Professional chick sexer at work, 1947. Via the Joe Munroe Collection on Ohio Memory

Big news out of the Ohio Historical Society and Ohio Village this summer, as we invite you to come in and visit our new flock of chickens! The village chickens will have a coop behind the Livery Stable (near the northeast corner of the village), and each morning the hens will be turned loose to roam. At closing time, they will be rounded up, fed, and returned safely to the coop. At the end of the summer, the chickens will be adopted out.

The chickens are from the Meyer Hatchery in Polk, Ohio, and are from two different “heirloom” breeds: Dominiques (pronounced Dominkers) and Brown Leghorn. “Heirloom,” or heritage, breeds are breeds of animals popular in America in the past, but that today are listed as endangered. Because modern farming has changed, these breeds are no longer needed by large farmers, and thus have declined in population over the past decades. Come to Ohio Village to learn more about these breeds and the history of chickens in America and Ohio.

Roaming hens following a “boss hen,” 1948. From the Joe Munroe Collection via Ohio Memory

For most of human history, chickens have been a familiar part of every household. Almost anyone living in the country or in a small town or village kept at least a few chickens around for the eggs and the table. These backyard flocks were referred to as “dual-purpose” chickens since they supplied both eggs and meat. After the Civil War, as America slowly moved from a rural, agriculture-based society to a more urban one, egg and meat production also moved out of the backyard and into large “factory” farms. More breeds of chickens were developed, some of which focused on creating the perfect “dual-purpose” bird, while others focused on just eggs or just meat. Today the raising of chickens is making a comeback, most notably in urban areas, as consumers work to reconnect themselves to their food supply.

Outside the Uhl Hatchery, ca. 1900. Via Ohio Memory

A significant story in Ohio’s own history with chickens and the poultry industry involves the Uhl Hatchery (seen at right) in New Washington, Ohio. The city is known as the “Birthplace of the Baby Chick Industry” thanks to the hatchery, which was the first commercial hatchery in the United States and initiated the shipment of baby chicks by rail in 1900.

Want to help make chicken-history? Every chicken flock needs a name! Send us a message on Facebook with a name suggestion by the end of today, May 24th. The suggestions will be narrowed down to three and then it will be up to our Facebook fans to vote on the official name. You can also watch a live-feed of the adorable chicks before they’re moved to the village in mid-June, and come visit the free-roaming flock this summer!

Map of downtown Cincinnati via Ohio Memory

Power of Attorney for Alexander Cray, from the Cincinnati Land Office Records on Ohio Memory

Any genealogist knows, vital records are what draw the outline of a family tree.  It’s the “other stuff” – family bibles, yearbooks, employment records – that paint the leaves of one’s tree with shades of green.  The State Library of Ohio is thrilled to hold in our collection items both for creating the outline and for adding color, and the collection of documents from the Federal Land Office in Cincinnati is just one example.

The Federal Land Office in Cincinnati was established in 1800 as part of what was known both as the Act of May 10, 1800 and the Harrison Land Act of 1800. This Act included many provisions, such as establishing receivers and registers, permitting the lease of parcels of land under certain conditions, and setting a minimum price of $2.00 per acre. The Act also allowed for the purchase of land on credit, which would be payable in quarters annually with the first quarter payment due upon the date of purchase.

Lands sold by the Cincinnati office were located in the southwestern corner of Ohio and also included a portion of Indiana, as well as part of the Symmes Purchase (also known as the Little Miami Purchase).

Abraham Babinger’s certificate of purchase, September 9, 1817. Via the Cincinnati Land Office Records on Ohio Memory

This collection, with items ranging from 1806 to 1828, is made up of certificates which establish the terms of purchase, and power of attorney documents for transferring the land holdings from one individual to his (in this collection, all purchasers are male) heir.  Included in each document are the purchaser’s name, his place of origin, the location of his newly-purchased land, the number of acres he is buying and the location of the land.  The certificates also detail the total dollar amount to be paid, and the powers of attorney list the purchaser’s heir(s).

Documents are not full-text searchable, but every effort has been made to pull relevant information–specifically, names, dates, and locations–from each, making finding your ancestor (if he’s there) fast and easy!

Come explore the Cincinnati Land Office Records Collection on Ohio Memory.  Maybe it will help you to add more shades of green to your family tree!

