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William McKinley’s house, once located at this site, was the scene of his 1896 front porch campaign for President of the United States. During the campaign McKinley addressed about 750,000 people who came to his home in Canton. McKinley’s public service began when he volunteered at the start of the Civil War in 1861 as a private with the Union Army. He was discharged as a major after four years of service. Later McKinley became President of the Canton Y.M.C.A. and the Stark County Prosecutor. McKinley served in the United States House of Representatives between 1877 and 1891 and was then elected Governor of Ohio. He helped to found the Canton Public Library. McKinley won presidential elections in 1896 and 1900. His administration was characterized by high tariffs, money backed by gold, national prosperity, and the Spanish-American War. In 1901 an anarchist shot and killed President McKinley.
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The Ghent Woolen Mill was one of at least thirteen mills built in the Yellow Creek Valley to take advantage of the water power available in the creek’s 400-foot fall across Bath Township. Erected by Messrs. Allen and Bloom in 1832, it was a marginal commercial success and changed hands several times during the 1800s – reportedly because an abundant wolf population in this region made raising sheep a risky venture. In its peak years of operation during the Civil War era the Ghent mill processed as much as 10,000 pounds of wool into finished cloth and yarn annually. It was converted to a machine shop circa 1889 and subsequently into private residences in the late 1890s. The oldest known woolen mill still standing in Ohio, it retains many of its original architectural features.
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Ephraim Cutler (1767-1853) arrived in Marietta from Connecticut in 1795. Prominent in southeast Ohio, Cutler was appointed judge of the court of common pleas and justice of the peace, surveyed land for the Ohio Company, and was a trustee of Ohio University. In 1802, Cutler was chosen as a Washington County delegate to Ohio’s constitutional convention in Chillicothe. A contested issue at the convention was whether to permit or exclude slavery in the new state of Ohio. As a member of the committee that introduced Article VIII, or the bill of rights, of Ohio’s Constitution, Cutler drafted Section 2, which specifically excluded slavery or involuntary servitude in Ohio on the basis that the Ordinance of 1787 forbade it. The section passed through the convention by one vote. Veto Lake was named for Cutler’s role in having slavery vetoed in Ohio.
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Near this site stood the former Custer Homestead of Emanuel and Maria Custer from 1856-1865. For two years it was the boyhood home of Captain Tom Custer, younger brother of famed General George Armstrong Custer. At age 16, Tom misled a recruiter in neighboring Gilead, Ohio about his age and enlisted in the Civil War. He later earned two Congressional Medals of Honor, the first person in history to do so, for capturing enemy flags at Namozine Church on April 3, 1865 and at Sailor’s Creek on April 6, 1865. His parents relocated to Monroe, Michigan during the Civil War. Tom continued serving in the Army during the Indian Wars in the West and often visited his brother Nevin in Tontogany. He, along with his brothers George and Boston, brother-in-law James Calhoun, and nephew Harry Reed, were killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876.
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In March 1884, public confidence of Cincinnati law enforcement was extremely low. The public believed that murderers and other serious offenders were not brought to justice promptly or received little punishment. Civil unrest was brought to a boil when a seventeen-year-old was sentenced to only twenty years for manslaughter after brutally murdering his employer. On March 28, thousands of citizens stormed the county jail and courthouse. The riots lasted three days requiring forces from the Sheriff’s Office, city police, and local and state militia to restore order. Fifty-four people were killed and more than 200 wounded. The courthouse and jail suffered enormous damage, and valuable records were destroyed from the assault and fire. The riot gained international notoriety and helped pave the way for removal of political favoritism and a larger police force.
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Here lies Thomas Drummond (1832-1865)- legislator, abolitionist and soldier. Raised in eastern Ohio, he moved to Iowa where he served in the General Assembly and secured the location of the State Asylum for the Blind at Vinton. As editor of the “Vinton Eagle”, he was an outspoken opponent of slavery. During the Civil War, Drummond was appointed to the 5th U.S. Cavalry where he commanded George Armstrong Custer and fought at First Bull Run, Stoneman’s Raid during Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. On April 1, 1865 at the decisive Battle of Five Forks, Drummond was mortally wounded. Returned to St. Clairsville, he was buried beside his mother Harriett Green Drummond.
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W.S. Rosecrans, soldier, engineer, architect and inventor, was born in Kingston Township in 1819. After graduation from West Point in 1842, he served in the Engineering Corps then taught at West Point. As a civilian, he engineered a river lock system and perfected lamp oil. During the Civil War, Rosecrans commanded Union Armies of the Ohio, the Cumberland, and the Missouri, and developed a popular war-time ambulance. “Old Rosy” led his troops to victory at Iuka, Corinth, Stones River and Tullahoma. He helped raise $789,000 for soldiers’ relief and designed St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Columbus. He later served as Minister to Mexico, Registrar to the U.S. Treasury and as a Congressman from California. He died in 1898 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. “Stand by your flag and country, my men!”- Rosecrans at the Battle of Stones River, October 4, 1862
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The Adams County Fairgrounds, established at this site in October 1853, on seven acres of land donated by Judge George Collings, was converted to a Civil War training camp named in honor of General Thomas Hamer, a Mexican War hero, of Georgetown, Ohio. The old stone Courthouse was made into a hospital to serve the camp. The 70th Ohio Volunteer infantry, organized in October 1861, trained on the old fairgrounds until Christmas day 1861, when it marched from Camp Hamer to Ripley. The 70th participated in the battles of Shiloh, Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia; the siege at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Sherman’s March to the Sea.
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