Historical Society
Grants Help FAHS Save on Utilities, Make Repairs
Thanks to three grants, the Franklin Area Historical Society hopes to save a considerable amount of money on the heating bills at its Harding Museum this winter and also make some long overdue on the building.
The grants, totaling more than $5,000, came from the Middletown Community Foundation, the Duke Energy Foundation and Franklin Wal-Mart store.
Dan Darragh, president of the historical society, said the money will be used to purchase storm windows for the museum, along with weather-stripping and some insulation. Another portion will be used to repair the columns and soffit on the front and side porches.
The museum, located at 302 Park Ave. in the city's historic district, was built in 1901 by the parents of Maj. Gen. E. Forrest Harding. The general and his family called the house its home during his career and they lived there after retiring from the Army in 1946. He left the house to the society to be used as a museum.
“It's a beautiful home, but back then, people didn't worry as much about heating bills as they do now,” said Darragh. “An upstairs bedroom is the only room in the house with storm windows, and there are 44 windows in the building. Because many of the items in the building can be damaged by temperature and humidity extremes, we have to control the climate even when the building is not open.”
“The utility bill for the museum is our largest expense each year and accounts for more than 25 percent of our budget,” he added.
The grants were for $2,838 from the Middletown Foundation, $1,500 from the Duke Foundation and $1,025 from Wal-Mart. Part of the Wal-Mart grant was used to support and market the society's recent historical walks at Woodhill Cemetery.
A Franklin company, Triple C Glass has already begun installing the storm windows.
Gorsuch Honored by State Historical Society
FRANKLIN -- Former Franklin resident Geoff Gorsuch was honored by a state historical organization at its annual meeting in October.
The Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museum has selected Gorsuch for its Individual Achievement Award.
Gorsuch was nominated by the Franklin Area Historical Society in July. See the article below.
An employee of the U.S. Department of Energy, Gorsuch was transferred to upstate New York several years ago but has kept in touch with the Historical Society and recently presented it a copy of “Franklin Township (of Warren County, Ohio in the American Civil War.”
The work, which involves research done over 10 years, encompasses five volumes and includes not only text but photos, maps, charts and graphs.
In addition to his most recent effort, through the historical society, he published self-guided walking tour books of historic downtown Franklin, the Mackinaw Historic District, Woodhill Cemetery and a driving tour of Franklin Township. Another book, “Images of America, Franklin,” is 128 pages of historic pictures and explanations.
Not only did he write, he served as an officer in several capacities of the historical society and purchased and restored one of the oldest homes in the city during the 10 years he lived in Franklin.
Historian Writes Book About Franklin Residents Who Served in the Civil War
FRANKLIN -- Ask Geoff Gorsuch a question and you might have to wait awhile for an answer. But when he comes up with it ... well, you can be certain it will be – shall we say – thorough. Just ask Harriet Foley, a longtime Franklin historian and co-author and editor of the local history book “Franklin in the Great Miami Valley.”
“In 2000,” says Gorsuch in the preface to “Franklin Township (of Warren County, Ohio) in the American Civil War,” Harriet ... asked me whether I knew who had served in Franklin's company of the 90-Day First Ohio Infantry, which in July 1861 was present at the First Battle of Bull Run. I did not know the answer, but Harriet's question stimulated me to see whether I could find it for her.”
His answer: the above-mentioned book.
Or should we say “books.” This is no 10-page pamphlet listing of names. “Franklin Township in the American Civil War” is five volumes and includes not only text but photos, maps, charts and graphs.
Gorsuch was in town recently and presented a copy to the Franklin Area Historical Society and the Franklin Public Library.
As a result, and also in recognition of his other contributions to local history, the organization has nominated him for the 2009 Ohio Association of Historical Society Museums Achievement Award.
Gorsuch doesn't even in live in Franklin anymore. An employee of the U.S. Department of Energy he was transferred to upstate New York more than two years ago. But that didn't deter him from answering Foley's question.
He explained that he was able to locate the roster of the men of the company in the “Official Roster of Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion.” However, five other companies in four other infantry regiments were raised in the township during the war and he resolved to use the same method to obtain the rosters of the other companies recruited in Franklin.
