By 1812Blockhouse
Thursday through Saturday brings the 158th anniversary of one of our country’s most important battles.
During three hot summer days in 1863, tens of thousands of men — including many from Richland County — met to do battle on the verdant farm fields of Adams County, Pennsylvania.
One of those soliders, a major in the Army of the Potomac, has a permanent resting place in Plymouth’s Greenlawn Cemetery. Although only one of the players in what unfolded, his role was nevertheless a singular one, and the story of his place in the history of the Battle of Gettysburg continues to unfold. More…
By: 1812Blockhouse
Throughout its history, Richland County has produced or been the home to a wide variety of individuals that have made important contributions to the world. 1812Blockhouse has been sharing their stories in a series we call “Richland Roots.” For other Richland Roots stories, click here.
A woman referred to as one of the leading American businesspersons of the early 20th century received her own start in pre-Civil War Mansfield. More…
By 1812Blockhouse
In our Richland Roots series, we briefly present the lives of men and women from Richland County — either by birth, or residence — that have made important contributions to American history but who may not be household names. Other posts in our series can be viewed and read here.
It’s not everyday that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shares a eulogy. The life and work of William Wynne, however, was certainly worth noting and commemorating.
In a post entitled “NASA Photographer’s Career Documented The War and NASA Research,” NASA shared some of the life story of the photographer and photojournalist, who died earlier this year at the age of 99. After retirement, Wynne settled down on a farm near Mansfield. More…
By 1812Blockhouse
Richland County has produced or been the home to a wide variety of individuals that have made important contributions to the world. 1812Blockhouse has been sharing their stories in a series we started last year called “Richland Roots.” For other Richland Roots stories, click here.
As the country moves toward the centennial of women first voting in a presidential election, we profile a native Richland Countian who contribute in her own unique way to achieving that end. Unfortunately, she never saw the fruits of her work, dying at the young age of 40. More…
By 1812Blockhouse
1812Blockhouse shares posts in our “Richland Roots” series to reveal stories of the well-known and less-commonly known people born here, or who lived here, and then went on to make significant contributions to state, regional, or national history.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary weekend of man’s landing on the Moon back in 2019, 1812Blockhouse ran a Richland Roots post to recognize someone involved in that effort who was once stationed in Mansfield. More…
By 1812Blockhouse
In our Richland Roots series, we briefly present the lives of men and women from Richland County — either by birth, or residence — that have made important contributions to American history but who may not be household names. Other posts in our series can be viewed and read here.
Some of these individuals made names for themselves here at home. One such man was Samuel Stambaugh Bloom, who was a state legislator that helped to establish an important institution of higher education.
Bloom was born in Pennsylvania in 1834, and lost her mother shortly after his birth. After his grandfather died when Samuel was 19, he moved west to the then-village of Shelby, a place where his father had emigrated a decade earlier, permanently settling there in 1856. More…
By: 1812Blockhouse
Throughout its history, Richland County has produced or been the home to a wide variety of individuals that have made important contributions to the world. 1812Blockhouse has been sharing their stories in a series we started last year called “Richland Roots.” For other Richland Roots stories, click here.
Occasionally, those tales take a tragic turn. During a film shoot in 1923, an aspiring actress suffered a gruesome fate that cut short what may well have been a brilliant career. This actress not only shared her name with the city of Mansfield, but it was the city that was the source of her professional name – Martha Mansfield. More…
By 1812Blockhouse
Throughout its history, Richland County has produced or been the home to a wide variety of individuals that have made important contributions to the world. We profile these individuals in our Richland Roots series.
Not exactly a household name in 21st century Richland County, Friedrich Schnitzer was much better known 125 years ago.
Schnitzer, son of and father of two other men with the same name, was born in Bavaria and emigrated to America with his parents in 1859, depending on the source. His European home sat on 200 acres, and it was said that the family descended from minor nobility.
Before leaving Bavaria, he was trained in architecture at the University of Berlin. More…
By: 1812Blockhouse
A bit over 120 years ago, a man with strong local roots occupied the position of Mayor of New York City. He was a reformer and set out to improve a corrupt system, a task which did not result in success.
His name was William Lafayette Strong.
1812Blockhouse shares posts in our “Richland Roots” series to reveal stories of the less-commonly known people born here, or who lived here, and then went on to make significant contributions to state, regional, or national history. Other posts in the series are available here. More…
By 1812Blockhouse
In our Richland Roots series, we briefly present the lives of men and women from Richland County — either by birth, or residence — that have made important contributions to American history but who may not be household names.
Other posts in our series can be viewed and read here.
Today’s subject may be one of the the wealthiest people that Richland County has ever produced. While that is a difficult concept to measure, in terms of accmuluated wealth for the time in which he or she lived, it would be difficult to beat the financial success of Verner Zevola Reed. More…
By 1812Blockhouse
Over the last two centuries, Richland County has produced a remarkable set of individuals who have led lives of discovery. In the nineteenth century, that included men and women who traveled west where they were engaged in the exploration of areas of the country that were not then well known to Americans.
Once such individual was Olin Dunbar Wheeler.
Wheeler was born on May 1, 1852 in Mansfield to a Methodist minister and his wife; he had a twin sister, Ellen, who died when she was six weeks old. Orin excelled in schooling, and in 1874 graduated with a degree in civil engineering from Cornell University. More…
We’re continuing our look at the life and work of native Richland Countian Stanley J. Morrow, who was born near Bellville in 1843 and who was trained by famed Civil War photographer Mathew Brady.
Stanley Morrow’s studio in Yankton, Dakota Territory did well. So well, in fact, that Morrow soon opened a branch operation across the Missouri River in Nebraska. Still, he had a sense of adventure, perhaps cultivated in his Civil War experience. Over time, that sense led him to leave the family home and studio and travel westward; each time, he left his wife in charge of the local operation which continued to thrive. More…
By 1812Blockhouse
Throughout its history, Richland County has produced or been the home to a wide variety of individuals that have made important contributions to the world. Among those is a man who learned his trade under extraordinary circumstances, and then used that training to create an important record that survives to this day.
Born near Bellville in 1843, Stanley J. Morrow’s childhood years were contemporaneous with the rise of photography in the United States. More…
By 1812Blockhouse
In our Richland Roots series, we briefly present the lives of men and women from Richland County — either by birth, or residence — that have made important contributions to American history but who may not be household names.
Other posts in our series can be viewed and read here.
Today, we share a bit about Brevet Brigadier General Franklin Sawyer. More…
Civil War, Featured, Richland County History, Richland Roots
By 1812Blockhouse
1812Blockhouse shares posts in our “Richland Roots” series to reveal stories of the well-known and less-commonly known people born here, or who lived here, and then went on to make significant contributions to state, regional, or national history.
By all accounts, native Mansfielder John J. “Jack” Sturges lived an adventurous life. It was his demise, however, that still fuels claims of paranormal activity in a most unlikely place – Anchorage, Alaska. More…
