clinton's tourists clad in flip flops and bathing suits have any idea of the history of the ground they're treading the soil beneath their feet holds memories of a past not so far removed, some of it only 100 years ago, the 1920s a period now mostly recall with fondness, a time of roaring wealth, prosperity and frivolous parties. The Great War was over, jobs were plentiful, and women's hemlines were riding up along with stock market futures. All this unbridled decadence was sure to run into a hard limit at some point, right. Enter the 18th Amendment, passed by Congress in 1919. It took effect on January 17 1920, launching a nearly 14 year ban on the production importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages. Overnight, businesses once involved in any part of the liquor supply chain were outlawed. What this legislation couldn't prohibit, however, was the public's thirst for booze. Demand only rose once this product became scarce. Many of us Ohioans, like the rest of the US grew defiant and resolute. We would have our liquor just as our forefathers did, and their forefathers before them. Whether by stealth ingenuity, or criminal subterfuge, the taps would keep flowing. Meet John zeltser, a port Clinton man notorious in his own time, happy to capitalize on this business opportunity. So that sir was officially known as one of the founders of the port Clinton Marine Company. He and his brother George Joseph setser were also known for their role in developing the killer airfield. They aided in the construction of the portage River Bridge. From one perspective, they were a pair of sharp minded entrepreneurs with a bent on all things related to transportation and infrastructure. Countless port Clinton businesses benefited from their projects during the decades that followed prohibition. However, few recall that John seltzers wealth was first seeded in his role as bootlegger secreting rum from the southern shores of Ontario, home to port Clinton. One testament to this oft forgotten history is the bootleggers waterfront Bar and Grill, which stands today at the mouth of the portage river. You can stop by this establishment. Ask for a seat on their patio and sip an old fashion as you gaze down the river where she spills or contents into areas waves. Perhaps after a drink, or two, or six. If you squint at the water surface, you might just bought something headed further inland. The hazy shadow of a man and suspenders chopping a cigar at the wheel of his 27 foot 200 horsepower 1929 Dart speedboat. John Setzer secured a contract with an unnamed Canadian party to conduct frequent nightly quote mail runs, as he likes to call them across Lake Erie. He was behind the wheel spiriting booze across the lake through the shadow of night. And just like the Postal Service, he promised his customers he'd run through rain, sleet and snow. No obstacle would prevent the flow of illicit rom into port Clinton, with as many as three to four runs per week. That sir could easily predict the movements of Coast Guard patrols as they surveilled the waterways along Erie shores. The parcels he was to deliver were hidden in plain sight, resting on the passenger seats, precious bottles of rum replaced inside cardboard cylinders, and then bundled into burlap sacks. His open air speedboat offered plain view of the cargo, giving onlookers no suspicion of the contraband within sets or would later boast in a 1979 Fremont news messenger article that his Rum Runner as he dubbed it, could reach 40 knots and make the trip from Ontario to port Clinton in 17 minutes flat. He claimed he could outrun any vessel that may give him chase, although he demurred on answering whether any such scenario ever took place. I was just fortunate enough not to get caught is all he would say. However, he would acknowledge having dodged several bullets on making final deliveries to recipients. Of course, I was young and full of vinegar back then, I enjoyed every minute of it, he explained. At the time of prohibition, John setser somehow managed to keep his operation under the radar of the law. However, he built a growing reputation with distributors of all sorts. He kept a steady supply of Canadian rum surging down the portage River on moonlit nights. For the right price, an owner could keep the speakeasy stocked and his customers coming back night after night. So that's a read later expand his rum running routes to the air. After attaining a pilot's license, he began flying shipments over Eries water to spots along Ohio shore. His air smuggling operation would be detected by authorities on at least one occasion, leading to a conviction and a brief jail term. It wasn't enough to dissuade him from the lifestyle. It seems his bootlegging went on right up until the 21st Amendment finally repealed Prohibition in late 1933. That's when the black market for booze dried up overnight. You might expect that our enterprising bootlegger would have fallen on hard times. When his new competitor, the US government effectively bulldoze to the market. By then, this young man had become tied to organized crime ties forged in his lucrative bootlegging runs across like airy. His skills at transporting forbidden cargo were highly desired by criminal forces still operating well into the 1930s. When John seltzer first went missing in March 1936, the Ottawa County Sheriff made public pleas for assistance in locating him. Early reports indicated that he may have been kidnapped. So that's where his relatives had witnessed three men show up in his marine garage and port