Those Field Trips to the Ohio Caverns

When we were kids, it was a foregone conclusion that during one of our many elementary school outings our class would visit the Ohio Caverns.  This natural wonder is located in Logan County, near the community of West Liberty.  Legend has it that the caverns were first discovered by a young boy who was out searching for his dog.  Over the years, the place became a Mecca for tourists who wanted to experience this underground marvel.

Our old yellow and black school busses would be loaded with willing and enthusiastic students in the parking lot of North Lewisburg Elementary School.  Sack or box lunches were the order of the day, and many of us went forth bearing metal lunch boxes which had been imprinted with our favorite television, movies, or comic strip characters.  There was generally a sandwich, most often prepared using Wonder bread.  It was piled high with peanut butter and jelly, or bologna, salami, or ham which our mothers had purchased the day before at Arbuckle’s, or Woodruff’s Red and White, or Arthur’s IGA, or possibly Jack Swisher’s shop.  Sometimes there was a slice of Kraft cheese, carefully cut on one of the large, metal meat cutters which were prominent in the rear of the stores.  There was also an apple, or banana, or orange, and possibly a slice of cake which was left over from the previous day’s dinner.  Or, a special treat might be a Hostess chocolate cupcake or similar store-bought baked goods.  There was a metal and plastic thermos which was filled with milk (white or chocolate), or Kool-aid, lemonade, or iced tea.

The drive to the caverns was a noisy affair, each bus filled with kids’ chatter, laughter, and songs.  The miles seemed endless, and time seemed to pass so very slowly as we meandered the back country roads to our destination.

Upon arrival, there was always the safety lecture from our adult teacher escorts.  We were reminded that we represented our school, and were to be respectful of the people we were to encounter and the property we were to transverse.  Then, normally in two-by-twos, we were led to the entrance to the caverns (located in the headquarters building) to link up with our guide…normally a teenage boy or girl who had learned to master the prescribed script for our journey from start to finish.

We then descended the steps which led down into the ground, everyone excited to experience the change in temperature as we moved deeper and deeper into the bowels of the earth.  We followed the concrete trail which led us through the wondrous rooms, each of which was filled with fascinating rock formations.  We were warned that many of the formations were hundreds of thousands of years old, and that our mere hand-touching of any of them would destroy years of nature’s work.  We were awed by the gigantic icicles, which we were soon to learn were actually formed by water leeching through the limestone above us.  We listened in wonder to the sounds of tiny droplets of water as they fell into the many pools which surrounded us.

At one point, we stood transfixed as the lights were extinguished, and the soothing melody of “Beautiful Ohio” drifted through the cavern from some hidden pipe organ device.  When the lights came back on, we were ready to continue on our adventurous path through the balance of the caverns.

We walked on, constantly informed by our guide of the many features we were experiencing.  We eventually came to the end of the journey, prominently visible with the many, many steps which would take us once again to the surface.  We emerged into sunlight, walked to the picnic tables to enjoy our repast, and chattered amiably about the many wonders we had seen.

If we were fortunate, we had the opportunity to go to the souvenir shop to spend our precious dimes, quarters, and half-dollars on some trinkets to commemorate the trip.  (I still have a cedar jewelry box, imprinted with a rendering of the caverns, after all these many years).  We ran and chased each other around the many rock gardens, flower beds, and expansive grassy areas until it was time to once again board the busses for the trip back to North Lewisburg.

Or, just maybe we were lucky enough to be able to visit the nearby Piatt Castles and walk through their many rooms before we started home. Regardless, we all reveled in the experience of being away from the school and enjoying our field trip.

Here’s a special note for my friend, Doug Fadely.  Do you remember when you memorized that Ohio Caverns script and worked so hard to enhance your performance as one of the guides?

Ohio Militiamen in the War of 1812

In 1812, the “Second American Revolution” began when the fledgling United States declared war against Great Britain.  Upset with aggressive actions which Great Britain had taken against American sailors on the high seas and settlers along the western frontier, Congress decided to fight back.

As part of this new war, Great Britain called upon its Native American and Canadian allies to ravage the areas along Lake Erie and the western boundaries of the new nation.  Tecumseh, the great warrior leader of the Shawnee tribe, united many warriors from other tribes to assist in the hostilities.

To defend the new American nation against these intrusions, the various states called upon volunteers to form militia units to fight in support of the American army.  Many such militia units were organized in the Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Virginia regions of the country.

These citizen soldiers, who often enlisted for only 30-day periods, marched away from their homes and farmlands along the old Indian trails which crisscrossed the Ohio wilderness.  They moved primarily to the borders of Lake Erie, and along the land boundaries where British forces were prone to invade.

Captain Chancey Barker formed one such company of militia in mid-August 1812, 200 years ago this month.  While most of the volunteers were from Franklin County and environs, there were many who came to serve from the areas of present-day Union and Champaign Counties.

