5765 Summit St.
In 1872 this property at 5765 Summit St. was purchased by Cordelia Comstock and 1875 is the recorded date of construction for this house. She had married Ambrose Comstock in 1860. He had served during the Civil War with the 130th Ohio Infantry, and every Memorial Day until he died he lead Sylvania’s parade.
By the 1870 census Cordelia was living here with her mother, while her husband Ambrose was living in a separate home off Erie Street. Cordelia was 36 years old and her mother Susan Keeler was 65 years old. By the 1880 census Cordelia was still living with her mother on Summit Street while her husband Ambrose was living with his elderly mother on Erie Street.
Cordelia Keeler Comstock passed away in 1892 and this home transferred to her brother, Mark Keeler, who was listed as the “sole heir to Cordelia Comstock.” He sold the home the next year to Lyman Upham.
Lyman Upham served during the Civil War while he still was living in Randolph, Mass. He mustered out with the rank of Corporal. He married Eliza Cushing in 1872 in Randolph and they moved to Lucas County in 1884. They purchased this house in 1893. They had two children, Nelson and Elizabeth “Lizzie” Upham Randall.
In the 1900 census Lyman and Eliza were listed living in this home. He was 59 years old and Eliza was listed as 56 years old, and living in the home was their daughter Lizzie Upham – 22 years old. Eliza died in January of 1908 and Lyman died that same year. The house transferred to their two adult children. They sold the house in 1911 to Moses Bittner.
Moses Bittner owned this house from 1911 to 1945. The entire time he owned it he rented it out to various families, while he and his family lived in three different houses in the 6700 block of Monroe Street in Sylvania. Bittner sold it to B. Leroy Armstrong in 1945, who owned the home for only three years. The Waters family purchased the home in 1948 and owned it as follows through 1999:
1948 – Wilbert C. Waters, Mary Waters and John Leonard Waters
1959 – Wilbert C. Waters and John Leonard Waters
1959 – Wilbert C. Waters, Subject to life estate of John Leonard Waters
1976 – Wilbert C. and Beatrice E. Waters
1993 – James E. Minns, Sr. Trustee of Wilbert C Waters and Beatrice E. Waters, Trust
Wilbert Waters passed away in 1999 at the age of 89. His obituary notice in the Toledo Blade on March 31,1999 said that he served as the golf course superintendent for Highland Meadows Golf Club for 23 years, and Inverness Country Club for 30 years, and then he volunteered at Bayview Golf Club for seniors. He was also a U.S. Army veteran of WW II, landing in the third wave of allied forces on Omaha Beach. He was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Beatrice, who died just days before Wilbert died. They had no children. Beatrice’s obituary notice said she was 89 years old when she died. Wilbert’s father, John L. Waters, who was co-owner of this house, died in February of 1971 at the age of 90 years old. He had also been employed at the Inverness Country Club, retiring in 1961.
In 1993 Wilbert Water was issued a building permit to build a new garage.
The owners after the Waters family are listed as follows:
1999 – Richard B. McIntyre
2004 – Michael R. Kerin
2004 – Scott Hutchison
2004 – John C. Evanoff, Jr.