two sons. the bowland-barker murder

After over two years of off and on research and one winter's work in the writing, my book Two Sons is now in print. The story of the murder of Franklin Barker by his brother-in-law, Robert M. Bowland, is barely mentioned in the local history books. Perhaps the somewhate "delicate" aspects and the bitter wounds and feud associated with the event had a dampening effect on historians who lived closer in time to the mid-1800s events. Perhaps it was the politics and influence and the rise in power of men like John Sherman, Samuel Kirkwood, Mordecae Bartley, and others involved with the case, including hundreds of prominent local citizens who signed petitions to pardon the cowardly, nere-do-well Bowland, that caused historians to keep their tounges. Or perhaps others just aren't as fascinated with the story as I am, but that's for you to decide. The book is available at Main Street Books, or through my website at ljbooks.com . I'll be having a book signing at Main Street Books on July 2 from 5:30 to 7:30 during First Friday. There's a facebook page at Two Sons. If you're a facebook member, please "like" the page so I can spread the word around.

hopewell earthworks at newark

June 1 was one of four days a year that the golf course at Moundbuilders Country Club is shut down for full public access to the mound groupings there. Conditions turned out perfect for photographs. The sky was perfect and a 5pm the shadows were getting longer and everyone else in Ohio was busy with other things. I spent about an hour walking around the site and didn't see or meet another sole.

boardup on prescott

Putting a better face on 331 Prescott. Properties that are worth saving deserve some extra care. This hopefully shows the positive effect of a more aesthetic boardup. Contributions to this came from myself, Brian Dormaier, and Lowes.

the madison marquee

The marquee from the old Madison Theater came down off the Renaissance Theater today. Here's what I know of its history and what is going to happen to it:

The Madison Theater, owned by the Memorial Building Board, was tucked in behind the Memorial Building with its entrance and marquee on Park Avenue West, sandwiched between the Memorial Building and Farmers Bank (Chase now). In that location the marquee extended out over traffic and was struck by a truck, thus the creation of the notch in it's latter days.

The history of how the Madison came to be torn down is left for someone else to tell. But the marquee itself was saved from the wrecking ball by Mike Volk who sent a truck and crane to retrieve it. The giant Madison blade sign that rose above the marquee didn't survive the removal. It collapsed in the process of taking it down, and was destroyed.

The marquee, however, did survive and was later refurbished by Volk's company to be mounted on the Ohio (now Ren) during its restoration. The marriage of the Madison marquee on the restored Ohio Theater was not a popular move with the Preservation Office in Columbus, according to Dan Seckel who was involved at the time. Nevertheless, it was a popular solution here in Mansfield and saved the marquee and saved the expense of a new sign.

The current capital building project at the Renaissance included plans to remove the old marquee and restore the front of the theater in that area where there originally had been a glass transom, and defer to the new marquee. To save the old marquee, it was planned to mount it freestanding in the parking lot behind the theater, as a kind of urban sculpture.

This wasn't a popular plan and the Historic Preservation Commission proposed an alternative as a better way to assure the marquee's survival. That is to place the old marquee back where it came from, between the bank and the Memorial Building. Agreements between the property owner, the Memorial Building Board, The Renaissance Board, and the Historic Preservation Commission have allowed this plan to go forward. More information on the plan will be forthcoming in the coming months.

In the new (old) location it will serve as a much needed sign for the museum, and continued use will help insure its continued survival. Who knows? Maybe someday a new theater will be built in behind it!

clover

The effort to restore the historic outdoor spaces at Oak Hill Cottage to the 1870s period includes restoring lawn areas. Prior to the 1950s grass seed mixtures included white clover seed, but the use of broadleaf weedkillers became the norm and precluded the usefullness of the beneficial little plant. At Oak Hill we have discontinued the use of lawn weedkillers and chemical fertilizer in an effort to encourage the mixture of grass and clover that made up historic turf.
If you want to see a more mature example of this kind of lawn, check out Kingwood Center where this has been practised for a number of years already.
In an effort to speed up the process we have sown Dutch White Clover seed this spring, and it can now be seen emerging in bare spots. We ordered the seed from outdoorpride.com where we found a reasonable price.
Besides providing a more natural looking turf, the reversal of our last 60 years of chemical lawn care would be a win win situation for the honeybee which continues to face worldwide decline for unknown reasons. Chemicals in the environment has been implicated in the problem, and it can't hurt to provide the bees with some untainted clover also.

courthouse stones

Digging the hole for the foundation of the new Vietnam War memorial has briefly exposed old foundation stones from our fourth courthouse, built in 1873. Court was first held in one of the two 1812 blockhouses on the Square, replaced by a log and frame jail/courthouse in 1816. Courthouse number 3, of brick, was built in 1827 and stood at the center of the north half of the Square. Bricks from that courthouse were exposed a few years ago when the sidewalks were being laid around the Korean War memorial.

s. j. kirkwood

James Garfield and William Allen are Ohio's two, life-sized, representative bronzes in Statuary Hall in Washington, D. C. Sate Legislators began a process some months ago to depose William Allen, Governor for the 1874-76 term, because of his pro-slavery views and general lack of name recognition. Publicity about the committee's work seems to have been lackluster until just before their choice of 10 finalists was announced last month. The public now has the opportunity to choose the winner through voting at historical sites around the state up until June. For the list of candidates and more information about the voting, go to the Legacy For Ohio website.

During a brief flurry of last minute input on facebook via the Ohio Historical Society, there were some interesting suggestions and comments, although I think the 10 finalists had already been chosen. The Indian leader Techumseh was a popular suggestion, and the only one I think who actually waged war with the US.

