Event

November 25: Ohio Inventor Charles Kettering is DEAD!

Anyone that has a driver’s license has probably used a key to start their car. For those that don’t know what happens when they turn that key, in its most basic concept, allows a jolt of electricity to run from the battery to a motor that actually turns or cranks the engine. Sparks are then ignited in the piston chambers that cause a mixture of air and vaporized gasoline to explode. Once all of the cylinders start revolving, the starter motor quickly disengages from the engine and it continues on its own.

Sure, everyone knows that you say. But if you ever see any of those old movies where the guy has to stand in front of the car and turn a crank to get the engine started can appreciate what it was link before the self-starter was invented.

When Kettering was 39 year old, a man born in Loudonville, Ohio, a man that had notoriously bad eyesight and had to have a fellow student read out loud his reading assignments, got his patent for the electric automobile starter. Kettering’s electric starter had been first installed on the 1912 Cadillac. By the early 1920s Kettering’s self-starting motor would be installed on just about every car made. That refinement in automobile ownership made the automobile more attractive, especially women. It was the beginning of the automobile culture that continues to this day.

Kettering and his company, DELCO (Dayton ELectronics COrporation), went on to create a number of improvements to the automobile including shock absorbers, the automatic transmission, quick-drying automotive paint, and safety glass.

Although he was most famous for his contributions to the auto industry, Charles Kettering also known for developing several medical innovations such as an incubator for premature infants, venereal disease treatments and a number of magnetic diagnostic devices. During his time at DELCO and later at General Motors (GM), Mr. Kettering accumulated a great fortune. In 1945 he and Alfred Sloan, another GM vice president, established the Sloan-Kettering Institute for cancer research.

On this day in 1958 at the age of 82, Charles Kettering died of a stroke at his home in Kettering, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton, named for the inventor.

Sept 24: Blue Star Service Flag Officially Recognized by Congress

By John Merrill

On this day in 1917, Ohio congressman Ivory Emerson introduced the a flag to the United States Congress that can be displayed by a household when one of its members is currently serving in the armed services. Congressman Emerson lived in Cleveland and served 3 terms as a representative from 1915 through 1921.

Captain Robert Queissner of the Ohio National Guard had two sons, Charles and Robert serving in the United States Army on the front lines in Europe during the Great War. It was his idea for families of service members back home to show their pride in their family member’s service during active hostilities where American military forces are involved.

The flag quickly was adopted by military families during the war, and again when the United States became involved in World War II. During that war specific guidelines were developed that helped standardized its use.

The Blue Star Service Flag was to be in the same size ratio as the American flag. It has a wide red border with either a blue star or a gold star during any period of war or hostilities in which the Armed Forces of the United States are engaged. A Service Flag can display from 1 to 5 stars depending on the number of active service members currently serving. A special designation of the gold star is used if the family member dies while in service, regardless of cause, in a time of hostilities.

In 2010 Congress passed a resolution adopting the Silver Star Service Banner in which includes the red border and a field of blue with a silver star designating a family member that has been discharged from service because of wounds received during combat.

Sept. 23: Corps of Discovery Returns

By John Merrill

On this day Lewis and Clark return to civilization after spending more than 2 years going from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean on orders from President Jefferson. It was the first recorded expedition to the west coast of America and back. But I can hear you saying what does that have to do with Ohio? Really?

While Lewis and Clark were not born in Ohio, they both were part of making Ohio a safer place for settlers to live. To that end, they were part of General Anthony Wayne’s expedition into Ohio that resulted in a treaty being signed at Camp Greeneville among many of the warring Native Americans here.

Native Americans in Ohio came here because they were forced to come here by other Native Americans. In other words, they were forced to move west into Ohio. So in general, they were a bit skittish. Great Britain understood this and gave them supplies, gave them food, and gave them arms. In return, all they had to do was wage war against those ugly Americans. And that’s what they did for about 20 years.

That’s when Wayne and an expedition of highly trained military men including Meriwether Lewis and William Clark where they fought a little battle at a place that became known as Fallen Timbers. The entire battle was over rather quickly as battles go.