Clinton and identify themselves as agents of the US Department of Justice. They arrested him stating he needed to go with them to their Fremont off As to confirm identification. They whisked him away in their vehicle. The Hours stretched into days, and his family had heard no word from him. Worried that he hadn't been arrested but abducted by the mob. They turn to the sheriff for help. His first step was to contact the local US Attorney's office. He was told no agents had been sent to that service home. He was not wanted by the federal officials. He was not in their custody. What follows reads like the plot of a glorious black and white Hollywood mob, like miraculously, nearly two weeks later, sets or would reappear at his own home. He'd swear in his life, that he had indeed been taken by federal agents. He said he had been detained and questioned by them, that that he couldn't say exactly where they taken him. He didn't know the names of the gym men who detained him either. He refused to say anything as to what they asked him the subject matter itself. He'd been forbidden to speak of any specifics and investigation of monumental proportions was ongoing. further trouble was sure to come. It would arrive in the form of a secret federal indictment come the following February. In return for his testimony against members of the infamous carpus gang, John setser would receive a reduced sentence for his role and piloting a getaway plane for the gangsters train robbery. The carpus gang was one of the longest lived crime syndicates of the Depression era. By November 1935, its leader Alvin carpus was on the run. agents had been closing in on him compiling evidence of his mounting robberies and kidnappings. He'd been on the move for more than a year when the gang concocted a scheme to Robin Erie railroad mail train in garrets, Ville, Ohio. They had all the pieces in place, including the machine gun, sawed off shotguns, and automatic pistols that would be used to hold up the train when it made its scheduled stop in the tiny town. But there was one piece of the puzzle yet to be nailed down. They needed a quick escape once the date was done. They heard tell of a former bootlegger with a knack for flying undetected. Although he would later plead guilty to the crime sets are what adamantly claimed that he did not know the identities of the three well dressed and quiet mannered men who boarded his plane inside his garage in Port Clinton. Their only luggage was two suitcases held firmly in their grip. So that's our had been promised$500 10,000 And today's money to fly the group. He was to ask no questions and take them wherever they wanted to go. There was to be no record of the flight. No trace set it ever happened. Sets are agreed to the job without hesitation. So that's her was first told to land in a farmer's field near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. There they would meet with gang members ready to refuel the craft. The next stop was a remote spot outside Memphis, where gang members arranged for overnight accommodations before the group headed on to hot springs Arkansas unreached that destination Alvin carpus himself and one of the others deplaned. Sets are then took the remaining gangster on to Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was then paid the promise$500 and told never to speak of the whole ordeal to anyone. Despite all the efforts at eluding authorities, the agents remained hot on the trail of the carpus gang. They'd receive tips from inside informants in units eventually closed in on them. Most of the gang and their Confederates had been arrested, interrogated and pressured to give up what they knew. John zeltser and his role piloting the getaway plane had become a bargaining chip, as the investigation gathered steam. The gang had made off with$46,000 in cash nearly 900,000 today. The investigation which was highly sensitive due to its scope and wide ranging implications, did indeed remain secret, even from the likes of local law enforcement. Federal agents knowingly denied the investigation, even when the Ottawa County Sheriff asked whether a then missing John Setzer had been in their custody. Although sets or had first pled innocent to the charges, a turn about was coming. He offered testimony to reduce a possible 10 year federal prison sentence. It would later be cut in half. He'd turned state's evidence when he testified to physical descriptions that matched carpus and his gang members, tying them to the scene of their escape and to their eventual arrival at their known hideouts. That's testimony would lead to many arrests and plea deals from gang members. That sir himself with serve his five year sons at the federal prison in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Some believes that source claims that he had no idea as to the actual identities and deeds of his passengers. The story fell apart. However, when agents secured a search warrant for his home and discovered an empty US Mail pouch that was later determined to have been stolen from the ROB train. He had been given a memento of the heist, and remarkably, hadn't thought to rid himself of the evidence. John's dotser would remain an active member of the port Clinton community Following his release from prison. He and his brother Joseph would continue operating the port Clinton Marina just down the street from where the jewel of the city is that the island House Hotel. This historic structure, first built in 1870, and then rebuilt after a fire and 1882 was rumored to have served many famous