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HOCKING COUNTY HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM

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HOCKING COUNTY HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM

We are open Saturdays and Sundays from 1 - 4. A complete tour can take an hour and a half. We have various reference materials available. You'll be glad you did!

We have 6 buildings full of local history. Admission is free, but we do accept donations. We bring you the Best of Hocking County's Past! Admission to our museum and parking are free. The museum is handicapped accessible. Our museum is staffed with friendly, knowledgeable volunteers on Friday and Saturday afternoons (1-4 pm) to help you in your research and/or tour. Private and group/bus tours are welcome and encouraged. Please contact us to set up your private tour. Within our museum you can go back in history. Visit the 1881 SCHEMPP HOUSE, and learn how people actually lived in that period with each room bursting with exhibits. The Historical Center has a TIMELINE covering 100 years of history, a one-room schoolhouse, military displays, indian artifacts and much more. The CARRIAGE HOUSE features farm implements and period tools. You may also visit the HENRY LUTZ 1898 STEAM CAR GARAGE and learn the history of the steam car. A PIONEER CONESTOGA WAGON and OLDE PRINTSHOP can be seen on site, along with a RAILROAD TELEGRAPH OFFICE, complete with Hocking Valley Railroad memorabilia. We also have a room available for GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH. Included are the histories of many local families and notables, old yearbooks, books by local authors and much, much more. We also have books available for purchase covering many diverse subjects. A complete will soon be available on our page.

11/10/2025

“LET US HERE HIGHLY RESOLVE THAT THESE HONORED DEAL SHALL NOT HAVE DIED IN VAIN”
The Logan Daily News of May 30, 1946 Part 3

(LDN Editor’s Note: Every effort has been made to make this list complete. All available records have been checked with extreme care so that note would be overlooked. If any names have been omitted it is because there was no information to be had. The Daily News has compiled this list as a public service and will appreciate information of any Hocking County war fatalities, as well as more complete information on every casualty of the war.
The only recorded Hocking County combat death in Holland was that of Clarence McIntosh, Rockbridge Rt. 2. He was listed as killed on September 2, 1944.
Escaping death in combat in four campaigns, James R. Brooks, Logan, was a victim of a motorcycle accident in Holland, May 30, 1945. A paratrooper, he had seen action in Sicily, Holland, France and Germany and had been wounded in action.

ACTION IN GERMANY took the lives of two Hocking County soldiers with the ground troops. Maynard Simpson, Union Furnace, a former teacher in the school there, met death December 19, 1944.
On April 13, 1945, Melvin Shuttleworth, Murray City, was killed in action while fighting as a tankman in the mechanized calvary.
The air over Germany claimed four lives. Homer Redick, Jr. Logan, was listed as missing in action December 19, 1943, after his bomber failed to return from a mission over the Reich. No further news of his fate was ever received, and he was later declared killed in action.
Lawrence Bennet, Murray City, tail gunner, on a Flying Fortress, was killed over Germany February 25, 1944. On May 24, 1944, Dana B. Johnson, Carbon Hill, was presumed dead by the War Department after having been missing in action. An air crewman on a Flying Fortress, his plane was disabled by enemy aircraft and exploded mid-air over Berlin.
Last to be listed as dead was Roberty Kind, Logan. He was reported missing in action April 5, 1945. A year later it as announced he had been killed when his B-24 bomber fell while returning to England from a combat mission over Germany.
The initial Hocking County casualties in the Pacific Theater were followed by mounting deaths as the tempo of the fighting increased and the ring of ships and men around Japan tightened.
On September 3, 1943, Alfred W. Hull, New Straitsville Route 1, was killed in an accident. The bloody action that attended the capture of Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands took the life of John Robert Cox, Logan Route 3.

