Howdy!
ARE THERE ANY BUCKEYES HERE? Show me your
hands!
Do you know where the term ‘Buckeye’ comes
from? I was always told Ohio was the ‘Buckeye State’ because of all the Buckeye
trees we have here in Ohio. Well, that is only partially right. Did you know
that the Indians who once occupied Ohio made decoys from deer skins and used the
big glossy brown nut from Buckeye trees for the buck’s eyes?
My name is Jeff Wilson; I have written and
illustrated a couple of little books called ‘Ohio Legends’. ‘Ohio Legends’ can
be described as a look at Ohio history through people, places and things. Some
of the people included in the books are well known, and others are not. But
they all contribute something to a work filled with strange but true Ohio
oddities and local legends.
A few years ago when I started this project,
my goal was to preserve and showcase some of the lesser known local events and
players in our remarkable and sometimes downright strange past. The basic idea
was that ‘Ohio Legends’ books would introduce ‘reluctant readers’, (kids and
young adults) to Ohio’s local history.
The concept I envisioned for the project
featured a large cartoon panel, with limited, but concise copy that encouraged
the reader to discover their own local past.
I
purposely limited the stories to a single page, tried to focus on the odd and
unusual material, hoping to generate interest in local history. I guessed there
would be about 60 pages in all, and began to share individual pages on Facebook
to discover what kinds of stories people want to see.
To my surprise, people started to send me
their own Buckeye trivia and interesting history and today there are more than
300 pages in two ‘Ohio Legends’ books and still more coming in every day. Even more unexpectedly, some stories came from
the actual relatives of these remarkable people.
First off, I do not consider myself a historian,
and my books of Ohio’s unique and diverse heritage is limited to what I have
been able to discover on my own. I am at best, a student, learning as I go
along, and adding more stories to my books every day. Most stories come to me from my readers, folks
like you, and I have learned that everyone has at least one good story about Ohio.
My expertise is in the graphic arts. My wife Patti and I have been self-employed
commercial artists in the Dayton area for over 30 years, and my cartoons have
appeared in some newspapers and magazines. These little books have been a great deal of
fun for me personally, and I have met many new friends along the way. Some
folks tell me they like the drawings, but most say the books are ‘great for the
bathroom’.
I came to this project mostly because of my
daughter Tina. One Sunday when she was a
child, I suggested that we go for a family road trip to downtown Dayton and
visit the Wright Cycle Shop and the Wright homestead.
“You mean
Greenfield Village?” She asked. I went on to explain to her that long ago Henry
Ford had bought the Wright’s buildings and moved them brick by brick to
Detroit, Michigan to be the centerpiece of his Ford Museum. I reminded her that
the Wrights really were from Dayton and that the buildings were slated to be
torn down anyway, so he kind of “saved” them. Years later, they built replicas
on the very spot where the buildings had once stood.
“Why did we let Ford
steal them?” She
asked.
As with most of Tina’s questions in those
days, I didn’t have a decent answer. But it got me thinking, that history is
too important to be sold off to the highest bidder. Our local history is
something to be held in trust, for our children, and their children. People
need roots, they need a sense of belonging, of community, a reminder of the
past, that today is only kept alive by educators, and our Historical Societies. And, folks like you, who donate your time, and share the
achievements of our past.
This is what is left of the Wrights homestead
at 7 Hawthorn St, in Dayton. A replica built years later, is just a portion of
the Wright’s front porch. A plaque installed
at the site says they may complete the building soon.
I have posted some stories on this blog to focus on these people who lived and worked in Ohio, and contributed
so many innovations, and advances that we take for granted in our daily life.
They were the visionaries, inventors, creators, and eternal optimists who
didn’t believe Ohio was just a ‘fly over state’. They were never told by some modern cynic
that Ohio was part of the ‘rust belt’.
Let me introduce you to some of
these folks you already know….
Wilbur Wright in 1910 said:
“If I were giving a young man advice
as to how he might succeed in life, I would say to him, pick out a good father
and mother, and begin life in Ohio.”
