Description: Fort Meigs Memorial, Perrysburg, Wood County, Ohio. William Henry Harrison built Fort Meigs on the Maumee River in 1813 to protect northwest Ohio and Indiana from British invasion. This photograph was taken ca. 1940-1949. Fort Meigs is an Ohio Historical Society site. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00425
Subjects: Memorials--Ohio; Ohio History--Military Ohio
Places: Perrysburg (Ohio); Wood County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows people gathered at Fort Meigs in Perrysburg, Ohio, possibly during the fort's centennial in 1913. A large crowd of people is gathered near a light-colored tent on the banks of the Maumee River, seen in the background. Several other tents are visible. A tall, light-colored obelisk Several horse-drawn buggies and carriages are on the road or parked beside it. A bicycle is propped against a fence. Women are wearing long skirts and blouses (or long dresses) typical of feminine attire in the 1910s. A U.S. flag and a tall, light-colored obelisk also are visible. Fort Meigs, completed in 1813 in the midst of the War of 1812, was a strategic fortification along the banks of the Maumee River in present-day Perrysburg, Ohio. The fort withstood two British sieges in 1813 and became a turning point in the war in favor of the American forces. Today, the fort is the largest reconstructed wooden-walled fort in the United States and is an Ohio Historical Society site as well as a National Historic Landmark. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06158
Subjects: Fort Meigs (Ohio); United States--History--War of 1812; Ohio History--Settlement and Early Statehood; Centennial celebrations
Places: Perrysburg (Ohio); Wood County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing the excavated burial site of two horses, located at Fort Meigs near Perrysburg, Ohio. During archaeological investigation at the site in 2001, this grave was discovered about 250 feet southwest of the wall of the original fort. On the left is the skeleton of a larger draft horse, while the right figure was a smaller cavalry horse. Their causes of death were both likely tied to their service at the fort--the draft horse from a fatal fall, and the cavalry horse from being struck by buckshot (possibly in battle). Also buried with the bodies, beneath the right shoulder of the cavalry horse, was the skull of a boar. While the exact significance of this burial is uncertain, it's possible that the positioning was intentional as part of a forgotten military ritual. The site of Fort Meigs marked a turning point in the western theatre of war for American forces during the War of 1812. The twice-successful defense of the fort in 1813 ushered in a series of American victories which ultimately secured the Great Lakes Region under United States control and cemented the geographic and cultural boundaries of the region, which still exist today. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: A4597_BP29_54
Subjects: War of 1812; Fort Meigs (Ohio); Military life; Funeral rites & ceremonies; Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio;
Places: Fort Meigs (Ohio); Perrysburg (Ohio); Wood County (Ohio)
 

Description: This sketch of the plan of Fort Meigs (identified here as Camp Meigs) was created by Joseph H. Larwill (1783-1867) from a survey made on July 19, 1813. It shows Col. Dudley's Battleground, Upper and Lower Sandusky Roads, British Batteries, Indian Hill, and the Maumee River and rapids. Fort Meigs, completed in 1813 in the midst of the War of 1812, was a strategic fortification along the banks of the Maumee River in present-day Perrysburg, Ohio. The fort withstood two British sieges in 1813 and became a turning point in the war in favor of the American forces. Today, the fort is the largest reconstructed wooden-walled fort in the United States, and is an Ohio Historical Society site as well as a National Historic Landmark. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06159
Subjects: Fort Meigs (Ohio); United States--History--War of 1812; Map drawing; Ohio History--Settlement and Early Statehood; Larwill, Joseph H. (Joseph Hart), 1783-1867; Maumee River (Ind. and Ohio); Perrysburg (Ohio)
Places: Perrysburg (Ohio); Wood County (Ohio)
 

