Description: This scraper conveyor was made by the Jeffrey Manufacturing of Columbus, Ohio, ca. 1905. It was used to convey coal to the factory of the Pennsylvania Soap Company, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL01233
Subjects: Conveying machinery; Ohio Economy--Economy--Business
Places: Lancaster (Pennsylvania)
 

Description: Photograph of a portrait depicting Hannah Wierman Gibbons (1787-1860), a Quaker who kept a station on the Underground Railroad with her husband Daniel in Bird-in-Hand, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The image was collected by Ohio State University professor Wilbur H. Siebert (1866-1961). Siebert began researching the Underground Railroad in the 1890s as a way to interest his students in history. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03210
Subjects: Underground Railroad--Pennsylvania; Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights
Places: Bird-in-Hand (Pennsylvania); Lancaster County (Pennsylvania)
 

Description: Photograph of a portrait depicting Daniel Gibbons (1775-1852), who was a Quaker station-keeper on the Underground Railroad with his wife Hannah in Bird-in-Hand, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The image was collected by Ohio State University professor Wilbur H. Siebert (1866-1961). Siebert began researching the Underground Railroad in the 1890s as a way to interest his students in history. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03211
Subjects: Underground Railroad--Pennsylvania; Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Portrait photography
Places: Bird-in-Hand (Pennsylvania); Lancaster County (Pennsylvania)
 

Description: First Fulton boat built in America, from "The American Pioneer," ca. 1800-1809. Robert Fulton (1765-1815) was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was an accomplished artist. He moved on to designing ships for navies, including the British, French, and Americans, who found his submarine design very useful. He eventually settled on steamboats and designed the Clermont, the first commercially-viable steamboat (others had dreamed of it before, but his was the only design to be economical enough). He also constructed the first steamboat to travel on the Ohio River, known as the New Orleans. His work revolutionized water traffic, helping to move Ohioans from a subsistence to a commercial economy. "The American Pioneer" was described as "a monthly periodical devoted to the objects of the Logan Historical Society, or to collecting and publishing sketches relative to the early settlement and successive improvement of the country." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04040
Subjects: Steamboats; Ohio Economy--Transportation and Development; Rivers--Ohio
 

Description: This black-and-white illustration portrays the death of Richard Butler (1743-1791), frontiersman and military leader, on November 4, 1791, during the Battle of the Wabash (also known as St. Clair’s Defeat). It comes from an engraving in "History of the Discovery of America," written by Henry Trumbull and first published in 1811. The uniformed Butler is reclining against a tree, his right hand raised in supplication or in self-defense, as an American Indian man armed with a tomahawk approaches. Butler was born in Dublin, Ireland, and at age five came to North America with his father. They settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Richard Butler had a long career in the military, serving an ensign in Bouquet's Expedition in 1764 and an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He participated in the Battle of Saratoga and eventually attained the rank of brigadier-general. In 1783 the Confederation Congress appointed him to be an Indian commissioner. He helped to negotiate a treaty with the Iroquois tribe, determining their western boundary with the United States. In 1785 the Confederation Congress sent George Rogers Clark, Arthur Lee, and Butler to the Ohio Country to negotiate a treaty with the Delaware, the Wyandot, the Ottawa, and the Chippewa. Treaty negotiations took place at Fort McIntosh. Most of the tribal representatives were younger chiefs who did not have the legal authority to negotiate a treaty; despite this, American commissioners pressed for a treaty. After several weeks of negotiations and the consumption of a lot of alcohol provided by the Americans, the American Indians signed the Treaty of Fort McIntosh on January 21, 1785. Tribal leaders agreed that they lived under the American government and could not form alliances with any other powers. They were forced to relinquish their lands in southern and eastern Ohio, and were confined to the western corner of modern-day Ohio. Many American Indians rejected the treaty. The Shawnee were especially opposed to the treaty because they lost claim to all of their lands in southwestern Ohio. Later that year, the Confederation Congress sent Butler and Samuel Holden Parsons to negotiate a new treaty with the Shawnee. The negotiations took place at Fort Finney near what is now Cincinnati. The Shawnee refused to give up their land, but Butler and Parsons threatened them with attack. Shawnee chiefs, fearing the power of the American military, agreed to the Treaty of Fort Finney on February 1, 1786. The Shawnee agreed to relinquish all claims to their land in southwestern Ohio and southern Indiana, and would move to the land set aside for them in the Treaty of Fort McIntosh. The Americans also promised to keep white squatters from settling on land reserved exclusively for the tribes. Butler spent the remainder of the 1780s as the superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern District of America. He also served in the Pennsylvania legislature. Butler was killed during St. Clair's Defeat, a major confrontation between the U.S. military and a large alliance of American Indians, led by Shawnee chief Weyapiersenwah (Blue Jacket) and Miami chief Mishikinakwa (Little Turtle). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06995
Subjects: Butler, Richard, 1743-1791; Kekionga, Battle of, Ohio, 1791; American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783; American Indians--Warfare
Places: Ohio; Northwest Territory
 

