|
STATE REPORTS OHIO
The graves of nine soldiers in Defiance County were marked Saturday to designate their service in the War of 1812 — 200 years later. On hand at the Farmer Cemetery for the ceremony are, from left, Janet Burns, Elida; Carlajean and John H. Smith, Lima; Bill Fast, Paulding; Gladys Dunson, Defiance; Susan Leininger, Columbus; Gloria Fast, Paulding; and Joan Stipe, Van Wert. The research and ceremonies were the effort of the Defiance County Genealogy Society and the U.S. Daughters of 1812. (Staff photo by Glyn Buntain) Published in the Bryan Times, September 17, 2012. Submitted by President Ohio Society, Susan Leininger WONDERFUL LIBRARY DISPLAYS CONTRIBUTED BY SHARON MYERS
Cayahoga Falls, Ohio Library
Stow Library
Summit County Library
BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATES IN OHIO WITH A PARADE IN CAYAHOGA FALLS OHIO BY MEMBERS OF THE WILLIAM WETMORE CHAPTER
Guest Column written by Sharon Myer, President of the William Wetmore Chapter U.S. Daughters of 1812 and Published in Cuyahoga Falls News, April 29, 2012 Guest Column: Taming of the wilderness: back in the early days of The Western Reserve April 29, 2012
by Sharon Myers The year 2012 is the bicentennial of the War of 1812. This is the fifth in a series of columns that the Cuyahoga Falls News-Press is publishing in remembrance of the war and the local people who were involved in the events surrounding it. The Western Reserve was also known as New Connecticut. It was 3.3 million acres of forest stretching from the Pennsylvania border 120 miles west to Sandusky Bay and averaging about 50 miles north to south. It has been called the last stand of Puritanism in the United States. In 1662 following the practice of the day of rewarding land to subjects who would settle afar, England's King Charles II granted to the colony of Connecticut all land between the 41st and 42nd parallels north from Pennsylvania westward. The grant was vague, but Connecticut interpreted it as extending to the Pacific Ocean. In 1792 it was agreed that the 500,000 westernmost acres would be set aside as the Fire Lands for eastern Connecticut residents who had been burned out by the British in the Revolution. The 1785 Treaty of Fort McIntosh set the Cuyahoga River and Portage Path as the western boundary of the U.S. and everything to the west was Indian Territory. In 1795 Connecticut sold most of the Reserve to the Connecticut Land Company for $1.2 million. Investors in the Land Company hoped to settle in the Reserve or sell their holdings at a profit. But first, the land needed to be surveyed and that fell to General Moses Cleaveland, a large investor in the firm. In 1796 Cleaveland and 51 men left Connecticut for the Reserve. Upon arriving in New Connecticut he built a supply station in Conneaut. Joshua Stow had already built a warehouse there named "Stow's Castle." By the fall of 1797 all township lines in the Reserve had been completed. The taming of the wilderness had begun. In Connecticut, deeds were made out to the 35 parties of the 3 million Western Reserve acres as their investment indicated. Specific plots of ground were not assigned. When the survey was finished and the land assessed, a ticket was made out for each specific section of land. The tickets were separated into first, second or third class land and five separate drawings held over the next five years. A man entitled to 1,000 acres, drawing tickets from the three piles, might draw land in three different townships in three different ranges. Nothing prevented him from swapping tickets with someone to consolidate his holdings. Ohio was the first state settled by people of our own country. The individualism that the pioneers had from the freedom of shaping their life amid the solitude of a self-created forest clearing had resulted in a temperament that gave action prominence over words. William Wetmore came to Ohio from Middletown, Conn. to sell land in Stow Township for his cousin Joshua Stow. In return for his efforts, he had the privilege of buying 1,000 acres at $1.25 per acre. The Wetmores built their second home on the Southwest corner of Silver Lake in 1807. The house still stands today at 3020 Kent Road. At one time Wetmore established a store between the lake and Cuyahoga Falls, at Old Village. Two worn steps in front of his house that date to the War of 1812 are referred to as "the Treaty steps." Wetmore befriended the Indians, shaking hands and smoking a peace pipe on these steps. Five hundred huts lined Route 59 and extended from the lake to the Cuyahoga River. Shortly before the War of 