Who was Johnny Seesaw ? And what the heck is an izba ?
Ivan Sesow was the builder of the log house that later became the long-famous local hangout known as Johnny Seesaw ’ s in Peru , Vermont . Sesow was born and named Kyrill Sessofin Werkali in Minsk , Russia in 1887 .
In the National Register documents , submitted by Paula I . Chadis , the daughter of a subsequent owner of Seesaw ’ s , it says : [ sic ]
He was a veteran of the Czar ’ s Army , and had emigrated from Russia in 1913 . He arrived on Ellis Island , worked for a short time in New York City and in Virginia before settling in Somerset , Vermont where the climate and landscape were reminiscent of his former home . He was employed as a foreman at the Deerfield Lumber Company Camp # 7 , where together with his wife , Mary , an Austrian immigrant , managed a boarding house for lumbermen . In December 1917 , Mary was accidentally shot and killed by a woodchopper at the lumber camp . Sesow , unable to care for their two young children , placed them with Polish families . It was while still at the lumber camp that he met the woman who would become his second wife , a camp cook , Vinnie Ola Wilder […], who taught him to read and write English . They married in 1920 when he was 33 and she was 16 .
You ’ d be surprised how often these typically dry NR files offer up spicy little tidbits . But , there ’ s more ! Vinna , called “ Vinnie ,” was a Vermonter , born in Bondville , and she was only 14 years old on her wedding day in Wilmington , Vermont . She had fudged the truth a wee bit , as did he . Their marriage certificate states that it was Sesow ’ s first marriage — had he forgotten to mention poor Mary ?
Sesow and his second wife bought the property in Peru for $ 1 , according to the town records , and took a $ 125 mortgage on it to build a house . In 1924 , using only hand tools , he himself constructed a building , perhaps feeling nostalgic for the motherland , in the vernacular style of rural Russia — an izba . An izba is a farmhouse made of axe-hewn logs , and a common feature of all izbas , even those dating back 600 years or so , is a huge central fireplace or stove used for heating and cooking , and as a warm place to dry clothing or to sleep . It typically took up about one-fourth of the space inside these rustic dwellings . Sesow embellished the izba in the traditional fashion , adding decorative wooden panels that he carved himself .
Sesow ( Americans pronounced it “ Seesaw ”) lived with his wife and children in an ell of the original building . They ran the family business in the izba , boastfully calling it the Wonder View Log Pavilion . There was and still is , a spectacular 40-mile southerly panoramic view , with the peak of Stratton Mountain visible in the distance . It was a dance hall with entertainment provided by local musicians . Mrs . Sesow , Vinnie , gained fame of her own at the roadhouse , which , it ’ s relevant to note , opened four years into the nation ’ s Prohibition Era . Chadis candidly related this detail about her : [ sic ]
The clientele came from miles around to drink Vinnie ’ s homemade wine , along with local moonshine to which burnt sugar was added to make it look and taste more like whiskey .
Sesow fathered 10 children , according to some accounts . In 1932 , the couple moved away from Peru due to debts on the property . Vinnie later worked full time as a cook in the towns where they lived in Vermont , and died of a heart attack in 1950 , at 46 ; Sesow died in 1961 , three weeks after an operation for stomach cancer . He was 73 . Chadis wrote this characterization of him :
Although of average stature , his surviving children , and others , remember Sesow as a proud , strong , fearless , bearhunting man .
Source : National Register of Historic Places , Reference No . 08000686
– A . R .
manchester life magazine 2018 93