Eugene Popoczy, Murray City, was killed while fighting with the Marine Corps in the summer of 1944. The place and the exact date of his death were not revealed. Dever C. Diltz, Logan Route 4, fell in combat in New Guinea on July 27, 1944, where he was serving with army Infantry.
James Fling, Haydenville also met death in the Pacific in 1944, but here again, the date and location are missing.
Wilford Shannon, of Willoughby, a former Logan man, died in combat on Saipan in July 1944, and Cecil Green, Rockbridge, met death in October of the same year.
Merle F. Hart of South Bloomingville fell on Okinawa on June 14, 1945, and two weeks later, Carl Hite, a cousin of Ralph Hite, one of the first casualties was killed in action on Okinawa. He had observed his 19th birthday only two days before his death.
Death refused to be balked for Vernon Davis of Logan. A crew member of a mine sweeper, his vessel was supporting the invasion of the Philippines early in 1945. A Japanese serial attack struck his ship, and he was blown into the sea by the explosion. He was rescued by a companion ship which later sunk carrying him with it.
After a long period of uncertainty, Russel (Shorty) Mason, Logan, was declared on January 27, 1945. It was on that date that the plane of which he was a crew member failed to return from a bombing mission. He was attached to a bomber squadron on the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga. His plane encountered intense anti-aircraft fire over Hainan Island and did not return to the carrier. Mason was lost on his 15th mission.
The SEA also claimed two Hocking County brothers who were serving in the Merchant Marine. Although that branch officially was not one of the armed forces, the men who served in it took grave risks and those who died lost their lives to enemy action.
Donald Lambert, Gore Route 1, died early in 1942. When last heard from he was ill of malaria and was being transferred by ship to Calcutta, India for treatment. The vessel was struck by a Japanese torpedo and sunk. Lambert was transferred to a lifeboat which was later lost.
Herbert Lambert, also of Gore Route 1, a crew member of the S.S. Steel Age, lost his life February 14, 1942, when the ship was torpedoed in the Pacific while transporting war materials to the war zone.
Death struck a number of Hocking County men before they reached battle zones. Pvt. Arnold W. Steele, Laurelville, was the victim of a hit-skip driver at Camp Butner, N.C., on January 23, 1944.
Robert Spencer, Murray City, was killed in an automobile accident November 15, 1943, at Myrtle Beach, S.C. Ray Hammond Jr. was struck by lightning and killed at Camp Shelby, Mis.,. in September 1943.
William Brandt, Columbus, who was reared in Logan, was killed in an airplane crash while on a training flight at Coffeyville Kas., May 31, 1943. He was an Army air cadet. John Beavers, of Lancaster, formerly of Hocking County, lost his life December 27, 1944, in an air transport crash while enroute home for furlough.
Eddie Laver, Rockbridge, escaped death in air combat and in an enemy prison camp only to die in an automobile accident in this county. He was an engineer- gunner on a B-24 bomber which was shot down over Ramonia April 24, 1944. Although badly wounded, he parachuted from his plane and was taken prisoner. Liberated when Romania was overrun by Russian forces, he returned to this county and spoke to numerous war bond rallies. He was on such a mission when he lost his life on March 16, 1945.,
Murl W. Edwards, Rockbridge Route 2, died by drowning in Florida October 10, 1945. He was the last accidental death reported.
That is the record – a grim and heavy one for a county so small a population as Hocking. Seventy men who loved peace became sacrifices to the gods of war. Most of them sleep in the earth of foreign lands where they fell. For others the ocean is their grave and the endless waves their shroud.

11/09/2025

Help support the Hocking County Historical Society by checking out these beautiful stone barns of America. The Hocking County Historical Society is only responsible to sale 5 of the barns. They now have all been posted on our website. Please share the information with anyone you may know from the areas where the barns are found. This is a major fund raiser for us and 10 other historical societies.

