Ohio's Wildflowers, Along the Beaten Paths

Lakeside Daisies

Courtesy ODNR

April is Ohio's Native Plant Month.  In 2019 Governor DeWine  penned the act into law. The initiative was begun by Ohio's former First Lady Hope Taft and Nancy Linz as a project in the Heritage Garden at the Governor's Residence. Ohio became the first state to recognize native plants for the entire month. Since then all but two state governors have joined Ohio in recognizing April as native plant month.

Hepatica

Courtesy ODNR

According to Mac Arnold, the Toledo Blade's outdoor editor, Ohio has more than 1,000 miles of trails within its state parks, giving Ohioans plenty of opportunity to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of wildlife around us.

Trillium

Courtesy ODNR

In northwest Ohio, Oak Openings and the Lake Erie Islands, including the Marblehead Peninsula, one can find some of Ohio's most endangered species: Lakeside daisy, narrow leaved blue-eyed grass, and balsam groundsel. At Oak Openings lyre-leaved and Missouri rockcress, and plains puccoons can be found. 

Baxter's and birdfoot violet, early buttercup, rock sandwort, and northern blue-eyed grass are some of Ohio's threatened wildflowers. 

Loss of habitat, deer, fewer pollinators, and non-native invasive plants such as Amur honeysuckle (which tried to get a stranglehold on my lilac bushes) and garlic mustard.

Rick Gardner, botanist at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, maintains a weekly bloom report of wildflowers seen along Ohio's trails and beaten paths. Go to ohiodnr.gov/go-and-do/see-the-sights/wildflowers.

  

Spring Beauties

Courtesy ODNR

Hall Cemetery, Ottawa County, Ohio

More often than we know, early pioneer cemeteries - without burials for many years and sometimes even decades - are abandoned. This  takes place in every county and state. Grave markers are often broken and illegible, suffering from neglect and the ravages of time and weather. Families move on, leaving behind few records and friends to remember and care for these nearly forgotten burial sites. As new settlers arrive, the  cemeteries gradually lose their identity and meaning altogether. 

So it was with the Hall Cemetery in Ottawa County, Ohio. But thanks to Elmore, Ohio's Robert Luckey, who wrote letters in the late 1890s to the Elmore Independent, a record does exist.  In an 1898 letter, he reminisced about his friends and relatives who had long-since passed and were buried in the Hall Cemetery.  

He mentioned his mother, Anna N. Luckey who was buried December 18, 1838 and his father John L. Luckey who died December 29, 1839. A. W. Luckey's wife died August 4, 1854 of cholera. Frank [Luckey] a son of theirs died April 10,1862 at the age of 7 years.

Nancy Ferris, wife of Ezekiel Ferris and daughter of Joseph and Letha Hall died September 2, 1840.

Rachel Gordon died March 3, 1842 aged 42 years [mother of Washington Gordon]. John Gordon died November 7, 1851 aged 53 years. Mary J. Gordon died August 21, 1837 aged 2 years

George W. Hall died February 9, 1837 in Port Clinton [and was buried in May of that year and then brought by canoe to be reburied in the Hall Cemetery. He was the first one buried in the cemetery.] Joseph Hall died January 1, 1859 aged 74 years. Samuel Hall died April 12, 1836 aged 25 years. James Hall died October 8, 1872 aged 64 years.

Desire Larned died March 4, 1846 aged 81 years.

Former Elmore, Ohio librarian Grace Luebke reprinted some of Robert Luckey's reminiscences in her Elmore Ohio, A History Preserved, Revised Edition with Supplement, 1997 by the Elmore Historical Society. For a complete reading, see pages 22 and 23.

America 250 - Ohio, Documenting Ohio Graves of Revolutionary War Soldiers

                 

Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull

                                                                                     

Last March I posted Linda Huber's efforts to document and recognize the Revolutionary War soldiers who lived, died and were buried in Ottawa County as part of U.S. America 250 - Ohio.

This project continues throughout Ohio's 88 counties.  The Ohio Historical Preservation Office, Terracon Consultants, Inc., and the chapters of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution have partnered with volunteers, historians, and genealogists to continue  adding data on our patriots.  

Shortly after the close of the Revolutionary War, the Northwest Territory opened for settlement.  New Americans streamed into the Ohio Country. Among them were Revolutionary War veterans. Two large sections of land were specifically set aside for veterans - the Virginia Military District and the United States Military District. The amount of land given a veteran varied depending on his rank and not all were qualified to receive land. Others chose not to live in the districts.  

It is estimated that Ohio is the final resting place for as many as 7,000 veterans.  An Interactive Live Results Dashboard identifies the patriots and maps the cemeteries and gravesites throughout the state. View the current progress (3,538 veterans as of today's date) by using the link to the dashboard on the Ohio History Connection website. The portal closes for review at the end of Memorial Day.  Final results will be published on the 4th of July!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Rose Tavern, Washington Twp., Sandusky County, Ohio

Rose Tavern, 1981

Fremont News Messenger

James Rose was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, February 6th, 1811. At the age of three, his parents migrated to Perry County, Ohio, settling near  Zanesville, Ohio. His ancestors originally came from England. Both his maternal and paternal grandfathers were Revolutionary War soldiers.

James married Nancy Gordon, a native of Perry County, Ohio, where James farmed and taught school.  In 1834, he purchased 105 acres from the federal government in tract #142  along the Maumee and Western Reserve Pike. James' property today lies on the south side of State Route 20 in Washington Twp.  A month prior to his arrival, James built a two-room log cabin measuring 26 x 40 feet on his land.

Traveling by wagon from Perry County to their cabin in Sandusky County took James and Nancy eight days. While living here, James cleared 26 acres. "Wyandots and Senecas were frequent visitors at his place, often staying all night, but always exhibiting a friendly disposition." After ten years, he sold the property to William Thraves for $836. 

James moved his family to another purchase he had made in the township.  On this land, he built a round-log cabin containing a single room.  Two years later, James built a house on the property.  Over 70 acres had been cleared by the time James sold the land in 1854. While living in Sandusky County, James had served as a county commissioner  and also 18 years  as a justice of the peace. 

James and his large family left Sandusky County and settled on a farm five miles from Cardington, Ohio. The parents of 11 children of which seven of his eight sons served in the Civil War.  James died in Morrow County in 1890 nearly 79 years of age. 

In 1981, the original building, known as the Rose Tavern,  was donated by the Waggoner family who were owners of the property. It was disassembled (see photo above) and moved to Historic Lyme Village in Bellevue. Ohio.

The "Fremont Weekly Journal" reprinted much of James Rose's obituary from an article carried in the "Morrow County Sentinel" of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, and also a biographical sketch of James Rose published in a Morrow County history.