Fort Recovery State Museum September 2013, Newsletter
Larry Nelson – Sunday, September 8 – The Battles of Detroit, War of 1812 Larry Nelson, an authority in Ohio’s frontier history and the author of five books and numerous articles on this topic will be speaking at the Fort Recovery State Museum on Sunday, September 8 at 3:00. Nelson who has appeared in PBS and History Channel presentations (including the Emmy nominated, “First Invasion: 1812”) will be speaking about the significant War of 1812 actions that took place in Detroit. This speaker worked for nearly 25 years as the site-director of Fort Meigs State Memorial (a restored War of 1812 fort and museum) in Perrysburg before his retirement in 2004. He is now an adjunct assistant professor of history at Bowling Green State University Firelands College. The museum carries Nelson’s book, The History of Jonathan Alder, a true story of Indian captivity and pioneer life.
One-of-a-Kind Auction – Sunday, October 20 You won’t want to miss the October 20th auction which benefits the Fort Recovery Historical Society and Project Recovery! Not only is it a worthwhile event, it is a lot of good fun and good food. Items are still welcome for the live auction, silent auction and raffle. The auction booklet will be printed in early September, so donations made before then will be acknowledged in the publication. Also watch for many of the auction items to appear towards the end of September in the window of Mays TV, Wayne Street, Fort Recovery. Check the museum website: www.fortrecoverymuseum.com or the Fort Recovery Museum Face book page for a listing and pictures of many of the treasures!
Descendants Booklet – Descendant Data Binder One of the main efforts of the Monument Rededication was to locate as many descendants of the 1791 and 1794 battles as possible. We didn’t realize how exciting and successful that effort would be. We decided to create a booklet of the information submitted to us by the 20+ St. Clair and Wayne soldiers’ families represented. That task is nearly completed, thanks primarily to Kathy Thobe, and will be mailed to the descendants soon. The booklet contains basic descendant/soldier information, (battle, unit, action, death/survival and the descendant directory information.) The goal of offering the booklet is to give descendants an opportunity to contact and share with each other. It is also our way of saying, “Thanks.”
In addition to the booklets, we have a very thick binder at the museum that not only includes the information mentioned above, but many copies of letters, newspaper articles, military records etc. For example, Hugh Wayne of Charleston, SC, sent the early family tree of Anthony Wayne beginning in England in the 1400’s and ending with Gabriel and Isaac Wayne the fathers of Anthony and William. What a treasure that will be for any Wayne descendant who visits Fort Recovery in the future. Those 37 pages also contain many interesting vignettes including - From Hugh Wayne: “Anthony Wayne was known to be open to flattery, vain, a strict and often harsh disciplinarian, and more impetuous than cautious. All of that plus his known integrity were wrapped up in an incident that occurred while the army was encamped at Valley Forge. Some of the men of Wayne‟s regiment had been milking the cows of Devault Beaver a farmer living in the vicinity, and Beaver had repeatedly lodged complaints. At last Beaver called out to Wayne as he was riding out of Camp, „General, what am I to do? The cows were robbed again last night?‟ Wayne, having begun to lose patience said, „Shoot the rascal;‟ never supposing he would be taken literally. Beaver did take him at his word and shot dead the next trooper apprehended milking his cows. When the incident was related to Wayne, he acknowledged his hasty reply and culpability and said, „Release him!‟” From Judy Damewood: Descendant of Danford Carter (Battle 1791,) Newspaper clipping from Daily Illinois State Register, March 10, 1918, Springfield Illinois. (During WWI) “Have you noticed how the Sons of the Revolution stand in this war?” I don‟t mean just the sons who wear badges, go to banquets and pass resolutions. I mean all the descendants of the men who fought in the war for Independence, who froze and starved with Washington at Valley Forge, rode the raids with the old Swamp Fox, fought Indians with Mad Anthony Wayne or William Henry Harrison. If you haven‟t looked up the record of the descendants of these men as to the part they have taken in the wars that have followed the Revolution, you should do so. The saying that a man comes from „good fighting stock‟ isn‟t all pure bunk, as some would say. If you ask about those men who came here from foreign lands at a later date and who have done such loyal service for the flag, I can only say that these men came from “good fighting stock” in their native lands and the very love of freedom that made their ancestors fighting men was the thing that brought them to this county and made them such valiant fighters for the government that represented the very ideas that their forefathers had stood for through the ages.”
Then the newspaper writer uses Judy’s great (x5) grandfather as an example: Danford Carter fought in the American Revolution and then with Butler in Wabash 1791… After Danford, succeeding family members fought in the War of 1812, Black Hawk’s War (1832), the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish American War “and now 13 family members in World War I.”
Many of the descendants’ biographies tell similar stories of generations of military service. How interesting! How impressive!
From Roy Nichols: Descendant of Captain William Piatt (Battle 1791) (named on our monument, buried here) Piatt served in the New Jersey line throughout the Revolution. He participated in Washington’s crossing of the Delaware, in the Battle of Trenton and all major battles in New Jersey. He wintered at Valley Forge in 1777-8. He commanded a company at Yorktown. He was present at Washington’s Farewell to his troops.
He missed military life and therefore responded to Washington’s call for volunteers to help St. Clair pacify the Ohio frontier. He recruited a company of volunteers in his home area, marched across the Alleghenies, then down the Ohio River to Fort Washington, where he linked up with St. Clair and marched off into the wilderness. He and many of his men were killed by the Indians on the banks of the Wabash on 11-4-1791.
His widow lived until 1850 when she died at 95. In 1838 she was awarded a pension of $500 per year dating back 47 years to the date of his death. She donated the entire sum of $23,500 to endow a Quaker seminary in Plainfield, NJ. She did this to make peace with the pacifist church which had expelled her in 1778 for the sin of marrying a soldier!”
What interesting commonalities surface when reading one account after another of the descendants’ reports! Stop by the museum any time and browse through the binder and read such interesting accounts.
DVD Available at the Museum Using the results of the 2010 Ball State University’s American Battlefield Protection Program grant and the funding of BSU’s Provost’s 2011 Immersive Learning Grant ($33,000), 12 BSU students created this impressive, informative and sometimes touching DVD.
These master students did additional research and used their (and other’s) talents to create this 26 minute documentary outlining the history and modern day thoughts of the Battle of the Wabash and Battle of Fort Recovery. Students interviewed and recorded members of the Fort Recovery Historical Society, author, John Winkler, and George Ironstrack of the Myaamia Project (Miami Indians/University) as part of this video production.
The museum is proud to have this professionally-done documentary in the gift shop. The DVD’s are available for a donation. The suggested amount is $15. (Less for patrons). The number available is limited at this time. DVD’s can be mailed upon request.
Next Month! An Overview of the 7 Ball State University Grants Based on Fort Recovery Battlefield and Museum Data
Don’t forget – Last Speaker of 2013, Sunday, September 8, 3:00 – Larry Nelson – Guaranteed Interesting!
Happy History! Happy Fort Recovery! Happy Fall! Nk “Like Us” on Facebook