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: Small Lake Erie Bifurcate-type projectile point has a triangular blade with resharpened inwardly-curving edges. The long stem has straight sides and a deep V-shaped indentation (bifurcation). The projectile point is made of black flint. Item was found in Ohio, possibly in Fairfield County or Fayette County. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07100
Subjects: Fayette County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology
Places: Fairfield County (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dark reddish-gray fluted Clovis-type projectile point with gray and yellowish brown mottling has nearly parallel sides. Point is unusually long and narrow. There is one flake scar taken from the base on both sides, a feature called a flute, extending 20 mm up the blade. The base curves inward markedly. There is grinding on the base and the sides of the lower portion of the blade. A large chip is missing from one side. Item was found in Fayette or Ross County, Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07087
Subjects: Ross County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology
Places: Ross County (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: Large ground stone ax has a wide, deep groove near the poll end that extends all the way around. The groove functioned to attach the ax head to a handle. It is bordered by ridges. Poll end is an elongated oval shape that is rounded. Blade is short and tapers slightly to the wide cutting edge, which is dull and pitted. The granite rock is black and pale yellow in color. Item was found in Fayette or Ross County, Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07088
Subjects: Ross County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology
Places: Ross County (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)
 

Description: Stemmed Lamoka-type projectile point that is made from flint. It has a rectangular base with a ground edge. The blade is triangular. It is pale red in color, mottled with reddish gray, pinkish white and white. The projectile point may have been heated to facilitate knapping. Item was found in Fayette or Ross County, Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07089
Subjects: Ross County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology
Places: Ross County (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: Photograph of the Rawlings homestead, a station on the Underground Railroad at 318 Rawlings Street in Washington Court House, Fayette County, Ohio. The house was built in 1851 for Moses Vance Rawlings (1813-1895), who owned it until 1867. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC1208
Subjects: Underground Railroad--Ohio; Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Fugitive slaves
Places: Washington Court House (Ohio); Fayette County (Ohio)