“Portsmouth’s Gentleman Farmer” of Newport County, Rhode Island
H.A.C. Taylor built this stone barn in Portsmouth in 1911, located nine miles from Newport. The family's history traces back to Moses Taylor, a London merchant who settled in New York City in 1836.
Moses prospered in New York, and his son Jacob partnered with John Jacob Astor. The next Moses became City Bank president in 1855 and owned a railroad and canal, leaving an estate of $40 million in 1882. Unlike many heirs, Henry maintained the family's wealth.
Born in 1841, Henry graduated from Columbia University, became a New York City lawyer, and later led the National City Bank of New York. He was also involved in steel, mining, and railroads, owning homes in New York and Newport.
Henry soon left Newport and began purchasing farms in Portsmouth. In 1882, he acquired “Glen Farm,” spanning 111 acres with two farmhouses, a grist mill, barns, and outbuildings. The farm was named for its picturesque glen and historic steam-powered gristmill. Henry expanded his holdings, started farming in 1885, raised Guernsey cattle by 1889, then moved on to Clydesdale and Percheron horses. He competed in national dairy shows, winning many awards against other prominent farmers like the Vanderbilts, and filled his office walls with prize ribbons.
Taylor, like other wealthy farmers such as George Washington, took a scientific approach to agriculture and show cased his work. He even chose cattle from Guernsey himself, but when Missy of the Glen broke a butterfat record, a Boston farmer disputed the result.
Taylor, unwilling to accept that his farm workers had acted dishonestly, initiated legal proceedings that ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Following an independent year-long investigation that validated Missy’s record, The New York Times published a headline in 1910: “Champion Cow Vindicated.”
Although Taylor was awarded $10,000 in the judgment, his legal expenses amounted to $25,000—a financial loss mitigated somewhat by the increased value of Missy’s calves. Most significantly, Taylor’s pride and reputation were preserved.
Managers kept the farm productive, raising crops and breeding livestock to support 50 resident families. The gristmill’s generator powered the site, and several buildings—including a blacksmith shop, icehouse, wagon shed, pump house, pottery shed, tool house, and animal hospital—illustrated the farm’s operations.
Taylor added at least five barns to those already present when he acquired the farms, and these still stand today.
The wooden cow barn, built before 1902, is 40 x 100 feet with about 4,000 square feet on two and a half stories featuring dormers for hayloft access. It sits on a rubblestone foundation, as does the nearby 1902 polo barn, which is two stories, measures 34 x 116 feet, has 18 horse stalls, and features a Gambrel roof with dormers and cupolas in the Dutch barn style.
Built of stone in 1907, the dairy barn has two and a half stories and spans over 5,100 square feet. It includes a tack room, 18 horse stalls, a second-floor two-bedroom apartment, and a partial basement supported by steel beams. A stone silo is connected via a covered passage, with brick-lined interior walls and rough-cut rubblestone on the exterior. Windows and doors are accented with brick and granite trim.
The bull barn, constructed in 1910, is a two-story stone structure covering about 3,500 square feet—making it smaller than the other barns. Inside, there are ten stalls, and outside, fenced bull paddocks feature contract posts and steel rails. Arched doorways with segmented designs add an aesthetic touch to the building.
The main stone barn, featured in my painting and built in 1911, stands at 42 x 125 feet and is the largest on the property. Its exterior consists of rough-cut ashlar and rubblestone with a six-inch air gap for temperature control. Dormers and cupolas match other barns, and there's a second-floor apartment heated by an oil-fired boiler. Crenelland brick trims the granite windowsills and lintels. Designed for a gentleman farmer, the farm once spanned over 1,500 acres.
After Henry’s death in 1921, his son Moses and wife Edith ran the farm and finished Henry’s mansion in 1923, designed by John Russell Pope. The family summered at Glen Farm until Moses died in 1928, after which Edith took charge. She remarried in 1938 but kept control, converting the barn to a field hospital and a cottage to a Red Cross unit during World War II. After the war, Edith auctioned off the livestock, ending farming operations. When she died in 1959, her son Reginald sold parts of the farmland.
In 1974, Portsmouth bought part of Glen Farm, including Henry’s 1923 mansion, and began turning it into public parks. When Mason Phelps, Reginald’s grandson, decided to sell, the town spent $3.6 million—approved by a three to one vote—to prevent further development. By then, unused farm buildings and barns had fallen into disrepair.
A Boston developer leased the farm for 10 years, investing over $600,000 to update utilities and restore the barns with original-style brass hardware. He also built a polo field now used by the Newport Polo Club, the nation's second oldest.
The city uses the farmhouse for its recreation department offices and plans to build hiking trails and preserve the stone barns once owned by Henry Augustus Coit Taylor, a notable Portsmouth gentleman farmer.