1812, the Wetmores noticed their Native American friends were holding a war council. As daybreak approached, the Native American camp appeared deserted and the Wetmores ventured down to the huts and found them empty. It is believed that the British tried to convince the Native Americans to kill the Americans, but the British plea was ignored. The highway past Silver Lake has been an important thoroughfare since the first settlement of the state. The stages which passed Judge Wetmore's home from Warren to Wooster and down to Marietta, connected at Stow Corners with the coaches from Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Wetmore was appointed Commissary during the War of 1812 by General Elijah Wadsworth. He was to see that supplies for the troops flowed freely through the area. In a letter dated Oct. 7, 1812 to his family in Connecticut William Wetmore wrote, "we live in a world of trouble and disappointments, however; we now feel quite safe as we have a considerable military force to the west of us. The Indians and their good friends and allies, the British, have seen fit to leave this area. Every man liable to do military duty is now out which throws off my farming. Living on the Great Road [Route 59], by which all military pass, we seldom eat a meal without someone new at the table." William's farm extended from Silver Lake to Route 91/Darrow Road and on the east side of Route 59. The Stow-Munroe Falls Library occupies some of the old farm, as well as some commercial buildings and Wetmore Park on Wetmore Avenue near Holy Family Church. When Judge William Wetmore began the settlement of the town of Manchester (Cuyahoga Falls) in 1812, he built a dam near the present location of the River Estates Bridge. The dam serviced a lumber mill that milled wood for the Navy boat yard at Old Portage during the War of 1812. This wood was allegedly used to make gunboats for the Battle of Lake Erie or Schenectady boats to move troops and supplies along the rivers. Contact Sharon Myers, President of the William Wetmore Chapter Daughters of 1812 at 330-794-5099. Series of Articles on War of 1812 writte by Sharon Myers and Published in the Tallmade Express Many 1812 veterans are buried in local townsJuly 8, 2012
Guest Column by Sharon Myers The year 2012 is the bicentennial of the War of 1812. This is the seventh in a series of columns that Tallmadge Express is publishing featuring local veterans who served in the war. There are several reasons why President Madison declared War in 1812: After the Revolutionary War, foreign warships frequently attacked American ships and forced the men to serve with a foreign military. More than 15,000 U.S. sailors were impressed to serve on British ships. Britain needed more sailors to man their ships during the Napoleonic Wars and they were also looking for deserters. Britain introduced a series of trade restrictions to slow American trade with France while Britain was at war. We contested these restrictions. Britain also thought that we were a threat to their maritime supremacy. The American merchant marine doubled between 1802 and 1810. Britain was our largest trading partner, but they were resentful of our growing competition. Indians claimed territory in the West and were becoming increasingly hostile to American settlers. Some joined the British Army hoping to force out settlers - others continued to attack the pioneers. The British supported the Indian attacks. Great Britain wanted to limit our expansion. We were also in a period of serious political conflict between the Federalist Party which favored a strong central government and closer ties to Britain and the Democratic-Republican Party which favored a weak central government, preservation of slavery, a break with Britain and expansion into Indian Territory. 1812 was the year that Napoleon marched to Moscow. The British viewed the conflict with America as an annoying sideshow. Britain relied on a maritime economic blockade to defeat France. The British didn't like the fact that they lost the American Colonies after the Revolutionary War. Britain had no interest in fighting this war except to keep the U.S. from taking any part of Canada. By 1814 the American economy had collapsed due to the devastating economic blockade by Britain. The abdication of Napoleon in April 1814 gave the British the option of increasing their military effort to secure a victory. Some of the veterans of the War of 1812 who are buried in Summit County fought in other states during the war and ended up in Ohio during the end of their lives. One of these veterans is