MOUNT VERNON — It’s well known that frontier entrepreneur John Chapman — more famous under his nickname Johnny Appleseed — made a marathon run from Mansfield to Mount Vernon to warn settlers when hostilities broke out during the War of 1812. What is less known is the story of John Laylan, who attempted a similar […]
Mark Sebastian Jordan
Posted inArea History
Part II Jim Bowsher & the Temple of Tolerance: An appreciation and study of the artist
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part II of a series. Part I was published on June 22 and can be found here. In 1990, historian, artist, folklorist, and poet Jim Bowsher decided to start a new project for the millennium. He had already acquired a couple of large pieces that wouldn’t fit in his Wapakoneta house, […]
Posted inArea History
Part I: Mark Jordan’s ode to iconic writer, storyteller Jim Bowsher
MANSFIELD — The telephone rang. It was a chilly late afternoon in December of 2003. I was sitting at the desk in my apartment that I rented from the Mansfield Playhouse, half of their old costume storage building. I answered the phone. It was Susie Schaus, the Playhouse secretary. “Mark, I have a message for […]
Posted inArea History
Butler was the site of a spectacular 2-train crash in 1854
BUTLER — The article in the Mt. Vernon True Whig starts dramatically: “A Terrible Accident. — One of the most disastrous accidents that ever occurred on the S. M. & N. Railroad, was that of yesterday morning.” That may sound like a major disaster of epic proportions, but it helps to know a couple of […]
Posted inLife and Culture
Mansfield Symphony Orchestra & Chorus concert set for May 4
MANSFIELD — The Mansfield Symphony Orchestra along with the Mansfield Symphony Chorus, continues its season on Saturday, May 4 at 7:30 pm with Schubert’s Mass No. 2 in G Major at the Renaissance Theatre. As part of the OhioHealth Symphony Series, this unique performance is a collaboration between the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, featuring a repertoire […]
Posted inArea History
Here’s a glimpse of downtown Fredericktown before pavement
FREDERICKTOWN — Tim Ashcraft runs a great Facebook group, called Memories of Knox County, Ohio. I wanted to share an excellent old postcard photo he posted to the group that shows downtown Fredericktown somewhere in the early 1900s. Looking down the hill toward the mill, there is a prominent large building that group member James […]
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Lafferty Farm near Bellville has a burial mound, whether or not it was human-made
BELLVILLE — In another installment of a series on regional mounds that is unfolding as slowly as geology itself, I bring you today the unofficial Lafferty Mound, a little north of the Knox/Richland County line, near Bellville. I describe it as unofficial because I can find no records indicating that it has ever been declared […]
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Now & Then: Fredericktown’s Mill St. in 1912 and 111 years later
FREDERICKTOWN — It’s fun to catch glimpses of familiar spots in historical images. Sometimes there are significant differences, yet other times the veil between now and then is pretty thin. This image of the curve outside of Fredericktown on East Mill Street is recognizable in either version. The vintage image is a postcard from 1912 […]
Posted inLife and Culture
Jordan to share stories, art before Feb. 10 Mansfield Symphony concert
MANSFIELD — Mansfield Symphony program commentator Mark Sebastian Jordan will give a pre-concert talk before the orchestra’s Saturday, Feb. 10, “Massive Classics” performance. The talk will feature images of the surviving paintings and drawings that inspired Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky to write Pictures at an Exhibition, one of the Top 10 most popular classical works. […]
Posted inArea History
Was a woman the brains behind 1933 Fredericktown bank robbery?
FREDERICKTOWN — The news this week of a bank robbery in Centerburg reminded me of Knox County’s infamous 1934 bank robbery in Gambier by members of John Dillinger’s gang, which we’ve talked about here before. A lesser-known event, though, is the robbery that took place on Dec. 30, 1933, in Fredericktown. Digging into the story proves […]