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Thank you to Shannon Kupfer, Digital/Tangible Media Cataloger at the State Library of Ohio, for this week’s post!

Print captioned “The attack on Fort Meigs, May 5, 1813,” from the “Hard Cider and Log Cabin Almanac,” 1841. Via Ohio Memory

Since last year, Ohio has been celebrating the bicentennial of the War of 1812 and our state’s role in this important historical event. Early May is a notable time in the story of the war, as it marks the 200th anniversary of the first Siege of Fort Meigs, a bloody conflict that served as a key turning point for American forces.

Letter written by William Johnson to his wife describing the actions of his regiment during the Seige of Fort Meigs, via Ohio Memory

Fort Meigs was a strategic fortification along the banks of the Maumee River in present-day Perrysburg, Ohio. Construction on the fort began in February 1813 with the intention of creating a base from which to invade Canada, but it was soon changed to a defensive checkpoint to prevent any further British advances into American territory. Upon its completion in April of the same year, the installation contained seven blockhouses used for defense, five artillery batteries, two storehouses, and had approximately twenty artillery pieces to help defend the fort.

It was a major target for British troops and their Native American allies, who attacked it twice in an effort to either capture or destroy the fortification. The sieges, in May and July of 1813, led to many American casualties, but U.S. troops managed to maintain possession of the fort and thwart British plans. It was these two victories at Fort Meigs that helped to turn the tide in the western theater of war in favor of the American forces.

Sketch of the plan of Fort Meigs (identified here as Camp Meigs) created by Joseph Larwill, 1813. Via Ohio Memory

After the second siege, the fort was torn down and replaced with a smaller-scale supply depot which stood through the war, but later burnt down. The Ohio Historical Society reconstructed the fort in the 1970s, with renovations in 2003, and today this National Historic Landmark stands as the largest reconstructed, wooden-walled fort in the United States. The blockhouses, artillery batteries and numerous earthworks appear much as they did during the summer of 1813, and exhibits in the blockhouses present the life of a soldier, the building of the fort and dramatic accounts of the two sieges against the fort.

Learn more about the Fort Meigs site in Perrysburg, or visit Ohio Memory to explore the digital materials related to this important piece of military history!

A message from an angel from “A Book for Skeptics,” in the State Library of Ohio Rare Books Collection on Ohio Memory

In the mid-1800s, a new spiritualist movement swept America, and people everywhere began conducting séances in an attempt to communicate with otherworldly bodies. In Athens, Ohio, Jonathan Koons, an enthusiastic participant in this movement, created a “spirit room” in which he and other interested parties sought to contact spirits and angels, and insisted that they had been successful.  A Book for Skeptics: Being Communications from Angels (1853) was written as documentation of that success.

A message from Filenia Koons (deceased) to her mother, published in “A Book for Skeptics.”

A Book for Skeptics (full title A Book for Skeptics: Being Communications from Angels, Written with Their Own Hands; Also Oral Communications, Spoken by Angels through a Trumpet, and Written Down as they were Delivered, in the Presence of Many Witnesses, Also a Representation and Explanation of the Celestial Spheres, as Given by the Spirits, at J. Koons’ Spirit Room, in Dover, Athens County, Ohio) contains multiple messages from heavenly beings on a variety of topics ranging from laws (“both mental and local”) to the future of man and the omniscience of God.  The book also documents personal communications between the deceased and their living family members.

Illustration of the “Celestial Spheres” from “A Book for Skeptics”

Several pages of A Book for Skeptics are dedicated to a description of the Celestial Spheres, a chart of the heavens that is depicted at the beginning of the book.  The Spheres came to a 15-year-old clairvoyant member of the Koons family as visions which occurred to him over the course of six months.  According to the publication, a spirit named King was present to help the teen in his depiction of the Spheres. King also played the role of go-between for the spirit world and the members of Koons’ circle, often translating into English the messages of the various spirits who appeared in the spirit room.

Koons’ spirit room no longer exists, but Mt. Nebo in Athens County, where the room used to stand, is legendary for spiritual activity.  Is it possible that those who frequented the spirit room were as successful at contacting another plane as A Book For Skeptics claims?  Anything is possible!

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Thank you to Shannon Kupfer, Digital/Tangible Media Cataloger at the State Library of Ohio, for this week’s post!

