Sunday, December 15, 2024

Swartz Funeral Home, Fremont, Ohio

Swartz Funeral Home

Courtesy Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums


The above photograph was taken by Swartz employee Spencer Blue, showing a matched team of white horses and one of the Swartz Funeral Home coaches, waiting outside the funeral home located  at 817 Croghan Street in Fremont, Ohio. The photograph was taken  April 6, 1911.  The funeral, one of the largest in Fremont history, was for the well known Reverend Seraphim Bauer of St. Joseph's Catholic Church. 

This photo also appears on Historypin


Friday, November 29, 2024

President Who Banned the White House Christmas Tree

                             

Looking at all the Christmas tree lots in Northwest Ohio reminds me of the festive White House Christmas celebration, an annual occasion. The official White House tree is installed in the Blue Room and formally welcomed by the First Lady, a tradition that began in 1912.  Down through the years, First Ladies have developed their own personal holiday themes. Some first families even decorated every room in the White House with a Christmas tree.

But in 1902, President Teddy Roosevelt announced, “There would be no tree in the White House.” During the 19th century, many homes did not celebrate Christmas with a decorated evergreen. Some believed it to be a pagan symbol, but eventually the German custom of a having a live tree during the holidays grew in popularity. But President Roosevelt, a devoted conservationist, was opposed to it. He said his family of six children would celebrate Christmas as “simply as possible.”


Teddy and Family

Courtesy of Wikimedia


Deeply concerned about America’s natural resources, Roosevelt created the Forestry Service and established 150 national forests, 51 bird reserves, five national parks, and four game preserves. The “Chicago Daily Tribune” agreed with the President. The paper dubbed it a “forestry fad.” Environmentalists harped against the “Christmas tree habit” that caused “immense destruction of young firs and spruce.”

But Archie and Quentin, Teddy Roosevelt’s two youngest sons, were having none of it.  They slipped outside and cut down a small evergreen right on the White House grounds. They sneaked it inside and hid it in a closet. With the help of one of the staff, they fitted it out with lights.  They decorated the tree with small presents for every family member. Archie even included gifts for Jack the dog, Tom Quartz the kitten, and his pony Algonquin.

Early Christmas morning, even before they opened their own gifts, Archie escorted his parents to the big closet. He swung open the door, revealing with delight his White House Christmas tree, laden with presents and lights. It was his gift to his parents. The President wrote later that it was Archie’s “surprise” and he was pleased with his son’s ingenuity.


Ladies Home Journal, 1902

One source tells that Teddy took his young son to visit Gifford Pinchot, head of the Forestry Service, to explain to Archie the damage to America’s forests that occurs when so many trees are chopped down for Christmas. But the President was taken aback when Pinchot explained that cutting down some of the larger trees was actually a good thing. The practice allowed sunlight to reach the smaller, young trees which could then flourish.

At Christmas in 1906, the President wrote to his sister that Archie was again at work. This time he was placing a tree in his bedroom. While Archie showed off his creation to his parents, the older children sneaked a fully-lit tree with two huge stockings into the bedroom of the President and First Lady. Eventually the controversy over using live trees to decorate for the holidays ended. It was just a few years later when President Calvin Coolidge hosted the first public Christmas tree lighting at the White House.

A version of this post appears in Lifestyles 2000


 

 

 

Friday, November 1, 2024

President James A Garfield, the First Leftie

 In a few days we will vote for our next president. I recall reading how President Hayes rushed back from the last leg of his Western Trip to reach Fremont in time to vote for James A. Garfield. He was the first president to serve as a professor, college president, and a minister before taking office. Born in poverty in 1831 in Mentor, Ohio, Garfield was the last president to have lived in a log cabin. He enlisted in the Civil War and rose to the rank of brigadier general by age 26, becoming the youngest ever promoted to that rank Following the war, Garfield returned to Ohio where he served nine-terms in the U. S. Congress.