“This collection of information is the product of a 10-year journey that has taken me well beyond Southwest Ohio,” said Gorsuch. “It has led me to make six visits to the National Archives in Washington, D.C., where I searched service records of the individual soldiers, and compelled me to visit the battlefields of the Franklin men as well as the prisons where they languished in captivity.”
The first volume sets the stage by describing Franklin on the eve of the war. It is followed by a narrative of the various campaigns in which the Franklin soldiers were involved; stories about some of the individuals; what they did after the war and where they were buried. Every soldier who enlisted in Franklin is mentioned.
Volume II is maps showing movements and positions in battle of the units, including Franklin men. Volume III is Civil War illustrations. Volume IV includes the battlefields and other Franklin soldier sites today.
The final volume is made up of articles about the weapons the men carried, the uniforms they wore, the flags they carried and how Memorial Day was observed in old Franklin.
Although he lived in Franklin only about 10 years, Gorsuch left an indelible mark on local history. In addition to his most recent effort, through the historical society he published self-guided walking tour books of historic downtown Franklin, the Mackinaw Historic District, Woodhill Cemetery and a driving tour of Franklin Township. Another book, “Images of America, Franklin,” is 128 pages of historic pictures and explanations.
Not only did he write, he served as an officer in several capacities of the historical society and purchased and restored one of the oldest homes in the city.
Log Post Office Becomes Living Lab for Area Students
Franklin elementary students will soon be learning about history by living it. And it won't involve a costly field trip to some far-away historical attraction.
Thanks to a $3,009 grant from the Middletown Community Foundation, the 1803 Log Post Office on River Street will become a “living historical lab” where Franklin third- and fourth-graders can “immerse themselves into activities as Franklin's early settlers did,” according to Patty Frazee, co-adviser to the Junior Historical Society along with Mary Nenninger.
The recently restored Log Post Office is owned by the Franklin Area Historical Society but several years ago, the “Juniors” were given responsibility for its upkeep.
The money will be used to purchase period clothing for students and their teachers to wear during their visit to the building, according to Frazee. Quill pens, inkwells, powdered ink, letter-sealing sets, beeswax candles and tin candle pans are also on the shopping list, along with slates and pencils, games like children played nearly two centuries ago and cardboard dulcimers so they can get a taste of how the pioneer families entertained themselves with music.
“The restoration and maintenance of the Log Post Office of Franklin has been a labor of love for three successive groups of Franklin Area Junior Historical Society members,” Frazee said. “As each successive group reached graduation they turned the project over to their younger peers. It was through this work on the site that the Juniors realized what a unique historical learning experience this afforded them and that this should be shared with all Franklin City Schools children.”
She said the program is a natural outgrowth of the club's motto: “Kids preparing for the future by learning our past.”
The school district is collaborating in the effort and has formed a committee to formulate lesson plans in accordance with the Ohio Content Standards for History. Besides the items in the Log Post Office, the program also has at its disposal the archives and collections of the Harding Museum, operated by the historical society.
“Role-playing and the ability to see and to touch period reproductions allows the student a point of reference to retain historical facts,” Frazee said.
Frazee and her family are Franklin natives with a deep interest in local history. They take care of and staff one of the historical cabins at Caesar's Creek Pioneer Village east of Waynesville during the year. Frazee's sister-in-law, Mary Terrill, is a long-time Franklin elementary teacher. She is on on the liaison committee with the schools and will help develop the lesson plans.
The $120,000 restoration of the Log Post Office was completed several years ago, thanks to an Ohio Community Development Block Grant and grants from the Ohio Humanities Council, Duke Energy, the city of Franklin and Franklin Township, along with individual and business donations.
Since opening for special events in 2003, the site has played host to about 4,000 visitors.
Patty Frazee, left, and Mary Terrill in period clothing show how early Franklin residents would bring a letter to the post office to be sent on to friends or relatives.
Wooster College Geology Professor Dates Log Post Office
Below Bruce Stewart of Architectural Reclamation, holds one of the wood samples from the Log Post Office that the Wooster Group studied.