Damaged records in Montgomery County, ca. 1940. From the Ohio Guide Collection on Ohio Memory

Official Preservation Week logo, designed by ALA

This year, April 21st through April 27th has been designated as the American Library Association’s Preservation Week! The purpose of this annual event, according to ALA, is for libraries and other institutions to “connect our communities through events, activities, and resources that highlight what we can do, individually and together, to preserve our personal and shared collections.”

Preservation of historic and cultural materials is obviously important to us here at the Ohio Historical Society, and at Ohio Memory! As seen in the photograph above, from the Ohio Guide Collection on Ohio Memory, damage can happen to the materials in our collections in many ways. The caption on the back of this photo sums up the situation as follows: “This picture shows collectively all of the badly damaged volumes to be found among Montgomery County archives and does not represent a true picture of the records as a whole. Mention can be made here that the archives at Montgomery County are in a good state of preservation, but if neglected over a period of time, a condition like the one shown above could be generally accepted.”

Termite damage to Summit County deed records, ca. 1940. Via the Ohio Guide Collection on Ohio Memory

One of the ways that Ohio Memory helps to contribute to preservation of materials is through digitization. Digitizing materials allows photographs and other format types to be “accessed” freely without having to handle the (oftentimes fragile) original items. High-quality digital versions also serve as a surrogate version of an original item in case of extreme damage, as seen at left.

Many format types naturally undergo degradation over time, a quality known as “inherent vice.” Part of the reason we were thrilled to digitize the Albert Ewing Collection of glass plate negatives is that, in the 100 years or so since their creation, emulsion has begun to flake off the the glass plates. Each loss of emulsion effectively removes a visual piece of history–as you can see in the Ewing photograph below, damaged and flaking emulsion has erased the faces of several members of this family, while leaving some visible. It is our hope that digitizing vulnerable materials like these will help guard against loss of those valuable details that help to capture our collective history.

Unidentified family, ca. 1896-1912. From the Albert J. Ewing Collection on Ohio Memory

Visit the ALA website for more Preservation Week resources, including the history of the event, free webinars, a preservation toolkit and more! They have put together a great fact sheet with “fast facts” about the importance of preservation, and what key points to keep in mind. OHS also provides numerous classes and workshops on digital and physical preservation. Check our events calendar regularly to stay up to date on what we have to offer!

Title page to “Ayduth Lachayim,” from the State Library of Ohio Rare Books Collection via Ohio Memory

Holocaust survivor Sonja Marsh with her granddaughter, ca. 1980. Courtesy of the State Library of Ohio Rare Books Collection via Ohio Memory

During the Holocaust, Sonja Marsh, a Polish Jew, lived by “staying one step ahead of the Nazis” and carrying false papers.  By 1980, however, she was a smiling grandmother in Cleveland, Ohio, seeking to document her experience for her children and grandchildren.

We know a bit about this period in Mrs. Marsh’s life because she, along with nearly 170 people like her, shared her story with the Holocaust Education and Commemoration Committee of the Jewish Community Federation in Cleveland, Ohio. The Committee compiled her story and the others they received into a book entitled Ayduth Lachayim, Witness to Life: Holocaust Survivors in the Cleveland Jewish Community. The remembrances contained in Ayduth Lachayim are both heartbreaking and affirming, an illustration of the remarkable resilience of the human spirit.   The survivors who documented their experience watched their loved ones – sometimes their entire family, both immediate and extended – die terrible deaths, yet they survived and thrived.

The pages in this book include vital information such as birth dates and marital statuses, as well as lists of family members, both living and deceased.  Often pictures are included, as is the case with Mrs. Marsh.

Biographical information for Holocaust survivor Thea Lange Speigel, courtesy of the State Library of Ohio Rare Books Collection via Ohio Memory

In all but one instance, the participants’ addresses were included in the book.  While this information is readily found today with an Internet search, at the time it was given the participant may have had a reasonable expectation of privacy.  For this reason, and because some participants are living and may still be at the address provided in 1980, addresses and phone numbers have been redacted.

We hope that when you look at this item you find beauty and joy in its pages and see it as the contributors hoped: as an ayduth lachayim, a witness to life.

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Thank you to Shannon Kupfer, Digital/Tangible Media Cataloger at the State Library of Ohio, for this week’s post!

Results page for Ohio Memory Madness 2013.

