The theme suggested for week 41 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks was “Colorful.” I have already written about a number of colorful ancestors, so I needed to get even more creative than ever with the theme. I remembered a family story about Ohio Caverns in West Liberty, Ohio, and there is a fit. The caverns, which have been a popular tourist destination for nearly a century, were once nicknamed “America’s Most Colorful Caverns.”

Ohio Caverns Postcard  1930s or 1940s – “Tichnor Quality Views,” Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. Made Only by Tichnor Bros., Inc., Boston, Mass., Public domain

Here is the version of the story as told to me by my father. At one time, the caverns were owned by Ormonde J. Merz, who was my father’s uncle by marriage. He was married to my grandmother’s sister, Frieda Schatz. They had just one child together, Ormonde, Jr. My father and Orm, Jr., were first cousins and quite close growing up. According to my dad, Ormonde, Sr., borrowed some of the money to purchase Ohio Caverns from his father, John Biermann, Jr., who was Ormonde’s brother-in-law. This ended up being a very unfortunate circumstance because the purchase was made before the Great Depression. Ormonde Merz was unable to make a financial go of it. He was forced to sell the property at a loss and he never paid my grandfather back. This made for bad blood between John and Ormonde. Hostility toward the elder Ormonde was exacerbated, because the 14-year marriage to Frieda failed. I think that this rift caused my family to over zealously remind me, “Neither a borrower, nor a lender be.”

I wondered how much of this story could be corroborated. I found Ormonde Merz with Frieda and their son in the 1930 U.S. census for Salem Township in Champaign County, Ohio. Ormonde’s occupation is listed as “manager and president” of Ohio Caverns. I decided to dig deeper. I would head to the various newspaper archives to see what more I could find.

According to the following news account, Ohio Caverns was sold to Merz & Back, Cincinnati investment brokers, on December 5, 1928, for $375,000.

Sale of Ohio Caverns Massillon Evening Independent, December 6, 1928

This wasn’t exactly what I expected to find. First, I had no idea that the caverns carried such a heavy price. Also, the transaction sounded much more professional than I had expected. In fact, the next information that I uncovered was a stock offering for the Ohio Caverns published in the Cincinnati Enquirer on January 17, 1929. Seven thousand shares of non-callable stock was being offered to the public for $27.75 per share. According to the newspaper notice the income statement of the former owners had been certified by George W. Byers, Certified Public Accountant, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Ohio Caverns Stock Offering, Cincinnati Enquirer, January 17, 1929

On October 24, 1929, the stock market crashed. In the context of a stock offering, the failure of Ormonde’s business seems like a foregone conclusion. With depressed stock prices and, undoubtedly, diminished revenues, Ormonde Merz was unable to pay the note on the caverns. By February of 1931, the previous owners, who held the note on the property, foreclosed and forced a sheriff’s sale. The property was sold for $175,000. less than half of the original price.  The only bidder was one of the original owners.

Foreclosure Sale of Ohio Caverns; Cincinnati Enquirer, March 1, 1931, page 32

By April of 1932, Frieda had filed for divorce. She cited neglect as her cause. Perhaps this contributed to Ormonde Merz’s disinclination to repay my grandfather, or could it be that John Biermann actually held stock, which at this point would have been nearly worthless.

Frieda Schatz Divorce from Ormonde Merz: The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 15, 1932, Page 16

At any rate, my grandfather had his revenge, but it affected Frieda rather than Ormonde. When my great-grandfather, Henry Schatz, died in 1939, John Biermann was appointed as executor of the will. My dad says that his father took the money that was owed to him by Ormonde from the estate. He said that Frieda was very unhappy about this, but that according to my grandfather, it was only fair that he be paid; the debt was Frieda’s obligation as much as it was Ormonde’s.

Ormonde Merz remarried, but it seems that Ormonde, Jr., was his only child. Ormonde, Sr., died 30 July 1954.  Ormonde Merz had an extensive obituary that makes it sound as though he went on to be a very successful businessman.  I can’t say that I blame my grandfather for wanting the debt repaid.

Ormonde J Merz Obituary; Cincinnati Enquirer, July 31, 1953, Page 28

Tragically, Ormonde, Jr. died in a car crash at the age of 34 in 1956.  I can still remember how devastated my father was when he learned the news.