OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List Issue 14 ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgenwebarchives.org ************************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 05 : Issue 14 Today's Topics: #1 Fw: Tid Bits -- Part 2. ["Ohio Archives EV1" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <0ea401c51703$1430cb50$0300a8c0@margaret> Subject: Fw: Tid Bits -- Part 2. Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darlene & Kathi kelley" To: Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 1:49 AM Subject: Tid Bits -- Part 2. File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 Jan. 26, 2005 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Historical Collections of Ohio And They Went West S.L. Kelly Diaries Series of Articles by Darlene E. Kelley Tid Bits -- part 2. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Spirit of Ohio is probably best summed up by the States motto: " With God, all things are possible." Although Ohio didn't become a state until 1803, thousands of people moved to the area from the already crowded Eastern seaboard between 1788 and 1789. They came to this part of the Northwest Territory armed only with optimism and a williness to work hard to make life better for themselves-- and they succeeded. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tid Bits -- part 2. Undecided At my college graduation, at a cocktail party for members' parents, Dad walked around talking to members of the party. A woman I had a secret crush on, and who until that moment I had never thought might like me, introduced herself to him and said she had been hoping to meet him. He replied " The world will end in our lifetime," and went on to describe upcoming famines and wars to come, as she backed away. My degree was in General Studies, and he said, on the subject of my prospects, "I just wish you would find something that you love to do!" He had so often made this remark, which I took as criticism, and I replied "That is the last time you will ever say that to me," so nastily that my mother overheard, and got angry. When I got my diploma, he hugged me harder than he ever had. I knew he had a hard time realizing his little boy, had become a young man, with visions of fortunes and freedom of the world to partake. Right after the ceremony I threw my books into the buggy and started back to Ohio. A day or two later the cart overturned, and all my books, scattered all about. I still have a few of these books, with gravel and mud holes that look much like the same. I partied a lot with my friends most of the summer. I had no job lined up. I was told by a stranger that I should apply for a job with a local magazine, so I did. A man there interviewed me, but said they had too many Harvard graduates already. He suggested I take my talents to a local newspaper. In August I applied with local papers and got laughed at. My ambition of wanting to start at the top with writing editorials and such. Finally I found a paper who decided to try out my journalism talents. I was to write small tidbits. These would be proof read and would be paid according to newspaper sales. I was elated, my head spinning with all sorts of ideas. I had no idea what I was going to contribute; but I had finally understood my father's advice. " do something you love to do !" +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ My Grief !! " Death hides in hestitation Death springs forth in spurts Death holds fresh pearls beyond price on a string draws into darkness Nothing out of Black No calling back; no Proserpina For winter's cold and gray is all of summer Feel shock Feel grief Feel anger! This should not be! Why must this be! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Lake Erie Basin Lake Erie basin is one of the richest ecosystems on earth. The lake's clear, mostly shallow waters produce an abundance of plant and animal life, especially fish. Lake Erie produces ten times more fish per unit of area than any other of the Geat Lakes. Its inflowing rivers, marshes, reefs, and shoals, provide good spawning grounds. Travelers who tried to cross the mouth of the Sandusky river in the early 1800s reported that the fords were so thick with white bass and pickerel they had to be shooed away from the horses' feet. Large sturgeon existed in numbers which made them a nuisance fish; steamboats burned sometimes their oil-rich bodies for fuel. Whitefish and blue walleye were table delicacies. My favorite times at the basin were spent catching the Lake trout, freshwater herring, sauger, pike, black and smallmouth bass. The fish ate smaller fish, frogs and ducklings, turtles, mayflies, and minnows. The insects and minnows ate plankton. Fish-eating birds from Eagles and ospreys down to sanderlings thrived along the shore. Black snakes too, were plentiful, feeding upon the eggs of the land nested birds. Life was complete in its cycle. A place I loved to rest and dream. A paradise! