Lt. Jonas M. Stanbery, 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Co. G, Civil War

Lt. Jonas M. Stanbery

Jonas M. Stanbery was born in Sandusky, Ohio, May 13, 1841, the eleventh of fourteen children of Joseph and Sarah (Beard) Stanbery.  He received his education in Erie County, Ohio. In 1855, he came to Toledo.  At the age of 18 years, he shipped aboard the two-masted schooner "John Weedon" and sailed the Great Lakes for about eight years.  He worked eleven years for the American and Union Express Company. Jonas lived on his dairy farm in west Toledo. 

Jonas M. Stanbery
Courtesy of
Portrait and Biographical Record of Toledo and Lucas and Wood Counties, Ohio, 1895

Jonas enlisted in the Civil War as a private in Company G, of the 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He fought with the 72nd at Shiloh, Corinth, Tupelo, Jackson, the siege of Vicksburg, Guntown, Nashville, and at Spanish Fort, Alabama.  On April 7th, 1865, he was struck in the right thigh by a minie ball at Spanish Fort. After six weeks of recuperation at a hospital in New Orleans, Jonas rejoined his regiment at Meridian, Mississippi.  He was discharged September 21st,  1865 with the rank of first lieutenant.  The following year, he  married Ann Bailey of Akron, Ohio. They were the parents of four children: William, Sanford , Clara C., and Alfred. The family lived in Toledo on Warren Street.  

He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and theToledo Republican Club. Jonas served variously as clerk of the township, chairman of the Republican Central Committee, and president of the school board.  He retired after 18 years in the dairy business.  Jonas died at the age of 74 on December 28th, 1915.  He was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio. 

Jonas M. Stanbery, Oakland Cemetery, Sandusky, Ohio

Courtesy of Find a Grave

 

James Miller, Wyandot County, Ohio, War of 1812 Veteran

The adventures of Ohio Militia soldiers who enlisted in the War of 1812 is not always well known.  The obituary of James Miller of Crawfordsville, Ohio, (Wyandot Union August 31st, 1882) who died at the age of 96 years gives a glimpse of his life and the trials and tribulations of his War of 1812 service.

Born in Philadelphia in 1787, James Miller left Pennsylvania at the age of 12, making his way through the unbroken forests until he arrived at old Chillicothe, Ohio. James "helped clear up the wilderness" on the lands of Duncan McArthur, who owned extensive property on Paint Creek.

Governor McArthur, much beloved by Chillicothians, raised a regiment to fight the British in 1812. James Miller was one of the first to enlist.  On the march north through the pathless wilderness to Detroit, McArthur's regiment stopped 17 miles west of Carey, Ohio.  The men constructed a fort or blockhouse. They named it Fort Findlay.    

Courtesy Ohio Historical Society

Miller remained with the regiment until it was surrendered to the British by General Hull. At that time, he saw the famous Chief Tecumseh. Later men from Chillicothe were taken by boat to a point on Lake Erie where Cleveland is now located.  They were put ashore without provisions and left to find their way south through the forests to the Ohio River.  As Miller described it, there were "many perils and a great number fell out by the way and died in the forests." Miller was one of the fortunate number who "triumphed over starvation and constant tramping for two weeks." He entered Chillicothe one morning just as the sun was rising. 

In 1813, he married Rhoda Howard and continued working for Duncan McArthur. In 1824, he, along with others from the Ross and Pike County area, headed north to permanently settle along the Tymochtee Creek in Wyandot County, Ohio. "Only a few white people" then lived in the northern wilderness. 

Courtesy Crawfordsville, Ohio

The couple remained there for 58 years. James Miller was survived by his wife who was  then 94 years of age. Their oldest son, Nelson Miller, aged 69, lived with them. The War of 1812 veteran was laid to rest in the Ritchey Cemetery.

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.

 

McBride Tavern, Woodville Twp. Sandusky County, Ohio

McBride Tavern,  Woodville Twp., Sandusky County

Michael McBride, born October 13th 1806, near Sugar Creek, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania,  was the son John and Nancy McBride who had immigrated to America from Ireland.  As a young man,  he worked as a stonecutter at Buffalo, New York.  At the age of 21,  he came to Ohio and contracted to build several sections of the  Maumee and Western Reserve Pike (now U.S. State Route 20). It was at this time that Ohio at last appropriated funds to make permanent improvements to the pike.  Culverts, ditches, and macadamizing were intended to transform the endless miles of mud from Lower Sandusky (now Fremont, Ohio) to Perrysburg, Ohio.

