By 1812Blockhouse
Part One of our first Richland Roots profile on Mansfield native Lloyd Garrison Wheeler can be accessed here.
When Lloyd and Ranie Wheeler made their move to from Illinois to Arkansas in 1870, they had good timing. Just one year later, 3.3 square miles of the central part of Chicago were destroyed by fire.
On the other hand, Reconstruction-era Arkansas was a very difficult location for Wheeler as he set out to establish a law practice. Family legend says that a billy club found within his effects after his death was protection in case he might become the target of Ku Klux Klan activity. More…
By 1812Blockhouse
Shortly before his death in 1909, a husband, a Mansfield native, and wife from Chicago boarded a train and headed south, their destination a relatively new place of higher education in rural Alabama. The couple was no stranger to southern life, having spent years living in Arkansas some three decades before. On this occasion, however, the man was leaving behind a set of business difficulties and accepting a position which had been offered to him by a long-time friend. 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.
Richland County has produced leaders in business, the arts, the military, education, politics, and civic life over its 200-plus years. Occasionally, that includes someone whose life story includes noteworthy activity in several of those areas. Such is the case with native Richland Countian James Sidney Robinson.
More…Famous Sons and Daughters, Featured, Mansfield History, Richland Roots
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 called “Richland Roots.” For other Richland Roots stories, click here.
There are children who you would imagine will live or have lived interesting lives because of their names. Blessed with obviously creative parents, they set out on journeys that take them to places as unique as their monikers.
Such is the case with a set of children born in Richland County in the first half of the nineteenth century, the Poppletons. More…
By 1812Blockhouse
Richland County has produced or been the home to a wide variety of individuals that have made important contributions to local, state, or national history. 1812Blockhouse has been sharing their stories in a series called “Richland Roots.” This is a brand new post; for other Richland Roots stories, click here.
Today on 1812Blockhouse we look at the remarkable life of a local man whose life took many twists and turns.
His name was John Whitnah Leedy, and he was born near Bellville on March 8, 1849. His paternal grandfather John Leedy had come to southern Richland County about 1815; his father Samuel Leedy was known as a singer and tavern keeper. More…
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…