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Unusual Things Learned Growing up in Cleveland a boy takes time to ponder. These things I learned growing intellectually from many observations I found myself and the knowledge of my ever loving parents. ++++++++ A Holstein's spots are like a fingerprint. No two cows have exactly the same pattern or spots. Brown eggs come from hens with red feathers and red ear lobes; white eggs come from hens with white feathers and white ear lobes. Shell color is determined by the breed of hen and has no effect on quality or flavor. Female chickens or hens, need 24 to 26 hours to produce one egg. Thirty minutes later they start the whole process all over again. In addition to half-hour rests, some hens rest every three or five days and others rest every ten days. Certain frogs can be frozen solid and then thawed and continue living. Dragonflies are one of the fastest flying insects. Mockingbirds can imitate any sound from a squeeking door to a cat meowing. Goldfish lose their color if they are kept in dim light or placed in a body of running water, such as a stream. On average, pigs live for about 15 years and can be sunburned. Owls have eyeballs that are tublar in shape, and because of this, they cannot move their eyes. Snakes are immune to their own poison. The blood of mammels is red, the blood of insects is yellow, the blood of lobsters is blue. Infant beavers are called kittens. A 1, 200 pound horse eats about 7 times its own weight each year. A bird requires more food in proportion to its size than a baby or a cat. A female mackerel lays about 500,000 eggs at one time. A polecat is not a cat, but a European weasel. A rat can last longer without water than a camel. A woodpecker can peck twenty times a second. Beaver teeth are so sharp that Native Indians used them as knife blades. The bones of pigeons weigh less than its feathers. The poisonous Copperhead snake smells like a cucumber. When a female horse and a male donkey mate, the offspring is called a mule, but when a male horse and female donkey mate, the offspring is called a hinny. The mouse is the most common mammal in the U.S. The underside of horse's hoof is called a frog. The frog peels off several times a year with new growth. The only domestic animal not mentioned in the bible is the cat. The first house rats recorded in America appeared in Boston in 1755. Almonds and Pistachios are the only nuts mentioned in the bible. The longest name in the bible "Mahershalalbaz" ( Isaiah 8:1 ) Shortest Verse in the bible consists of two words " Jesus wept." ( John 11: 35 ) Salt is mentioned more than 30 times in the bible. We are all related to Cain. Then after the flood to Japeth. A " jiffy " is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple. " I am " is the shortest complete sentence and " I do " is the shortest ( long ) sentence. The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is " uncopyrightable. " And last but not least, is the sentence most not wanted to hear is " You are fired ! " +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Clermont County Clemont County was established by proclamation on December 9. 1800, before Ohio itself became a state. The county was named for a French word that described the area in the late 1700s and early 1800s -- " clear mountains and hills." Since all of Clermont County was in the Virginia Military District and the French aided the Americans in the final defeat of the British at the seige of Yorktown in 1781, many Virginians who helped settle the county felt it was appropriate to name it in honor of their French allies. As a territorial county in the early 1800s, Clermont was composed of five townships. Eventually, the five townships were divided into 14. The original county seat was in Williamsburg which was originally spelled Williamsburgh. There the county seat remained until 1823. Then it moved to New Richmond, along the Ohio River, for one year. Clermont's first community was Williamsburg and was located on the eastern edge of the county. At that time it was known as Lytlestown, and was platted in 1796. Early settlements also included Denhamstown, incorporated as Bethel in 1851. Jesse Grant, father of Ulysses S. Grant, was Bethel's first mayor. Other early settlements included; Withamsville ( then called Witham's settlement ), Miami Township, Hageman's Mills ( later Milford ), Stonelick Township, Felicity, Moscow, Point Isabel and Amelia. All date to the early decades after 1800. ++++++++++++++++++ Clermont County, Ohio Townships Batavia was named for the villiage, which was named for the previous home of some of the county's first settlers, Batavia, N.Y. It was established in September of 1815, formed from parts of Williamsburg and Ohio townships. Franklin was named after Benjamin Franklin, one of the United State's founding fathers. It was established in May of 1818, formed from Washington and Lewis ( now part of Brown County ) townships. Goshen was named after some of the community's first settlers, who arrived from Goshen, N.Y. It was established in March of 1819, and formed from Miami Township. Jackson was named after the President of the United States, Andrew Jackson. It was established in June of 1834, from Wayne, Stonelick and Williamsburg townships, Jackson was President at the time the township was established. Miami was named after the Little Miami River and the tribe of Indians who once controlled the area. Originally