Captain Horace Herrick who is buried in Locust Grove Cemetery in Twinsburg. He was born May 24, 1796 in Norwich, Conn., and died March 20, 1894 of old age -- he was 98! He was captain at Pittsfield of a company that escorted Lafayette from Albany to Pittsfield when he visited this country in 1824. There were no railroads then, so he was taken from city to city in a coach with four horses and a cavalry escort. Captain Herrick was in the Connecticut Militia under Captain Freegift Tuthill during the War of 1812. He lived most of his life in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, but for the four years preceding his death, he lived in Twinsburg. He was said to be jovial and cheerful and beloved by all who knew him. He came from a family of eleven brothers and four sisters. He married Mary Noble and they had no children. Israel Cannon is another veteran who was a minute man in the Massachusetts Militia during the War of 1812. He came to Ohio in 1833. He was a Justice of the Peace in Massachusetts. He was born May 2, 1786 in Massachusetts and died June 19, 1865. He married Lucinda Parks and they had seven children. He is also buried in Locust Grove Cemetery. Col. John C. Hart was born in Cornwall, Conn. April 17, 1798. He moved to Genessee Co., N.Y. with his parents in 1802. He enlisted at the age of 14 in a company of cavalry at Rochester, N.Y. under Captain Stone and fought at Newark and Ft. George. He was at the burning of Buffalo and the Battle of Chippewa. He was at Black Rock as a bearer of dispatches when the British attacked Ft. Erie in 1814. Col. Hart obtained his military title by raising a regiment of cavalry at Middlebury under the old Militia law of the State of Ohio and of which he was commander at the time it disbanded. He came to Ohio in 1815. He married Margaret Sterling and Mary Sterling. He had six children. He died Aug. 20, 1880 and is buried in E. Akron Cemetery. Josiah Arnold was born Oct. 13, 1796 in the Western part of Connecticut and moved to Sandlefield, Massachusetts in 1810 where he served an apprenticeship to the cooper's trade. He volunteered as a soldier to take the place of a friend who was drafted in 1814 and served until the close of the war under Captain J.S. Cotlin, Massachusetts Militia. He then moved to Lebanon, N.Y. in 1815 and took up residence in Copley in 1832. He married Phoebe Smith and they had three sons and five daughters. He was Justice of the Peace for 10 years. He died April 23, 1861 and is buried in Copley Cemetery. Col. Milton Arthur was born 1794 in Massachusetts. He served in the Massachusetts Militia. He came to Ohio in 1820 and was Summit County's second elected treasurer. He is said to have been kind and obliging to family and friends. He was very prosperous. He died January 30, 1856 and is buried in Northfield Cemetery Summit County had musicians in the War of 1812. June 3, 2012
Guest Column by Sharon Myers The year 2012 is the bicentennial of the War of 1812. This is the sixth in a series of columns that Tallmadge Express is publishing on the war. Music and war do not seem to have any relation to modern-day observers. Music did, however, serve a vital function in the past. During the War of 1812, fifes and drums were used to give signals at camp, like the call to arms or while the infantry marched, the drummer and fifer set the cadence. During the marches the fifer improvised tunes. While the units rested, the drummers and fifers played music to entertain the soldiers. Fifes and drums were mainly associated with infantry regiments. The fife is loud and piercing, yet small and portable. A band of fifes and drums could be heard up to three miles away over artillery fire, so they were useful for signaling on the battlefield. Drummer boys were as young as nine years old. They faced the enemy with little more than a drum and a pair of sticks. A few were the first to fall in the line of duty. Some youngsters lied about their age and were enlisted with little scrutiny. Those who were clearly underage became drummers. The typical drummer boy was between 12 and 16 years old. They often had to clean up battle areas after confrontations. They carried wounded soldiers on stretchers and buried the dead. They often joined the army ranks when they got older. This reduced the need to find new, inexperienced soldiers to enlist. Drummers played a vital role as they served as the primary means of communication between officers and men. The drummers' communication function was so important that they often had their own special uniforms. The song "Yankee Doodle" was used as a victory