At the deeply divided Republican National Convention, he was considered a dark horse candidate. But Garfield, in fact, received the GOP nomination on the 36th ballot. In those years, presidential candidates did not hit the campaign trail like Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. But according to one of Garfield’s biographers, more than 5,000 people converged on his farm in Mentor on a single day in October of 1880. Among them was a group of Germans. Garfield addressed them in their native tongue. It is believed to be the first time a presidential campaign speech was given in a language other than English.

Garfield Home, Mentor, Ohio

Courtesy of National Historic Sites


Taking office in March 1881, Garfield’s ability to write, read, and speak in several languages were skills that impressed many Americans. He was the first left-handed president. Only 10% of the population (myself included) are lefties. Living in a right-handed world makes some of us appear awkward, uncoordinated, and at times accident prone.  However, lefties seem to have the edge when it comes to the presidency. James Garfield was the first, but since World War II there have been 7 more leftie U. S. presidents!

Sadly, President James Garfield was shot only a few months into his presidency by Charles Guiteau, a disgruntled office seeker. He lingered for three months. Today it is believed his death came about from infection and hemorrhaging brought on by endless probing of the wound with unsterile instruments. Dr. John B. Rice of Fremont, then a U.S. Congressman, was not one of those who searched for the bullet, but he did visit Garfield at the White House. Later he wrote a detailed letter regarding the President’s condition. More than 100,000 Americans traveled to Washington, D, C. to view Garfield as he lay in state. You can visit his beautiful home in Mentor, Ohio and the impressive  Garfield Monument in Cleveland’s Lake View Cemetery. 

Some psychologists think lefties are more creative, artistic, have better communication skills, physically better fighters, and have greater divergent thinking skills. In case you are interested, here are the other southpaw presidents: Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan (probably a natural leftie but forced to be right-handed), George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.  

 

 

             

Sunday, September 1, 2024

Enoch Freeman, Company B. 27th U.S. Colored Troops

 

The service of African American Civil War soldiers is often overlooked and difficult to research. However, the Clyde Library and Hayes Presidential Library and Museums have documented those known to them on their websites and honored their service at public ceremonies. Below is the story of another African American Civil soldier in nearby Ottawa County, Ohio.

Enoch Freeman was 18 years old when he enlisted at Russia Twp., Lorain County, Ohio in Company B of the 27th US Colored Troops for three years. The 27th was the second black regiment organized in Ohio. The first African Americans to join the Union army from Ohio were those who enlisted to fill out the ranks of the 54th Massachusetts. (Edward Leonard of Sandusky County was one of those.) 

The pay for Union colored troops was discriminatory; African Americans could make more as day laborers than as  soldiers. Despite that, more than 3,000 black Ohioans enlisted in regiments outside the state before the 27th began recruiting.

Freeman mustered in at Camp Delaware Ohio on February 8, 1864. At that time, only 8 of the necessary 35 officers were present. (Only whites could serve as officers.)  Like all new recruits, Freeman was subjected to the contagious diseases that spread like wildfire among troops. He soon fell sick at Annapolis, Maryland. 

He returned to duty in May as the regiment moved out to the Wilderness and Spotsylvania. Their duty was to guard the supply trains against cavalry attacks. In early June, the 27th with other regiments, freed more than 500 slaves. According to Kelly D. Mezurek, author of  "For Their Own Cause," (a history of the 27th), the regiment finally was ordered to the front at Petersburg.  

It was at this time that Freeman fell sick at City Point, Virginia and was sent to the General Hospital. Freeman did not return to his regiment until September 1864. He was present at Hatcher's Run, on the Bermuda front, the expeditions to Fort Fisher, North Carolina and its subsequent bombardment, assault, and capture. Nine months later, he was promoted to corporal.  The following September, Corporal Freeman was mustered out at Smithville, North Carolina. 

Following Corporal Freeman's service, he returned to Ohio and worked as a laborer in Clay Twp. Ottawa County. On August 25, 1890, Enoch Freeman received a pension (#682971) for his Civil War service with the 27th.  He died June 25, 1913 and is buried in Clay Twp. Cemetery in Ottawa County, Ohio.