clientele throughout the decades, including gangster royalty. Al Capone himself is said to have stayed there on multiple occasions. With the region's known reputation for bootlegging and other unsavory activities, this kind of local storytelling has taken on legendary proportions. In the course of my research, I've been so lucky to connect with a local ghost hunter and founding member of the paranormal group on it to Leto. His name is Christopher Tillman. The group's Facebook posts about John Setzer and his mob connections is what got me to dig into the story in the first place. You can easily find haunted Toledo on Facebook, and learn how this group of enthusiasts explores the intersection of history and legend. How fortunate that Christopher had agreed to an interview on the subject. He shares not only what he knows of Port Clinton's History During Prohibition, but of the remarkable experience he had investigating the island House Hotel one night. Our talk begins as we discuss the off told claim that Al Capone himself once from the historic hotels, hallways come here his story. There's no written proof that he ever visited. There's no written proof about anything dealing with the island house, that particular building. But then again, monsters don't really leave journals. So but yeah, that's it's very likely that because of the possessor brothers and what they were doing, running all that loose from Canada, it's very likely that compound didn't make at least a handful of visits. It's hard to it's hard to say. And then when you think about legends and stuff, you know, hotels and restaurants were a common meeting place to discuss business and employees and say, you know, remember, the mob stayed here, and they keep they keep repeating that over and over. And finally, when somebody says mob, they think Capone, so maybe he was just people sitting, you know, assumption that I mean, you never know, there's nothing written in any of the old Ledger's that they could find. But I doubt you would use his real name anyway. And that's one of the I would guess to be one of the hard things doing research on anyone involved in illegal activities, that, you know, they were keen not to leave a paper trail about it. So you're left moreso with like, oral history, which certainly they can be true or they can be elaborated or somewhere in between? Yeah, I wouldn't doubt port Clinton has a huge tie to mob history. What was it about the hotel itself at first through your interest? We were investigating the Wingate hotel in Sylvania. 2018. And the same family that owns that hotel owns the island house. While we were at Wingate, they had mentioned You know, there's possibility of something going on it at the island house. And we seem to interested. And it was just a matter of lining up schedules to go out and see the place. And one of the things I started doing, in terms of research for the building, was always looking for Google satellites, think they get a feel for the neighborhood, and that satellite images really does nothing. Does it doesn't do the building any justice. Because when we pulled up, it was just this immense. I mean, it's like a monolith on the street. It's just the center of town, basically. It's just, he just standing in front of the building, knowing the history, and it's like, and it's hard to explain. It's just, it's just a wow, feeling like I can't believe that the buildings still standing, and that it's still in the condition of them. It looks like it was built maybe 20 years ago. It's just a fabulous building. That's pretty incredible, given his age, and also that maybe, I guess, for myself anyway, that I haven't heard of it before. And I've been to port Clinton, I've been on the jet Express for that matter. Right there. It's right there. Right? What a little gem here or a big dam, I guess, and seeing the kind of history that it has. And so so when you arrive there, you were impressed in terms of what you thought it was going to be looking at the satellite pictures, and then what the feeling was when you're actually there in front of it. Yeah, I mean, it's totally, you know, he's taking a hotel from the 1800s, late 1800s, it's going to be small. And it's going to look at age. And to get into building this just, you know, I remember walking across the street to like this small little town square type of thing. And they got a statue of a kid going fishing. And I turned around and get a nice good photo of the building. It's like, wow, this building is huge. And it's beautiful. I just like you, you pass your pork when you when you notice it. Do you remember what were some of the initial things that the owners told you? That was happening before you got there? The marketing director basically said, you know, there's, there's some stories and some claims, didn't really go into specifics, but they put me in touch with former employee. And this was a housekeeper and she sent me a photo, a couple photos, actually, of what she thought might be an actual ghost in the hallway. And it's one of those photos where you kind of got to squint to see something, you know, yeah, there's something there. But you don't know if it's a reflection, you don't know if you don't really know entirely what's going on. But she seemed really convinced of her experiences and the feelings that she was getting inside that building. She called it like a fog. She saw this fog following down behind her in the hallway. And from there, we talked to a few more former employees, and some people that that actually believe they have