cry when the Canadian squadron sailed away from its abortive attempt upon Sackets Harbor in July 1812, and probably at other times. At some point during the war, the Marines adopted the bugle into field music. Bugle-horns were much more like hunting horns than modern bugles are. Summit County has a wealth of fifers and drummers buried in its cemeteries: Thomas Gaylord was a Fifer under Captain Thomas Rice in the Ohio Militia. He was born April 24, 1782, in Connecticut and died in 1868. He married Betsy Butler and Isabel Rogers and had seven children. He is buried in Stow Cemetery. Josiah Starr was a Drum Major under Major George Darrow in the Odd Battalion. He had militia training. He came to Ohio with an ox team with William Wetmore, Capt. Powers and Capt. Rice and their families and John Campbell in 1804. He is said to have cut the first tree used in a log house built by William Wetmore. He received a land warrant. He was born in Middletown, Middlesex, Conn. July 22, 1786, and died June 1, 1862. He married Mary Cannon and had seven children. He is buried in Maple Lawn Cemetery. Mark Gibson was a Drummer under Capt. Samuel Stewart in the Ohio Militia. He was born Feb. 10, 1789, and died June 5, 1870. He is buried in Northfield Cemetery. Henry Wilson was a Musician in the Ohio Militia under Capt. John Ferris. He is buried in Northfield Cemetery. Also in Northfield Cemetery, Henry Wood was a Fifer under Captain Amos Lusk in the Ohio Militia. He married Ester Cranmer. He was born 1789 in Connecticut and died Oct. 14, 1882. And also buried in Northfield Cemetery is Hiram Munn who was a Drummer Boy at Sacket's Harbor. He came to Ohio in 1817. He was a carpenter and cabinet maker and a licensed minister. He was born Aug. 12, 1800, and died March 29, 1880. He married Esther Cranmer. Stephen M. Palmer was a Fife Major in the 2nd Regiment Ohio Militia. A Fife Major was a noncommissioned officer responsible for the regiment's fifers. He was born April 28, 1789, in New London, Conn. and died Dec. 6, 1849. He married Sarah Stafford. He is buried in Middlebury Cemetery. Robert Stimpson was a Fifer in the New York Militia Hopkin's 1st Regiment. He was born in 1800 in Massachusetts and died April 1, 1861. He is buried in Copley Cemetery. Also, did you know, the symbol "Uncle Sam," has its roots all the way back to the War of 1812? Sam is pictured as a tall, thin man with white whiskers, wearing a top hat, blue jacket with tails, and red and white striped pants. Samuel Wilson was a businessman in meat packing in Troy, N.Y. He slaughtered and packed meat for the government after war was declared against Great Britain in 1812. Meat was purchased by the government, packed in barrels and shipped to the soldiers. Wilson supplied huge amounts of property for the government with the simple markings, "U.S." His employees were asked the meaning of the initials, and someone suggested that it meant "Uncle Sam," or "Uncle Sam Wilson." The joke spread, and the initials "U.S." standing for "Uncle Sam," became a popular expression. The meat shipments stamped with "U.S." came to symbolize the federal government. There will be a display of the War of 1812 at the Cuyahoga Falls Library during the month of June. Included in the display will be proclamations signed by mayors in Summit County proclaiming June 18, the day that war was declared, as Remembrance Day for the War of 1812. Smith Road bears name of pioneerApril 15, 2012
Guest Column by Sharon Myers The year 2012 is the bicentennial of the War of 1812. This is the fourth in a series of columns that Tallmadge Express is publishing featuring local veterans who served in the war. Smith Road played a big part in the history of Summit County and in the War of 1812. It very well may have been an Indian trace, adapted and straightened by the first white settlers in the area. Martin Smith arrived in our area in 1798 from Hartland, Conn. to see the land allotted to him in the Western Reserve, having served in the Revolutionary War in Connecticut. He prepared a home for his wife and seven children and went back to Connecticut to bring them back to Ohio. Smith cut through the forest and over the hills the road that bears his name -- the first road established in Summit County and recorded in 1809. During the War of 1812, General Elijah Wadsworth and his army, the 4th Division of the Ohio Militia, camped at Old Portage and it was necessary for them to keep Smith Road open from east to west to be ready to serve in either direction. Wadsworth was ordered to recut Smith Road through the woods from Old Portage in a