In 1839 Michael married a young Irish girl named Joanna Kaley.  In the spring of 1841, Michael purchased tract #102 which lies today in section 35 of Woodville Twp. As with most of the tracts, they were first surveyed in long narrow parcels. This particular tract contained 96 acres and was originally purchased from the federal government by John Hollister.  

The innkeeping business along the pike had flourished for the previous ten years due to the wave of people headed "west." But it was the thirty miles of road which spanned the distance between Fremont (then called Lower Sandusky) to Perrysburg, Ohio that proved to be the real boon for those hardy Black Swamp pioneers.  Frequently travelers stayed in the same tavern three nights running.  Initially, many residents opened their homes to the "movers." Others converted their homes into taverns.  The McBrides were no exception.   They too, entered the tavern business,  but Michael built a building specifically for innkeeping rather than his  home.

The inn was an imposing structure situated on the south side of the pike just east of Sugar Creek which passed through the tract.  It measured approximately 40 feet by 28 feet with the first floor containing a sitting room, dining room, family parlor, and kitchen. On the second floor another huge sitting room extended the full length of the front of the inn.  To the rear of the second floor were the guest rooms.  Two large fireplaces one on either end of the inn provided heat for both the first and second floor.  A full cellar with hand cut limestone walls held wine racks.  A two-story addition,  measuring 30 feet by 27 feet, was built on the rear of the inn.  It is possible the McBrides lived in this section.  Eventually it was used for buggy storage.  Fruit and grain were stored on the second floor. 

Michael's thrifty, hard working ways made him well-liked and respected by his predominantly German neighbors. The hey-dey of the turnpike taverns had passed by 1850, but Michael listed innkeeping as his occupation on the census that year.  He valued his holdings at $5,000.  He accumulated more than 400  acres of farmland.  Though it was poor, rocky soil and drainage remained a problem, Michael was able to hire numerous neighborhood teens to work at the tavern and in his fields.

All four of Michael and Joanna's children: James, John, Michael, and Margaret were born at the inn.  They attended St. Mary's Church in Woodville. It is unknown when the inn was closed and used only as a home,  but Michael remained on the farm until his death in 1890.  He was buried in the Catholic Cemetery adjacent to Woodville's Golden Hill.  Michael,  himself, had laid out this cemetery in 1854. 

Michael, Jr. eventually became the owner of the inn and maintained possession until it was sold out of the family.  The building's appearance remained unchanged through the years.  But in 1969,  proposed widening of Rte. 20 placed it on the demolition list.  Although the Clark family made a valiant effort to preserve it because of its historic  value,  this rare symbol of the pike's past met the fate of progress.  

*Several McBride descendants have posted a sketch of the above photograph on facebook.  The original of the photograph was taken by the G. O. Clark family. An article about the tavern appeared in the Toledo Blade, February 9,  1969.

Michael McBride

Courtesy of Find a Grave 

The Kline Block, Fremont, Ohio

 

Kline Block, 200-202 E. State St, Fremont, Ohio

Rutherford B. Hayes Library and Museums

Henry Kline constructed this building in 1893. It was considered one of the finest business structures in Fremont, Ohio.  It was  located on the northeast corner of East State Street and Sandusky Avenue.  The versatile Mr. Kline is said to have run successful  plumbing, sand, pork packing, and wholesale liquor businesses.  The ornate gazebo on the roof was an east side landmark where at one time the Agerman Band played music on Saturday nights to the delight of listeners on park benches below.  The Kline family lived in the fine Victorian house at the right.  The photograph was taken in the 1890s.

     

Elmore Manufacturing Company

 

Introduction

The Elmore Manufacturing Company began manufacturing bicycles   in Elmore, Ohio in  1892. The company relocated to Clyde, Ohio where it operated from 1893 to 1912. Automobile manufacturing began in 1898. The cars featured 2-cycle valveless engines. The Pathfinder won an endurance race from New York to St. Louis, and was exhibited at the World's Fair. Elmores were also used as taxi cabs.   At the height of its operation, the company made nearly 1,200 cars a year. In 1909, the owners sold the company to General Motors, which later moved it to Detroit, and eventually stopped production of the Elmore cars.