11/09/2025

“LET US HERE HIGHLY RESOLVE THAT THESE HONORED DEAL SHALL NOT HAVE DIED IN VAIN”
The Logan Daily News of May 30, 1946, Part 2

(LDN Editor’s Note: Every effort has been made to make this list complete. All available records have been checked with extreme care so that note would be overlooked. If any names have been omitted it is because there was no information to be had. The Daily News has compiled this list as a public service and will appreciate information about any Hocking County war fatalities, as well as more complete information on every casualty of the war.)

Wounds suffered in action proved fatal on December 31, 1943, to James Ebert of Laurelville. On February 21, 1944, Harold T. Guess was killed in action. Less than a month later, on May 12, Harry T. Ricketts, South Perry, died of battle wounds. He was awarded the Silver Star posthumously for gallantry in the action in which he received his fatal wounds.
Death came in the spring of 1944 also to Melvin T. Wolfe, Nelsonville Rt. 2, who was killed in action. The last to meet death on Italian soil was Ralph Miller, Columbus who was killed in action April 23, 1945, in the last days of the Italian campaign.
The invasion of France took the greatest toll of any single campaign. Even before Unties States forces landed on the Normandy beachheads, a Hocking County man had laid down his life.
On February 29, John J. Smith, Logan, was a crewman on a medium bomber shot down while on a mission over France. Listed as missing in action he was later declared killed as the same date upon information supplied by the German government. A master sergeant on ground crew duty, he relinquished his rank to be assigned to combat duty.
Calvin Heinlein, New Plymouth, pilot of an Army transport plane, was killed in action June 7, 1944, the after D-Day, when his aircraft was shot down while supporting the invasion.
The first casualty in the ground forces was Alva W. Smith, Logan, who waws killed in action June 12, 1944. Pvt. James W. Bateman, Carbon Hill, a paratrooper, met death in action June 15, and Pvt. Howard E. (Tuby) Columber, Logan, was killed July 29.
Paratrooper Tom Nast, Logan, was reported missing in action after a combat jump July 27, was later declared killed in action as of the dame date.
August saw three Hocking County men lose their lives in the battle for France, Robert O. Steele, Laurelville, and Ernest Seymour, Union Furnace, were both killed in ground action, and Thomas Davis, Buchtel, was killed in aerial combat. He was a gunner on a Flying Fortress.
The toll continued in September, Elwin Patterson, Logan Route 2, was killed in action on the 10th. He had previously been wounded in the invasion of Italy. Two days later Robert Collison, Logan, was killed in action in southern France. He had seen hard service in Italy, where he was awarded the Bronze Star for outstanding courage in the face of fire.
The ominous list grew longer in the following month. On October 3, Joseph F. Boch, Marion Township, was killed in action. October 14 saw Julian Sampson, Logan Route 1, fall on the battlefield. Carl Ogg, Sugar Grove Rt. 1, met death in action October 26. He had been wounded in action in the Italian campaign and had returned to duty after his recovery.

MORE NAMES WERE ADDED TO THE LIST OF Hocking Count’s dead in November. The 26th saw James Johnson, Murray City, die of battle wounds and Robert Nelson, Logan, killed in action. Nelson had previously been listed as missing. Attached to Sen. George Patton’s Third Army, he had been wounded in action in a previous engagement but had returned to the lines after recovery. On the 29th, Murray Phillips, Logan, was killed in combat.
On January 1, 1945, Lloyd Arnett, Gore, an Air Force lieutenant, was shot down in action on a mission over France to bring an end to a varied military career. He had served in the Marine Corps and was assigned to the U.S.S. Paney., sunk in China by Japanese bombs years before the war against the western world opened. He enlisted in the Air Force at the expiration of his Marine enlistment.
Pvt. Waldo Blum, Logan, was killed in combat on February 20, 1945. First reported missing in action, he was later listed as killed on that day. He had been wounded in action on January 6 but had recovered and returned to combat.
Born and reared in Logan, Joseph Mowery fell in action December 17, 1944, in the Battle of the Bulge. He was inducted from Michigan where he had been employed in the oil fields.