The Native Americans retreated north a few miles to a British fort where they sought protection from the Americans hot on their heels. But the British were under strict orders not to engage the Americans and the Indians were left out to fend for themselves, so they fled further north abandoning their nearby villages. The ugly Americans destroyed those villages, destroyed their crops and went home. The Native Americans would have a long and hungry winter before deciding to accept the treaty General Wayne was offering. At that signing were most of the Native American dignitaries. Lewis and Clark were there too.

That treaty became known as the Treaty of Greeneville. A document that was once talked of highly in Ohio’s schools as being the document that opened Ohio to settlement. The document that allowed Ohio to become a state.

Almost nine years later, Lewis and Clark would be returning safely to St. Louis with wild tales of what they saw and who they met. That information would be quickly forwarded to President Jefferson who would be amazed. Today a number of those items that Lewis and Clark brought back with them were given to Thomas Jefferson who kept most of them at Monticello in Virginia. Most of those items disappeared after Jefferson’s death. Items the two explorers kept for themselves at now located at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia.

The World Discovers Rural Ohio
Also on this day in 1994, a little movie written by S. King premiered across the country and became a hit with 7 Academy Award nominations. Many scenes in the movie The Shawshank Redemption, were filmed behind bars at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, as well as various locations in and around Mansfield. The famous oak tree shown in the movie towards the end was on Pleasant Valley Road in Lucas, Ohio. The Wyandot County Courthouse was used by the film crew to recreate Andy’s trial and conviction. And the bank that Andy visits to withdraw a sizable sum of money at the end of the film was the Maine National Bank in the film, but locals in Ashland Ohio know it simply as the Huntington Bank.

By the way, the Ohio State Reformatory site was also used in the film Air Force One where it stood in as the Russian prison, Rickenbacker International Airport was used as the Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, the Presidential Palace in Kazakhstan were shot at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, as well as the opening scene of Moscow government buildings which were actually University Circle and the Cuyahoga County Courthouse in Cleveland.

September 2: A White Man Named Tecumseh

By John Merrill

Nine years after William’s birth, his 41 year old father Charles, died suddenly leaving behind a wife and eleven children with no income. There future was put directly in the hands of willing friends and family. William was adopted by a family friend, Thomas Ewing. Ewing provided the young William the necessities of life, but also the necessary financial support and guidance so sixteen year old William was admitted to West Point.

At his birth, William’s father could not have known the far reaching effects of the name he gave to his son: William Tecumseh Sherman. Tecumseh was a name that had evoked fear like an approaching plague across northern Ohio

not that many years before William’s birth. But his namesake also was an effective warrior-leader among the Shawnee. He too would become a warrior leader unlike any other ever to march across the United States of America.

On this day in 1864, William Tecumseh Sherman was living proof he had the same character as his namesake. William did not do well at West Point. He worked at several failed businesses, but finally got at an appointment to be superintendent of the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy in 1859.

Abraham Lincoln won the Presidential election in 1860. By the time he was sworn in to office on March 4, 1861, seven states had succeeded from the Union and elected their own president. Just a month after Lincoln’s inauguration, the war had started. On May 14, 1861, William Tecumseh Sherman was commissioned as a colonel in the U.S. Army.

Sherman would be involved in most of the major campaigns west of the Alleghenies. When Ulysses Grant was promoted to commander of all Union forces in 1864. Shortly after that Grant gave Sherman command of the Division of the Mississippi. Sherman’s mission: take complete control of the south and drive Confederate forces to the sea.

William Tecumseh Sherman, 1864 Atlanta George — William Tecumseh Sherman, 1864 Atlanta Georga

On this day in 1864, Sherman accepted the surrender of Confederate forces defending Atlanta. It would be a major accomplishment for Union forces. Atlanta was the railroad hub of the Confederacy and from where much of the war materiel went through. With its capture the South could no longer easily move men and materials where needed. It also marked the beginning of a new phase of the war.

Sherman was given the go ahead for his plan of bringing “total war” to the South. A few days ago, Atlanta citizens got a taste of what Sherman had in mind.