Pathfinder, St. Louis Exposition 1904

First Elmore Car  

Elmore Car 1905

                                                   

            Elmore Car 1906

Elmore Taxis

From Bicycles to Automobiles

The founder, Harmon Becker, moved to Elmore, Ohio in 1869 with his wife and four children. He established a sawmill and stave factory on the banks of the Portage River.  Becker and his sons, James and Burton, began manufacturing bicycles in Elmore 1892.

Looking for more spacious quarters to produce the Elmore bicycles, the Beckers in 1893 purchased an empty organ factory in Clyde, Ohio. The Elmore Manufacturing Company was located at 51 Amanda Street in Clyde from 1893 to 1912. From an operation that employed 50 workers and produced 500 bicycles in 1892, the new Clyde plant was able to manufacture 1,500 bicycles in 1898 with 80 employees.

Elmore Manufacturing Company, Clyde, Ohio

Not willing to sell their business to the American Bicycle Company, a trust, the Beckers quit making bicycles in 1897, and began to concentrate their energies on automobiles. The following year the Beckers began the construction of a two-cycle motor, and had a car on the road by early 1900.  By February 1 of that year, the very first Elmore car had been assembled with the  second following three months later. In 1902 the Beckers introduced a horizontal-type motor, changing the design in 1903 to a two-cylinder engine.

As production increased at the Clyde plant, more than 200 workers were employed, producing an average four cars per day.  On October 28, 1908, the Becker brothers incorporated the Elmore Manufacturing Company under the laws of the state of Ohio.  Nearly a year  later, James and Burton Becker, who had earlier bought out their father's interest in the car business, sold the company to General Motors on November 25, 1909 for a reported one million dollars. Burton A, Becker was to continue as the firm's general manager.

From Clyde,  Ohio to Detroit, Michigan

The year following the sale, GM spent $600,000 on an addition to the Elmore plant. At the height of its operation, the Elmore plant had nearly 500 employees who produced 1,100 to 1,200 cars each year.  The sudden resignation of Burton Becker in 1911 prompted General Motors to relocate the Elmore headquarters in Detroit. Later that year General Motors without notice closed the Elmore car works in Clyde, shipping all the factory's machinery to Detroit. The 1912 production was to include the following car line: Torpedo Roadster, Light Torpedo, and a five-passenger touring car.

In 1912 the "Fremont Daily News" reported that the former Elmore plant was to be sold to the Clyde Motor Company.  Although Krebs Commercial Cars and later Clydesdale Trucks  operated out of the old Elmore plant, both were only assembly jobs.  The depression of 1929 ended forever automobile production in Clyde, except for steering wheel parts made by the J.M. Machine Shop. With the dismantling of the Elmore car factory, no further Elmore cars were ever produced.

A version of this post first appeared on the Sandusky-County-Scrapbook that is no longer featured on the Internet.

Ohio's Revolutionary War Soldiers' Gravesites

 In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States of America 250-Ohio, in partnership with the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office, Terracon Consultants, Inc., Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution, are documenting the grave sites of Revolutionary War veterans buried in Ohio. 

More than 200,000 soldiers served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Lacking funds to pay its veterans, millions of acres in Ohio were set aside for veterans who received bounty land warrants to settle on. It is because of these lands, known as the United States Military Bounty and the Virginia Military Bounty, that as many as 7,000 veterans are buried in over 1,700 Ohio cemeteries. 

In early 2025, a campaign began to record  the gravestones of American Revolutionary War veterans and patriots buried in Ohio. This effort, the first of its kind in the state, calls on Ohioans to participate in field data collection. With more than 7,000 veterans' graves to document, public researchers are asked to help in this great task. 

These organizations believe it is our duty to document the past so that "generations yet unborn may know the sacrifice and achievement of their forbearers". For more information on how you can participate, go to the  Grave Marker & Cemetery Collection portal. Your help is needed in this monumental effort. 

As noted in an earlier post, on May 17th at 1 P.M. Ottawa County Ohio will honor five known Revolutionary War soldiers at the Wolcott Family Cemetery in Danbury Twp.

