Remarkable Ohio

Results for: civil-war
201 S. Columbus Street
Somerset

, OH

Philip Sheridan was most likely born in County Cavan, Ireland in 1831, but records do not indicate his actual birthplace. His family moved to Somerset when Philip was a child and lived down the avenue from this site. His family later owned the house across the street. His military interest was inspired by “Muster” day and frequent visits from a young West Pointer named William T. Sherman. Sheridan graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1853 and served on the Western Frontier Indian campaigns prior to the Civil War. In 1862, Sheridan became Colonel of the Second Michigan Calvary. At Stones River, Tennessee, he commanded a Division of the Twentieth Corps and stubbornly held General William S. Rosecrans’ right flank, distinguishing himself in battle. (continued on other side)

W. East St, W of S. Hinde Street
Washington Court House

, OH

Washington Court House was founded in 1810 by American Revolutionary War veterans from the state of Virginia. They also established Washington Cemetery in 1810 and located it in what was originally the southern part of the town. With the coming of the railroad, the cemetery’s size was reduced to what is now approximately half an acre of land containing one hundred and twelve headstones. One of the prominent people buried in the cemetery is Judge Wade Loofborough, known for his interest in the utopian socialist society called Fourierism. He purchased land in Clermont County to establish the society, but it failed. Loofborough eventually became a respected judge and lawyer in Fayette County. Other distinguished people buried here include veterans of the American Revolution and the War of 1812.

Across the road from 1016 East River Drive
Defiance

, OH

After completing Fort Winchester, Brigadier General James Winchester ordered his troops to cross to the north side of the Maumee River. The troops occupied the new site, Camp #2, from November 3-10, 1812. An earthen fortification was built for protection. Militia soldier Elias Darnell recorded on November 4th that “The weather is very rainy, which makes our situation extremely unpleasant…. Four of this army have gone to the silent tomb to-day never more to visit their friends in Kentucky; the fever is very prevalent in camp; nearly every day there is one or more buried.” Winchester referred to a burial place for the encampment in his General Orders for November 5th. Camp #2 proved to be too wet and marshy, Winchester ordered his army to move to six miles down river to a site called Camp #3.

6471 Camden College Corner Road
College Corner

, OH

The Hopewell Associate Reformed Church and Cemetery, now known as Historic Hopewell, was founded in 1808 in a log building that was replaced in 1826 with the present building. It was built by the area’s first settlers, mainly Scotch-Irish who left Kentucky and South Carolina because of their opposition to slavery. The church encouraged worship by African Americans and played an important role in the Underground Railroad. It became the parent church for four “Daughter” Presbyterian congregations: Fairhaven in 1835, Oxford in 1837, College Corner in 1849, and Morning Sun in 1876. Reverend Alexander Porter, the first pastor, was committed to education and constructed a school near the Hopewell Spring that still produces clear water. “Old Hopewell” was completely refurbished in 1880, but by 1915 the membership declined and regular services discontinued. Today Hopewell holds Sunday services in the summer and is maintained by a generous and devoted group of volunteers.

Langsville

, OH

General John Hunt Morgan led a force of 2,000 Confederate cavalrymen into Meigs County on July 18, 1863, during a raid north of the Ohio River. More than 50,000 Union troops and mlitia pursued Morgan across the State of Ohio. At Langsville, in an attempt to delay the Confederate approach, local militia burned the bridge near McMaster’s grist mill. This was the first burned bridge encountered by the Confederates on their trek across Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. A young Confederate soldier, shot and killed by a local resident, was buried near this site. After suffering losses at Buffington Island, Morgan surrendered eight days later near West Point in Columbiana County. The surrender field was the northernmost point reached by Confederate forces during the Civil War.

2663 Prairie Street
New Haven

, OH

New Haven, Ohio, was the mercantile center of southwest Huron County during the first half of the 19th century. Residents described immense wagons, or “land schooners,” lined up for miles on the New Haven-Worthington Road traveling from Columbus to the Lake Erie ports. Organized in 1815, New Haven was one of the early townships formed in Huron County and the Firelands. The village was platted, with streets at right angles around a diamond-shaped town green, after the plan of New Haven, Connecticut. When, in the 1840s, New Haven rejected the railroad’s direct route through the village, the Sandusky & Newark was routed to the west and through Plymouth taking with it the shipping business. Subsequently, New Haven began a steady economic decline into a small crossroads village.

N Huron Street
Toledo

, OH

After consolidation of the villages of Fort Lawrence and Vistula, the City of Toledo was incorporated in 1837. Originally named “Toledo” in 1833, the site became part of Ohio when the “Toledo War,” a bloodless boundary conflict with Michigan, was resolved by Congress in 1836. Settlers were attracted by the commercial potential of the Maumee River, called “Miami of the Lake,” and later the Miami-Erie Canal. (Continued on other side)

Damascus Cemetery, Valley Road
Salem but located in Damascus

, OH

On this site are re-interred 118 exhumed remains from Lot 17, Friends Burying Grounds, adjacent to Damascus Friends Church on Walnut Street. Among those re-interred here are: Catlit Jones, a scout with Quaker Daniel Boone in Kentucky, a captain in the Revolutionary War, and a recorded Friends minister; and Samuel Coppock Jr., father of Edwin Coppock, who was hanged in 1859 for his part in abolitionist John Brown’s raid on the United States Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. The exhumation (2001-2002) was directed by Prof. Dr. John White of Youngstown State University, assisted by staff, students, and volunteers.