"Festooned With Portraits" or, A Stamp Guys Trip to Fremont, Ohio

On Sunday, December 12, 2010, Tim, Mike, Pete and I (Jamie) set out for a trip to Fremont, Ohio, to tour the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, on the grounds of the Hayes home at Spiegel Grove.  Tim, Pete and I had stopped there on our way up to Put-in-Bay on July 25 (see previous Stamp Guys blog entry) to visit the graves of the 19th President and his wife. We were very  impressed by the grounds.  Later that day, at the Perry Monument in Put-in-Bay, we discovered that Fremont was the site of a critical American victory in the War of 1812 when on August 1, 1813 Major George Croghan and 160 U.S. Regulars defended Fort Stephenson against a large force (2,000+) of Indians under Tecumseh and British Regulars (400+), including units (such as the 41st Foot) that had fought under the Duke of Wellington on the Iberian Peninsula against Napoleon, under General Proctor.   This double whammy was all the reason the Stamp Guys needed to return to Fremont for a full day of touring.

Mike drove from Pickerington to Westerville, where he met up with Tim and me. We drove to Delaware and picked up Pete at 9:00 am, and then headed north on Route 23. As soon as we cleared Delaware (the birthplace of Rutherford B. Hayes), the drizzle turned into sleet and then quickly converted to snow, which began to stick to the ground (and road) almost immediately.  As we made our way northwest, the snow got heavier and the roads began to get a little slick. We had planned to get off Route 23 in Upper Sandusky, and then travel north through Tiffin (where William Henry Harrison was ensconsed in Fort Senaca on August 1, 1813) and then "up" the Sandusky River (which runs from south to north into Lake Erie) to its navigable headwaters at the town of Fremont, which was called Lower Sandusky in 1813. However, the nervous Columbus natives in the vehicle (a 2006 four wheel drive Ford Expedition)  prevailed upon me to continue up Route 23 to Findlay, so we would have much more four lane highway rather than twisty two-lane country roads.  When we turned off the four lane and headed through the F towns (Findlay, Fostoria and then finally Fremont), the snowfall got heavier and actually obliterated most of the road signs facing us as we travelled east toward our destination.  We had a lot of fun guessing what the snow-covered signs might have to say, and we had to make a couple of course adjustments on the fly when we were finally able to see the odd uncovered route sign that indicated we were not quite on the right road. Luckily, Pete had brought along his Ohio Gazeeter Map, and he was able to expertly find course-correcting routes. Lou Wallace my ass! 

We arrived in Fremont about 11:40 am, and parked in a snow covered lot at the Hayes Center. The ground crew was working hard, and had cleared the roads within Spiegel Grove of their snow, and had also cleared the many walking paths.  Since the Museum and Home were not scheduled to open until Noon, we headed to the grave site set back in the Grove.  When we got there, we were surprised to find a Master Lock on the gate.  We were able to walk around the fence to get a somewhat obscured view of the graves, and of the stone marking the final resting spot of Webb Hayes, the President's second son. Webb was an extraordinary soldier; he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his efforts in the Phillipine Insurrection.  As we found out during the tour of the Museum and the House, Webb Hayes may have been an even better forager/scrounger than a soldier, based on the booty and spoils of war that he sent home. Despite the disappointment of not being able to get inside the fence to the graves,Tim did find some consolation in the friendly advances of a brown squirrel (obviously a female).

We then headed back to the magnificent Hayes home, where the kind docent allowed us to spend a few moments on the spacious front porch out of the driving snow as we waited the last few minutes for the Museum and House to open.    At noon, we strolled through the snow over to the Museum, bought our tickets ($11 with a AAA discount) and then spent some time in the museum gift store (where Mike and I bought hat pins) before heading back over to the Home for the 12:30 guided tour.  The tour started right on time, and was supposed to last 45 minutes. However, since the four Stamp Guys were the only folks in the tour, the knowledgable tour guide expanded the time frame for us.  The home is going through a renovation to remove design features (wallpaper, paint, light switches, power outlets, curtains etc.) added in the 1940's and 1950's and to return the home to its 1880's appearance when Rutherford and his wife Lucy returned with their family from the White House. Luckily, the home stayed in the Hayes family until it was donated in 1965 to the Foundation that runs it now, so the Foundation has pictures of every room from the 1880's era.   The tour guide explained in detail how they are matching fabrics for couches and wall coverings.  The neat thing about the Home is that all of the furniture is original, as well as the protraits, knick-knacks and Victorian bric-a-brac. 

