Our Old Bookcase
This past century, many Mercer County families owned Mersman Tables in their homes. The Mersman Company employed 125 people when it was incorporated as the Mersman Brothers Brandts Company in 1906.
Founded in 1876 at Ottoville, Ohio, by sawmill operator J.B. Mersman, the Mersman Brothers Company moved to Celina in 1900 and began manufacturing beds, library tables and dining room tables. The Mersman Brothers was acquired by Congoleum Industries in 1963 and operated as a member of Congoleum’s home furnishings group until 1977, when it was purchased by a group of private investors headed by Willard Somers. In the September of 1981, Waldron Furniture Manufacturing Co., Waldron, Arkansas, was acquired by Somers Corporation as a complementing upholstery line for the Mersman Table production company. By 1984, when Celina was celebrating its 150th anniversary, Mersman/ Waldron manufactured completely correlated living room collections, featuring wood and upholstered products, employing nearly 1,000 people. Don Vander Horst, Sr. was the vice president and general manager.
This history is published in the book, “Celina, Ohio Sesquicentennial, 1834-1984,” and published by the Mercer County Historical Society for their 150th celebration in 1984.
As changes came, to private family businesses, becoming a part of larger corporations, Mersmans was closed. Today, one can drive by the former site of Mersman Brothers, and remember the successful business that the company once was. The above post card photograph preserves that history. Post card photographs are among the best methods of preserving the images of days gone by. Our generation has seen great changes in Mercer County, from the large business and industry being located near railroads for transportation of their product to the market to their loss, followed by the loss of those railroads.
Sunday, Nov. 14, the Open House at the Mercer County Historical Museum, 130 E. Market, Celina, will feature the “Historic Post Card Exhibit” by Dale Poeppelman, and “Unique Signatures of Historic Individuals” by David Gray. Post cards of Grand Lake will also be displayed.
The public is invited to bring their own historic photograph post cards, either to show for the afternoon, and/or to ask questions of Dale Poeppelman and David Gray. The museum guests that Sunday afternoon, will receive a free copy of the book, “Mercer County Centennial Buildings,” from 1888 & 1900 “Mercer County Atlases.”