Two Families, 200 Years on Walloon: The Legacy of the Gedge and Morsches/Call Families

Two Families

200 YEARS ON WALLOON

The Legacy of the Gedge and Morsches/Call Families

Bill Morsches, left, and his good friend Howell Gedge (back, center) enjoying Walloon time with Howell's son Si and Bill's granddaughter Katherine (Kash) East, around 1912. Notice the old boathouses in the background. (Photo courtesy of the Call family)

By Lauren Macintyre

"We've known each other for like, forever." That's a comment many people make today about long- standing friends or neighbors, but never was it more apt than in the case of Walloon's Gedge and Morsches/Call families, lakefront neighbors for over 100 years.

Both families trace their roots to Anderson, Indiana, a town that is very well represented on Walloon Lake. Both live on a tiny road off Country Club Shores, facing a beautiful area of the lake dubbed "Buzzard's Bay." Houses in that area, some of the oldest on the lake, reflect an era when lake houses truly were "cottages," where a simpler life could be enjoyed. The Gedge and Call families cherish their legacies on the lake and have done a remarkable job of preserving them.

THE GEDGE FAMILY

Llewellyn Howell Gedge and wife Jessie McConnell Gedge were the first of the Gedges to arrive at Walloon. Owner of Gedge Brothers Steel Company in Anderson, Howell, as Llewellyn was known, took an early retirement after selling the company, and moved to Orlando, Florida. In the 1890's Howell, along with Jessie took a train trip from Orlando through Cincinnati to Clarion, to first establish the Gedge legacy on Walloon. The Gedges brought their children as well as the maid and gardener.

Howell, like his good friends John McIlwraith, Ed Cockrell and Bill Morsches, all with connections to Anderson, came to the lake to hunt, fish and socialize. The four friends called themselves the "buzzards'' of Buzzard's Bay. An avid golfer, Howell is credited with leading the group that founded Walloon Lake Country Club (WLCC) in 1904 on a nearby farm, then

Jack and Dolores Gedge in front of the fireplace in their 1890’s cottage.

serving as president and guiding the club for 33 years.

In 1923, the Gedge's son Seymour, known as Si, made what he considered the "trip of a lifetime," driving a car over every bumpy road from Orlando to Walloon at the age of 16. Later, during Prohibition, the adventurous Si would take the family boat to the West Arm to pick up ice and "refreshments." Si graduated from Dartmouth and then continued his family's involvement with the steel industry, enjoying an impressive career as an industrial engineer for U.S. Steel. Si and his wife Genevieve "Jenny" Holland raised two sons, Llewelleyn and Jack, in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and, of course, at Walloon.

Si maintained the Gedges' legacy with the WLCC, serving as president from 1971-75. He was also club champion for many years and had the distinction of partnering with famed golfer Walter Hagen when he came to the club in 1933. Meanwhile, his wife Jenny, an active community volunteer, directed club social events and enhanced the grounds with her gardening skills, which included the planting of a multitude of red geraniums. "Dad had an excellent board at the club," notes his son Jack. "They were able to acquire the land that became the second nine, build the original tennis courts and install the cart paths. A few well-known members I recall from that era are George Scully, Bo Randall, Ivan Wiles, Anheuser (Bud) Rombauer, Kraig Klages, Allan Cameron, Roy Michell and Jim Wilson."

Jack grew up spending summers at Walloon working as the golf course water boy. After graduating from Notre Dame, Jack had a unique opportunity to immerse himself in local legend and lore, serving as the Walloon Lake News reporter for the Boyne Citizen in the summer of 1965. "I covered social events, including taking photos. I got to interview Civil War historian Bruce Catton, as well as Ben Ellis, Ray Blantz, Joe Scoggin, Henry Beadell, Clara Smith, Ross Renwick and many others." Jack also wrote about the sailing races, the Yacht Club, the Country Club, the Walloon Outdoor Club and much more, providing a fascinating snapshot of life on the lake.

Jack has fond memories of growing up in those idyllic summers on Walloon. It was an era when many lake families traveled with cooks, maids and gardeners. "On Thursdays all help had the day off. They went to church to sing, pray and socialize. Meals were served at the exact time each day. If you were late you were out of luck…we were always on time!"

