Local Historian discusses Lockkeeper’s House  

Mary Ann Olding, a local historian, teacher, and writer visited the New Bremen-New Knoxville Rotary Club to tell the story of The Lockkeeper’s House and the lockkeepers who occupied it.  The building was reconstructed in 2010 at Lock One North in downtown New Bremen on the very site occupied by the original Lockkeeper’s House.  The foundation of the original structure was discovered during the reconstruction of Lock One North in 2007.  The building is known locally as the Lockkeeper’s House, but is actually the Miami and Erie Canal Visitor’s Center, and houses the offices of the Southwestern Auglaize County Chamber of Commerce.

We know a lot about Thomas B. Thompson as the primary lockkeeper at Lock One North.   He was born on January 9, 1832 in a small canal-side town in Juniata County, Pennsylvania.  “On June 2, 1868, he married his boss’s sister, Mary E. List,” said Olding.  “The next year on April 27, 1869, they boarded a packet and came to New Bremen, a village of immigrants of German descent.  For almost 40 years, Thompson played an important role in the village’s progress; however, he did not become New Bremen’s lockkeeper upon arrival.”  While the Thompson owned the home, he operated a livery barn and operated the “Thompson house” as a boarding and lodging house, all while tending the lock.  According to his obituary, Thompson was the lockkeeper at Lock One North from 1874 until his death in 1907.  Olding explained that she retrieved these records in the US Census from that time period.  “Thompson shows up in the 1870 census as a resident of New Bremen with his wife,” said Olding.  “They had a total of 7 children, one of whom drowned in the canal.   Thompson is shown in the 1880 census as a saloon operator, even though his obituary reports that he was the lockkeeper at that time.”

Olding went on to describe (with a slide presentation of old photos and sketches from an 1880 atlas of Auglaize County) some of the buildings and businesses in New Bremen from the canal period.  Many of the historic buildings in New Bremen have been fully restored and still stand today.  The Village of Bremen was platted in 1832.  In 1835, the name of the village was changed to New Bremen due to the existence of other villages named Bremen in Ohio.  Other small towns developed in and around present-day New Bremen including: Ober Bremen (1853), Amsterdam (1838), Vogelsangtown (1856), Lock Two (1859) and Mohrmansville.   Olding described her process of researching the history of the lockkeepers in New Bremen, and the 500+ documents she copied and reviewed.  “I don’t have a source that tells me who the other lockkeepers were,” said Olding.  “It’s a long shot, an educated guess, trial and error.”  Olding explained that she has to use deduction, maps and records to see who might fit the role of lockkeeper.  Through this research and oral tradition (stories), Olding identified several characters that may have performed the work of tending Lock One North between 1865 and 1874.  The property passed to a son (Walter G. Thompson) at Thomas Thompson’s death just before Christmas, 1907.  Records show that Walter owned the home until at least 1920.  The canal ultimately went out of service because of damage suffered in a severe flood in 1913, six years after Thomas Thompson’s passing.

Hosting Rotarian: Steve Smith