family members that are haunting the building that have died in the building. And one was a someone's great grandfather that passed away in the building from a heart attack while having dinner in 1936. Eight leaders, you might still be in the building. We talked to some some former past and present maintenance workers about the tunnels underneath the building and what they thought they might be apart from maintenance tunnels. A lot of third shift. Workers housekeepers, other housekeepers that claim they've seen seen apparitions, a female form, and like the dining area, walking through the halls, it's a lot of stories and the stories have been going on for for quite a long time. But for whatever reason, they've never really made it out to the public. It's just something that the employees and and people that live right there in town I've heard. Yeah, so it's more of an accepted truth, maybe among their small organization, and it just wasn't better known. Right? That's fine. What a neat thing for you to be part of the process of, you know, sharing that more widely. I was, it's a really, you know, when you were able to sit down with employees and managers and people that work in the building, and they just, they're so open and honest with with what they're experiencing, there is just, it's like night and day compared to like, 10 years ago. Nobody wants to talk about this stuff. Especially there's a few tails inside the building. Where I kept asking them, are you sure you want me to talk about this? And they're like, Yeah, I mean, go ahead. It's there. It's happened. One of us a woman who who committed suicide in one of those and you know, 10 years ago, there's no business that would ever have admitted to even have to stop because they were they would be afraid people would want to come stay there and would want to come visit the business. And so much has changed. And that's what's refreshing about it is that you can tell these stories and and explore the history. People still want to come and visit. Yeah. That was also one of my questions is I think sometimes these sites become that sort of a ghost tourism within themselves. Does that apply to this site? That that's sort of a feature that they promote? Or is it just something they're embracing as part of who they are? I think there's just embracing the fact that they have these stories. They're building as part of this vocal as part of this, this history. But they don't they don't offer anything in terms of like a ghost hunting package right there. A couple posts, I would mention, like, if you want to go stay the night here and you want to, you want to potentially experience something weird here the rooms that you want to go to? So they'll accommodate people, but it's not like they're really pushing it. In marketing. Yeah. That that is refreshing that they're just being open minded about it, and that they welcomed you in to do the the investigation itself. What was that like for you? Well, usually when we get to a location, the some of the team members or go inside and introduce themselves to the staff, and I'll, I'll stick around outside and start taking B roll and photographs older, still some good lights. So when I got inside, I'm just blown away by You almost look like you're walking back in time. One of the cool things about Island house is that even though it's as modern as all the the amenities that people expect, for a hotel, they still kept that that old world style charm with the architecture and how the places laid out. So is it really to walk into this place and, and almost feel like you're actually walking into it, you know, back in a really good atmosphere. The staff is awesome, they were very open, they were very welcoming. And they couldn't wait to tell their stories. We set up, there's a pillow, right? There's like a banquet room area that they were still in the process of doing some work. And so we set up our station in there, they gave us a master key, and a list of all the rooms that were unoccupied, which is we're pretty much the entire building. So we almost had free ran the building. And because only a handful of rooms were known to have activities, we kinda focused on those rooms. 3306 would be they call it the Capone room, that would be the third floor corner. It said that Capone or some mobster would come to town that that's the room they would always want to get because when you're at that corner window, you can see the intersection. And you can see out towards like the portage river where it empties into like your. So you got a really good view of anybody coming and going down the road. Or boats coming in, off the lake. So if something were to go down, you would see it coming from like a mile away. That's where the mob guys was like to say 3317 Was the suicide room. And that's where a woman flesh your wrists in the bathroom. And one of the claims is that apart from you know, the the normal haunting phenomena feeling or presence and seeing something out the corner of your eye and feeling like you're not fully alone in that room, is that hotel staff, once in a while would find razorblades just kind of like lying around. They'd find what they'd cleaned the bathroom and they'd come back a little bit later. And they'd find a razor blade on the sink counter there. Or they find one behind the TV and they have no idea where these plays are coming from. They didn't give me an A because I knew I probably dig in to find out. Yeah, more than what they want him to do. Maybe I don't know, but it seems to be a suicide within the last 