northwesterly direction to Camp Avery, Milan. Hundreds of teams loaded and unloaded supplies each day, passing over Smith Road with their provisions, ammunitions, and troops. Recruits for General Hull's army marched over Smith Road and back again after the surrender there. General Simon Perkins, who commanded the Third Brigade of the 4th Division, also used Smith Road, as did the gallant Col. George Croghan in the defense of Ft. Stephenson in Fremont, Ohio. He and one cannon and 150 men defeated the 500 well-trained British forces and many Indians. Teams bringing produce to the mill or hauling logs for new cabins all used Smith Road. Another important thoroughfare dating back many centuries is Portage Path. It was the superhighway of its day, used by Indians, explorers and settlers. Portage Path was originally a beaten groove barely nine inches deep and wide enough for only one man and eight miles long. Many centuries of Indians carried their canoes over this path that divided the north-flowing Cuyahoga River and the south-flowing Tuscarawas River. This was the link between Lake Erie and the Gulf of Mexico. The mound builders, who were succeeded by the industrious Erie Indians, are said to have been the first to use this important portage. From 1785 until 1805 Portage Path marked the boundary line of the United States. Everything to the west was Indian Territory. It is one of the oldest paths in the country, showing on explorers' maps. Today Portage Path and Manchester Road follow the approximate route of the original path. Portage Path was cleared and made passable for teams in 1812 by Miner Spicer at his own expense for use in the War of 1812. Major Minor Spicer was born May 29, 1776 in Groton, Conn. and he died Sept. 11, 1855. He married Cynthia Allen and Hannah Allen Williams. He came to Ohio on horseback in 1810 from Connecticut. He served as a trustee of Portage Township and Justice of the Peace. He had nine children. He guarded the line from Old Portage to New Portage and part way to Cleveland during the War of 1812, serving as Major of the Ohio Militia under Captain Samuel Hale. He is buried in Glendale Cemetery. Gallant and young Major George Croghan, from Louisville, Ky., encamped on the Alfred Sweet farm on Smith Rd. enroute to the defense of Ft. Stephenson in Fremont. He and 160 men passed through Akron in August 1813 with supplies for General Harrison and Commodore Oliver Perry. Croghan shuttled "Old Betsy" from one bastion to another. He fought with only part of the cannon he brought from Pennsylvania because he was harassed by Indians and had to leave the other part behind. William Prior was born in Hampshire Co., Md. April 6, 1783. He came to Ohio with his father Simeon Prior in 1802; Simeon was the first white settler in Northampton. They came by ox teams to Lake Ontario; then in open boats via Lake Ontario, the Niagara River and Lake Erie to the mouth of the Cuyahoga and then through the unbroken wilderness. He cleared up and cultivated a farm on which he lived until he died. He was on familiar terms with the Indians and had the reputation of being a great hunter. He died June 8, 1872. He married Sarah Horton of West Virginia. After her death he married in 1824 Polly Culver of Canada. They raised a family of 14 children. He was justice of the peace and he was a Corporal in the War of 1812 under Captain Rial McArthur. He is buried in Harrington Cemetery Wright family settled in TallmadgeMarch 11, 2012
Guest Column by Sharon Myers The year 2012 is the bicentennial of the War of 1812. This is the third in a series of columns that Tallmadge Express is publishing featuring local veterans who served in the war. Capt. John Wright and his family, exchanged their farm in Litchfield Co., Conn., for lands owned in the Western Reserve and loaded up a wagon drawn by four oxen and an extra horse and a cow for milk in the wilderness and proceeded on toward Ohio in 1802. Their three sons, all served in Major George Darrow's Odd Battalion, attached to the 4th Division Ohio Militia under General Elijah Wadsworth in the War of 1812. The youngest, Ensign Alpha Wright was born Dec. 26, 1788 in Winsted, Conn. (as were all three brothers). He was 14 when his parents moved to Ohio with their family in 1802. In 1809 the Wrights came, from Morgan, Ohio with a load of household goods and moved into their log house in Tallmadge. They are said to be the first settlers in Tallmadge. Alpha married Lucy Foster in 1811 and they had 12 children. For nearly 40 years he was a member of the church and the choir. He helped organize a school for deaf