In the vintage Gedge cottage is a "totem pole" on a door frame, covering 125 years of family history on Walloon. Names and heights of family, friends and neighbors are inscribed. Some of the names written in pencil have perhaps faded a bit…but the people who wrote them are forever remembered.

Many things have changed since his boyhood days on the lake, but today Jack and his wife Dolores are the keepers of the Gedge family history, maintaining their 1890's cottage in its original state for daughter Genny, son Christopher and six grandchildren, direct descendants of the inestimable Howell Gedge. An admirable legacy indeed.

Jack perusing some of the 1965 copies of the Walloon Lake News that he wrote as a young reporter. THE MORSCHES/CALL FAMILY

Just next door to the Gedges, Bill Morsches and wife Katherine purchased land on Buzzard's Bay in 1911, though they had been coming to Walloon for several years prior. Like the Gedges, the Morsches were originally from Anderson, where Bill was an executive with Nicholson File Company, and therefore named their cottage "Camp Anderson'' in honor of their hometown.

The Morsches built a lovely cottage that served the family well until 1972, when its state of disrepair necessitated the construction of a new house. Although not the original cottage, this house is filled with marvelous antiques, vintage sailing trophies and an astonishing collection of treasured family photos chronicling the family's long history.

Bill and Katherine had two daughters, each of whom continued the family's legacy on Walloon. Their older daughter Gertrude married Clifford East, and it is her line of the family that currently owns the family cottage. Their younger daughter Arlouine married Albert Diven, part of another line of longtime Wallooners that includes the Carliles, Gedges and Barber/Lowrances.

Gertrude and Clifford were the parents of Katherine East, nicknamed Kash, who married Anderson native Dr. Herbert Call, a prominent pediatrician in Indianapolis for many years. Kash was very active in the Red Cross during WWII, heading up volunteer efforts for Indianapolis. The Calls had two children, son William and daughter Keren, both of whom would follow in their father's footsteps and become physicians.

Dr. Keren Call Rosser has fond reminiscences of life on Walloon during her childhood. "Fishing. I remember so much fishing! In fact, we had fish for breakfast nearly every morning. We fished in the daytime from our fishing boat or in the evening from our canoe. We pumped water from an artesian spring, and stocked catfish in that spring to keep it clean." The Calls also had a Chris Craft, appropriately called the "Keren," a boat beloved by her brother Bill.

In 1950, young Bill Call met a lovely 16-year-old named Donna Jane Cameron at a Walloon square dance and was instantly smit-

The “Katherine” one of many classic boats owned by the Morsches/Call family over the years.

ten. The Cameron family owned Pine Point, the charming one-story house with a red roof, cupola and lakefront gazebo that has long been a focal point on North Shore Drive. Allan Cameron, owner of Cameron Can, and then vice president of Continental Can, and wife Helen Williams came to Walloon from their home state of Illinois. Great sailing aficionados, the Camerons loved racing their Seventeen, winning the prestigious Commodore's Cup trophy.

It was love at first sight for Bill and Donna, who married in 1956 after her graduation from Smith College. Donna also became fast friends with Bill's sister Keren, who shared her love of sailing and often crewed with her. Bill became a highly successful otolaryngologist, first in Indianapolis, then later in Denver where the family relocated. Bill and Donna had two daughters, Catherine Call, an architect, and Wendy Call Kowynia, an artist.

The two sisters share many evocative memories of life on the lake. "Dressing up and being on best behavior for Sunday dinners at our Cameron grandparents…seersucker bikinis… driving a whaler…first time on waterskis… winning at bingo…coming home late from a party and stopping the boat in the middle of the lake just to gaze at the stars and talk for a very long time…that's Walloon to us."

Catherine and Wendy, the great-great granddaughters of Bill and Katherine Morsches are the current owners of the family homestead. When their grandchildren came to the cottage this summer it represented the seventh generation of the family on Walloon — a truly remarkable example of one family's legacy on the lake.

ABOVE L-R, Keren Call, brother Bill and Bill’s wife Donna (Photos courtesy of the family)

BELOW L-R: Catherine Call, Wendy Call Kowynia and Keren Call Rosser, enjoying their tranquil lakefront on the property enjoyed by seven generations of their family. The Gedge cottage is in the background.