Local History Presentations of
Lorain and Lorain County by
Matthew Weisman
1. 200 Years of Ship Building, Industry and Commerce on the Black River, Lorain,
Ohio. Approximately 1 hour.
2. Schooners, Steamers and Scows built at Black River. Approximately ½ hour.
3. American Ship Building Company at Lorain. Approximately ½ hour.
4. The Six Lost Lorain Ships in the “Great Storm of 1913”. Approximately 45
minutes.
5. General Quincy Adams Gillmore, “Lorain’s forgotten Civil War General”.
Approximately 1 hour.
6. The War of 1812 in the Old Northwest and Ohio. Approximately 45 minutes.
7. Lorain - The Real Photo Postcards of Willis Leiter, 1903 to 1917. 1 hour.
Presented by Al Doane and Matthew Weisman.
8. Cascade Park, Elyria’s Most Unique Park. Its History and Early Post Cards.
Approximately 1 hour. Allow 4 weeks lead time.
9. World War I Lakers Built at American Ship Building, Lorain. ½ hour.
10. Augustus Jones and His Five Ship-building Sons on the Great Lakes. 1 hour.
Allow 4 weeks lead time.
11. The Story of “Our Son”, the Great Lakes Most Beloved Schooner,
built at Lorain. Approximately 45 minutes. Allow 4 weeks lead time.
“Don’t Give Up the Ship”
Matthew Weisman has been doing research and collecting Lorain County History for more
than 30 years. Over the years, he has created many local presentations around the early
history of this area. He has specialized in early ship building on the Black River and other
topics of local interest. The programs listed above are ones that he presents to local and
interested groups. Matthew is a long time member of the Lorain Historical Society,
Association of Great Lakes Historians and many other local and national organizations. He
is a co-author of Lorain - The Real Photo Post Cards of Willis Leiter. Matthew and his wife,
Barbara, have done extensive genealogical research on their families and belong to many
genealogical societies. Having retired in the past year, he has more time to devote to his
historical interests. He is currently working on a definitive book on the ship building of the
Augustus Jones Family, along with Jim Jones, Paula Shorf and Renee Dore, with the
assistance of Lorain historian, Al Doane.
Matthew is available for any of the above programs for your group. He is also open to any
special presentation you may have an interest in, given enough time to research and develop.
Matthew can be reached at the following:
Matthew Weisman
176 Buckingham Drive
Elyria, OH 44035
Phone: 440-365-4523
mweisman@windstream.net