As the tour guide showed us one room (Mrs. Hayes bedroom), she explained that the walls were bare because the electricians were working on removing 1920's wiring to replace it with more modern wiring.  She showed us a picture of what the bedroom looked like when Lucy Webb Hayes occupied the room, noting the Victorian era tendency to cover up every square inch of the walls with portraits, pictures and sundry articles.  Tim then blurted out the quote of the day "You mean, if we come back after you finish the renovation, these walls will be festooned with portraits?" Now, if the kind tour guide thought that a bunch of middle age guys from Central Ohio who were visiting the Hayes home on a snowy late Fall Sunday during a Cleveland Browns game were perhaps questionable in their orientation, Tim's comment certainly cemented her view of the cut of our collective jib.

We completed our tour of the remainder of the house, which included many excellent portraits of the family, including a life size portrait of Hayes as the President, and a great portrait of Webb Hayes, who looks like a Teddy Roosevelt clone.  In addition to his MOH, Webb was also awarded the Order of the Dragon by the Imperial government of China for his work in the China Relief Expedition (also known as the Boxer Rebellion). One room of the house had an old carpet, worn nearly threadbare, woven with a huge dragon design.

After completing our house tour, we headed back over to the Museum to thoroughly review its contents.  We watched the movie (which was on a continuous loop, so we started five minutes in to the 15 minute film, and then watched the first five minutes at the end).  The movie was good and informative, if a little dry.  In the museum itelf, we were impressed by the many displays of Rutherford's items, including all of his officer shoulder boards from his Civil War service when he advanced from Major of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry to Major General (brevet).  The museum included the flag of the 23rd OVI, which impressed the heck out of us Civil War aficianados.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the Museum was the "gun room" which included many firearms and other curios collected by "Rud" and Webb over the years.  The personal weapons of General George Crook, the colleague of Rud during the Civil War and the "godfather" of Webb, are part of the collection.  Swivel guns captured from Phillipine pirates, the capstan of The Maine, a gunner's leather thimble from the Bonhomme Richard and a cannon captured in China that was made by the Tartars in approximately 1650 were only some of the jaw-dropping items in this collection. 

We completed our time at the Museum with a review of an "odds & ends" display of some of the more esoteric items included in the Hayes collection and a trip to a large downstairs room with a Christmas-themed model train display.  Then, we headed outside into the snow & cold to find the Fort Stephenson site.

We drove through snowy Fremont toward the site of the battle, which is only a few blocks from the Hayes Center. Of course, we didn't ask for directions and relied upon our review of maps in the Hayes Museum that described the 1813 clash of arms.  Funny, but there were a few minor changes in the lanscape between 1813 and 2010, so we had to meander through slush-filled side strets as we searched for the site.  We knew that the Birchard Library had been built on the former site of Fort Stephenson, and that there was suppossed to be a monument in a park next to the site.  I had seen pictures of the Birchard Library online, and it looked like a large and impressive structure; frankly, I expected that it would dominate downtown Fremont. Reality, however was pleasantly different. Downtown Fremont actually has a number of large, impressive structures, handsomely set on sweeping boulevards with large lawns facing quaint squares filled with monuments and memorials.  Luckily, the snow and the on-going Browns game conspired to keep vehicular traffic to a trickle, so we had time to pause, ponder, pontificate and point as we looked for the Fort Stephenson site.  Finally, we saw a roadside plague with language indicating it was a British artillery position.  We stopped and got out, and read the marker. 

 The sign indicated where the Fort site should be, but we couldn't see the Library or monument because of an intervening modern commercial building.  However, we wandered into a park across the street from the sign, and then were able to clear the obstruction and finally see the snow encrusted monument, with an artillery piece sitting at its base.

