Ohio Legends presentation at the Warren County History Center in Lebbanon, Ohio

  Howdy!

  Here is the link to the video of my talk at the Warren County History Center and Harmon Museum in Lebanon, Ohio. I'm still not much of a public speaker, but the audience was kind and didn't toss me out. You will notice a glitch at the beginning of the "Terror in Delaware" story, because my laptop battery died unexpectedly!
  Luckily for me, Education Director and Historian  John Zimkus came to the rescue.and fixed the technical problems. I'd like to thank John Zimkus and the Warren County History Center for giving me the opportunity to share my books, and my friends and family for their generous support. Special thanks to my wife Patti for her terrific coaching!

  Jeff



https://thelebanonchannel.viebit.com/player.php?hash=u4alEMM6D5KK

Ohio Legends 1 & 2 are now available in E-Book at Amazon.com

James Ditty (the lost brother) Click images to enlarge!

  How can I tell this story? I do not believe it, but I know it is true. I have learned over the years that many times when people relate important stories of their family’s history and origins, important details get lost and there is no corroborating evidence to back up their claims. Over the years memories fade, and details are lost from generation to generation. But in this case, we can rely on the DNA evidence, and you can’t argue with the science involved.

  Last Christmas my daughter Tina suggested we share the cost of one of those DNA kits, as a Christmas gift to my wife Patti.   

  Patti has a deep interest in her genealogy, and has spent a good deal of time researching her family. The DNA testing works like this:  you provide a sample of your DNA, then you send it off to a lab, and they are able to discern your ethnic origins, and break it down to percentages of race and geographic locations.

  It is a straightforward proposition, and then in a few weeks you receive a pretty generic breakdown of your ethnicity. There is also a little checkbox on the form that instructs them to report any DNA matches that were revealed. Patti checked the box in passing, mostly just to complete the form.

  Within a few days, Patti received a bombshell in her e-mail. A man named Dennis Ditty in Minnesota claimed to be a direct blood relative of Patti, and asked for any details about his father James Ditty who died in 1960.

  Patti was suspicious and didn’t answer the e-mail immediately, wary of some new internet scam. Instead, she asked her father if he knew of a James Ditty who like her father, was born in Tennessee but moved to Michigan early on, and was now living in Minnesota, and was about 70 years old.

  Patti’s Dad immediately said: “No”;-but then stopped mid-sentence, remembering something from his past. He recalled that more than 60 years ago after his mother died he and his brothers were placed in the county orphanage. The youngest son James was adopted by foster parents, who he learned later moved to Michigan.

  In time, the family took the rest of the children in, but by then his brother James had been adopted and moved out of state.     

  Patti’s Dad was unable to obtain any more information on James, as all the documents were sealed by the court, and later destroyed. He spent the rest of his life wondering what kind of man his little brother became.

  Patti went back to her extensive notes on her family’s genealogy, and constructed a time line of events that matched perfectly. After 60 years they had discovered the lost brother!

  The joy of discovery was tempered with the realization that James had passed so many years ago and never knew his roots.

  By all accounts James was good man, honest and hardworking who loved his kids, could draw and paint well, and had a gift for music, just like the rest of his family.

  James son Dennis, his wife Debby and family were reunited with a host of relatives they never knew they had yesterday in Vandalia, Ohio, and discovered they all had much in common.

  You can see in their faces that time and troubles had not wiped away the unmistakable family resemblances.

  I am beginning to understand now that whether we like it or not, we all need a sense of belonging, of roots, and in a word; family.

Jeff Wilson

Patti's Dad Leon (L)---Dennis Ditty (M)---------Patti's Uncle Kenny (R)

A whole lot of Family!!

    

Ohio Legends Books-- Hits the Road!

                                Warren County History Center ‘Lunch and Learn Series:

  When: One Wednesday each month (except in July) 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Doors open at 10:00 a.m., lunch served promptly at 11:30 a.m., program ends at 1:00 p.m., museum closes 4:00 p.m.
The City of Lebanon began taping the Lunch & Learn programs beginning in September of 2015. 
  Where: Warren County History Center, 105 S. Broadway, Lebanon, OH 45036
  Details: Enjoy a gourmet catered served lunch, the company of new and long-time friends, and a special lesson in history.
Cost: 2017 Lunch & Learn Price $25 non-members, $20 members.**JUNE ONLY: Special Price of $25/Members, $30 Non-Members***
Please note the member price applies to members only. Single members may purchase one ticket per event at member price, Family members may purchase two tickets per event at member price. All others, please select the non-member price.
Paid registration is required in advance--by the Saturday prior to the event. Reserve online, by phone at 513-932-1817, or by mailing a check to the above address.

  August 16, 2017

Topic: Ohio Legends PART II - Another Look at Ohio's Diverse, Unique History and its Remarkable People

Details: Jeff Wilson author and illustrator of Ohio Legends, Ohio Legends Volume 2 and the soon to be released Ohio Legends Volume 3, was so well received at the April 2016 Lunch & Learn that we have invited him to come back. Every page in his books has a short story with an original, expressive illustration that brings to life a bit of Buckeye trivia or an oddity about an Ohio inventor, ghost, visionary, hero, crackpot or criminal. Wilson will tell new stories and share some more of his drawings of that fascinating place called Ohio.

Speaker: Jeff Wilson is a free-lance cartoonist, writer and illustrator. A life-long resident of the Buckeye state, he lives in Vandalia, Ohio with his wife Patti and enjoys any good, goofy story about Ohio.  

James Webb Cook Hayes

Click to enlarge....

Appearances/ Union County Genealogical Society's meeting in Marysville, Ohio!

  Thank you Marysville! Many folks took the time to turn out for the Union County Genealogical Society's meeting at the Marysville Public Library on Saturday! I would like to thank everyone especially Leona Gustafson, Alice Mackey. .....Jeff

Plain City Advocate newstory about 'Ohio Legends' appearance in Marysville!

http://plaincity-advocate.com/features/lifestyle/5387/wilson-to-be-guest-speaker-at-genealogical-society

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Wow! Check THIS out!

Unsigned, "gently used" copies of  'Ohio Legends' are selling for DOUBLE on the internet! Dang!

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?cm_sp=plpafe-_-all-_-soft&an=jeff+wilson&bi=s&ds=5&n=100121503&sortby=17&tn=ohio+legends

  Order your brand spanking new autographed copy today at half the cost at:
https://sites.google.com/site/ohiolegendsbooks/


https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=ohio+legends+jeff+wilson

Why I wrote these little books....

  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.”

Colonel Dean Hess

Thanks to Ohio Legends contributor and friend Jason Hedrick.

Rutherford B. Hayes...Our Disappearing History

                                                                   Click to enlarge....

   In 1876, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes ran for President against Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. Tilden who won the popular vote, but with 20 Electoral College votes in dispute after Election Day, the Congress enacted the “Compromise of 1877.”

 The "Compromise of 1877" stipulated that Republicans would withdraw federal troops from the South, thus ending Reconstruction, and Democrats in return would agree to sending the disputed votes to Hayes, making him the nation’s 19^th president. Four years later, Hayes -- who had pledged to serve just one term, retired from politics.