Description: Print with the caption "The attack on Fort Meigs, May 5, 1813" published in the "Hard Cider and Log Cabin Almanac," 1841. Fort Meigs was built on the Maumee River during the War of 1812 under the orders of General William Henry Harrison. It was intended to serve as a staging area and supply depot to support the invasion of Canada. The U.S. Army successfully defended the fort from multiple attacks by the British Army and their Native American allies. Fort Meigs no longer exists, but a reconstructed fort now stands on the site of the original. The Ohio Historical Society operates the site. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03929
Subjects: Fort Meigs (Ohio); Ohio History--Military Ohio
Places: Fort Meigs (Ohio); Wood County (Ohio)
 

Description: View of a reconstructed blockhouse and a portion of the stockade on the site of Fort Meigs, Perrysburg, Ohio. The stockade was reconstructed in 1965 and rebuilt again in 2002. The original fort was constructed by William Henry Harrison during the War of 1812 to protect northwestern Ohio from attack by the British. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL01013
Subjects: Wood County (Ohio); Other--Ohio Historical Society
Places: Perrysburg (Ohio)
 

Description: Overhead photograph showing Fort Meigs State Park along the Maumee River. Fort Meigs, built during the War of 1812, was a strategic fortification along the banks of the Maumee in present-day Perrysburg, Ohio. The fort withstood two British sieges in 1813 and became a turning point in the war for the American forces. Today, the fort is the largest reconstructed wooden-walled fort in the United States and is an Ohio History Connection site as well as a National Historic Landmark. This photograph comes from a series of aerial photographs of Ohio's state properties, including universities and colleges, state hospitals, parks, lakes and reservoirs, and prisons. Each photograph is labeled with the institution name. Typically, there are two views of each property, oblique and vertical. The photographs were taken by the 112th Photo Section of the 37th Division Air Services in 1930. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA6591AV_001_FtMeigs
Subjects: Fort Meigs (Ohio); United States--History--War of 1812; Aerial photography--History;
Places: Fort Meigs (Ohio); Perrysburg (Ohio); Wood County (Ohio);
 

Description: Fort Amanda State Memorial is located near Wapakoneta, Ohio and the Auglaize River. The fort served as a major supply depot and hospital during the War of 1812. Although the fort was destroyed, a memorial and park mark the site. It is operated by the Ohio Historical Society. The photograph measures 8" x 10" (20.32 x 25.4 cm). The United States, angered by British attempts to impress American sailors into the British Navy and fearing the British presence in Canada, declared war on Great Britain in June of 1812. William Henry Harrison was appointed commander-in-chief of the Northwestern Army. He built Fort Meigs, named after Ohio Governor Return J. Meigs, near present-day Perrysburg. Supplying the fort was difficult, however, as artillery and food had to be carried through the Black Swamp. Nonetheless, Fort Meigs withstood several assaults by British troops. An attack on Fort Stephenson near Fremont forced Major George Croghan to defend the fort with only one cannon, nicknamed "Old Betsy." In one of the most significant battles of the war, Colonel Oliver Hazard Perry defeated the British at the Battle of Lake Erie in September 1813. The British captain Robert Barclay surrendered his entire fleet. Harrison learned that Perry had effectively cut the British supply line through Perry's message: "We have met the enemy and they are ours." The War of 1812 destroyed American Indian military power and confined them to reservations. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3181_4412111_001
Subjects: Military Ohio; War of 1812; Monuments & memorials; Forts & fortifications
Places: Wapakoneta (Ohio); Auglaize County (Ohio)
 

Description: The Fort Amanda memorial obelisk was erected in 1915 to perpetuate the memory of the men who served and died at Fort Amanda in Auglaize County, Ohio. One of a series of forts extending north from Piqua to Fort Meigs (present day Perrysburg), Fort Amanda was built by order of General William Henry Harrison. Originally constructed in the fall of 1812 by Kentucky troops under the command of Lt. Col. Robert Pogue, the fort was enlarged to almost double the original size during the spring of 1813 by Ohio militia soldiers under the command of Capt. Daniel Hosbrook. It served as a major supply depot for the United States army during the War of 1812. This granite monument marks the site of the original fort, which is no longer standing. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00315
Subjects: Monuments; Ohio History--Military Ohio
Places: Auglaize County (Ohio)
 