On September 1, 1861, a captured ammunition train was ordered destroyed. The resulting explosion caused a fire that quickly got out of hand and destroyed a large swath of Atlanta. That event was played out in a scene in the movie “Gone With the Wind.”

Sherman remained in the Atlanta area until after the election in which President Lincoln was re-elected thanks to Sherman’s success. After this pivotal point, Sherman was given permission to release the dogs of hell on his march from Atlanta to Savannah. He arrived on the coast just before Christmas leaving behind a path of destruction. There would be calls for him to replace Grant as commander of all the armies, but Sherman would have none of that and he openly

August 23: Pete Drops the Ball

By John Merrill

Those in the know, knew Pete had a gambling problem but everyone thought he only bet on football or played the horses. Then in ’89 those same people in the know began to suspect he was betting on “the game” and then it was betting on his own team.

Charlie Hustle as the press called him, began playing baseball in 1963 for the Cincinnati Reds and continued playing until 1986. In 1984 he became the team’s manager and remained that position after he retired as a player until the end.

That beginning of the end came in February of 1989 when he was questioned by baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth on allegations that he was betting on the game. Without question Pete denied the allegations and Ueberroth dropped the investigation. When Ueberroth retired as commissioner shortly after this, Bart Giamatti took over and three days later, he hired an attorney to investigate the allegations against Pete.

Lawyer John Dowd began an extensive investigation, interviewing players, bookies, and bet runners. Dowd came documented the allegations against Pete and then issued his report. In the report Charlie Hustle as Pete was called by the press was shown to have been wagering at least $10,000 every day during ’87 and he bet on 52 Cincinnati Reds games.

Pete and his friends did not believe the report and Pete refused to appear before the commissioner later that year. The commissioner threatened to take the matter before a federal court. At that point Pete negotiated a settlement.

On this, August 24, 1989, Pete agreed to be permanently placed on baseball’s ineligible list. It was a dark day for baseball and 8 days after issuing this agreement, Bart Giamatti died of a heart attack. In 2004 Pete Rose published a book where he admits to gambling on the game and his team.

August 22: Ulysses S. Grant Marries Julia

By John Merrill

Their relationship had lasted 4 years before today in 1848. Julia Dent’s father warned her not to get involved with the man. He was a poor soldier that would never be able to provide for in the manner she had become accustomed to in the luxury of the White Haven plantation.

Her father, Colonel Frederick Dent, a slave owner and merchant in eastern Missouri, didn’t believe Ulysses Grant could provide for his beloved daughter the way that he felt she should be pampered. Outwardly, Colonel Dent admired the young man because he had been a West Point classmate of Julia’s brother. When the colonel found out that Grant had graduated in the lower 3^rd of his class, his hopes for her daughter with the young man from Ohio faded.

Julia told her father the first time Grant proposed to her. He tried to dissuade his daughter that she could find someone better. The colonel told her he would probably never amount to anything and as a soldier he would be gone from home for long stretches at a time.

Grant proposed again, and again she deflected his proposal in such a way that it didn’t dampen his affection for the 16 year old girl who had captured his heart. Grant had written his father Jesse back in Ohio and told him about Julia and how beautiful and kind she was. He didn’t mention the colonel or the fact that he was a slave owner. That came in another letter when Jesse asked about her family. Jesse joined the colonel in being against the marriage, just for different reasons.

Finally, in 1844 Grant once again proposed to Julia while they were sitting on the front steps at White Haven. Julia agreed and when Grant spoke to her father, his father had a change of heart if not about Grant, but about his hope for his daughter’s happiness.

Not long after their engagement was announced, Grant was sent south. A war with Mexico seemed imminent and on April 25, 1846 war did erupt and Grant found himself in combat for the first time, but it didn’t last long. In February 2, 1848, the war was over and Grant eventually made his way back to St. Louis and his Julia.

On this day in August of 1848, Ulysses S. Grant and Julia Dent were married. It was a good day for both Ulysses and Julia. The rest of their lives together would not be as happy as this one day.

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