mutes in 1827. Alpha died March 1, 1856. Amos Case Wright was born on Sept. 5, 1781. He married Lydia Avery and they moved to Tallmadge in 1808. He practiced medicine in Trumbull County from 1802 until moving to Tallmadge. He erected the first frame building in the township in 1810 and the first brick house in 1816. He served as an assistant surgeon during the War of 1812. He died May 19, 1845. John Wright, Jr. was born Jan. 11, 1780. He married Salona Gillett and they had 11 children. He died July 30, 1844. All are buried in Tallmadge Cemetery. On Aug. 17, 1812, General William Hull was moving the U.S. Northwestern Army north from Dayton to reinforce Detroit and be ready to invade Canada, but he surrendered to General Proctor and left all of Ohio without military protection and open to the British and the Indians. Terror was immense in Northeast Ohio after Hull's surrender. General Wadsworth received this news on Aug. 22 at Canfield and issued an order for his 4th Division State Militia to assemble at Cleveland to defend the frontier. On Aug. 23 he was at Ravenna with the 4th Brigade marching through Hudson and Bedford to Cleveland on the 26th. Hull was court-martialed and convicted of neglect of duty and sentenced to death. He was reprieved due to his Revolutionary services and advanced age of 59. Hull's surrender left a large frontier entirely unprotected. Our whole area was thrown into a fever of excitement. Women and children were put in safe places and the militias were summoned. General Simon Perkins and 300 men were immediately ordered from Cleveland to the Huron River to protect the frontier. Another 100 men under Rial McArthur and George Darrow soon joined them. After the declaration of the War of 1812 a report came from Canton, that the Greentown Indians were in arms and that they had butchered a number of families to the southwest of Tallmadge and would most likely be upon that township in the morning. Capt. John Wright's house was deemed best for a fort. Wright's sons and Jotham Blakely's (also a veteran of the War of 1812 under Capt. Samuel Hale) family gathered together for the expected attack. Only three out of 18 people were fit for duty. They set guard for the night. All were safe in the morning. Ephraim Clark patrolled the street all night. The next day they discovered that the alarm was caused by two deserters who were magnified into a party of Indians. Shortly after, came the surrender of Hull's army and another threat that the British troops would make a descent on the unprotected frontier. This alarm reached Tallmadge when the people were in church. The service instantly closed and muskets were taken up. Before nightfall they were relieved to find out that the supposed enemies were their fellow citizens returning from Detroit where they had been betrayed by General Hull. During September 1812 evidence of the presence of hostile Indians accumulated daily. Before the 15th a small detachment went from Huron to Kelley's Island and on the way home, one soldier from Warren was found dead and scalped and another was shot. Four whites were killed and scalped near the crossing of Black Fork, a tributary of the Mohican River. The growth of Northampton was seriously affected until after the war because of the warlike dispositions of the Ottawa Indians living there. The Ottawa Indian leader, Seneca, was tall and dignified, but he loved "fire water." In one of his drunken stupors he attempted to kill his squaw; but the blow killed his favorite papoose. He was so affected by this that it made him a temperate drinker for the rest of his live. He joined the British in the War of 1812 and was dressed in a British uniform in Detroit after Hull's surrender. An Indian settlement near the northern border of Boston Township was a celebrated place for war parties. The Indians erected a wooden "God" or totem, to which they made their offerings before starting on the war path. The Old Portage Indian path cuts through Coventry Township and was important for the Delaware Indians and their chief, Hopocan. His village was where Young's Restaurant was on Turkeyfoot Lake. He boasted that he tomahawked white men until his arm ached. He joined the British upon the breaking out of the War of 1812. The threat of Indian attacks was a constant problem in Summit County until the end of the War of 1812 Summit County veteran served in War of 1812February 5, 2012