Description: This Greek Revival home was built in 1834 in Lancaster, Ohio by the William James Reese family. William Reese, educated at the University of Pennsylvania, he came to Lancaster in 1827 and set up a law office known as Reese and Hezlin. He married Mary Elizabeth Sherman, sister of General William T. Sherman. The house is currently the home of the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B06F01_005_1
Subjects: Historic houses; Architecture--Ohio--Pictorial works; Architecture--Ohio; Lawyers
Places: Lancaster (Ohio); Fairfield County (Ohio)
 

Description: Robert Fulton (1765-1815) was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was an accomplished artist. He moved on to designing ships for navies, including the British, French, and Americans, who found his submarine design very useful. He eventually settled on steamboats and designed the Clermont, the first commercially-viable steamboat (others had dreamed of it before, but his was the only design to be economical enough). He also constructed the first steamboat to travel on the Ohio River, known as the New Orleans. His work revolutionized water traffic, helping to move Ohioans from a subsistence to a commercial economy. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03968
Subjects: Steamboats; Ohio Economy--Transportation and Development; Military vehicle industry
 

Description: Main Street in Lancaster, Ohio 1870 showing the Mithoff House. Lancaster was settled by many people of German descent traveling through Pennsylvania. In the early 1800s there was even a newspaper printed in German. Lancaster was quite successful economically, being home to numerous places of business. This would be helped along by a railroad being built in 1854, and numerous canals. While the primary source of income was originally farming, production of commercial goods would soon expand the economy. Lancaster was also the birth place of William T. Sherman, who came to be a famous figure in U.S. history for his role as a general in the American Civil War. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06691
Subjects: Lancaster (Ohio); Ohio Economy--Transportation and Development; Glass industry; Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891
Places: Lancaster (Ohio); Fairfield County (Ohio); Ohio
 

Description: This image shows the exterior of the courthouse in Somerset, Ohio. In 1807, John Finck erected the first log cabin in what would become Somerset. Several years later, Jacob Miller arrived, becoming the second settler in this community. The men named the town Middletown, since it was approximately equal distant to Lancaster to the west and Zanesville to the east. Soon residents changed the town's name to Somerset, as most early residents were from Somerset, Pennsylvania. During the remainder of the nineteenth and the first portion of the twentieth centuries, Somerset's population remained stable at approximately 1,200 residents. Many residents earned their livings in the surrounding iron and coalmines. As iron and coal deposits began to decline, residents began to find employment in other industries principally in the nearby cities of Lancaster and Zanesville. In 2000, Somerset's population had reached 1,500 people. Civil War General Philip Sheridan spent much of his youth in Somerset. Although not open to the public, his home remains standing today. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06531
Subjects: Courthouses; Buildings; Law & legal affairs
Places: Somerset (Ohio); Perry County (Ohio)
 