THE SOIL OF BELGIUM also was reddened with Hocking County blood. On January 4, Pvt. Floyd T. Boggs, Logan Route 4, was killed in action after having previously been reported ads missing. He was a member of an infantry unit. On the same day Alfred L. Campbell, Rockbridge Route 2, was listed as missing in action. It was learned he died of wound two days later in a German field hospital. Later in the same month. Denzil Dupler of Rockbridge was first reported missing and later listed as killed in action. Lawrence Ayers, who was a resident of Murray City, died in combat January 15.
Lester Cook, Glouster Rt. 1, met death in action February 23 and Galvin R. Wilson, Murray City, died of battle wounds on February 26.

To be continued tomorrow.

11/08/2025

“PATRIOTISM PERSONIFIED” OF MERCER COUNTY, of NEW JERSEY

This farmstead and its stone barn are located in Mercer County, named for Brigadier General Hugh Mercer—a surgeon who died at the Battle of Princeton in 1777, served with George Washington during the French and Indian War, and fought with the Jacobite’s at Culloden in 1746. Three months earlier, John Witherspoon, a Scottish Presbyterian minister opposed to the Jacobite cause, was imprisoned after their victory at Falkirk Muir. Witherspoon later founded the estate where this barn stands.
Witherspoon maintained his distinguished standing within church circles following the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charles and his highlanders at the Battle of Culloden. In 1766, he was offered the presidency of the College of New Jersey, which would later become Princeton University. Richard Stockton, whose father John had generously donated land for the college’s relocation from Newark to Princeton, extended the invitation to Witherspoon. Although Witherspoon’s wife initially advised him to decline the position, he ultimately accepted. He emigrated to America with his wife Elizabeth and their five children, settling in Princeton in 1768.
Founded in 1746 to train Protestant clergy, the College of New Jersey faced challenges until Reverend Witherspoon became its sixth president in 1768. He improved instruction, relieved debt, expanded the library with his own books, and revamped the curriculum following Scottish university models. His leadership contributed to the success of students like James Madison, later the fourth U.S. president. The college was renamed Princeton University in 1896, and Witherspoon served as president until 1794.
In 1774, Witherspoon supported colonial independence and was elected congressional chaplain. He signed the Declaration of Independence, served on more than 100 committees, helped organize executive departments, and contributed to the Articles of Confederation.
As British forces neared Princeton during the war, Witherspoon closed and evacuated the college, which was later damaged and many of his papers destroyed. After defeating the British at Trenton, Washington surprised them by marching to Princeton in January 1777, won the battle, and then withdrew to Morristown.
In 1773, Witherspoon established the Tusculum estate, just a mile from Nassau Hall. Named after Cicero’s Roman retreat, the stone house spanned 5,000 square feet with several rooms. Initially rented to tenants with small gardens, Witherspoon later farmed the land himself and experimented with crops, similar to George Washington in Virginia.