My suggestion of S. J. Kirkwood fell on deaf ears, but I thought it had merit. Kirkwood came to Richland County in 1835 with his father, settling on 80 acres near Newville, and for a time teaching school in that neighborhood to supplement the family income. This, and his subsequent work with Abram Armentrout as deputy assessor would have brought him in contact with my own ancestors in that neighborhood as well as people all over the County. After turning to studying law in Mansfield and obtaining his admission to the Bar, he was elected County Prosecutor in 1846.

Kirkwood's first big case was the murder of Franklin Barker by his brother-in-law, Robert M. Bowland. The case puts an historical spotlight on the tremendous legal talent and political influence of Mansfield which was a town of less than 3000 population at the time (but in a time when most people lived on farms, this was a town which served a much larger population all over the county). Names associated with the trial, conviction, commutation, and pardon of Bowland include three future Secretaries of the Interior, one of which was Kirkwood.

Kirkwood was subsequently elected mayor of Mansfield, but later resigned to mover further west to Iowa which became his home state thereafter. There he was elected to the Iowa Senate in 1856 and Governor in 1859. An anti-slavery Republican, he was a strong supporter of Lincoln's policies in the war effort. He served twice in the US Senate, twice as Governor, and as Secretary of the Interior under president James Garfield.

Today "Honest Sam" Kirkwood's life-sized bronze statue represents the State of Iowa in Statuary Hall while Ohio continues to claim him as one of our native sons. I feel it would be economical to give Sam double duty by hanging an Ohio sign on him and using the bronze from melting down William Allen for a better purpose...perhaps a bell or something. Or better yet, hang a North Carolina (his birthplace) sign on Allen and save the expense of moving him altogether.

three more photos of brinkerhoff

Here are three more photos of Roeliff Brinkerhoff in 1905 and 1907.

scott brown cartoons

Over to the right on this blog page is a feed from the Oak Hill Cottage facebook page. I've started posting some of Scott Brown's cartoons from his 1930's Corner Parade...a little Mansfield humor from a bygone era. Fan the page if you're on facebook!

another photo of brinkerhoff

Here's another photo of Roeliff Brinkerhoff.

gen. roeliff brinkerhoff

Roeliff Brinkerhoff's contribution to the founding of the Ohio Historical Society is the subject of my latest post on the Oak Hill facebook page. In addition to his role in establishing the state organization, he was also the first president of the Richland County Historical Society (Oak Hill's parent organization). This summer while going through some things in Oak Hill Cottage's attic I noticed this photographic portrait of a well-tailored old gentleman and automatically assumed it was Roeliff Brinkerhoff. It was also circumstantially situated on a shelf along with another past Society president, Kenneth Dirlam, and a portrait of James G. Blaine, a Maine senator who ran for president and was a close friend of Brinkerhoff's. Nevertheless there was no identification on the photo to firmly establish who it was. Here is the photo, followed by a couple of other known photos of Brinkerhoff for comparison. The group picture is the 1907 photo at the dedication of the blockhouse, which established that Brinkerhoff had adopted the bushy haired and whiskered look in his later years as in the portrait. I'm convinced it's Brinkerhoff. How about you?

image and branding

Today's News Journal and some of the other current discussions going on about our vision of Mansfield's uncertain future have me wondering why historic preservation is so little discussed. I remember Mansfield in the 1970s, and the N. Main Street area in particular, and if that had been the trend and future of the downtown, I would not be living here today.

There has been a tremendous improvement downtown, focussed on preservation and restoration, but I'm not sure people actually understand it. Most of my generation who would remember Mansfield 40 years ago, quit going downtown and haven't been back. And many younger people perhaps think it has always been this way.

Just like our industrial parks and outlying shopping areas, there are empty buildings and signs of the economic downturn, and the downtown has certainly contracted, but the new reality has its own vitality and is building a new identity on the quality architecture of the past.

I would challenge anyone to promote this area's identity and livability by only featuring buildings we have built in the last 50 years. Given the value of the historic architecture in the mix of all of the accomplishments we're proud of, as in any city of any size, it is time we included a discussion of how to protect these assets in our consideration of Mansfield's future.

more demolitions

I just reviewed a list sent over from Codes of 20 more potential demolitions for Historical Society input. Every time I go out and look at one of these properties I can usually look around and see two or three vacant abandoned properties nearby. And when you compare Mansfield today to what it looked like 60 years ago, it makes you wonder why people think demolitions are the first step to making things right…we’ve been demolishing houses and buildings for a long time and it never ends. The only improvements that have been made in downtown Mansfield in that time period revolved around restoration and preservation. Demolitions are a necessity, unfortunately, but it's time we looked on them as the drain on money, resources, and tax base that they are instead of as a panacea for improvement. It's time when we sit down to talk about improving the quality of life here, that we talk about ways to prevent abandoned and vacant properties, instead of just cleaning up after our ongoing failure to deal with this.

joseph allonas

The great-great grandson of Joseph Allonas has brought by two photogaphs: one of Allonas, and one of the entire family in front of the house on Prescott Street (see previous posts). There's very little of the house showing, but a great view of the front walk down to Springmill Street, fence, and gate. All0nas died in 1879.

couture

I had no idea our project to photograph old clothing this winter at Oak Hill would come up with anything quite so fantastic as the one I just posted on facebook. Above is a higher resolution picture. The label is Boue Soueurs, (Boue Sisters). They were most active from 1899 to the 1930s, and best known for their 1920s creations. I think this dress might be earlier, given its length and train. The condition is very fragile. Besides involving photography, our purpose is to properly store the clothing in acid free boxes, etc.