Camp Perry in Ohio

I wrote about this camp in my Not So Forgotten:  War of 1812 blog earlier today.  Camp Perry is named after War of 1812 naval hero Oliver Hazard Perry and has received a $271,000 federal funding to redo its historical lighting system.

From the September 21, 2021, Sandusky (Ohio) Register "Camp Perry receives federal funds" by Andy Ouriel.

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HISTORY:

**  Camp Perry was the primary training center for the Ohio National Guard for much of the 20th century.

**  It is located close to Port Clinton, Ohio, and consists of 640 acres.

**  Established in 1907, it is named for Oliver Hazard Perry.  The main reason it is located where it is is to allow the Ohio National Guard to practice rifle and artillery firing into Lake Erie.

**  The camp has the largest outdoor rifle range in the world.

**  While originally intended for use by the Ohio National Guard, during World War I to train officers and marksmen.  During World War II, Italian and German  prisoners were held at the camp.

**  Beginning in the 1960s, use of Camp Perry began to decline.

**  Today, several units continue to be housed at the camp.  They include the  213th Ordnance Company, the 200th Civil Engineering  Squadron, the 372nd  Missile Maintenance Company (DS) and the Ohio Naval reserve.

**  In addition to military usage, Camp Perry has also been  the site of the World Series of the Shooting Sports since 1907.  This event is sponsored by the National Rifle Association, and marksmen and women from around the world participate in the competition.

--Cooter

Is It True About Ohio?

The U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp honoring the one hundredth anniversary of the first flight by the Wright Brothers.

The first man in powered flight was from Ohio.

The first man ever to orbit the Earth was from Ohio.

And, the first man on the Moon was from Ohio.

It sounds like a lot of people are trying to get out of Ohio.

But, really, congratulations to Orville, John and Neil and Ohio.

--CootOutofHere

More on Ohio's Presidents-- Part 6: Why the Scarlet Carnation Is the State Flower

It was adopted by the state in 1904 in memory of President William McKinley, who wore a red carnation on his lapel.

In 1901, at the Pan-American Expo in Buffalo, NY, McKinley was standing in the receiving line, shaking hands  with visitors.  A 12-year-old girl named Myrtle Ledger asked him for a favor:  "Could I have something to show my friends?  They'll never believe I spoke to you."

McKinley then removed his flower from his lapel, and handed it over to the little girl.

A few seconds later, Leon F. Czolgosz, an unhappy anarchist,  with a 32 caliber pistol wrapped in a bandage around his hand shot McKinley twice in the stomach.  The president died  from the wounds a few weeks later.

--Cooter

More on Ohio Presidents-- Part 5: Two More First Ladies and "Now Dear, I Hope You're Happy" and "Lemonade Lucy"

JULIA GRANT--  (Julia Dent)   was the first First Lady to write her memoirs.  Upon taking the Oath of Office for the presidency, Grant turned to his wife and said, "Now dear, I hope you're happy."

LUCY HAYES--  (Lucy Ware Webb)--    She was a member of the National Women's  Temperance League.  Once Rutherford took office as president, Lucy convinced him that alcohol should be banned from the White House.

After the decree became known, Lucy received the name "Lemonade Lucy."

Because of her  high moral principles , she was admired by many women of the day.    One reporter referred to her as "The First Lady" and that term is used even to this day for the wife of the president.

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Ohio has had six women born in the state who served as First Ladies:  Lucy Webb Hayes, Lucretia Randolph Garfield, Caroline Scott Harrison, Ida Saxton McKinley, Helen Herron Taft and Florence DeWolf Harding.

--Cooter

More On Ohio Presidents-- Part 4: Ohio's First Ladies, Anna Harrison

ANNA HARRISON  (Anna Symmes)   was the wife of William Henry Harrison, the oldest president to serve in that office at his time.  She also was the oldest First Lady at the time at age 65.  She also served the shortest time as First Lady.

She was also the only woman  who was the wife of a president and the grandmother to another (Benjamin Harrison).

Being the first widow of a president, Congress gave Anna $25,000 one-time payment  as a form of pension for her husband's 31 days in the office of the presidency.

--Cooter

More on Ohio Presidents-- Part 3: "Foreign-Born" Presidents

Only William Henry Harrison wasn't actually born in Ohio, but he did call Ohio home from the time it became a state.

Actually, when he was born, there were no states.  Just 13 colonies.

In fact, he was the last president to be elected who could be considered being born under a foreign power.

The other seven presidents  born under a foreign power were:  George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.

They were British subjects when born.

--Cooter

More On Ohio Presidents-- Part 2: Can You Name the Ohio Presidents In Order?

Who were the Ohio presidents?