20 years from the way they were talking. That room had a very weird feeling to it. Not like a bad feeling but kind of like you weren't alone. inside that room. Like it just had a sad feeling to it. Okay. 3306 was a weird room only because it's like a corner room. So it's got that weird architecture to it, you know? And then there's a story of Lily, and Lily. I don't know if that's her name or not. There's something the staff just kind of gave her that name on their own. But they believe that Lily is the spirit of a woman who died in the fire. The building was built in 1870, I believe. Yeah, burned down. And then a few doors down, they rebuilt the building. And they believe that Lily might have been somebody who was killed in the fire. We happen to get Lily's voice. And EVP in room 3306. It's a very faint EVP. But you can clearly hear a woman say, Lily, there's a story of there's a back staircase, it's like, I would think it's more of like an employee staircase, because that leads off the kitchen. And there was a story about a guy that fell down that stairs and died from the fall, and that they believe he's haunting the building. And then on the second floor, the the sheriff Sheriff Conrad Bernhardt, I believe is how you pronounce his name is to share responsible for rebuilding the island house. And they believe that his spirits on the second floor and they say that whenever you he was known to smoke grape leaf cigars, and that whenever you smell that particular type of tobacco, they believe that's him. That's a sign that he's he's walking around the building. And there have been former maintenance men who believe that he keeps a close eye on the building and what's being done. And he was a very exacting person in life, and he was very detail oriented in the island house. It's like his pride and joy. If things aren't being done just right, it said that he'll make it he'll let you know if there's something going on and done a lot. Okay. I think I've read that he was one of the proprietors at one time. Yeah, he he started the island house and he started to He 1882 it burned down. And then he raised the funds to have it rebuilt. He wanted to he wanted the best hotel and restaurant on the lake. And he didn't put up with any shenanigans. And there's a bullet hole in the ceiling. And the one of the main bar areas that they kept. They kind of retiled the ceiling, you know, a couple decades ago, but they kept the bullet hole. And that was his way of just calming people down when things got a little bit out of hand. He's walked into environment there. People knew to calm down. It's like the wild west there, huh? Yeah. The bullet probably went up to the floor just kept probably kept going. He didn't care. You just it was just a weird little time in Port Clinton, I guess. So it sounds like it's a kind of a combination of a number of different experiences that they attribute to maybe a couple of different ghosts? Is that how you gathered it to write because I know a lot of these ghost stories, especially when they're in a building as big as this and they're experienced by a number of different people. I mean, something has something weird happens, right? And I could perceive it as being playful, and you can perceive it as being a little bit intimidating. Yeah. So two people, they create these two different personalities based on one little event. And I think that's how a lot of these ghost stories get started, as I think some of these places are only maybe being authored by one or two entities. And they've grown into dozens, because people are attributing a different personality for each individual event. Yeah, according to the, their own lens of how they're interpreting what happened. And that would make sense, which kind of diffuses the stories so you get a whole bunch of different ideas of who this could be or what it could be. But when you total the sum of it, you know, when you have so many people reporting these things that does add some credence, I think to the idea that there's something unusual. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For us, it was kind of quiet. And we went, there's definite feelings of when you're looking for this stuff. Sometimes your mind will play tricks on you. And you'll you'll misinterpret some things, but there was some definite feelings that we were being watched. Or we were accepting of curious, definite feeling of curiosity as we were walking through the halls and going from room to room. That's not really evidence. It wasn't until we caught the EVP and 3306 That tells me there's definitely something going on. You know, I can't remember the exact question. I was like, you know, can you tell us your name, something along that lines and And everybody was quiet. And I went to the next question. And when you played it back, you heard a woman say, Billy, that's the name that that we've been told. That same as she was given. So maybe somebody heard that name being spoken aloud or something? I don't I don't know. But maybe she is using that name, because she knows that's how she's been identified as it tells me something's going on there. That's the name Lily that the the staff there had already been familiar with. Yeah. They attribute lilius to be in the fire victims. Okay. Did they say someone, some one of them heard the name? Or did they say how the name got in. Now the people that were there. This is something they've heard passed down from other employees. And it's just even the fire victims story. That's just what they've heard. And a lot of people