EARLY DANBURY-MARBLEHEAD PENINSULA TRANSPORTATION - Lorrie Halblaub

AIRPLANES Part 2

Besides having a small airport in the quarry near Alexander Pike, Marblehead also had a resident who was an inventor and patented a design for early planes.

In 1911, George Ellithorpe (1869-1951) was living in Marblehead at the Eberwine Cottage, a boarding house on Main Street.  He applied for a patent on January 23, 2011, and his patent was granted on March 14, 1916. The purpose of his invention as stated in his patent was, “to provide formations and devices for attaining maximum stability and perfect control with the end in view of increasing the safety and range of use of aeroplanes.” George was raised on Catawba Island. He quit his job at Kelley Island Lime and Transport Co., (the quarry) to work full time on his invention. 

The Ellithorpe Aerial Company was formed.  Company members included Dr. A. B. Jordan, Theodore Pokey, and Charles Hunter. Dr. Jordan was Marblehead’s first doctor. Jordan was brought here by the Kelley Island Lime and Transport Company to staff the hospital they built on Main Street in 1914. Theodore Pokey was a master mechanic for K.I.L.T. and lived on Perry St. in Marblehead.  Charles Hunter was the 14th Keeper of the Marblehead Lighthouse and lived in the keeper’s dwelling next to the lighthouse.  

That spring, they sold stock to raise money for a prototype.  For twenty-five dollars, one could purchase a share and receive a printed certificate of ownership.  In today’s money, that would be the equivalent of over $800 dollars. Leo Mutach, the founder of Mutach’s Market purchased the one I saw.   

With their influx of cash, the company built a building across from the boarding house and finished the first plane, a mammoth tri-motor, that would use the new stabilizer. According to The Sandusky Register, they had spent $10,000 building the 3,000-pound airship.  In November of 1911, the date for a test flight was set, but three nights before that date arrived, a tornado  went through the village and the wind destroyed the building and most of the plane.  Mr. Ellithorpe was in the building at the time and escaped injury, but a few weeks later, he broke his leg in five places and his aeronautical career, along with the hopes and dreams of his company were over.

However, George did not give up inventing.  In 1916, The Sandusky Register reported that George Ellithorpe was soon going to be trying out his new aero speed boat.  We do not know what happened with that endeavor, but by 1930, George had moved to California where he lived until his death.

One strange note:  Before the tornado, a “psychological reader” performed at the Eberwine Auditorium and answered questions from the audience.  George Ellithorpe asked a question about his plane and the answer the man provided was “ you are going to have some little trouble with your aeroplane, but it will come out all right in the end.”