**  William Henry Harrison  (9)

**  Ulysses S. Grant  (18th)

**  Rutherford B. Hayes  (19th)

**  James A. Garfield  (20th)

**  Benjamin Harrison  (23rd)

**  William McKinley  (25th)

**  William H. Taft  (27th

**  Warren G. Harding  (29th)

--Cooter

More On Ohio Presidents-- Part 1: How Many Ohio Presidents Were Assassinated?

From Touring Ohio:  Ohio's Presidents.

**  Of the four men assassinated while president, two were from Ohio:  James Garfield and William McKinley.

**  Eight presidents where born in Ohio.  Seven were born in the state.

**  Eight presidents have died while in office.  Of those four are from Ohio:  William Henry Harrison, James Garfield, William McKinley and Warren G. Harding.

**  Of the nine presidents portrayed on U.S. paper currency, two are from Ohio  Guess.  Answer below.

**  Of the twelve U.S.presidents who were generals at one time, five were from Ohio:  William Henry Harrison, U.S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield and Benjamin Harrison.

Ohio Proud.  --CootPres


Grant ($50) and McKinley ($500)

Buckeye Presidents-- Part 5: Outsized, Overshadowed, Births and Assassinations

At the time, Ohio was one of only three swing states along with New York and Indiana which helps explain the state's outsized place in presidential politics of the era.  Benjamin Harrison was a "two-for-one guy" because he was born in Ohio and spent his adult life in Indiana.

Yet, Rutherford B. Hayes, in particular, read the Constitution as giving the president a more modest role than big personalities, beginning with Teddy Roosevelt, who would come later.  He was one of only two presidents who chose to seek only one term.

"He really felt that his role was not to overshadow Congress," McLochlin said.  "Some would say that's eroded over the years."

The elder Harrison was born in Virginia, but spent most of his adult life in Ohio.  The others, which include Ulysses S. Grant, president from 1869 to 1877; and William Howard Taft, president from 1909 to 1913, were all Ohio natives.

William Henry  Harrison wasn't the only Ohio president to meet a tragic end.  Garfield and McKinley were assassinated --  Garfield about six months after taking office in 1881 and McKinley about six months into his second term in 1901.  Harding was in the third year of his term in 1923 when he died of a heart attack.

--Cooter

Buckeye Presidents-- Part 4: Longest Inaugural Address to the Civil War and Modern American Era

William McKinley, president from 1897 to 1901, had the first War Room.

It was perhaps no coincidence that the elder Harrison is also noted for delivering the longest inaugural address on record -- in the rain and without a coat, which led to the sickness which caused his death.

A timeline accompanying the exhibit begins with William Henry Harrison's election in 1840 and runs through the death of President Warren G. Harding, the last of the group of Ohio presidents in 1923.

Five of the Ohio presidents served in the Civil War.  The other three, beginning with McKinley served in  what is considered the  the modern American era.

The exhibition includes a Civil War  re-enactment scene and the insights drawn from Ohio presidents' administrations into how the nation changed from before to after the war.

--Cooter

Buckeye Presidents-- Part 3: "Old Tippecanoe"

Objects, artifacts and photographs displayed throughout the center's upper floors were assembled from the Library of Congress, Ohio History Connection, Western Reserve Historical Society and elsewhere.  The show highlights four aspects of each president's life:  their home life, campaign, time at the White House and Death.

Visitors will find Garfield's bathrobe as well as Warren G. Harding's silk pajamas on display. There are hats, fans, china, walking sticks, furniture, historic campaign materials and other personal items.

The first Ohio president Benjamin Harrison's grandfather William Henry Harrison, was the nation's ninth president and the first to die in office.  He was a famed War of 1812 and Indian fighter hero known as "Old Tippecanoe" (for a victory over the Indians) and died just 31 days into his term of typhoid, pneumonia, and paratyphoid fever, prompting the first protocols for replacing a sitting president when he dies.

--Cooter

Buckeye Presidents-- Part 2: "Bearded Guys, Old Civil War Soldiers"

The presidential egg roll started under President Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife Lucy in 1878.  President Benjamin Harrison's wife, First Lady Caroline Harrison placed the first White House Christmas tree in 1889 and initiated the tradition of White House china collections.

"Many of the different things that we take for granted in some respects when we hear about them on the news, were actually started by presidents from Ohio," Shererer said.

It was era, the Gilded Age, whose presidents are largely forgotten, said Dustin McLochlin, historian at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums in Fremont, Ohio.

"They're bearded guys, old Civil War soldiers and generals when the presidency wasn't as powerful as it is today," he said.    "What the Ohio presidents really speak to, if you're going to talk about them as a whole, is it's an era when Ohio is so important to winning an election, particularly to the Republican Party."

--CootGild

Buckeye Presidents-- Part 1: Easter Egg Roll and the War Room

From the October 9, 2019, Chicago Tribune "Eyeing a Time Buckeye State bred presidents" by Julie Carr Smyth, AP.

Commanders in chief who hail from Ohio star in exhibit.

