MOUNT VERNON — Perusing the news of 100 years ago this weekend, I found that then-mayor of Mount Vernon, Ned W. Ilger, was suffering some difficulties.
Rumors had circulated that the embattled politician would be resigning, which he denied in print.
“I am through with politics,” Ilger said to a reporter from the Democratic Banner, “and I do not intend to be a candidate for reelection at the expiration of my term of office.”
He later described the whole job as a series of “annoyances and bickerings.”
But somewhere between Ilger’s announcement and the next issue of the newspaper, something happened to up the ante a bit: the mayor was accused of assault and battery by West Gambier Street resident Milan Irvine. As the mayor was a Democrat, the partisan Banner didn’t have a lot to say about the case, beyond the facts that the mayor initially pled guilty, but later changed his plea on the advice of a lawyer.
Other newspapers fill in the details: Irvine, a boarding house operator, ran his operation next door to Ilger’s residence. Apparently, there was a long-running war of words between the two men, which was considerably aggravated when one of them — it isn’t clear who — built a “spite fence” blocking the other house’s visibility.
Ilger is said to have pushed the situation further by posting some sort of sign on the fence. That brought the men to blows, resulting in Ilger’s arrest.
Ned William Ilger was a colorful character, to say the least. He triple-lettered in sports at Ohio Wesleyan University in 1905, then played minor league baseball from 1905 to 1907. Though stats are lacking, sources say that he played as an “outstanding” outfielder for the Newark Cotton Tops, the Mansfield Giants, and the Lancaster Lanks.
The Mansfield News Journal reported that Ilger was the only player who hit a single during the Mansfield Giants’ loss on June 6, 1906, to the Zanesville team. That at least saved them from a no-hitter, though he was unable to score. The report also identifies Ilger as the Giants’ right fielder.
A hint of Ilger’s temper emerges, though, in an August 1906 report which noted Ilger’s release from the Giants.
“It might be stated at this time,” the newspaper says, “that the fight between Ned and Rothermel had nothing to do with the former’s release. Ned is said to have played indifferent ball and wanted his release.”
Other newspaper reports cite incidents of Ilger getting thrown off the field for anger issues. Ilger announced his retirement from pro baseball in January, 1907, despite a contract offer from the Newark team.
Soon, he became an established businessman in Mount Vernon and a member of the Hiawatha Lodge of the Loyal Order of Moose. A 1917 newspaper report on a Moose banquet describes Ilger as a “former Dictator” of the organization and says that he and Leo McCarthy entertained attendees with a set of songs for Hawaiian guitar.
A 1916 report says that Ilger’s jewelry store was robbed at one point by a man named Riley Devault.
After Devault was put away in the state pen on a 15-year burglary sentence, he wrote to Ilger, asking the jeweler if he knew the whereabouts of the leather case Devault had been using that night to carry away his loot, because he really hoped to get that back!
Ilger went on to serve during World War I, where his draft card describes him as tall, medium build, with gray hair, even though he was only 35 at the time. He was called up in October of 1918 and served a few months at the Naval Air Station in Montauk, New York, on Long Island.
As mayor, Ilger kept his involvement in competitive sports going, serving as part of a team of three men, including James Gibbs and O. W. McCarthy, competing in the Ohio Golf Association championship in 1921, though they did not win.
After serving as mayor, Ilger moved back into sports professionally, this time as a golf pro. After working locally for a few years, he received an invitation from an old friend to work at the Hialeah Municipal Golf Course in Miama, Florida, where his arrival was announced with considerable fanfare.
After some time in Florida, Ilger later moved to Seattle, Washington, where he passed away in 1936, aged only 52. His son, Ned Ilger, Jr., had his father’s body returned to Ohio for burial in Johnstown.
As for Ned’s 1920 assault case, the grand jury declined to indict Ilger and instead referred the case to common pleas court, where it soon disappeared.
And so, Mount Vernon’s fistfighting mayor drifted off into the forgotten corners of history. Perhaps this will serve as a challenge to current Mount Vernon Mayor Matt Starr to up his game in 2021. Not with me, of course (have you seen his reach?). But someone else.
Anyone. Anyone? Anyone?