Description: George Crogham was born on 15, 1791 on Locust Grove farm in present day Louisville, Kentucky. His father was William Crogham of Dublin, Ireland, and his mother was Lucy Clark, sister of William and George Rogers Clark. After graduation from the College of William and Mary, Crogan joined the army in 1810. He fought in the Battle of Tippecanoe and served in Fort Meigs, located in present day Perrysburg, Ohio. He was promoted to the rank of colonel after his leadership in the battle of Ft Stephenson during the War of 1812. Fort Stephenson was located in present day Fremont, Ohio. Later he lead a troop that was defeated in the Battle of Mackinac. After the war, he resigned form the Army and became Postmaster of New Orleans. Later he became an inspector general of the army. He fought in the Battle of Monterrey during the Mexican-American War. He was married to Serena Livingston, grand daughter of Robert Livinston. George Crogham died of cholera in 1849 and was buried at the site of Fort Stephenson in Fremont, Ohio View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B15F01_055
Subjects: Sandusky County (Ohio); Fremont (Ohio); Fort Stephenson (Ohio)
Places: Fremont (Ohio); Sandusky County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption reads: "On this site overlooking the Maumee River at Maumee, Ohio, was built the first white settlement in the Northwest Territory. In 1680, the French under Frontenac, erected a trading post there and a century later it was rebuilt as a British stronghold called Fort Miami. Fort Meigs, the "Gibralter of the Northwest" where the American forced made their stand was located almost directly opposite." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F20_002_1
Subjects: Maumee River Valley (Ind. and Ohio)--History--Periodicals
Places: Maumee (Ohio); Lucus County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is the photograph of the monument marking the grave of Thomas Kirker (1760-1837), the second governor of Ohio. The gray stone monument has a carved inscription. Born in County Tyrone, Ireland, he immigrated with his family to this country when he was about 18. After living in Pennsylvania and Kentucky, he moved with his wife, Sarah, to Ohio in 1793 and eventually settled in Liberty Township in Adams County. Kirker became an influential figure in the Northwest Territory. Governor Arthur St. Clair appointed him to be a justice of the peace in 1797. Over the next several years, Kirker, a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, actively campaigned for Ohio statehood, to the consternation of St. Clair, a Federalist Party member. Kirker represented Adams County at Ohio's first Constitutional Convention in 1802 and also as a member of the General Assembly (1803-1815, 1816-1817, and 1821-1825). He was speaker of the Ohio Senate for seven terms between 1804 and 1815 and as Speaker of the Ohio House from 1816 to 1817. In 1807, he became governor of Ohio after Governor Edward Tiffin resigned to take a seat in the U.S. Senate. Kirker was defeated in the next election, but the winner, Return J. Meigs, was disqualified because he had not lived in Ohio the required numbers of years to become governor. Instead, Kirker remained as acting governor for the duration of the 1807-1808 term. As governor, Kirker dealt with Ohio citizens' concerns about American Indian threats in western Ohio. He sent Thomas Worthington and Duncan McArthur to Fort Greene Ville in late 1807 to investigate, but the two men found no evidence to support the settlers' concerns. Because of Worthington's and McArthur's report, military conflict with the American Indians did not materialize during Kirker's administration. In 1808, Kirker ran against fellow Democratic-Republicans Thomas Worthington and Samuel Huntington for the governorship. Both Kirker and Worthington held similar political beliefs, arguing that the state legislature was supreme in creating law, while Huntington believed that ultimate authority to determine constitutionality of law rested with the Ohio Supreme Court. Kirker and Worthington split the vote among those sharing their view, allowing Huntington to gain the majority and become the state's next governor. Kirker returned to the state legislature, where he continued to represent Adams County until he retired from public service. He died on his Adams County farm in 1837. He was buried in the Kirker Cemetery, sometimes known as the Kirker Family Cemetery, in Adams County. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06960
Subjects: Adams County (Ohio); Legislators; Politicians; Governors--Ohio; Tombstones (sepulchral monuments);
Places: West Union (Ohio); Adams County (Ohio)