A former history teacher and president of the Wheeling Area Historical Society for over 25 years, Margaret Brennan is a wealth of information on Wheeling's past. A native of Wheeling, Brennan earned a B.A. in history from Wheeling College and an M.A. in history from WVU. A published author, she has had articles run in Goldenseal and various scholarly publications.The consummate historian can most often be found researching and working to promote and preserve Wheeling's heritage. Brennan was recently featured on C-SPAN's Cities Tour talking about Sen. Joseph McCarthy's 1950 "Enemies from Within" speech given at the McClure Hotel in Wheeling. In 1998, Brennan was named a West Virginia History Hero by the WV Division of Culture and History.
Robert Lee Ritz, Wheeling High School football star.
In the Shreve High football stadium, I think of Polacks nursing long beers in Tiltonsville, And gray faces of Negroes in the blast furnace at Benwood, And the ruptured night watchman of Wheeling Steel, Dreaming of heroes.
All the proud fathers are ashamed to go home. Their women cluck like starved pullets, Dying for love.
Their sons grow suicidally beautiful At the beginning of October, And gallop terribly against each other’s bodies.
–Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio by James Wright
Portrait of Robert lee Ritz.
One of the most tragic stories in Wheeling sports history is the 1916 murder of Robert Lee Ritz of Wheeling.
Roberta Lee Mitchell holds the portrait of her cousin.
In an interview with a relative, 98-year-old Roberta Lee Mitchell of Colerain (who was named for her cousin Robert), a photograph of this outstanding and popular football player was donated to the Ohio County Public Library Archives.
Known as “Lee,” Robert Lee Ritz was the only child of Lee and Anna Ritz. His father died at an early age and his mother, a Stobbs, later married Theo Camp and lived at 1014 Vine Street in East Wheeling.
Lee was captain of the football team at Wheeling High School, and according to the Wheeling Intelligencer, he was one of the best athletes in West Virginia. Selected to the all-state high school football team, he planned to attend Cornell University. Read More
Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill, and a Boy from Benwood
Andrew “Pepper” Kramer, Military Police, U.S. Army, 1943.
In observance of Veterans Day, November 11, 2015, we remember the amazing World War II experiences of a local man, Andrew “Pepper” Kramer, the brother of Dr. Mike Medovic’s mother. The family was from Benwood, and Andrew’s two brothers also served in Second World War, one at Omaha Beach and another with the Air Force in the South Pacific.
Sometimes we are in the right place in the right time, often through no action of our own, and we find ourselves in the middle of something much bigger than we could ever imagine. That was probably the case for Andrew, who took some very special pictures of three of the giants of modern history. Read More
Courtesy of the Archives of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, artifacts from the fascinating Dr. John Frissell Collection of Civil War era medical implements are now on display for the first time anywhere at the Ohio County Public Library. The collection was acquired from a local antiques dealer, who purchased the estate of a descendant of Dr. John Frissell, circa 2009.
The Frissell House, built in 1835, one of the oldest structures in Wheeling. (Landmarks of Old Wheeling by Milton)
For nearly a century, members of the Frissell family occupied a humble brick home on Monroe Street (now 14th), now one of the oldest extant structures in downtown Wheeling. Within the walls—both a residence and office—a small clinic was opened, and as late as the 1970s, medical instruments and supplies could still be found in the basement. [1] Instruments, such as those found in the 70s, are now part of the Diocese’s Frissell Collection. Read More
Sometimes things in life are just a matter of serendipity. That happened recently when a friend called who was going to tour the Stifel-Kossuth property at 807 Main Street. He asked if I would like to come along.
