Madison Ohio History: The Behm Family and Our Historic Home

• Coming in mid-story? Go back to the first post… it all starts there.

  
  

Before we get into the next chapter of the house, we need to correct something.

When we wrote about the earlier years, we were still trying to piece together how the house was built. There were a few different versions, and none of them quite lined up.

The fire maps finally cleared it up.

If you’re not familiar with those (we definitely weren’t at first), they’re old maps used for fire insurance that show building footprints, layouts, and materials. Basically… a really detailed snapshot of what a property looked like at the time. Way more helpful than it sounds.

All three main sections were already there early on. Not added over time like we originally thought.

We did come across a mention that a bedroom may have been added on the south side at some point, but the maps show the same overall layout the whole time, so that part’s still a bit of a question.

So… we learned something new.

And it makes the layout make a lot more sense now.

When we started digging into the next owners of the house, things didn’t quite add up.

We had always been told the next owners were a younger couple, Elton Behm and his wife, Betty, but when we looked closer, the timeline didn’t make sense. They wouldn’t have been old enough to own the home yet.

So we went to the Lake County Recorder’s Office to sort it out.

What we found was that the family was right… just not the generation we expected.

After Kirk Vanderlip’s death, the house was transferred in February of 1921 to his sister, Libbie Vanderlip Ludick.

Just a month later, in March of 1921, it was transferred again, this time to Walter C. Behm.

Walter C Behm

Alta Edith Behm

Walter and his wife, Alta, are where this next chapter really begins.

Walter C. and Alta E. Behm were well known in Madison. Walter was born in 1881, Alta in 1880, and the two were married in 1904.

Early on, Walter was listed as a furniture salesman, and the couple operated a furniture store in town. Later, they transitioned into funeral services.

Back then, that kind of transition wasn’t unusual. Furniture makers often built coffins, so moving into funeral services just made sense.

Walter also played a role in the village itself. He became mayor of Madison in 1924 and was responsible for establishing the village’s water and sewer system.

The funeral home eventually moved in 1937 from its former location on West Main Street to River Street, where it still operates today.

At some point along the way, they became the owners of the house, though it’s not entirely clear that they actually lived here.

Both the 1920 and 1930 census records list Walter and Alta on Main Street, which is the home we originally thought they moved into after this one. That raised a few questions.

My best guess is that they may have used this property more as an investment or rental. It’s possible the house was occupied by someone connected to the funeral home, especially considering how the yard was used.

Adding to the confusion, the address listed for this property in the 1930 census doesn’t match the current address, which makes it a little harder to track with complete certainty.

So while Walter and Alta clearly owned the house, whether they actually lived here is still a bit of an open question.

The Behms had six children, including twins Elton and Alton. And this is where the story circles back.

Elton Behm, the one we had always been told owned the home, does show up later. By 1941, Elton and his wife, Elizabeth "Betty," are listed as the owners of the house.

Walter passed away in 1951, and Alta followed in 1968. Both are buried at Fairview Cemetery here in Madison.

What We’ve Been Told

Along with the records, we’ve also heard a few stories about how the property was used during that time.

A lot of this came from Betty Behm, Wilford Behm’s wife, who shared these details with us shortly after we purchased the house, back before I got completely pulled into the history of it all. Wilford was Walter’s youngest son and

Elton’s younger brother, and yes, both brothers were married to women named Betty, which definitely doesn’t make sorting through the family any easier.

One thing she told us was that the funeral home used the yard under the trees to wash the hearse. And honestly, once you hear that, you can kind of see it.

Some of these details are harder to confirm on paper, but they have come up more than once, and they add a whole different layer to the story.

• Follow along each month as we keep digging into the story of the house… it’s turning out to be more layered than we expected.