 These are Brigadier General Durbin Ward's pistols which he carried during the Civil War. Durbin Ward was a law partner of Thomas Corwin. He was also a Democrat and a state's rights advocate. Everybody thought he would sit out the Civil War, Democrats were all for letting the south go. But when Lincoln called for volunteers in April of 1865, Ward, who was trying a case in court in Lebanon, left the Court House and went to Washington Hall (now the site of the LCNB drive thru in downtown Lebanon), and was the first to volunteer for the Union. He was in his early 40's and jointed the 17th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. These pistols are Colt Navy revolvers. They are not a matching set as one was made by the Colt works in Connecticut and the other by Colt in London.
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 Colonel Lewis Drake was an early pioneer to Warren County who came from Pennsylvania on horseback with his first wife. Legend has it he particpated in a shooting contest with Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton and won. His second wife (the first had 12 children before she died) was Rachel Lincoln Drake, daughter of Abraham Lincoln's Great Uncle John who is buried in Pioneer Cemetery. The Colonel and Rachel begat Dr. Issac Lincoln Drake and a whole line of well known Drakes issued thereafter. Think Drake Road and you get the drift.
Jonas Seaman traveled from New Jersey to the Ohio Country and bought a $4 license to operate a “house of Public Entertainment” on Broadway in the newly-founded village of Lebanon in 1803. He probably never have imagined that more than 200 years later his establishment would still be offering food and lodging for travelers. Today, the Golden Lamb is recognized as the oldest continually operating business in Ohio.
The Golden Lamb owes its early success due to location – halfway between the great river town of Cincinnati and the National Road (now U.S. Route 40). Seaman’s establishment got its name from the sign hung outside the business – an image of a golden lamb – because many early travelers could not read. Robert Jones took over the property in 1926 and began transforming it into the restaurant and hotel that it has become. The Jones family still owns the Golden Lamb today. A fire at the Golden Lamb in 1928 forced the Jones’ to purchase second-hand pieces to replace furniture that had been lost. Little did they know their purchases would become a beautiful collection of Shaker artifacts and rare antiques that are still in use today throughout the restaurant and hotel. Throughout its 200+ years, the Golden Lamb has hosted, entertained and provided lodging for many notable guests, but none more honorable than 12 United States presidents. From its early days as a stopping point between Cincinnati and the National Road to its historic legacy as a political stop in a battleground state, United States presidents have visited the Golden Lamb before, during and after their time in our nation’s highest office. Presidents that have visited the Golden Lamb include:
Ohio is known around the world for its pottery made from the rich clay deposits found throughout the State. More than 2000 years ago the prehistoric Hopewell peoples who lived in Ohio used the clay of Ohio’s earth and fashioned a variety of utilitarian vessels. Fast forward into the late 19th and early 20thcentury and Ohio became nationally known for art potteries such as Rookwood Pottery, Roseville Pottery and Russel Wright.
But the story doesn’t end there. Unlike many early forms of art and handcraft that are today seen only in museum programs or historic re-enactments, the work of the potter continues to flourish in Ohio. The potters represented in the gallery show use wood, electricity and/or gas to fire their kilns to as high as 2300 degrees Fahrenheit. The effect that these fuels have, in this violent atmosphere of the kiln, can create on the surface of the ware, results that are often unpredictable, sometimes subtle, but always uniquely beautiful. Be sure to catch the Earth & Fire Exebition running January 18th to Feburary 22nd! "If birds can glide for long periods of time, then why can't I? - Orville Wright
On December 17th, 1903, the Wright Brothers made history with the first powered flight at the dunes of Kitty Hawk. The flight lasted 12 seconds and covered a distance of 120 feet. The brothers would go on to complete three more successful flights that day with the longest lasting 59 seconds and covering 852 feet. Now that's progress!  Currently in the Mote Gallery of the Harmon Museum is a unique collection of artifacts and memorabilia displayed to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice of WWI. Included in the exhibit is A distinctive medallion minted to venerate the infamous sinking of the Lusitania. With this cruel act, the push for United States’ involvement in the Great War escalated. Original Western Star newspaper articles tell of the patriotism of the citizens of Warren County. The people of this county assembled in great numbers behind their boys, gave at very successful war bond drives and, even in the midst of the Spanish Flu epidemic a terrible sickness, kept the boys from Warren County close to their hearts and prayers. The display also has The doughboy olive drab uniform and personal gear of Dr. Harold Drake, which gives a glimpse into the daily life of a soldier in wartime. As the assistant to a general, Corporal Drake always had carried his gas mask close at hand. There are also well-worn maps and a captured German rifle that were a witness to this brutal confrontation across the Atlantic. With the Armistice on November 11, 1918, peace could finally come to end this Great War, our first world war.
