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