Description: A mural of the "Spirit of the Telegraph" as painted by Archibald M. Willard in the Fayette County Court House. For many years, the creator of this work of art remained completely anonymous. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06795
Subjects: Telegraphs; Courthouses--Ohio; Fayette County (Ohio)
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: A mural of the "Spirit of U.S. Mail" as painted by Archibald M. Willard in the Fayette County Court House. For many years, the creator of this work of art remained completely anonymous. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06796
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; Fayette County (Ohio); Art, American--Ohio
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is photograph of a map of the town of Washington Courthouse, drawn in 1867. It was for possible use for the Ohio Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration. Washington Courthouse is the county seat of Fayette County. The area was originally settled by Virginia Revolutionary War veterans on land they received from the Federal Government for their service. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B15F03_053_001
Subjects: Books; Chapter headings; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project; Maps; Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
Places: Washington Courthouse (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows armed soldiers standing guard outside the Fayette County Court House, Washington Court House, Ohio, in mid-October 1894. A crowd of onlookers is facing the soldiers; inside the court house, dozens of people are standing the windows observing the activity outside. Rioting erupted at the Fayette County Courthouse following the trial of William Dolby, a biracial man accused of raping a white woman in Washington Court House, Ohio. Dolby pleaded guilty and was sentenced to twenty years at the Ohio Penitentiary. The crowd, however, demanded that Dolby be lynched for the crime. Governor William McKinley, who later became president of the United States, sent out the National Guard to protect Dolby. On the morning of October 17, 1894, the National Guard troops, led by Colonel Alonzo B. Coit, ordered the crowd to disperse. The crowd continued to shout and began ramming the courthouse doors. Coit and his troops fired at the crowd through the doors of the courthouse, killing six men and wounding a dozen others. Bullet holes are still visible in the wooden doors of the courthouse. Colonel Coit was indicted for manslaughter but was acquitted at trial. After the trial, Governor McKinley stated, "The law was upheld as it should have been...but in this case at fearful cost.... Lynching cannot be tolerated in Ohio." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06618
Subjects: Riots; Lynching; McKinley, William, 1843- 1901; Fayette County (Ohio); Courthouses
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: Interior of a one room school house in Octa, Fayette County, Ohio, ca. 1909-1910. Students of varying ages are seated at their desks. A stove in the center of the classroom is the only source of heat and the windows are the main source of light. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL01110
Subjects: Fayette County (Ohio); Cultural Ohio--Education
Places: Octa (Ohio)
 

Description: Two photographs document the Fayette County courthouse in Washington Court House, Ohio. The second photograph is a close-up view of the wooden entrance doors, which are marked by bullet holes, the result of an 1894 riot following the trial of William Dolby, a biracial man accused of raping a white woman. The photographs measure 8" x 10" (20.32 x 25.4 cm). The Eclectic-style Fayette County courthouse was designed by architect David W. Gibbs and was completed in 1885. Three murals in the lobby outside the courtroom were painted by Archibald Willard, who painted the Spirit of '76. The first mural, Spirit of the U. S. Mail depicts a winged woman holding a bundle of letters in her left hand and a single envelope in the other hand that bears the inscription "A. M. Willard. . . , Cleveland, Ohio." The Spirit of Electricity portrays a woman floating above a body of water bearing a torch in her right hand. The Spirit of the Telegraph is pictured as a winged woman holding a length of telegraph wire. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3119_3737998_001
Subjects: Ohio Government; Architecture; Courthouses; Doors & doorways; Bullet holes; Riots; Justice--Administration of
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: Fayette County Courthouse was designed by David Gibbs and built in 1882-1885 in Washington Court House, Ohio. The photograph was taken in 1974. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00444
Subjects: Washington Court House (Ohio); Ohio History--State and Local Government
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: This image shows the front and side facades of the Fayette County courthouse. It was built between 1882 and 1885 by architect David Gibbs in an eclectic architectural style, features of which included an arched entrance, pedimented pavilion, and central belfry surmounted by a statue of Justice. Renowned for its Willard murals located outside the entrance to the courtroom, the mural's themes of electricity, telegraphy, and mail represent the early progress of Fayette County. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F02_136
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; National Register of Historic Places; clock towers; arches; flat roofs; pediments; pavilions (building divisions); belfries (equipment spaces)
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio); 110 E. Court
 

Description: This image shows the front facade of the Fayette County courthouse. It was built between 1882 and 1885 by architect David Gibbs in an eclectic architectural style, features of which included an arched entrance, pedimented pavilion, and central belfry surmounted by a statue of Justice. Renowned for its Willard murals located outside the entrance to the courtroom, the mural's themes of electricity, telegraphy, and mail represent the early progress of Fayette County. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F02_142
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; National Register of Historic Places; clock towers; arches; flat roofs; pediments; pavilions (building divisions); belfries (equipment spaces)
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio); 110 E. Court
 

Description: This image shows the side facade of the Fayette County courthouse. It was built between 1882 and 1885 by architect David Gibbs in an eclectic architectural style, features of which included an arched entrance, pedimented pavilion, and central belfry surmounted by a statue of Justice. Renowned for its Willard murals located outside the entrance to the courtroom, the mural's themes of electricity, telegraphy, and mail represent the early progress of Fayette County. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F02_141
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; National Register of Historic Places; clock towers; arches; flat roofs; pediments; pavilions (building divisions); belfries (equipment spaces)
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio); 110 E. Court
 

Description: This image shows the cornerstone of the Fayette County courthouse. It was built between 1882 and 1885 by architect David Gibbs in an eclectic architectural style, features of which included an arched entrance, pedimented pavilion, and central belfry surmounted by a statue of Justice. Renowned for its Willard murals located outside the entrance to the courtroom, the mural's themes of electricity, telegraphy, and mail represent the early progress of Fayette County. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F02_144
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; National Register of Historic Places; clock towers; arches; flat roofs; pediments; pavilions (building divisions); belfries (equipment spaces)
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio); 110 E. Court
 

Description: This image shows the front doors of the Fayette County courthouse. The bullet holes in the front door are from 1896, when the state militia fired shots from the inside the building to protect a prisoner from being lynched by an angry crowd that had gathered outside the building. The courthouse was built between 1882 and 1885 by architect David Gibbs in an eclectic architectural style, features of which included an arched entrance, pedimented pavilion, and central belfry surmounted by a statue of Justice. Renowned for its Willard murals located outside the entrance to the courtroom, the mural's themes of electricity, telegraphy, and mail represent the early progress of Fayette County. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F02_143
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; National Register of Historic Places; clock towers; arches; flat roofs; pediments; pavilions (building divisions); belfries (equipment spaces)
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio); 110 E. Court