The Battle of Fort Stephenson gets very little publicity, even in detailed accounts of the War of 1812.  I don't think the battle was even mentioned in my 7th Grade Ohio History class at Auburn Road Middle Schoool in Painesville Township, Ohio. The links provided here will give you a good explanation of the battle, which deserves to be rescued from obscurity as we approach its bicentennial.  The powerful British-Indian force was supported by artillery and by gunboats on the Sandusky River.  The enemy force had inspiring leadership in the legendary Shawnee Tecumseh, and hard-bitten, European-trained & equipped fighters who cut their teeth agains the best Napoleon could throw against them in the 41st Regiment of Foot.  They were faced by a group of U.S. solders that they outnumbered 15 to 1, led by a young Major (age 21) who had received orders to retreat from the equally legendary William Henry Harrison (subordinate captain to "Mad" Anthony Wayne at Fallen Timbers in 1794 and the victor at Tippecanoe over the Tecumseh-led confederation in 1811). Yet, despite these factors, Major George Croghan led a masterful, determined defense, moving his sole artillery piece (chistened "Old Betsy" by the soldiers) from place to place in a deadly game of cat & mouse with the experienced British gunners.  After Croghan instructed Betsy to cease firing and to be hidden, Tecumseh demanded that General Proctor send his redcoats in an assualt against the Fort. Croghan then ordered Betsy to be placed in a position OUTSIDE the fort to enfilade the expected frontal attack, and the poor guys from the 41st marched right into the cunning Major's trap.

Map of the Battle of Fort Stephenson - August 2, 1813 as published in THE HISTORY OF THE WELSH REGIMENT - 1719-1914. Birchard Library now stands on site of old fort. Ravine is Croghan Street.

Their reception by the brave defenders convinced Proctor that he couldn't capture the fort, and the powerful force retreated back toward Detroit.  A little over five weeks later, Oliver Hazard Perry won his epic vicory on Lake Erie, and a about a month after that fateful September day, Proctor surrendered his force to Harrison near Thamesville, Ontario, leaving Tecumseh to fight alone and meet his fate in a Canadian swamp. Fort Stephenson needs to be visited by everyone who has an interest in the history of this part of the country; it was a key turning point in the War, and helped seal forever the suzerainity of the United States over Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.

We drove from the sign marking the British artillery position to the Fort site, and walked the grounds of the Library.  Interestingly, the Library was built by Rutherford Hayes' Uncle Sardis, who must have been one heck of a businessman.  He also paid for Rud to go to college (Kenyon) and law school (some dreary place in Cambridge, Massachsetts) and built Spiegel Grove as summer home!  The grounds of the Birchard Library contain a monument topped by a Civil War soldier, but dedicated to solders of several eras, including the defenders of Fort Stephenson (see photos). 

We then approached the artillery piece at its base and found out that we were in the presence of History.  The piece is Old Betsy.  Not a reproduction. Not some random tube selected by a grudging bureaucrat from his inventory in an Army arsenal.   Old Betsy!!!!! The same metal that hurled projectiles that tore through the ranks of the red-coated regulars; the same smooth bore whose roar was heard by Tecumseh.  Sitting quietly in the open, in a park-like setting on a hilltop outside a library in Fremont, Ohio,  is a piece of history that should thrill you.  

Old Betsy certainly thrilled us.  We took our pictures, grinning like fools in the cold as we shared the Stamp Guys brotherhood of being at places that were turning points in the great flow chart of human experience; all of us, whose families and co-workers shake their heads in bemusement, clucking their tongues over our nerd-like interest in long dead shadowy figures who don't resemble the latest gossip-rag description of toned abdominal-muscled humanity;  who wonder why we stand in now-quiet fields, mud-spattered legs cut by brambles and crawling with ticks as yellowjackets angrily buzz our ears, to get the same view of a distant woodline that long-forgotten, confused and exhausted young men toting heavy smoothbore muskets had when they were thrust into the maw of combat; and who stare at places like the slope in front of the Birchard Library, which is now a modern asphalt street travelled by thouands of vehicles a year whose drivers have no idea that their tires are gently presurring the blood-drenched soil beneath the pavement. 

We left the Birchard Library site and drove across the Sandusky River to get a perspective on where the British gun boats would have been positioned. Interestingly, these same gun boats would do battle with and be captured by Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie.

We then returned to town; hit an Arby's for a late lunch, and then drove through the drifting snow to Columbus, warmed by the rembrances of our great day in Fremont.