Old First Presbyterian Church, Fremont, Ohio

The Presbyterian Church of Fremont, Ohio was founded in 1833 by twenty-two  residents, of which all but two had been  members of churches elsewhere.  

According to Homer Everett's History of  Sandusky County, they originally gathered in a log schoolhouse and then met regularly in the Lower Sandusky (Fremont, Ohio) courthouse. Prayer meetings were held at the minister's home on Justice Street.

Old Presbyterian Church

Fremont, Ohio

Courtesy of  Rutherford B, Hayes Presidential Library and Museums

Members met in various locations until they decided to build a church.  The trustees purchased a lot on the northwest corner of Main (now Park Avenue) and Garrison.  A building committee was appointed in 1844 and the above structure was dedicated January 10, 1847. Built of brick in the classical style, the church measured 45 by 60 feet and featured a bell tower. In 1852, the congregation added a lecture room at the rear of the church. 

In 1869, the Presbyterians subscribed $25,000 for a new building to be constructed on the same location.  During its construction, members met at what was then known as Birchard Hall. On the 28th  of April, 1870, the new church was dedicated. The total cost, which was completely paid for at its dedication, was $40,000

Some records can be found at the Rutherford Hayes Library and Museums.  A photocopy of the church's records from 1833 to 1885 appears in the Reading Room of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library under the title Records of the Presbyterian Church in Lower Sandusky, Volume I, 1833 - 1885.  The volume includes an index of names of members whose baptisms, dismissals, transfers, and deaths appear in the records. The index has been entered in a genealogy database in the library and also appears online (rbhayes.org/index). The bulk of the church's records are available in  the  Hayes Presidential Local History Manuscripts Collection.

Atkins Papers: Proposals for Constructing the Bridge Across the Carrying River at Woodville, Ohio,

List of Bids Submitted for Constructing the Bridge across the Carrying River at Woodville, Ohio
1825

The scanned documents are part of the Quintus F. Atkins Business Papers recently donated to Hayes by Mr. Harry Wilkins on behalf of the Tabor Historical Society of Tabor, Iowa.  They were preserved by Martha Atkins, who graduated from Oberlin College where she met her husband John Todd. Before moving to Tabor, Martha and John  were active in Oberlin’s anti-slavery and temperance movements.

Martha’s father, Quintus F. Atkins was appointed by the state of Ohio as Superintendent of the Maumee and Western Reserve Road that passed through the Black Swamp.  Having discovered the description of the Atkins Papers held by HPLM, Wilkins and the Tabor Historical Society believed that Tabor's Atkins Papers could be better utilized if it were merged with those located here at Hayes Presidential.

A portion of Tabor's Atkins Papers includes proposals sent to Atkins from Sandusky Countians, hoping to gain the contract to build a bridge across the “Carrying River” (i.e. the Portage River) where the road passed through Woodville, Ohio.

Atkins listed the names of bidders, their sureties, amounts proposed, and expected dates of completion. The eleven proposals listed in the first document were written during the spring of 1825. Tabor's Atkins Papers include a total of 18 proposals. Below is that of Thomas Miller. Thomas and Harriet Miller owned a tavern at the site where the Portage River (Carrying) crossed the Maumee and Western Reserve Road (now Rte. 20) as early as 1825.

Proposal Submitted by Thomas Miller
1825

Unfortunately, Tabor's Atkins Papers do not provide evidence of who was awarded the contract. A Sketchbook of Woodville, Ohio: Past – Present, written in 1986 for the village’s sesquicentennial, states on page 14 that the “first bridge over the Portage River in Woodville was a covered wooden bridge. It is not known just when it was built.” The latest date proposed by a bidder was August of 1826. The requirements stipulated that the bridge should be capable of withstanding ice, flooding, and driftwood for a period of three years. The wooden bridge did all that and much more; it was not razed until 1878 when it was replaced with an iron bridge. 