have, they've seen something that they attribute to being some kind of apparition. They've heard voices they've had there's a ton of accounts of electrical equipment turning on and off by itself, like televisions and radios. There's a feeling of being watched. And like the there's a small like a dining area off the lobby. And there's, there's a feeling of something back there that will watch and make sure things are being they get the feeling that it's like a manager watching to make sure they're doing things right. And then you tribute that to the the sheriff. maintenance guys especially claim that, you know, care of Conrad is really keeping a close eye on what they're doing. If there's like repainting, or any type of small remodel work, they claim there's always a feeling that something doesn't like what they're doing. Anytime there's a change made. Yeah, I mean, it's got it's it's all general, you know, the general honking pipe phenomena. Yeah. And really outrageous is like nothing's flying around the room or anything like that. And but they attributed to Sheriff Conrad. And we did smell cigar smoke outside the room that he was known to stain. So we smelled something. But then, you know, with plaster, and carpet and wood posts tend to hold smells. And under the right conditions, you can still smell like cigarette smoke, you walk into smokers house. Maybe they haven't smoked in 10 years, but in the right conditions, you can kind of get a whiff of that stale tobacco smell, right. So we're kind of thinking, well, maybe that's what it is, you know, maybe just went back going back to when they stall out smoking indoors, maybe it's just, that's what we're smelling. But it had that grape, and a great bliss, tobacco type of smell to it. Right. So specific and corsia would make you wonder, you know, there's something to this story. A lot of places we've been only a handful, has had just employees lining up to tell their story. A lot of times, we have to go out and find former employees or former patrons that are willing to talk. This was really neat. A I want to say that like none of the stuff that they're experiencing is like scary or so unnerving that they have to leave the building. This is this was odd thing that's like the, I would imagine a lot of could be misrepresented. And they attributed to a spirit or something or a haunting. But a lot of the stuff they explained to us just like how could it be anything other. The endless claims of paranormal activity at the island House Hotel suggest that it is perhaps a holding place for lost souls. As Christopher noted, Sheriff Conrad Bernhard, former proprietor and chief law enforcement officer for Ottawa County, is believed to be one of many resident ghosts at this storied Hotel. Just a little digging into the historical record reveals his unique story, shedding even more light on what makes this location so fabled born in Germany on November 16 1851, Conrad Bernhard and his family would emigrate to the US when he was only five years old. His mother had given birth to Conrad's newest brother on the voyage over on their arrival at Staten Island. Their vessel was quarantined in New York Harbor, yellow fever or had spread wide amongst the passengers. His mother, newborn brother, and Conrad's older half sister would all perish from the disease before stepping foot on US soil. Conrad and his surviving brother George would later be placed in a New York Hospital. Conrad would ultimately recover, but his brother would die of apparent neglect, as hospital staff were stretched too thin to meet all the sick and immigrants needs. Once his father finally secured employment in New Jersey, and later in the tiny town of Birmingham, Ohio, he was able to send for Conrad his only surviving son. That's how Conrad would come to live near Lake Aires southern shore. Yet for reasons unknown at the age of nine in 1860, his father relinquished parental rights, allowing for Conrad to be adopted by a Mr. Matthias Bernhard a farmer owning land and Ellison and Ottawa County. Come two years later, in 1862, Conrad's new adoptive father would enlist in the Ohio Volunteer Infantry Company, he 72nd regiment. At the tender age of only 11 years, Conrad was once again abandoned and left largely to his own devices. Instead of turning to a life of delinquency, or poverty, Conrad would stay at his adoptive father's farm. He'd learned to fell trees on the property, and then split them into lumber suitable for railroad ties, a business in great demand at that time. The work was long and hard, allowing for school attendance only a few weeks during the winter season. At the age of 18, the self made enterprising immigrant had saved enough cash to buy a saloon and Ellison in 1882. Such a step at this young age propelled him into the public eye and provided a platform for his run for sheriff of Ottawa County. He would hold the office for four years, the last six months of which would be spent rebuilding the island House Hotel, his next business venture. The original structure had been damaged in a fire the same year he'd bought the saloon. Conrad saw promise in the hotel's location near the lake and Portage River. He knew it would become a sought after spot by celebrities and ordinary citizens alike and did it ever. The island House Hotel opened under his ownership in 1886. Its legendary role in Port Clinton's history remains yet today. Most of it is thanks to the enduring legacy of this resourceful and self made immigrant going hard built the hotel into luxury accommodations suited for a list celebrities