Captain Morris Rees Remembers

Captain Morris Rees

Through the recollections of Civil War soldiers, we learn that they, like others who have served in combat, struggled with the haunting memories of their experience. One of those was Captain Morris Rees, the last surviving commissioned officer of the 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

Before the war, Rees lived near Rollersville, Ohio, surrounded by a large number of his Welsh relatives. He remembered that at the age of 23, he “had the war fever so bad” that he left his wife and child “and went to Woodville alone in the night for the purpose of enlisting.” So filled with patriotism was Rees, that he recruited his friends, neighbors, and relatives to join him in fighting for the Union cause.

But the Civil War was not the glorious adventure Captain Rees had envisioned. He endured some of the conflict’s most horrific battles, disease, wounds, and months of imprisonment. Rees survived, but many of those he had recruited did not. After the war, Captain Rees wrote that he had “often looked at that long list of names and thought how soon they were all used up, nearly all gone in less than a year.”

Among the many Rees recruited was his uncle Evan, who died shortly after enlisting. He left behind a widow and three sons in a fragile economic state. Perhaps most painful for Rees was the death of his younger brother John. Immediately after Captain Rees’ release from prison, he went directly to Andersonville where his brother had languished near death for more than nine months. With the war nearly at an end, Captain Rees gained his brother’s freedom by threatening the Rebel guard with his life. But John was so weak that he died before reaching home.

When the veterans of the 72nd gathered for reunions, they rarely recounted their victories and their heroic war deeds. Instead, Captain Rees and others became pre-occupied with compiling and publishing the names, death dates, and burial places of their lost comrades. As survivors, it was their way of honoring the suffering and sacrifice of their lost comrades.

Sharing their memories of death and loss was not enough. Rees and 16 Sandusky County veterans returned to the South in 1887. Rees recorded the condition of the cemeteries and the exact number of graves in each. Perhaps in some way, seeing the old battlefields and cemeteries brought a measure of healing to the captain. However, he remained deeply disturbed by the “thousands of unidentified dead.”

In time, Captain Rees and other veterans worked to erect monuments at home and on the battlefields of Shiloh, Antietam, Chickamauga, and Vicksburg. In this 150th year of commemoration, the monuments serve as vivid reminders of the suffering and sacrifice of so many who gave their “last full measure” in the defining moment of our nation’s history.

A version of this post appeared in Lifestyles 2000.

Haviland China Exhibit Opens May 15th at the Hayes Presidential Center

 The Gilded Age of Haviland China

In the early 19th century Americans turned to Europe when purchasing china. When importer David Haviland was unable to satisfy his customers’ tastes for highly embellished fine china from European manufacturers, good-old American ingenuity came into play. Haviland built his own factory in Limoges, France, to turn out the finest china in the world with artistic flourishes to satisfy his U.S. customers.

The Hayes Presidential Center gathers an impressive collection of some of the earliest examples of Haviland China (1865-1895) for display in its exclusive exhibit The Gilded Age of Haviland China. The exhibit, created in partnership with regional Haviland collectors, is set to open May 15, 2012, and continues through September 16. The Gilded Age of Haviland China is supported by funding from title sponsor - the Randolph J. & Estelle M. Dorn Foundation .

Mission Band Members: Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Fremont, Ohio

Mission Band Members
by Sliger's Cottage Art Studio

Fremont, Ohio

The picture above is identifed on the reverse as "Mission Band Members." The identities of the young women are given as: Amelia Heflinger, Ella Brockman, Fannie Brockman, Lula Hague, Hazel Biddle, Louise Wilson, Clara Totheroh, and Alta Stull. No date appears on this photograph that belonged to Estella Schultz. Miss Schultz was an active member of the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Fremont, Ohio for more than sixty years.

Ms. Schultz taught Sunday School, served as the president of the Women's Missionary Society. For 36 years, she was the president of the state branch of the Women's Missionary Society, and she also served as president of the Interdenominational Missionary Society, the forerunner of the Fremont Council of Church Women.

The purpose of mission bands was to create awarenes among young church members of the need for support of religious missionary work - both foreign and domestic. Using activities, maps, costumes, and letters, pictures, and reports from the field, leaders prepared young members for missionary work or for  the support of the denomination's efforts. 

Freedom's Pull Was Stronger than Ohio's Black Laws

Sarah Ellen Curtis

Granddaughter of Thomas Vincent Curtis
Sandusky County Ohio

The state of Ohio is often recognized as the first state formed from the Northwest Territory to outlaw slavery. Despite that, it did much to discourage African Americans from settling in the state. Only a year after statehood, it began passing a series of Black Laws. The reasons were two-fold. Many Ohio settlers were from southern states that allowed slavery. They were not inclined to grant equal rights. Others feared economic competition from African Americans whom they believed would work for lower wages

Among the laws was an 1807 provision that “black and mulattoes” must prove they were not slaves. The law also forced them to find two people to pay a bond of $500 who would testify to their good behavior and that they could support themselves Such laws, indeed, did discourage some African Americans from migrating to Ohio, but freedom’s pull was strong. Many risked everything to reach Ohio.

Township trustees rarely enforced these laws. The need for the skills that African Americans brought to pioneer communities outweighed all else. Men worked as plasterers, barbers, shoemakers, liverymen, carpenters, barge hands, tanners, and farmers. Women cooked, sewed, cared for children, and ran boarding houses.