In 1779, Witherspoon moved to his estate at Tusculum. He continued managing his college, but by the end of his presidency his declining health and worsening eye injuries left him blind by 1792. In 1791, at age 68, he remarried a 24-year-old widow and had two more children. He died in 1794.
After his death, Tusculum—a 238-acre farm with diverse crops and livestock—was sold by his widow Anne in 1796. The estate changed hands until Richard Stockton acquired it in 1815; his father had signed the Declaration of Independence and helped bring Witherspoon to Princeton. Upon Richard's death in 1826, his son Samuel inherited Tusculum at age 25, while his older brother Robert served as a navy officer.
Samuel married Mary in 1833; they had two children, with the second born soon after Samuel died unexpectedly in 1836. The stone barn may have been built by Samuel or his older brother Robert, who took over the estate after Samuel’s death.
After turning 16, Robert joined the Navy during the War of 1812, became a lieutenant, and later commanded the Alligator, where he discarded flogging. As a senator, he sponsored legislation to end naval flogging. He also worked against slavery by negotiating a treaty to help found Liberia as a refuge for formerly enslaved Americans.
After many years at sea, he returned to Navy service in 1845, serving aboard the USS Princeton, the nation’s first steam-powered warship, a vessel that Stockton actively encouraged the Navy to construct.
In the 1850s, Robert appointed his son, John Porter Stockton, to oversee tenant farming operations at Tusculum. During this period, the Stocktons sold the estate, which subsequently changed ownership several times before being purchased in 1857 by Edward Jewel, who retained possession for nearly three decades.
The Pardee family owned the estate from 1924, living there for much of the 20th century and preserving 20 acres for historic purposes. Mrs. Ario Pardee nominated it for the National Register in 1978. The listing includes a stone barn and several stone buildings from the 1790s: a springhouse, icehouse, and farmhouse—constructed with locally quarried arillite, like Princeton University's Nassau Hall.
Built in the 1830s, this New Jersey stone barn reflects Dutch, English, and German influences that are rare for the region. Its large size—45 x 57 feet—and impressive masonry suggests its builders' wealth. With three stories on a bank, it originally housed up to 50 cattle and was used for crop storage. Unique features include a stone ledge below the front windows, five Dutch bays, two king posts upstairs, and evidence of a lost German-Swiss style forebay. The barn once had openings for ventilation on all sides, now fitted with windows, and tall Dutch doors on the north side. The mason may have chosen its stone after admiring Nassau Hall nearby.
Thomas and Avril Moore bought Tusculum and its 82 acres in 1996, restoring the deteriorated farmhouse by fixing the roof, support beams, and floors. They sold the estate in 2013 to Merideth Asplundh and Tim Gardner, both historical preservationists.