like presidents Hayes, Garfield and Taft, General Douglas MacArthur, the Ringling Brothers, Joe DiMaggio, Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, and Babe Ruth, just to name a few. He also was central to developing port Clinton's reputation as a tourist destination. Acclaim it still holds today. In 1895, he and a handful of other community leaders began the port Clinton Steamboat Company, ferrying passengers to and from the Lake Erie islands. It's a ritual most of us have repeated when we step aboard the jet express on our next voyage to put in Bay or Kelly's Island. Conrad Bernhard would die of natural causes in 1909 at the age of 57. You can find his family's plot in Lakeview cemetery in Port Clinton. He and his German born wife Augusta raised five children. For a time his son Frank Bernhard would run the hotel. One interesting story that comes out of his management style reveals the flair he had four marketing ploys on a snowy January 15 1912. He and two other men were the first ever to drive an automobile across areas, frozen surface, all the way to put in Bay.

The three had left at 2: 44:46

45pm and a runabout, which is an open air vehicle known for its lightweight basic style with no windshield top or doors and a single row of seats at multiple spots along the way where the ice was cracked, they had to lay down planks they brought with them just for that purpose. The boards would distribute the vehicles weight across to more sturdy ice. More than a few times they had to plow through snowbanks that piled more than three feet high. Once they'd only had two more miles to reach middle bass islands Eastern Shore, they'd almost lost the car for good in a snowbank. They had to work hard to free the vehicle, and the delay in time was considerable. Those on the shore who are awaiting their arrival, contacted the local fire brigade. It had begun snowing and the clouds look like a storm was forming over the lake. Just as a search party was about to make a harrowing and dangerous rescue attempt. The little car was spotted headed toward the shore. They could have lost their lives and the lives of their rescuers. But instead, they received publicity for the stunt in newspapers around the country. So what do you think? Was their delay due to getting stuck in a snowbank? Perhaps there's something to be said about waiting it out, drawing out the tension and writing to your destination in the glory of applause of relieved onlookers. Not only that, but it reads is a better story right. newspaper readers around the country undoubtedly agreed. It said that you can still find Frank Kern hard signature etched into the glass window that now sits between the hotels bar and dining room. He used a diamond ring to scratch his name so that we can all remember him and his connection to this story location. Frank Kern hard would walk away from managing the island House Hotel in 1916 and then later sell it in 1922. It would pass ownership several times of course, in the more than 100 years that have passed since. As mentioned earlier, it's believed to have played a role in the town's bootlegging history. The rumor that's most often told, however, is the claim that Al Capone liked to stay in room 3306. Its unique corner window offered unobstructed views of the lake, the mouth of the portage River in the intersection of Madison and Perry streets. All comings and goings of the rum running operations were plainly visible. Today, many people who frequent port Clinton are looking for a holiday a break from the doldrums of routine life. And it's fair to say that a majority of adults planning to embark on the jet Express toward put in Bay have plans for a bender. The area's reputation for revelry and drunken debauchery remains intact. few tourists have any clue as to the deep historical roots that reflect these habits. Fewer still are aware of the taxing efforts and determination of one orphaned immigrant young man who was determined to create a tourist destination fit for presidents and movie stars. His influence remains in the fine 19th century woodwork that runs inside the island house hotels walls. It remains in the elegance of its white trimmed brick facade. Yet, most importantly, his influence remains there at the hotel, perhaps because he remains there. If we are to believe the numerous sightings attributed to his exacting spirit, then Conrad groan hard is drawing guests to this hotel yet today. If you'd like to find out for yourself, whether he's still there, you can. The hotel is ready to welcome you. If you have a credit card in hand, stay for the night or two or more. Keep a keen air during your stay and a sharp eye. Who knows? You might just spot the misty shape of a man and a fedora as he floats out of room 3306. Be sure to make your way at some point down to the hotel bar, order their best prohibition era cocktail and raise a glass to the Ohioans who've gone before us. Those who've left their mark on this corner of the state. A mark that reminds us of the importance of self reliance, a daring nature and the joy of taking in life's simplest pleasures. Cheers everyone. This concludes today's episode on port Clinton prohibit And the island House Hotel. I hope you liked it. Don't forget to write a review on Apple podcasts and email me a screenshot of the review at Melissa at Ohio folklore.com. Maybe you'll be the Ohio folk more listener who gets to pick a topic of a future episode. You can find Ohio folklore at Ohio folklore.com And on Facebook. Thanks for listening. And as always, keep wondering