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.
Few we have profiled in this series have held the variety of positions that the subject of today’s profile held during his lifetime. Edmund Burke Fairfield was a minister, a politician, a writer, a university executive, and a member of the United States diplomatic corps.
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
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…
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. 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
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
While doing other research last year, 1812Blockhouse discovered a coincidence about Bromfield’s life which connects his early years in Mansfield with his later success as an author. When we posted it, we were not aware if this story had been previously known.
As historians note, Louis Bromfield’s father and grandfather spelled their surname as “Brumfield,” with the father making the change to render the family name more “distinguished.” Louis was born in 1896 in Mansfield, and was a student in Mansfield schools.
More…Featured, Louis Bromfield, 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
Note from 1812Blockhouse Publisher Thomas Palmer: I am pleased to re-share this story which concerns a relative of mine, the brother of one of my great great grandfathers. I am proud of his remarkable service during the American Civil War, and I was totally surprised years ago when I found that he lived in, and was buried in, Richland County. Two years ago I visited the Spangler Farm Field Hospital at Gettysburg where he treated Confederate General Lewis Armistead (see photo below).
Today marks the 156th anniversary of the final day 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 Richland County 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.
His name was Jay Kling.
More…