Guest Column by Sharon Myers The year 2012 is the bicentennial of the War of 1812. This is the second in a series of columns that Tallmadge Express is publishing featuring local veterans who served in the war. The War of 1812 was an obscure war. Most people might remember the Battle of New Orleans -- thanks to the song by Johnny Horton, or maybe the burning of the White House, or perhaps the writing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" during the Battle at Ft. McHenry in Baltimore, but that's about all many people remember about the war. This was America's second and last war against Great Britain and it echoed the ideology and issues of the American Revolution. It was the second and last time that America was the underdog in a war and the second and last time that the nation tried to conquer Canada. The War of 1812 was an important turning point, a great watershed in the history of the young republic. It ushered in the Era of Good Feelings and marked the end of the Federalist Party. It promoted a national self-confidence. Summit County veteran Col. Rial McArthur was born in 1783 in Vermont and came to Ohio as a surveyor with the CT Land Co. He kept a general store in Middlebury and had a flouring mill on State Road in Northampton. He also had a distillery in Tallmadge. He was captain of an independent rifle company in the War of 1812, under Gen. Elijah Wadsworth at Old Portage, attached to Ohio's 4th Division. Most of his men were from the Tallmadge area. His company was the pride of the settlement, and they were first ordered to Cleveland, then Old Portage, and finally the Huron River where General Simon Perkins was in command. McArthur was promoted to major and then to colonel of the Militia. It's been said that he aided in building two boats for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. He died Aug. 24, 1871, of general disability. He was a highly honored Mason. He was also a justice of the peace. He was a good mathematician and a good penman. He was elected auditor for Portage County (Summit County was formed from Portage, Medina and Stark Counties in 1840.) He was said to be an honest and upright man. He married Almira Sprague and they had eight children. He is buried in Harrington Cemetery. Column to focus on veterans of the War of 1812January 8, 2012
Guest Column by Sharon Myers This is the first in a series of columns the Tallmadge Express will publish featuring local veterans who served in the War of 1812. The year 2012 is the bicentennial of the War of 1812. There are more than 360 veterans of the War of 1812 buried in Summit County. War was declared on June 18, 1812, and Ohio was only nine years old and right in the thick of things. We were underpopulated and had experienced many attacks by hostile Indians each year leading up to the war. This was the first war fought in Ohio, and it was the war that finally ended the American Revolution and our ongoing battle with Great Britain. The William Wetmore Chapter Daughters of the War of 1812 plans to feature a local veteran throughout the bicentennial year in the hopes of drawing attention to these forgotten heroes. We would like to recall the courage and the sacrifice of the early citizens and soldiers of our county during the war. George Darrow was born Oct. 9, 1778, in New York and died Nov. 23, 1859. He married Olive Gaylord. They had 12 children. George was asked to provide beef, flannel, etc. to the militia in Cleveland by General Wadsworth. When the troops came back to Portage County, he furnished the same. They then went to Huron, and George was asked to collect horses, oxen and wagons for the march. He provided pasture for the horses of the Kentucky troops. After Perry's victory and prisoners were brought to Cleveland, he was asked to provide beef for them. He served in the militia as a quartermaster and a paymaster until 1813. He directed an accounting of the serviced rendered and supplies promised in the amount of $1,600 to General Wadsworth. He said that it was many years before these claims were settled, so long that many of the parties had become weary of the red tape. He was Major of the Odd Battalion, Ohio Militia consisting of John Cochran of Cuyahoga Falls, Jonathan Metcalf of Hudson, James Robinson of Cuyahoga Falls, Josiah Starr of Stow, Moses Thompson of Hudson and Joseph Darrow of Stow. He is buried in Maple Lawn. A book on all of Summit County's War of 1812 veterans will be presented to Summit County's historical societies in the summer. Contact Sharon Myers, President William Wetmore Chapter Daughters of 1812, at 330-794-5099. Click HERE
.
.
Summit County had musicians in the War of 1812
Series of Articles on War of 1812 published in Talmade Express:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