The unit assembled near Columbus and then marched forth on August 24^th to defend Ohio against the invaders.  Their period of enlistment expired on September 15, 1812, when they returned to the Columbus area to disband.  Participating in this unit, part of the Third Regiment, Ohio Militia, were the following:

Captain Chancey Barker

Lieutenant Samuel Maynard

Ensign Hector Kilbourn

Sergeant Eliphalet Barker

Sergeant Ethan Palmer

Sergeant Berkley Comstock

Sergeant Silas Barlow

Corporal William Thompson

Corporal Abraham Phelps

Corporal William Derrickson

Corporal Isaac Harrison

Musician Noah Andrews

Privates:

Isaac Allen

Asahel Benedict

Jeremiah Brient

Orlando Case

Albert Chapman

Nathaniel Cochrane

John Cooper

Joseph Crippen

John Crippen

Charles Crosby

John Derrickson

Joshua N. Faulkner

Isaiah Fisher

Enos Glisby

Isaac Griswold

James H. Hills

Jacob Hoffman

Henry Hone

William Impson

John Kilbourn

John Kirk

Oreno Knight

Asa Lee

Amos Maxfield

Amos Maynard, Jr.

Moses Maynard

Robert McCutchan

Newman Mitchell

Simeon Moore, Sr

Francis Olmsted

Abraham Phelps

Aquilla Puntney

Origen Rugg

Ganit Shirp

Bellas H. Skeels

John Smith

Recompense Stanherry

Thomas Tolland

Zopher Toppin

Mathias Turbee

Asa Weaver, Jr.

Herman Wheele

William White

Asa Wilcox

Windsor Willard

Samuel Wilson

John Yonel

Many of these same men were recalled to serve again from May 4 – 27, 1813.

As the reader researches his or her family history, it might be a good idea to check out this and other rosters of Ohio militiamen who served during the War of 1812 to look for possible ancestors or other relatives. 

My great-great-great-grandfather, William Impson, who resided with his family along Big Darby Creek just east of present-day North Lewisburg, was one of the men who’s name appears in this roster.

4-H

In the 1950s and 1960s, one of the premiere organizations of our youth was 4-H.  Pre-teens to young adults participated in the various clubs which were part of the 4-H organization. We were involved in sewing, homemaking, cooking, gardening, and raising farm crops, rabbits, chickens, ducks, turkeys, livestock husbandry, and many other worthwhile pursuits.  From the organization’s inception by A. B. Graham in 1902 (in Clark County, Ohio, by the way), 4-H has over the years witnessed some 60,000,000 youth participants.  We were all guided by 3,500 professionals and an additional 540,000 volunteers in the past 100 years.

There are four major principles to the 4-H philosophy.  Most of us who participated in the organization can still recall the 4-H Pledge: 

“I pledge my head to clearer thinking,

My heart to greater loyalty,

My hands to larger service,

And my health to better living,

For my club, my community, my country, and my world*.”

 

I was associated, from age 10, with a livestock club which included youth from North Lewisburg, Mingo, Cable and Woodstock.  At one of the first organizational meetings of the club, we debated a name by which we were to become known.  I suggested “Hill and Dale Livestock Producers,” and the name was accepted.  My own involvement was a four-year period of time, from 1955-1959, during which I raised hogs as my 4-H project.  I started off with registered Spotted Poland China hogs, and then branched out into crossbred projects involving that breed and the developing Landrace breed.

 

Our club met every month during the spring-fall seasons.  We rotated our meeting sites from one member’s home to another.  These meetings were normally filled with outside activities…various games and physically challenging events to help us develop our bodies while at the same time promoting fellowship and comradeship.  There were numerous evenings filled with hide-and-seek, kick-the-can, and go-sheepie-go, as well as other popular games of the period.  There was always a business meeting, in which lessons were taught and plans were made for work on our individual projects.  We were fortunate to have adult advisors who volunteered their time to help us develop practical skills and expertise in our areas of concern.  The names of Bob Corbett, Otho Johnson, Dr. Max Coates, Merritt White, Merrill Crowder, and others are easily called to mind as representatives from the adult community who helped us to grow and development.

 

The main objective of our efforts was, of course, participation in the Champaign County Fair, held each August in Urbana, Champaign County, Ohio.  We worked hard to prepare our livestock (cattle, hogs, and sheep) for competition in the various exhibits and activities held during that week-long summer session.  It was a marvelous experience to prepare the animals for transport, to arrive at the fairgrounds, and to secure the animals in their assigned pens adjacent to the different show arenas.  Many of us spent the whole week on the fairgrounds site, working during the day with our animals, and sleeping every night in the rear of a farm truck which had been hastily converted to a canvas-covered shelter.  We took our meals at the many food vendors’ tents and shelters under the grandstand, or concession trailers parked along the midway and at other points around the grounds.  We watched with faithful support as other members of our club directed their animals around the show rings, ever mindful of the watchful attention of the judges.  We cheered with enthusiasm when members of our club were awarded ribbons and trophies for their efforts.  We regaled with wonder when our friends’ names and photos appeared in the Urbana Daily Citizen or the Springfield News-Sun.

 

At the conclusion of the Champaign County Fair, some of our members took their championship animals for the more exclusive competition events at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus.  This alone was an exceptional experience for small-town boys and girls.

The time which was spent in 4-H participation was a highlight of many young lives, made all the more memorable by the many adults who gave of their time, expertise, and patience, to help us all to develop those four attributes:  Head, Heart, Hands, and Health.

(*) "...and my world." was added to the pledge after the 1960s.