Bidders were:
John P. Rogers
James Birdseye
Josiah Rumery
Ezra Williams
S. B. Collins
James Justice
George J. Moore
Jacques Hulburd
Joseph Wood
Seth Doren
Jonathan H. Jerome

Founding of the Ames Dental Laboratory

During the late 19th century, dentistry was becoming a distinct profession. Rather than serving apprenticeships, future dentists were attending actual schools where they learned from educators, chemists, and physicians. Sandusky Countian William Van Bergen Ames was one of those, graduating with honors in 1880 from the Ohio Dental College in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Dr. William V. B. Ames

It wasn’t long before Dr. Ames headed to Chicago where he researched, lectured, and patented new techniques at a time when dentistry was rapidly turning from extracting to saving decaying teeth. Eliminating the decay and filling the remaining cavity posed numerous problems. Dentists needed a substance that was at once both hard (to withstand chewing) yet pliable enough to be molded.

Dentists used resin, molten metal, mercury, zinc, and gold, but each had its drawbacks.

Through his research Dr. Ames developed a cement or composite that was hard, easily molded, and long lasting. Most importantly, it had no side effects for the patient. Dr. Ames lectured on numerous topics to young dentists and then helped found the school of dentistry at Northwestern University.

A short time later, he opened his own laboratory to produce what became known as Ames Dental Cement. His success with the new composite led to other products, including the development of gold inlays. Dentists throughout the United States used his cement and other products with great success. Eventually, dental supply houses from around the world purchased Ames Dental Products.

Storefront Displaying Ames Dental Products

Dr. Ames benefitted greatly and soon became a millionaire. With his new found wealth, he purchased Briar Ridge, a dairy farm near Libertyville, Illinois, that he and his wife dearly loved. Always generous, Dr. Ames also helped friends and family gain an education.

By 1906, his laboratory had outgrown the Chicago facility. It was then that Ames’ thoughts turned, once again, to Fremont and his two sisters, Jane and Nell. Still living in the family home on High Street, they helped their brother produce the composite on a small scale. Dr. Ames proposed converting the barn behind the residence into a modern laboratory. He placed his sisters in charge. The number of employees grew and other Ames products were manufactured at the laboratory. Eventually, the company found a new site at 137 Adams St. (see nearby photo) where it existed until as late as 1965!

137 Adams Street Fremont, Ohio

Dr. Ames and his wife began to look for a warmer place to spend their retirement years. South of Phoenix, they purchased land from the state of Arizona and began construction of what was described as one of the “oddest and most unique homes ever built in the west.” In reality, “Ahwatukee,” as it became known, was truly modern, convenient, and finely constructed. Still in existence, the house originally featured 17 rooms, seven bathrooms, and four fireplaces. The exterior utilized both Spanish and Hopi styles of architecture. There were quarters for servants and guests. The couple moved in during Thanksgiving of 1921. But there was little time for Dr. Ames to enjoyhis retirement home. In poor health, he passed away only three months later.                                                                                                                            .      

Discovering an Ancient Superstitious Practice

Child's Well Worn Concealed Shoe

Demons, ghosts, fairies, spirits, and witches have been part of the world’s history from the earliest of times. Spells, chants, charms, potions, and particular customs have been used by the superstitious to ward off evil spirits and protect them and their loved ones from demonic activities. Some took to using special customs to call up help from friendly spirits to bestow fertility or increase the family’s prosperity.  

At a recent event at Hayes, Sandy Riojas told about a little farmhouse located in Oak Harbor, Ohio that her husband and she own. Built in 1910, the house is now occupied by their daughter. Recently, while her husband was replacing an outside door, a child’s shoe (pictured nearby) fell down. It seems rather unusual at the time. But while sharing this occurrence with a friend, she learned that sometimes people placed old shoes above doorways to bring good luck.

Upon further research, Sandy learned that there is an actual name for this practice. It is called “concealed shoes.” She shared her research with us. Shoes have been found hidden away since the 1300s in buildings throughout Europe and around the world, including the U.S. They have been found in chimneys, around doorways and windows, under floorboards, above ceilings, and in roofs. They have been discovered in country houses, homes, schools, hospitals, palaces, pubs, a Baptist church, a monastery, and even Charlie Chaplin’s old movie studio! More than a thousand concealed shoes have been found in Western Europe alone!

The Northampton Museum in England has created a concealed shoe index, reaching nearly 2,000 entries. Here is a little of what they have learned. Most shoes were placed at the time of construction. Generally only one shoe is concealed. Folklorists theorize that by concealing a single shoe, demons would not steal it.  Almost all shoes discovered are worn. Perhaps people could not afford to use new shoes?  Most were made of leather, but wooden clogs and rubber galoshes have been uncovered. There are more left shoes than right. Many of the shoes belonged to children. 