In the 1840s, Ohio’s Black Laws became a political issue. For the first time, in 1841, Sandusky Township trustees warned 18 “Blacks and Mulattos” living in the township to present bond for their good behavior and support: Some were former slaves who had bought their freedom. Others had never been enslaved.

Regardless, trustees listed these individuals: John Lewis, Abraham Fine, Lewis Fontaine, Nancy Whetsel, Sarah Fine, Hannah Beardsley, James Whetsel, Penelope Demsey, William Davis, Thomas V. Curtis, William Thompson, James Curtis, Rachael Copeland, Jemima Hall, Robert and Sarah Handy, Richard Johnson, and Samuel Thompson.

Despite fear, hardships, and constant disruptions in their lives, many, like Thomas Curtis, remained in Ohio. A skilled tanner and currier, Curtis moved more than a dozen times after coming to the state as a boy in 1810. How many, if any, of these moves were the result of the Black Laws is not known. But once he reached Sandusky County, he made it his permanent home and raised children and grandchildren here while working for James Justice and Isaac Van Doren.

Until their repeal after the Civil War, Ohio’s Black Laws were a frightening and threatening ordeal for African Americans. Ironically, today, the lists represent a positive. African Americans’ search for their roots before 1865 is challenging. With few records available, lists like those recorded by Sandusky Township trustees can provide descendants with their ancestors’ names - both men and women and certainty of the time and place of their residence in Ohio.

A version of this article appeared in Lifestyles 2000.

Dr. Henry Skinner's Account of the Battle of Fort Stephenson

Five Maryland county historical societies have formed a consortium to build a website commemorating the War of 1812 on the state’s Eastern Shore. The website, appropriately titled Eastern Shore 1812 Consortium, is working “to provide in depth information, complete tourism access, and the best educational access for both   teachers and students.” The site features lesson plans, books, scans of newspaper articles, information about the U. S. Army, U. S. Navy, Maryland battles and skirmishes, African Americans, military leaders, Native Americans, ships, British viewpoints, government documents, links to important locations in each of the counties (Kent, Dorchester, Queen Anne’s, Talbot, and Caroline) and much more!

We thank members for kindly forwarding a scan of an article about the Battle of Fort Stephenson published in the Weekly Aurora newspaper. On 31 August 1813, the newspaper published an extract from a letter written 4 August 1813 from Lower Sandusky (Fremont, Ohio) by Dr. Henry Skinner to his brother of Annapolis, Maryland. Dr. Skinner provided a detailed firsthand account of action at the Battle of Fort Stephenson.

If you would like to learn more about the Battle of Fort Stephenson and Major George Croghan, go to Sandusky County Scrapbook.

Exhibit: The Wildlife Art of Bob Hines

Ohio native Robert Hines (1912-1994) holds the distinction of being the only National Wildlife Artist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Hines developed his love of nature growing up along the verdant banks of the Sandusky River in Fremont, Ohio. Despite almost no formal art training, Hines’ innate talent led him to become an internationally recognized wildlife artist and a pioneer of the conservation movement. His work illustrated a weekly newspaper feature, and numerous wildlife guides and books – including those by author Rachel Carson (a close personal friend) and Robert McClung (of Grizzly Adams fame).

The Hayes Presidential Center created The Wildlife Art of Bob Hines in celebration of the 100th year of Hines’ birth. Set for exhibition February 15 through August 14, the exhibit includes an array of original artwork from private and public collections. It is made possible through sponsorship from The Fremont Co., Diversified Insurance and Ohio Department of Natural Resources-Division of Wildlife.

Sidney Frohman Foundation Sponsors 2011 Hayes Center Onsite Visit for Sandusky City Schools

Hancock Elementary 4th Grade Students Tour the Hayes Center's Special Civil War Exhibit

In early November, students from Hancock Elementary are the first of nearly 300 4th grade students from five Sandusky City Elementary Schools to visit the Hayes Home and Hayes Museum. Their firsthand learning experience was made possible by The Sidney Frohman Foundation, who sponsored the students' participation in the Hayes Center's Curriculum Connections educational program. The Sidney Frohman Foundation is one of six original Curriculum Connections sponsors. Students. teachers, and the Hayes Presidential Center were pleased that the Sidney Frohman Foundation chose to sponsor students' onsite visit again in 2011!

Developed by the Hayes Presidential Center staff, Curriculum Connections is a three-part program, providing a "classroom satellite" experience by incorporating Ohio's Social Studies Academic Content Standards into a pair of DVD resources given to teachers for classroom use before and after students' onsite visit.

In a time of tight school budgets and greater emphasis on meeting curriculum goals, schools have been forced to cut back or eliminate visits to Ohio's historic sites. In the words of one teacher: " The Sidney Frohman Foundation's sponsorship of the Curriculum Connections program gave our students "a special opportunity to see the real thing! The historic past takes on new meaning for them! "

Curriculum Connections allows teachers and students to better connect with our nation’s past, Ohio’s history, and our local history while addressing Ohio’s Social Studies and English/Language Arts Academic Standards.

The program finds sponsors, like The Sidney Frohman Foundation, that are willing to cover admission and/or transportation costs for school children to visit the Hayes Presidential Center.

Hayes Presidential Center Development Director Kathy Boukissen is seeking additional sponsors for school systems that do not have adequate funding for a visit. For more information about Curriculum Connections or to donate to the program contact Kathy at 419-332-2081, ext. 26 or email her at kboukissen@rbhayes.org.