The exhibit will be on display through January of 2020.  Thomas Best, Jr. was a silversmith, jeweler and clock works maker. He and his wife, Margaret Manley Best migrated to Lebanon from Cincinnati sometime before 1808. Thomas was the son of Thomas Best, Sr. a noted early Cincinnati silversmith. Advertisements in the Western Star newspaper for June 9, 1808 announce Thomas Best, Jr. has set up in business as a jeweler and silversmith in Lebanon. The ad further announces that “all kinds of swords and dirks made and cutlery ground and the highest price will be given for old gold, silver and brass.” Then in August 4 of that same year in the same newspaper is an announcement that Thomas Best has opened a shop for clock and watch making. His wife, Margaret Mannly Best opened a millinery shop near the Golden Lamb Inn which she called the Golden Bonnet. Their son Henry became a silversmith in Dayton and his descendants continued the silversmith business until 1924.
 These are Brigadier General Durbin Ward's pistols which he carried during the Civil War. Durbin Ward was a law partner of Thomas Corwin. He was also a Democrat and a state's rights advocate. Everybody thought he would sit out the Civil War; Democrats were all for letting the south go. But when Lincoln called for volunteers in April of 1865, Ward, who was trying a case in court in Lebanon, left the Court House and went to Washington Hall (now the site of the LCNB drive thru in downtown Lebanon), and was the first to volunteer for the Union. He was in his early 40's and jointed the 17th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. These pistols are Colt Navy revolvers. They are not a matched set as one was made in the Colt works in Connecticut and the other at Colt in London. Ward began his army career as a private and advanced up the ranks quickly to Colonel Durbin Ward. He and the 17th OVI fought at the ill-fated battle of Chickamauga in September of 1863 (Gettysburg was July 1863) and was so badly wounded he was left for dead by the side of the road. A General, who knew him, came upon him and offered him whiskey to ease his passing. The whiskey revived him and he survived but was breveted out of service as a Brigadier General and sent home. He spent two years in Washington after the War working for Andrew Johnson, trying to enact Lincoln’s plans for the reconstruction of the South, but the Republicans in Congress would have nothing to do with those plans, so Ward came home and married Elizabeth Probasco. Her father and brother bought them Glendower, which he renamed Edmonton. He lost the use of his left arm from his wounds, but was known for his garden and orchard. He died at Glendower and is buried in Lebanon Cemetery.  The rock on the grounds of Rock School in Warren County, Ohio is a glacial erratic rock that was deposited in Warren County when the glacier receeded. The rock is a metamorphic rock (a rock that went through changes to become a different kind of rock) and its scientific designation is gneiss (pronounced like the work nice). Gneiss rocks show bands of different minerals that make up the rock, or you could say it displays gneissic banding.
What is Mounts Park? A 200+ acre area park in Morrow, OH, located on Stubbs Mill Road just before you come to Rt. 22/3.
Why is it Historically Significant? Probably the first settlement in the county, settled in 1795...made by the William Mounts’ family and five other families. It was known as Mounts’ Station... As soon as the news of their safe arrival on their lands reached their friends in Virginia, where many had been anxiously awaiting the result and report of the advance, there was at once the most tremendous tide of emigration from all the east, but especially from Virginia and Pennsylvania...Many of the first settlers had been soldiers under General Wayne in the Indians Wars.1 In 1940 the first significant thing the Warren County Historical Society did was erect a marker to Mounts Station. Approximately 300 people attended the dedication of the monument near the site of “old Mounts Station” on what was called in 1940 “Stubbtown Road, just north of the CCC Highway.” Today the location would be said to be on Stubbs Mill Road just north of US 22 and SR 3. The stone was unveiled by six young girls, all descendants of William Mounts. They were Evelyn Fisher, Dorothy and Miriam Rogers, Dorothy Mounts, Virginia Moise, and Nancy Newman. Why the Urgency? The land has been owned by Hamilton Township for over 10 years and is part of Mounts Park. Now the Township wants to sell Mounts Park. What can You DO to Help? Spread the word and sign the petition here. 1From an article which originally appeared in the Winter 2015, Vol. II, Issue 1 edition of Pathways: Morrow’s Past, Today, the newsletter of the Morrow Area Historical Society. |
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