known as O'Bannon Township -- in honor of the County's first surveyor -- John O'Bannon. Miami was one of the County's original townships, established in February of 1801. Monroe was named after the President of the United States, James Monroe. It was established in June of 1825, and formed from Ohio and Washington townships. Monroe's term of office ended early in the year the township was established. Ohio was named after the State. It was one of the County's original townships, established in February of 1801. Pierce was named after the President of the United States, Franklin Pierce. It was established in December of 1852 and formed from Ohio Township. Pierce was President at the time the township was established. Stonelick was named for a creek that passes through it. It was established in March of 1812, formed from Miami and Williamsburg townships. Tate was probably named for the Tate family, who settled in the area in its early days. Many Tates moved to Clemont County from the Tates Creek area of Kentucky, where they were companions of Simmon Kenton and Daniel Boone. Tate Township was established in June of 1805, formed from Ohio and Williamsburg Townships. Union was probably named after the union of the States that formed the United States. It was established in December of 1811, and formed from Ohio Township. Washington was named after the President of the United States, George Washington, who owned land in Clermont County. It was one of the County's original Townships, establshed in February of 1801. Wayne was named after Gen. " Mad " Anthony Wayne, who was directly responsible for opening Clermont County and the southern two-thirds of Ohio to legal settlement by citizens of the United States after signing of the Treaty of Greenville in August, 1795. Wayne Township was established in March of 1819, formed from Stonelick Township. Williamsburg was named for the village, which was named for its founder, Willam Lytle, also known as the " Father of Clermont County." It is one of the county's original townships, established in February of 1801. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Continued in Tid bits part 3. ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #2 Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 23:19:45 -0500 From: "Ohio Archives EV1" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <0eaa01c51703$68840370$0300a8c0@margaret> Subject: Fw: Tid Bits -- Part 3. Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darlene & Kathi kelley" To: Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2005 4:37 PM Subject: Tid Bits -- Part 3. File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 Jan 29, 2005 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Historical Collections of Ohio And They Went West S.L. Kelly diaries Series of Articles by Darlene E. Kelley Tid Bits - part 3. With added Notes in [ ]. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Western Reserve Historical Library Found ! One place I can get lost in and spend hours. Research, dream, and relax. I can be anywhere-- explore -- put myself in adventures and be the boy I once was, as I grew to manhood. They have boxes and boxes of files, books, journels, and documents, to which is at my fingertips. A friendly place, to do my research, and check correct dates. Thanks go to the endowments of our Cleveland founders such as Dr. Dudley P. Allen, Orlando J. Hodge, Gen. Simon Perkins, Ambrose Swasey, Wm Bingham and etc. There are many life time members of this society; [ which some, are our relaitives,] who had the forethought in preserving an endless variety of information, and documentation of Clevelands past. One of many of these members were Herman Alfred Kelley, who was born May 15, 1859 at Kelley's Island, Ohio, son of Alfred Stow Kelley and Hannah Farr Kelley. [ He died at Cleveland, Feb 2, 1925. ] The Kelley family are of old New England stock, having come to Cleveland in the the earliest days, and played an important part in the development of both city and state. Mr. Kelley's great uncle, Alfred Kelley was the first president of Cleveland Village, and his great grandfather, Daniel Kelley, second president. Both were prominent in politics and the early Cleveland history. Mr. Kelley had the advantages of a very liberal education, having studied at Buchtel College, Akron, at Harvard Law School, and later post-graduate work at Goettingen University in Germany. Following his chosen profession at the bar, his first interests were centered on the Admiraltry, due perhaps to his association on Kelley's Island in Lake Erie, where as counsel, his name appeared in one of the most litigations, connected with that branch of the law, in that section of the country. Mr. Kelley at one time held the position of first assistant corporation councel of Cleveland. He was also chairman of the Morris Plan Bank's Board, director of the National City Bank, a member of the law firm of Hoyt, Dustin, Kelley, McKeehan and Andrews, and President of the Horace Kelley Art Foundation. As Secretary of the Cleveland Museum of Art, he gave perhaps his most distinguished public service, working untiringly upon the determination that Cleveland's history and arts be preserved. Mr. Kelley was a avid preserver of history. He wrote the Geneology Book of the Kelley history, in which he had patented and is presrved in the Library of Congress. Much of his works are preserved in this Society, as well as the Kelley family history manuscripts. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Kelleys Island and Points of Interests The interesting and valuable possession of the United States, is Kelley's Island, which lies one-half miles south of the International boundary line which separates the United States from Canada, and is not only the northern boundary line of the State of Ohio, but also the township of Kelley's Island. The line passes through a group or archipelago of islands that lies in the western part of Lake Erie. The best known island in this group is Put-in-Bay, made famous in the United States by Commodore Perry, who won the Battle of Lake Erie near that island in 1813 and retired to the shelter of its bay, after the engagement, to bury the dead and repair his fleet. Kelley's Island is about eight miles from Put-in-Bay in a southernly direction, and it is about nine miles northwest in a direct line from the foot of Columbus Street in Sandusky, Ohio, although the distance by steamboat channel is twelve miles. The nearest main land is the Marblehead peninsula. The little town of Marlehead is due south of the island, separated from it by a channel about three and one-half miles wide. West of Marblehead is Lakeside, the well known summer resort, and " Chatauqua " which is only four miles from the island. Cedar point, at the entrance of Sandusky Bay, is eight miles away. The boats that serve the islands during the navigation season stops at Kelley's Island as it passes on its trips between Sandusky and Put-in-Bay. Ships that ply between Detroit and Cedar Point and Sandusky usually pass the island through the South passage, as the channel south of the island is called. Those from Cleveland to Detroit take the North passage beween Kelley's Isalnd and Point au Pele Island. The latter is in Canadian waters, and so, too, is little " Middle Island, " which is about half way between the two larger islands. " Pelee," as the Canadan Island is generally called, is the largest Island in the Archipelago. It is almost due north of Kelley's Island and eight miles from it. Kelley's Island has been celebrated since very early days for the excellant black bass fishing to be had along its shores. Vineyards and wine cellars have made the island famous, with its rich limestone soil and even temperature have produced grapes of a quality equalled rarely elsewhere, either in flavor or in sweetness. The superior quality of limestone of Kelley's Island has been long recognized, and since the small beginnings of almost over one hundred years ago there has been excavated an enormous quanity of stone which has been shipped to all parts of the Country. Kelley's Island has the most remarkable glacerial grooves found in America. Its quarries, besides their commercial value, are constantly yielding fossils of great interest and value to the scientist. Almost every day produces something of the kind. Then too, many interesting fossils can be found in the stones used in the many walls or fences and also in the pebbles and rocks along the beach. Besides these, are the relics of the Indians, who formally lived on the Island. Even now, the plow turns up an occasional Indian pipe or arrow head, and there are several great rocks bearing inscriptions and other evidences of Indian work upon them to be seen on the Island shores. The botanist will find the Island unusually rich in rare flowers. The bird watcher will find it a paradise. North Bay is a beautiful soft, smooth sand beach on which a family may play ad bathe. He can wade out for hundreds of feet in water from two to four feet deep. It is a picturesque shore, with its white cresent of sand stretching away to the east and gradually curving westward, with a background of of lovely trees ovrhanging and shading it. Long Point sends out its rocky promontory fully a mile into blue Lake Erie and affords a sheltering bay from the easterly winds. It itself is a beauty spot. It is a narrow and and long point of rocks overgrown with great trees, and it extends for a mile into the water. The west shore of Long Point is high and craggy, and the east shore slopes gradually into the water. Living on the Island is like living on a great immovable boat which can neither rock nor sink. In the summer time it is a delightful experience to live there. One can fish, row, bathe, make excursions to the various places of interest. He can botanize and collect curiosities, bird watch, or just sit in the shade and let the cool breezes fan him. The views of the distant shores are constantly changing with the various lights of morning, noon, and night. At night, the lights of Cedar Point and Lakeside and the flash of the lighthouse at Marblehead gleam across the water and beautify the scene, but sunsets at Kelley's Island, especially as seen from Long Point, or the north shore are never forgotten. The great Perry Monument standing on Put-in-Bay is silhouetted against the golden west. The Bass Islands lie dark and soft beneath the golden sky, and the great red sun sinks to rest seemingly in the waters of the Lake. It is a sight to behold. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Indian Occupation On Kelley's Island Many years before the white man commenced to occupy the country about the shores of Lake Erie, the island was the home of at least two Indian villages. It is not certain that the villages are contemporaneous, nor to what nation they belonged. These village sites were indicated by low earth works or embankments beginning and ending at the south shore of the island and extending backward in a semi circle so as to embrace about seven acres in one, and four and one-half acres in the other. When discovered, they were overgrown with heavy timber. The trees were perhaps two hundred years old, possibly much older. We know that early white settlers made clearings for themselves by cutting down large trees that grew on the old Indian village sights. Some have thought that the villages were occupied by members of the Erie or Cat Indian nation, that was destroyed by the Mohawks about 1655; but this date is not certain; it may have been much earlier. We know that the Eries formally lived on the shores of Lake Erie, and, as the islands are easily accessible, no doubt the Eries occupied them.There have been found on the island a large number and variety of Indian stone utensils, such as grinding mortars and pestles, spear and arrow heads, pipes, hammers, skinning knives, and the like. The smaller village occupied a site just west of a pond near the south shore of the island. On the shore, close to the village, but a few hundred feet west of its western embankment, is a curiously carved limestone rock. Its flat top, 32 feet long and 21 feet wide is covered with figures and lines that have been cut into it. The engravings were shallow when first discovered by Mr. Charles Olmsted of Connecticut, who was visiting the island in 1834, a few months after the Kelley brothers had purchased it. The report of its discovery reached Government authorities at Washington, who were interested in preserving the records of the Indians, and in consequence Captain Eastman of the United States Army was detailed to make copies of it and also a map or drawing of the island, showing the Indian village sites and several mounds found on the island. These drawings were included in the United States publication of 1853, a large volume prepared under the direction of the celebrated Schoolcraft, whose Indian collections and records of Indian customs is the most complete ever compiled. He pronounced the inscriptions found on this rock to be the finest samples of Indian pictograph work that he had seen. There is a small size plaster-of-paris replica of this rock in the museum of the Western Reserve Historical Society at Cleveland, Ohio. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Lake Erie -- A Great Resouce. Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes, and like the other Great Lakes, it is constantly evolving. Named for the Iroquois word for " Cat," Erie is the 11th largest lake in the world. Because of its shallow depth and southern location, Erie is the most biologically productive, as it can be seen by its claim as a huge freshwater commercial fishery and one of the most awesome walleye and smallmouth sportfisheries on earth. The Great lakes are the largest freshwater bodies on the planet. During the Ice Age, the snow and ice piled up in several areas, and like footprints, the weight of the ice and snow left huge indentations in the area. When the earth's temperature began to rise, the glaciers retreated north, leaving melted snow and ice within the basins. Encompassing 94,000 square miles, these lakes drain more than twice as much land. [ They say that more than one-tenth of the population of the United States and one-quarter of the Canadian population live within the Great Lakes basin. ] When a furious northeast storm drives the ice fields down upon Lake Eries islands, they can drive great sheets of ice several hunded feet inland and destroy cottages and other buildings along their shores that are too near the water. No one who has not seen it, can not realize the tremendous power of a great body of ice when it is driven by a storm. The crashing and rending is tremendous, as sheet after sheet rises one above another, sliding up and over the crest, to fall shattered into a million glittering fragments, which are in turn covered by the oncoming and seemingly irresistible body of ice extending perhaps fifty miles in length, shoved ashore by the wind and its own momentum. Rising from Lake Erie's Western Basin, the Lake Erie Islands are over 9.000- year- old remenants of the ice age. As the earth shifted, plates of rock ( largely limestone and dolomite ) erupted above the water and formed the Islands. South Bass, Middle Bass, and Kelley's Island are the largest and most publicly assessible islands of the more then two dozen islands that are scattered throughout the basin. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ continued in Part 4. -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V05 Issue #14 ******************************************