According to a Wikipedia article, there has always been a connection between shoes and fertility. We have all heard the nursery rhyme “The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe” (who had so many children she didn’t know what to do.)  And many of us recall seeing old shoes trailing from the bumpers of newlyweds’ cars. The Northampton Museum thinks that the significance of shoes rests in the fact that they are the only item that takes on the shape of the wearer.  The museum also notes that a side benefit to their “condealed shoes” collection is that they have learned what common people wore hundreds of years ago.     

The Buzzards Return to Ohio

The image above was taken this week on the grounds of Spiegel Grove by Hayes Presidential Library and Museums Head of Photographic Resources Gilbert Gonzalez. Each spring and fall turkey vultures - often called buzzards, arrive from the south and gather in the huge trees on the grounds of Spiegel Grove. They roost quietly for several days before soaring off ever so gracefully on the thermals as they search for carrion across northwest Ohio. Their six-foot wingspan allows the buzzards to glide effortlessly for hours. They will lay their eggs on ledges, the ground and in hollow logs, crevices, and abandoned barns (mine included). 

Perhaps the most well-known Ohio location for the roosting of turkey vultures each spring is in  Hinckley Twp. in Medina County.  Like clockwork they arrive each year on March 15th.

According to  a Medina County history referenced by Mark Price in an Akron Beacon Journal article, the arrival of the buzzards is directly connected to the "Great Hinckley Hunt of 1818." Some 500 pioneers in the area gathered on December 24th to eliminate the wolves, bears, and other wildlife who were destroying their crops and livestock. The hunters encircled the area of Hinckley Twp., driving the creatures into a confined space where they were killed. One account states the 21 bears, 17 wolves, 300 deer, and other wildlife provided a Christmas Day feast for the hunters' families. In the spring, the carcasses attracted a gathering of  buzzards in Hinckley Twp. that has continued each spring for two centuries. 

1n 1957, Hinckley residents began celebrating Buzzard Day On the first Sunday after March 15th, more than 1,000 residents and visitors gather to enjoy Hinckley's hospitality with the day filled with good food and old fashioned fun and games.

Dr. John W. Jones and the American Colonization Society

Home of Dr. John W. Jones, Shelby County, Ohio

The letters below were written to the American Colonization Society by Dr. John W. Jones, ancestor of  Charles Weiker, who provided the photograph of Dr. Jones' home in Shelby County.  According to Dr. Jones' letters, written in the early 1850s, he wanted to learn more about the organization and Liberia through its publication "The African Repository."

He states that he moved from Tennessee to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1834. He moved to Mercer County and then to Shelby County around 1838. He correctly believed that "the two races could not dell [sp] together much longer, apon [sp] one soil." Only eight years later the United States would be at war. 

The American Colonization Society existed until after the Civil War. The organization worked with the United States government to transport approximately 12,000 African Americans to Liberia. 

May 24, 1853

Dear Sir. I will now give you some information, abought my self and family. I am a colered man with one fourth of African blood, and my wife is about the same. I move from the state of Tenessee, in the year 1824 to the city of Cincinnati and live there ten years and move one hundred miles north in mercer county fuour years, sence then I move to Shelby county wher I now reside at present. We have six children four sons and two daughters my childen lives most of them in Cincinnati and are apose to going to Liberia and I am sorry for it. I have ben in the notion of going to Liberia for a few years past but, I have ben in debt So I could not go. If I could sell my little farm and pay my debts, my children wil come and see me this sommer if they can, and we will try to come on soam understanding, abought it. Please send me, the pamphlet containing abought going to Liberia and a few of the Liberia newspapers if you can. If I can sell my land and git some of my children to go with with me I want to go some time next year or the year, after. If the Lord is willen. Please to answer this letter, as soon as you can. I am a doing a great deale of good and have done, with the pamphlets.

Please excuse my orthographey.                                                                                 Dr. J.W. Jones


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May 24^th – 1853. Shelby County Ohio

John. W. Jones, to the Rev. W. Mclain.