Thank you to everyone who voted in the inaugural season of Ohio Memory Madness! This year’s tournament has now concluded, and our winner—in a come-from-behind, last minute surge of voting—was Tecumseh, who edged out the win over John Glenn at 53.2% to 46.8%!

F. Harding: 54.6%, W. Harding: 45.4%

Many pairings over the course of the previous five rounds were hotly contested, with one victory decided by less than 1%. There were some upsets (Florence over Warren G. Harding in round one!) as well as several more predictable outcomes. To no one’s surprise, Woody Hayes beat Bo Schembechler by about 60 percentage points. Many aspects of Ohio’s history were well-represented all the way through the tournament, with a final four that included President and General U.S. Grant, Native American Leader Tecumseh, Author Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Astronaut and Senator John Glenn. Visit http://www.ohiohistoryhost.org/madness/results.php to see the results of each round in more detail.

Tecumseh, Shawnee military and political leader, via Ohio Memory

Our winner, Tecumseh, is a major figure in Ohio history and U.S. history on a broader scale. Born near Chillicothe in 1768, Tecumseh was a member of the Shawnee tribe who played a key role in the Pan-Indian Movement just prior to Ohio’s founding. He worked to unite the Native American tribes of the First Nations against the encroachment of American settlers on their ancestral lands, and joined forces with the British during the War of 1812 to defend their territory from U.S. settlement. Killed in battle with American forces in 1813, Tecumseh is still remembered as a powerful military and political leader for his people, and a symbol of resistance in Native American history.

Staff have been thrilled with the level of response from Ohio Memory Madness participants, so a big thank you to all who participated these past few weeks! Thanks also to all of you who celebrate and promote Ohio’s amazing history all year round. We look forward to seeing you for Ohio Memory Madness 2014!

Sherman’s notes on “An Act to Provide a National Currency Secured by a Pledge of United States Stocks, and to Provide for the Circulation and Redemption Thereof,” ca. 1863. Courtesy of the John Sherman Manuscript Collection via Ohio Memory.

Sherman in 1879 while he was serving as Secretary of the Treasury, courtesy of the Mansfield-Richland County Public Library via Ohio Memory

Ohioan John Sherman (1823-1900) may be less well-known to modern-day Americans than his brother, William T. Sherman, but this nineteenth-century lawyer and politician was extremely prominent in his own right.  He served his state in the United States Senate for several terms, served as the United States Secretary of the Treasury (1877-1881) and Secretary of State (1897-1898), and ran for President (unsuccessfully) in 1880.  He was also a major player in the growth of the Republican Party and, in 1890, while serving in the Senate for the second time in his career, wrote the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the oldest of all Federal antitrust laws in the United States.

In 1905, five years after his death, the State Library of Ohio acquired a select portion of Sherman’s papers as well as much of his collection of books.  These papers were recently digitized and are available for viewing in Ohio Memory.  Included in this collection are account ledgers, lists of cases tried, and a book of letters written by Sherman.

Sherman in 1862, shortly after being elected U.S. Senator from Ohio to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Salmon P. Chase. Via Ohio Memory

Ohio Memory is the home for a number of other items relating to John Sherman’s life and career.  Contributed by various institutions, these items, together with the collection of the State Library of Ohio, give us a glimpse at the life of man with whom many people today are unfamiliar, but who played an important role in the history of our state and our nation.  Please enjoy viewing these and other items in Ohio Memory!

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Thank you to Shannon Kupfer, Digital/Tangible Media Cataloger at the State Library of Ohio, for this week’s post!

Two steamboats on the Ohio-Mississippi Rivers, from the Ohio Guide Collection via Ohio Memory

“The Tragic Steamer Sultana.” Source: Chicago Eagle, March 26, 1898, Page 6 (via Chronicling America)

Early in the morning on April 27, 1865, the worst maritime disaster in American history occurred when the S.S. Sultana exploded on the Mississippi River just north of Memphis, Tennessee. Some historians have estimated that over 1,700 lives were lost—most belonging to Union soldiers who were traveling home after the end of the Civil War. According to Columbus’ Daily Ohio Statesman, the ship had been transporting “1,996 Federal soldiers and 350 officers, lately released from Cahawba and Andersonville prisons” (April 29, 1865, Image 6, Col. 3, via Chronicling America). The explosion resulted from a series of hasty repairs to the wooden steamship’s faulty boilers. An investigation held in the months following the disaster concluded with the ship’s captain, Fredrick Speed, being found guilty of neglect on June 9, 1866.