This barn is just one of 51 oil paintings offered by Robert Kroeger to use as fund-raisers for 11 non-profit historical societies. Each barn is framed in barn wood and ready to hang.
See the complete list of barns at www.BiddiongOwl.com.

11/08/2025

I know this is the time of year to honor all Veterans, but too many of our veterans gave their lives, while so many more have suffered years of nightmares, horrible memories, health issues and the lack of respect from those of us that were not required to serve.
THANK YOU ALL.

“LET US HERE HIGHLY RESOLVE THAT THESE HONORED DEAL SHALL NOT HAVE DIED IN VAIN”
The Logan Daily News of May 30, 1946, Part 1
(LDN Editor’s Note: Every effort has been made to make this list complete. All available records have been checked with extreme care so that note would be overlooked. If any names have been omitted it is because there was no information to be had. The Daily News has compiled this list as a public service and will appreciate information of any Hocking County war fatalities, as well as more complete information on every casualty of the war.

The story behind Hocking County casualties in World Warr II is a story of the war itself. Hocking County blood was spilled in practically every campaign and in every theater of was from Pearl Harbor to Okinawa.
The Japanese bombs that plunged the United States into bloodiest and costliest war in its history brought the reality of the war home to this county. The first of her sons to lay down his life was a victim of those same bombs.
Clyde Huffman, a 22-year-old South Bloomingville boy, was stationed on the U.S.S Arizona, which was anchored in Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941. When the mighty battleship was sunk, it carried with it the body of Clyde Huffman, He died at his post that sunny morning, one of the first of thousands to follow.
Thousands of miles further west, on the island of Luzon, were four Hocking County men serving with the Army in the Philippines. The blow that struck Pearl Harbor signaled the opening of an attack by the Japanese and marked the doom of those four. IN the long weary months of the battle of Bataan, Lt. Kenneth Oeffler, Sgt. Joe Matheny, Pfc. Leonard McKinley and Pvt. Ralph Hite, of Logan fought with the dwindling troops of General MacArthur.
After the fall of Bataan and the surrender of Corregidor, a pall of silence covered their fate. Months later it was learned that Oeffier, Matheny and McKinley were prisoners of the Japanese.
Of Hite, there was no word for nearly four years. But in 1945 it was learned he had been the first to die. After the liberation of the Philippines his grave was found, with the information that he had died May 26, 1942. He was apparently fallen in action while serving with guerrillas.
A victim of Japanese brutality, Lt. Oeffier died in a prison camp June 11, 1943, “of disease,” the Japanese said. No information is available, but it is presumed to be Lt. Oeffier was one of those who survived the infamous “March of Death” only to die later of malnutrition and barbarous treatment.
An ironic fate saw PFC. McKinley life through the indignities of captivity in the Philippines only to die at the hands of his fellow countrymen. A prisoner since May 9, 1942, he was being transferred to Japan in a prison ship when it was struck by a torpedo from an American submarine October 24, 1944.
Seeking to prevent the liberation of their prisoners by American forces, th3 Japanese sent many of their captives to Japan. The ship on which McKinley was an unwilling passenger sailed from Manila, October 12, 1944. Thirteen days later the vessel was sunk “by marine action,” according to a Japanese report, in the South China Sea.
The only one of the four to survive was Sgt. Matheny. He was a prisoner for over three years. With the American invasion of the Philippines, he was transferred to a prison camp in Japan and forced to labor in coal mines until he was liberated last September after the surrender of Japan. Now living in Zanesville, he still bears the scars of his captivity.
The first to die in uniform was Privat E. Arnold, Logan, the victim of an accident at Eath, Alabama, October 15, 1941.
The first Hocking County man officially listed as killed in action was Mickey Lauriskeyt, Murray City. He was a battle casualty somewhere in Africa in the early day of the African invasion. That campaign took the life of a second Hocking County soldier, Elmo Nice who died February 17, 1943, of wounds received in the desert battle.
Also, a casualty of the Mediterranean war was S-Sgt. Charles O. Starcher, Logan, a radio operator on an army bomber which failed to return from a mission January 15, 1943. He had previously been missing in action as of that date.
Death Passed over Hocking County men engaged in the Sicilian campaign but resumed its grim toll when American forces moved into Italy. Carl Lester Sater, Rockbridge Route 1, died in November 1943, of wounds suffered in action. Dallas W. Perry, of near Logan was killed in action in the same month.

Part 2 to be continued tomorrow.

11/07/2025

Fundraising Auction: Stone Barn Oil Paintings
We are asking you to share this with friend everywhere.
The third Stone Barn oil painting is now available for purchase through an online auction hosted at www.BiddingOwl.com. This auction is organized as a fundraising initiative for the Hocking County Historical Society, a non-profit entity that is managed entirely by volunteers.
In total, the auction offers 51 original oil paintings, each created in the impasto style using a palette knife. These works of art are designed to support the fundraising efforts of 11 historical societies across Ohio and Indiana.
Each painting has been professionally framed with genuine barn wood, making them ready to hang upon delivery. The specific painting highlighted in this auction measures 11 inches by 14 inches.
The online auction will conclude on November 30th at 6:00 PM. Supporters and members of the community are encouraged to help spread the word about this distinctive fundraising opportunity, which provides vital support to local historical societies and contributes to the preservation of the region's heritage.