Dear Sir. Some good friend a few years past sent me the African repository but it discontinued, in the year, 1851. I rote to Mr. D. Crista to have it sent to me and write to me and I would send him the money I got no anser from him. Last winter I herd that ther was some pamphlets in the post office for me, and I went and got two numbers befour January 1853. And they have come monthly sence. I wated for a letter from, Mr. D. Crista to know if he had paid for the year, I got no letter from him, so I thought he had not paid for them. I now sir send you two dollars, on the State bank of Ohio. I wanted for the post master to put it in and back this letter to you. And you can rite to me when to send you some more money. I wish for you to write my name, Dr. J.W. Jones, it is the name I am known by. I am indian doctor or botinast.

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Dear Sir I have ben taking some notice of the American Colonization Society ever sence its formation, and think it riseing and importence, and one of the greatest blessings for the colored people in the united states of America, if they did, but think so but the most of them have and are blinded to their best intrust to the present day. By listing to a socitey of people, that is not their true frinds, but is dying away very fast. Our people is very ignert abougt Liberia and the goodness of the county, So I make a great allowance for them. For a very few of them can read or take news papers or the repository, to inform them selves. Very few of them are aware that the government is a making, any priperation to send them to Liberia, for they are astonuous, to hear that the different states are pasing sick streous laws as to prohibit them from going into any of the free states and settle. I do believe that the two races of people cannot dell to geather much longer, apon one soil, a greable to the bible. For the gospel must be prached to all, the nations of the earth be four the end of time. And who is better calculated to bear the glad tidings of the gosple to Africa then the colered people of the united states of America, with their own concent. All they want I think is information on the subject and let each state tell them planly to make a priperation for moving some where, out of this country.

Croghan Street, Fremont, Ohio - But What and When?

This black and white print was recently donated to the Hayes Presidential Center. The undated image was taken on Fremont, Ohio's Croghan Street by Grob Studio. Uniformed men on horseback appear prominently in the photograph, but there is no indication of what the event is. If anyone knows what event is taking place and/or the date, please contact Nan Card (ncard@rbhayes.org) or reply to this post. Thank you in advance!

Railroad Bridge Crew, Fremont, Ohio, 1907

The photograph above was taken by professional Fremont, Ohio photographer Elmer Whitney. He dated the photograph February 7, 1907. A search of the Fremont newspapers around this date did not reveal any articles on the subject of this railroad bridge. Was this a construction crew? or a repair crew? None of the individuals is identified.

Fremont, Ohio St. John's Lutheran Church Confirmation Classes: 1902 and 1904

St. John's Lutheran Church, Fremont, Ohio confirmation class photographs  (May 18,1902 above and May 22, 1904 below were shared with us by Joan Jahns, Fremont, Ohio. The tall boy in the center of the photograph is Will Jahns. Others are unknown.

Second Row, seated from the left, Nettie Jahns, sister of Will Jahns. Others are unknown.  

Ensign Lysander C. Ball of the U.S.S. Vindicator

 

Gunboat U.S.S. Vindicator at Vicksburg

Grant Dickinson Collection

Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center

 

 

Ensign Lysander C. Ball, Jr.

 

Grant Dickinson Collection

Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center

 

 

 

Lysander C. Ball, Jr. enlisted in the U. S. Navy at the age of 23 in July 1862 at Fremont, Ohio. He served as an ensign aboard the gunboat "U.S.S. Vindicator" as part of the Mississippi Squadron. Ensign Ball sent this carte de visite of the "U.S.S. Vindicator" at Vicksburg to sisters Alvira and Elvina Ball, living at home in Fremont, Ohio.  Ensign Ball initially served on board the "U.S.S. Petrel," which was captured and destroyed by the Confederates on April 22,1864. He was then assigned to the "U.S.S. Vindicator." The vessel was reworked for use as a ram and was assigned command of the 5th District of the squadron on July 4th, 1864 and deployed off  Natchez, Mississippi. 

 

Following the Civil War, Ensign Ball returned to Fremont and married Hannah Morrison. The were the parents of five children: Martha, Charles, Elvira, Alma, and Evelina. After farming in Sandusky County, Ball moved to Lisbon County, North Dakota.

 

  

Died January 17, 1902

Lisbon, Ransom County, North Dakota

 

Courtesy of Find a Grave