Local family hopes to piece together clues of historic Hoytville community quilt

Posted By: Julie CarleAugust 7, 2023

By JULIE CARLE

BG Independent News

More than 425 names of Hoytville area residents are forever stitched into a quilt from 1935. While the names are beautifully embroidered into the colorful quilt blocks, the stories behind the quilt and its many names are a puzzle.

Two weeks ago, the 80” x 90” quilt was entrusted to Larry and Esther Heilman of Custar from Carol Ruhf, the great-granddaughter of E. Park and Grace (Herringshaw) Otto, longtime Hoytville residents.

Ruhf resides in Michigan and co-owns the land near Hoytville that the Heilmans have farmed for two or three generations. With no known remaining family connections to Wood County, Ruhf decided the quilt deserved to be preserved where it was created. She contacted the only people she knew from the area to see if they would help find a rightful home for the quilt.

The full story of the quit and its named companions are unknown as the original owners and their descendants have passed, and the history is gone, Esther said.

Not much information has been handed down as the quilt changed hands over the years, other than the embroidered names. What they do know is the 1935 date is included on the quilt. At some point, the quilt was given to the Ottos who ran one of the Hoytville grocery stores until they retired in 1956 after 42 years The quilt was eventually handed down to their daughter Grace Alice Smith and then landed with Ruhf, one of her daughters.

“There are so many questions we are trying to figure out,” said Esther. “We thought maybe the quilt was a gift for the Ottos’ 25th wedding anniversary.” That idea was somewhat dispelled when it was discovered they were married in 1913, not 1910, which would have been a silver anniversary.

In searching for ways to piece together some of the quilt’s history, they remembered the quilt show at the Wood County Fair and thought there might be fairgoers who had some connections to names on the quilt.

They rushed to get the quilt in time for the show. Though their ulterior motive was to get it seen by as many people as possible, they also wanted to share the magnificence of the handiwork and the significance of the history inscribed within the thread and fabrics.

They called Larry’s sister, Carol Heilman Barnes, to come from Enumclaw, Washington, to help with the project. When she arrived, they immediately got to work identifying and recording all the names from the quilt and where they are located on the quilt blocks.

After two long days, they identified 427 names to the best of their abilities. Barnes created a spreadsheet to accompany the quilt at the fair. This made it easier for people looking for familiar names to find them on the sheet rather than scouring the hanging quilt.

There was plenty of interest in the historic quilt displayed at the fair, but very few additional insights, Esther said. They received a couple of comments, but now are hoping to find other locations and ways to reach more people.

There are many family names on the quilt and in the spreadsheet that may still have local connections, including Larry and Carol’s parents, Jake and Dorothy, several other Heilmans and Ginters. But there are also recognizable names across the alphabet from Apple, Brown and Culp to Williams, Yeagle and Zeller.

With the fair over, the Heilmans would still like to gather as much information as possible before turning over the quilt to a location where it can be part of the local fabric.

They want to make sure the quilt and its history are accessible to the families that have connections. Ideally, they would like to keep it locally, whether it could be housed at a location such as the North Baltimore Historical Society, a church close to Hoytville or a local museum or business.

The complete list of names and quilt block information is available in this document.

To contribute any information or to find out any additional details, write to the Heilmans at 6341 Rangeline Road, Custar OH 43511.

“Many hours of intricate and tedious handiwork created the beautiful quilt and as much of its full story needs to be discovered,” Barnes said.

The project certainly provides more for her and Larry to discuss during their weekly phone calls than just the weather, she said with a laugh. They also enjoyed some special times and conversations with people because of the quilt.

“Our goal is to discover the origin and history of the quilt,” she said. “By drawing more attention to it, we just might find some missing pieces to solve the mystery of why it was created.”