Monday, August 26, 2024

Sandusky County Ohio Teachers, 1914/1915

   Sandusky County Ohio Teachers,1914/1915

Sandusky County Photograph Collection

This photograph shows teachers for the 1914/1915 school year for Sandusky County District 2, which included Ballville, Riley, and Sandusky townships. George W. Bloom, who had been a candidate for county superintendent, was appointed District 2 superintendent. Bloom stands at the right end of the third row. The Sandusky County Board of Education held its first meeting July 18,1914 to select a  superintendent for the county schools. R. A. Wales was hired as the county superintendent for a two-year term. The  annual salary was $2,000 plus $300 for travel expenses and clerical help. Wales appears at the left end of the third row. On July 29, 1914, the Sandusky County Board of Education met and divided the township schools into four districts, each with its own superintendent. 



 

Sunday, August 18, 2024

Sandusky Tractor

    Sb

Sandusky Tractor

Charles E. Frohman Collection


The Sandusky Tractor was produced by the Dauch Manufacturing Company of Sandusky, Ohio.  A manufacturer of farm tractors, Dauch titled the 10-20 J the "little fellow with the big pull." The Sandusky Tractor became one of its most popular models and was sold on the  international market. The 10-20 was powered by kerosene and equipped with a four-cylinder, four-cycle engine, and a three-speed transmission.  

According to the company's trade catalog of which one is held by the Smithsonian, the Sandusky Tractor could pull several plows. It also handled easily in small fields. 

To learn more about the company and its founder J.J. Dauch, see the Sandusky, Ohio Library's blog Sandusky History. 


Thursday, July 11, 2024

Edwin Lincoln Moseley: Ohio's Early Naturalist

This past week the state mowed the grasses along the road across from my house. I was delighted when they skipped over the large plot of milkweed. I’ve shared seed pods with so many friends, knowing milkweed would help increase Ohio’s monarch butterfly population. Little did I know that it was illegal in Ohio to share non-commercial seeds! The prohibition of non-commercial seed sharing was an unintended consequence of an Ohio law. Recently, the Ohio Prairie Association brought it to the attention of lawmakers. If the bill becomes law, milkweed and endangered plants native to Ohio may also be protected, including ironweed, wild lettuce, and wild  mustard.  

E. L. Moseley

The Sandusky, Ohio, area was most fortunate to have naturalist Edwin Lincoln Moseley as a science teacher for nearly 25 years. Born shortly after the Civil War, Moseley graduated from the University of Michigan and later came to Ohio where he taught biology at Sandusky High School.

Moseley believed in the experimental method of teaching in which his students learned by observation and developed independent thought. On Saturdays, he and his students took field trips into the natural areas of Erie and Huron counties and the Lake Erie islands. They collected and documented the native plants of the Firelands Prairie that extended from Bellevue to Huron, Ohio. Together they created a large herbarium at the school.

After a decade of research, Moseley published “Sandusky Flora: A Catalog of Flowering Plants and Ferns Growing without Cultivation in Erie County Ohio, and the Peninsula and Islands of Ottawa County.” According to the Ohio Prairie Association, no tallgrass prairie in the United States has a more thoroughly documented native plant species from the 19th century than that which Moseley’s historical records provide. Although no longer in print, it can be found on the internet.

Throughout the Midwest, milk sickness had claimed the lives of thousands of pioneers. Moseley’s interviews with Sandusky County farmers, his observations and experiments led him to believe that milk sickness was caused by eating the meat or drinking the milk of animals who had ingested white snakeroot. His 1906 published work on white snakeroot played an important role in solving this mysterious disease that had taken so many lives.

In 1914, Moseley left Sandusky High School to become one of the first faculty members of Bowling Green State University. While teaching botany and science courses at BGSU, he recognized, documented, and then mapped the unique prairie and savannas of the Oak Openings region west of Toledo. Oak Openings contains more than 1/3 of all of Ohio’s endangered plant species.

Ohio’s native plants were not Moseley’s only interest. He researched, wrote papers, and published books on solar events, the study of tree rings, weather forecasting, wildlife, glaciers, climate prediction, astronomy, and even his thoughts about extraterrestrial life.

To learn more about the native plants of Ohio’s prairies, see the Ohio Prairie Association website.