In the spring of 1929,
Willard Bishop faced a dilemma. With an auto garage business and growing family
in Garrettsville, Ohio, he liked to get away to go fishing whenever he could. A
few years earlier, he’d bought a vacant lot on the hillside shore of Lake
Milton, about 20 miles away. But where could he and his fishing buddies sleep
when they wanted to spend the night there?
Lacking the resources to
build a house, Willard fell back on what he knew best: automobiles. Born
February 21, 1892, he had started tinkering with cars as a teenager, and landed
a job as a mechanic by 1917.[1]
Why not build a little cabin on wheels?
Willard enlisted the help of
a friend, blacksmith Welty Rood. The lack of a blueprint didn’t discourage
them. They cleared out a bay in Willard’s repair shop and got to work.
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| Willard Bishop's Chrysler-Plymouth garage and dealership, Garrettsville, Ohio |
Starting with an old
four-cylinder Model T Ford, they removed everything except the engine,
windshield, and front seat. They constructed a box to fit over the bare chassis.
Inside they built two sets of bunks, and installed an icebox and sink. A small
table and chairs completed the setup. Willard wired it with electric lights and
cut out windows. It was tight, but four people could sleep safe from the
elements, wash up, and keep some food brought from home.
There was just one problem. The
contraption was too high to get out of the garage.
Their only recourse was to cut
several inches off the top of the camper. Willard’s head nearly touched the
ceiling of the new top. Even then, it wouldn’t clear the garage door. So they
let the air out of all the tires, and with the help of a few other fellows,
crept the motor home gingerly out of the garage.
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| Willard Bishop, left, and Welty Rood with their homemade Model T camper |
With the tires re-inflated, Willard
and Welty drove the homemade camper slowly over the winding road out of
Garrettsville. They passed through the town of Newton Falls, continuing down
narrow County Line Road to Lake Milton. There was no hurry; it would be her
only voyage.
Positioned proudly on the
lot, the camper reigned over the lake below. With the addition of an outhouse
and fire ring, Willard and his buddies could fish, eat, and sleep in comfort
all summer. After a long winter, it sat there waiting to welcome them back.
Soon Willard’s kids were
clamoring to go to Lake Milton, too. He started taking his three boys fishing
and boating with him. The shack, as they called it, was too crude to suit his
wife, Annah, and their daughter. Willard eventually bought a factory-made motor
home for the ladies and himself, leaving the shack to the boys. The new one
even came with a kitchen.
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| Willard and his daughter with the store-bought camper, about 1937 |
 |
| Willard's son, Bob, showing off his catch |
In 1940, Willard sold his
property and purchased two nearby lots, one of which held a small 1928 cottage.
While the cottage still required use of an outhouse, it felt luxuriously
spacious compared to the campers. Now the family could enjoy quiet mornings
overlooking glass-still water, hot afternoons of swimming, and lingering
twilights all summer. Willard usually stayed in Garrettsville to work during
the week, joining them on weekends.
The old Model T shack made
the move, too. Its hand-cranked engine sprang to life even after years of
disuse. Willard kept it for storage for a few years, finally taking it away during
World War II. Although it would be forgotten until the discovery of a photo
decades later, its legacy was firmly established. Willard’s son and his wife, their
children and grandchildren still gather at the lake for a family reunion every
summer. And while a bathroom was installed in 1983, the place is no bigger than
before. Leading to another dilemma: where does everyone sleep?
Ah, what Willard would have
given for one of these modern beauties, with their slide-out sitting rooms, full
kitchens and baths, and queen-size beds.
Then again, maybe not.
--Shelley
© Shelley Ballenger Bishop
2014
The blog series “52
Ancestors in 52 Weeks” is coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow, CG, author of No Story Too Small.
[1] “U.S. World
War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” database and digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com: accessed 1 July 2014),
card for Willard Hiram Bishop (Portage County, Ohio); imaged from Family
History Library microfilm 1,851,082, citing NARA microfilm publication M1509.