Description: This color image is a closeup of a paper sign taped to the door of a blue car. The sign reads: "Ohio State School for the Blind / 20 / Braille Rallye." A Braille Rallye is a competitive event in which a blind or visually impaired navigator is paired with a sighted driver. Driving directions and descriptions of landmarks are written in Braille, which the navigator reads and then imparts to the driver as they proceed along the course. Results of the competition are based on navigation and timekeeping. In 1835 Dr. William Awl of Columbus and Dr. Daniel Drake of Cincinnati recommended to the Ohio General Assembly that a residential school for the blind be established. On April 3, 1837, Ohio governor Duncan McArthur signed the legislation that created the nation's first public school for the blind. The Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind opened on July 3, 1837, with five students. It was the predecessor of the Ohio State School for the Blind. Any blind children residing in Ohio could attend the institution, which was located in downtown Columbus. The school initially had a maximum capacity of sixty students, but upon moving to a new building in 1874, more than three hundred students could attend at one time. Between 1839 and 1901, 2,058 students enrolled at the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind, with 339 attending in 1901 alone. In the early 1900s the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind became known as the Ohio State School for the Blind, and the Ohio Department of Education assumed control of the school. In 1953 the school moved ten miles north of its original location to its present home at 5220 North High Street. In 2005, 126 students enrolled in the Ohio State School for the Blind. Students as young as three and as old as twenty-one years of age attended the school. Students could receive their entire education, kindergarten through high school, at the institution. In addition, the Ohio State School for the Blind offered vocational training for its students. William Awl (1799-1876) was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He studied medicine at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and, in 1825, established a practice in Lancaster, Ohio. As a physician, Awl sought to improve medical care for the imprisoned, the blind, and the mentally ill. In 1833, the Ohio legislature appointed Awl as the physician of the Ohio Penitentiary. Two years later Awl helped organize the Ohio Medical Association. This organization lobbied the Ohio legislature to establish a state hospital for the mentally ill and a school for the blind. In 1837, they succeeded in convincing the legislature to establish the Ohio Lunatic Asylum. Awl served as the director of this institution until 1850. He believed that mental health problems were illnesses that physicians could treat. In 1868 he became the physician for the Ohio Institution for the Blind. Daniel Drake (1785-1852) was in New Jersey. His family was very poor and moved to Kentucky in 1788, hoping to improve its lot on the frontier. In 1798, Drake became a student of Dr. William Goforth, one of the first physicians in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1805 he received the first medical diploma granted west of the Appalachian Mountains. Drake played a major role in establishing the Medical College of Ohio, founded in 1819. He also helped create the Commercial Hospital and Lunatic Asylum for the State of Ohio in 1820. Drake contributed greatly to Ohio's development. His work helped provide Ohioans with capable doctors. He played a leading role in establishing several institutions of higher education. Drake also wrote numerous books on Ohio's animals, plants, and diseases. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06955
Subjects: Ohio State School for the Blind; Blind--Education; Awl, William M. (William Maclay), 1799-1876; Drake, Daniel, 1785-1852; Ohio Institution for the Education of the Blind
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: This image shows the exterior of the courthouse in Somerset, Ohio. In 1807, John Finck erected the first log cabin in what would become Somerset. Several years later, Jacob Miller arrived, becoming the second settler in this community. The men named the town Middletown, since it was approximately equal distant to Lancaster to the west and Zanesville to the east. Soon residents changed the town's name to Somerset, as most early residents were from Somerset, Pennsylvania. In the 1810s, Somerset grew quickly and, in 1817, became the Perry County seat of government. In 1846, Somerset boasted a population of nearly 1,400 residents. That same year, the community included four churches, three newspapers, sixteen stores, an iron foundry, and a tobacco warehouse. The town also claimed a Catholic nunnery and St. Mary's Seminary, a school for young women. Two miles south of Somerset was also located St. Joseph's Church, the first documented Catholic Church in Ohio. During the remainder of the nineteenth and the first portion of the twentieth centuries, Somerset's population remained stable at approximately 1,200 residents. Many residents earned their livings in the surrounding iron and coalmines. As iron and coal deposits began to decline, residents began to find employment in other industries principally in the nearby cities of Lancaster and Zanesville. In 2000, Somerset's population had reached 1,500 people. Civil War General Philip Sheridan spent much of his youth in Somerset. Although not open to the public, his home remains standing today. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06530
Subjects: Courthouses; Buildings; Law & legal affairs
Places: Somerset (Ohio); Perry County (Ohio)