Newspapers available through the Library of Congress’s digital newspaper website, Chronicling America, allow you to see firsthand what people living at the time would have read about the S.S. Sultana incident. Though reports on this tragedy by the American press were largely overshadowed by other historic events happening at the time, such as the progress of President Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train, Ohio newspapers covered the disaster extensively. At over 500 men, Ohio had the largest contingent of troops aboard the ship.

“Explosion of the Sultana.” Source: Chicago Eagle, March 26, 1898, Page 6 (via Chronicling America)

Those who did not die in the explosion drowned in the flooded, cold waters of the Mississippi. After living in the harsh prison camp conditions, few lacked the strength to swim to shore or await rescue efforts from nearby Memphis. Some accounts of what the soldiers—both those who died and those who survived— experienced have been recorded in the newspapers. The Tiffin Weekly Tribune, for example, reports, “The scene following the explosion was terrible and heart-rending in the extreme…. The survivors represent the screams as agonizing beyond precedent” (May 4, 1865, Image 3, Col. 5, via Chronicling America).

The S.S. Sultana continued making the news long after its tragic end in 1865. Anniversaries, reunions of survivors and even similar disasters—such as the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine in 1898—prompted the press to write about the steamship again and again. Several memorials have been erected around the nation in remembrance of those who needlessly perished with the ship.

Interested in learning more about the S.S. Sultana? Click here to see it featured in one of the Ohio Historical Society’s Chronicling America Search Strategy Videos available through YouTube! This short video will not only show you how to find information about the S.S. Sultana from the over six million pages of historic American newspapers available on Chronicling America, but it will teach you why and when to use the “any,” “all” and “phrase” search options when performing other searches on the website. You may also want to view the S.S. Sultana Subject Guide, available through the Ohio Digital Newspaper Portal Subject Guide Collection, for even more information.

The Chronicling America Search Strategy Videos  was developed by the Ohio Historical Society with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress  as part of the  National Digital Newspaper Program in Ohio staff. Please visit the Ohio Digital Newspaper Portal for more information.

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Thanks to Jenni Salamon, Project Coordinator for NDNP-OH, for this week’s post!

The National Digital Newspaper Program is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress and state projects to provide enhanced access to United States newspapers published between 1836 and 1922. NEH awards support state projects to select and digitize historically significant titles that are aggregated and permanently maintained by the Library of Congress. As part of the project, the Ohio Historical Society contributed 200,000 newspaper pages to the project between July 2008 and August 2012 and will contribute an additional 100,000 pages by the end of August 2014.

YMCA basketball game in Akron, from the Ohio Guide Collection via Ohio Memory

In the spirit and fun of college basketball’s March Madness, the Ohio Historical Society invites you to participate in the first annual Ohio Memory Madness – a bracket of sixty-four historical Ohio figures, including astronauts, athletes, presidents, and more, all competing for the unique distinction of being named the 2013 Ohio Memory Madness Champion! What could be more exciting than that!?

The bracket features images of historical figures pulled directly from Ohio Memory–scroll over the image to view a description and brief biography of the historical figure, or click on the image to visit the Ohio Memory image page with even more information!

Who would you vote for?

Since our figures are unable to play basketball (unfortunate, since imagining a game of H-O-R-S-E between Florence and Warren G. Harding had the staff asking quite a few “what-ifs…”) the winner of this unique bracket will be determined by you – the voter! Visit http://www.ohiohistoryhost.org/madness/ and cast your votes for each round and, ultimately, the winner of Ohio Memory Madness!

The tournament voting will open as follows:

Round one: open voting 3/19 – 3/21 @5pm
Round two: open voting 3/22 – 3/25 @5pm
Round three: open voting 3/26 – 3/28 @5pm
Quarters: open voting 3/29 – 4/1 @5pm
Semis: open voting 4/2 – 4/4 @5pm
Finals: open voting 4/5 – 4/8 @5pm

Round Two has now begun, so check it out to make your vote count! Voting for each round will close at 5pm on the day before the next round of play. Have any questions? Send an email to ohiomemory@ohiohistory.org. Happy voting!

Thanks to Jamie Glavic, Strategic Projects Coordinator at OHS, for this week’s blog post!