"MESENKAMP’S MARVEL” STONE BARN
OF OCONTO COUNTY, WISCONSIN
This barn stands in a small town of about 3,000 people, roughly 20 miles north of Green Bay, where January's average high reaches just 26 degrees. Every spring, rocks and boulders—left behind by Wisconsin's glaciers—that emerge from the soil. While local farmers find these stones troublesome, having to clear them before they can plow, stonemasons see them as ideal building materials; many of these stones now grace this barn's walls.
In 1857, Nathan B. Chase, a lumber baron originally from Canada, settled in Wrightstown, situated around 20 miles south of Green Bay, and founded a sawmill. Six years later, he relocated to what would become the town of Chase, moving his sawmill operations to the Little Suamico River. The Chase and Dixie Sawmill provided employment for many, making lumbering a central part of the local economy. By 1870, Nathan's son Jasper and a business partner had taken over running the mill.
The Peshtigo Fire in October 1871 destroyed thousands of acres of timber, ending the local lumber industry—but it also made way for farmland. In 1873, residents founded the town, which was first named St. Nathans and later changed to Chase in 1890, possibly to honor Nathan and his son. Nathan passed away two years after the name change.
Earlier, in 1876, Nathan Chase and his two sons started the large Chase Valley Brickyards, and in 1880 he founded the Chase Valley Glass Works. These new businesses proved useful because both the fire and the Pensuakee tornado of 1877 had decimated the region’s lumber trade by the 1880s.
During the 1890s and early 1900s, J.J. Hof Land Company bought much of the now-cleared land and sold plots to European immigrants, mainly Polish settlers, encouraging them to farm in the Chase area—particularly in Pulaski, five miles south of Chase.
Daniel Krause, Sr., one of the early settlers who arrived from Germany in 1867, established a farm in 1870, exemplifying the effectiveness of Lincoln’s Homestead Act of 1862. He subsequently sold the farm to his son, Daniel Krause, Jr., six years later. Daniel Jr. managed the property, married, and raised nine children. The family diversified their enterprises, engaging in farming, maple syrup production, operating a sawmill, and managing a farm implement business. By 1903, their diligence resulted in sufficient prosperity to construct a substantial stone barn, presumably replacing an earlier wooden structure. Daniel Krause, Sr. passed away two years thereafter.
The date stone on the barn bears the inscription: 1903 D.E. Krause architect Wm Mensenkamp mason. Notably, Krause acknowledged the mason’s contribution, an uncommon practice as master stonemasons were rarely credited. William Mesenkamp’s craftsmanship stands out as exemplary.
Krause’s barn, with its simple rectangular shape and gable roof, was likely designed collaboratively by Krause, his son, and stonemason Mensenkamp rather than an architect. The 100 x 60-foot structure features two-foot-thick walls built from colorful local stones like granite and quartz, set with expert-cut fieldstone quoins at the corners. Keystone limestone lintels span the arched doors, while brick arches outline numerous windows. Inside, a half-stone wall divides the threshing area and stable, facilitating feed delivery through wooden-hinged doors, and hay is moved via a pulley and track system. Hand-hewn rafters rest on stone walls and central queen posts. The threshing section houses a cement ring, possibly for a cistern. A water pump, connected by underground pipe to a nearby well, served the barn, and around 1910, a 50-foot cement silo was added.
The Krause family may have selected stone as the primary material for their barn due to financial capability and their decision to breed shorthorn cattle. Given Wisconsin’s harsh winters, it is likely they prioritized high-quality facilities for their livestock. The family also owned dairy cows, consistent with the regional trend of transitioning from wheat to dairy farming in the late 1800s. With nine children, Daniel Krause may have regarded the stone barn as a long-term investment for his family's future.
In 1920, possibly influenced by declining farm prices following World War I, Daniel Krause sold the property only 17 years after constructing the barn. Between 1920 and 1954, the farm changed ownership eleven times, including during a sheriff’s sale in the Great Depression, which was a frequent occurrence at the time. Multiple transfers of ownership typically contribute to the deterioration of agricultural structures, and the Krause farm was no exception.
In 1954, brothers Casey and Stanly Frysh bought the stone barn and maintained it for 50 years. During the early 1900s, the north wall started to tilt, causing foundation cracks, and a tornado later damaged the roof. The Frysh brothers hired Orvil Krueger to reinforce the structure with concrete and steel beams. In 2000, the Pulaski Area Historical Society helped list the barn on the National Register.
Following the passing of the original owners, ownership of the stone barn transferred to their niece, who, not wishing to pursue agriculture, sold the property to a developer. Upon becoming aware of the community’s strong connection to the barn, the developer subsequently sold it to the town in 2007. The town undertook restorative efforts, converting the barn into an event center, educational museum, and city park—an endeavor that required significant investment. It was soon discovered that repairs made in 1995 were inadequate, resulting in continued moisture infiltration and deterioration.
Recognizing the barn’s historical significance, the National Trust for Historic Preservation featured it in its 2009 Midwest Office Annual Report. A matching grant challenge from the Jeffris Family Foundation contributed vital support to fundraising efforts, enabling the Chase Stone Barn Preservation Project to reach its target after three years.
Future plans include transforming the barn’s stable area into a rustic agricultural museum, which will exhibit antique farm equipment, illustrate the lives of early settlers, and highlight the geologic history of the fieldstones.

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64 N Culver Street
Logan, OH
43138

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