Lancaster, Ohio

Ohio had a formidable run of early U.S. presidents who established many of the White House's enduring traditions from the frolicsome Easter Egg Roll to the presidential war room.

This is explored in a new exhibit in Lancaster, about 30 miles southeast of Columbus in the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio.  The exhibit is called "The Ohio Presidents Surprising Legacies" which opened in September and ran until the end of the year.  Sorry, you missed it.

The exhibit showcases a roughly 80-year period beginning in 1840.

"We are highlighting some of the things about their lives and careers that are not typically known by the general public," said curator Christine Fowler Sherarer.  "We've tried to find the fun facts and things that aren't common knowledge."

--CootEye

Death of Tulsa Race Massacre Survivor Olivia Hooker-- Part 6: Education and the Commission

Olivia Juliet Hooker was born in Muscogee, Oklahoma, on February 12, 1915, and was one of five children.  She graduated from Ohio State University in 1937, then taught elementary school in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1947, she received a master's degree in psychology from Teachers College at Columbia University.  In 1961, she earned a doctorate from the University of Rochester.

In 1997, she worked on the Tulsa Race Riot Commission, which investigated the massacre and issued a report in 2001 "detailing for the first time  the extent of the city and state government's involvement in the riot and the cover up that followed and the total lack of remedy available in the courts at the time," according to a congressional report.

The National Honor Flight Origin

The whole Honor Flight idea originated with Earl Morris, a physician assistant with the Veterans Administration in Springfield, Ohio,  and Jeff Miller from Henderson, North Carolina, the son of a World War II veteran.  They did this in 2004, soon after the World War II Memorial was opened in Washington, D.C..

The first Honor Flight took place in May 2005 and took off from Springfield, Ohio, and flew World War II veterans to the memorial that was built in their honor.

The idea soon spread and hubs were added.  Honor Flight Chicago has become one of the largest hubs.

--Cooter

Jacob Smith in Later Life

He retired to Portsmouth, Ohio, and also did some world traveling.  With the coming of World War I, he volunteered his service,  but was turned down due to his old age (and likely what happened in the Philippines).

He died in San Diego on March 1, 1918, and in interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

I had never heard of him before, but he is definitely an interesting character.  I will write about his Civil War service in my Saw the Elephant blog.

--DaCoot

One Man's Travels On the Erie Canal (and Beyond) in 1836-- Part 3: Ohio's Canals and Two Presidents

David Sprague Crandall next crossed Lake Erie by steamer, landing in Cleveland.

Ohio's recent work on their canal system allowed him to travel several more days to the Ohio River, where he traveled again by steamer which he described as, "a little squeaking stern-wheeler which was aground half the time and the passengers kept running back and forth across the boat to rock it through through the sand bars."  I take it he was not overly impressed.

It was in Cincinnati that he saw President Jackson as well as William Henry Harrison, two War of 1812 heroes.  Of course, Harrison would himself be elected to the presidency four years later.

--Cooter

Captain Sigsbee's Bathtub-- Part 2: Here, There, Everywhere

In 1929, the bathtub was placed along the wall of the courthouse rotunda and remained there for the next 30 years.  When the courthouse was renovated in 1960 it was removed and shipped to the Findlay College Museum.

They stored it in an old cigar factory.  In 1974 it was turned over to the Hancock Historical Museum who put it in their basement.  It was recently retrieved and now can once again be viewed by visitors, though much of the enamel is gone.

It is currently not on display and probably won't be until 2015.

A Real Clean History.  --Cooter

The USS Maine's Bathtub-- Part 2: A Poem, Sort Of

From Roadside America

100 Years of Democracy and Cleanliness
1898 Bathtub from the Battleship Maine
Rude Treachery As the Captain Scrubbed
A Sudsy Vessel, Blown Asunder
Cradled in God's Hand, A Gift To Faithful Findlay
Your Pluck Is Our Pride, Brave Citizens of Ohio
Our Flag Will Yet Wave O'er the Cuban Lagoon
Mothers Hoist Your Washcloths High
For Here Stands Liberty, Enameled

--CootTub

Lt.Col. William Carpenter Lambert, WWI Ace

From Find-A-Grave.

I came across the man's name while researching Woodland Cemetery in Ironton, Ohio, where Ella Blocksom Johnson is buried.  She is the person for whom the poem that became the famed Civil War song "Lorena" was written.  I have been writing about her and the song in my Civil War blog.  I also found the name of War of 1812 hero Ezra Dean who is also buried there and I have been writing about him in my War of 1812 blog.

WILLIAM CARPENTER LAMBERT (1894-1982)

World War I fighter ace with 22 officially-confirmed air combat victories, the second-highest scoring American fighter pilot, but his victory total is usually omitted from the list of American flying aces because he spent the entire war flying in Britain's famed No. 24 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps.

His total was second only to Edward Rickenbacker's 26.