Product Description
Murder In Sylvania is a true history about a grisly murder that happened in a small, quiet community in northwestern Ohio back in 1857. Everything contained in this book was prepared from documents that existed at the time of the murder, and the actual names of people and places are used throughout. The reader will learn about all the gory details of this murder, confessions to other murders, the sentencing and the hanging of a man whose childhood set the stage for this hardened criminal. The murder, committed by Return Jonathan Meigs Ward, was the first case of capital execution in Lucas County, Ohio, and this brutal murder was the last of a series of slayings committed by this first presumed serial killer in the state of Ohio. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Death does not make men honest...
Return Jonathan Meigs Ward had killed before. Having gone undetected the first time, the temptation to do so again was irresistible. "I was myself surprised that a life could be taken with so little disturbance," Ward confessed.

However, in 1857, when he murdered his wife Olive in their small home in downtown Sylvania, it became quite clear to him that covering up this crime would not come so easy. He busied himself with destroying any sign of her and came up with a story that he ultimately could not keep straight. While he butchered her up and burned pieces of her in his stove, residents became suspicious.

Author Gaye E. Gindy spent many hours transcribing old documents and newspapers to bring the story of Ward's life and Olive's grisly murder to light. Olive was clearly a victim of domestic violence. She put her children under the care of others because of Ward's ill-will towards them and having left Ward, she confided in friends and family that Ward was surely going to kill her if she returned. Indeed, upon hearing that she would return for her trunk and clothing, Ward confessed that he fully resolved that Olive would never leave his house alive.

Murder in Sylvania, Ohio: As Told in 1857, is a true account of this murder, committed by Return Jonathan Meigs Ward. It chronicles how a small community in Northwest Ohio brought justice to a man the Toledo Blade believed to be "one of the most hardened criminals that ever stretched hemp." ... Read more

Product Description
The premier reference work on the Ohio Valley, this bears reference to upwards of50,000 pioneers, most of them Pennsylvanians and Revolutionary War bounty holders whoventured into this region of eastern Ohio during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Thesecond and third parts of the work contain extensive alphabetical lists of the county's land,marriage, burial, and will records and detailed genealogies of the first settlers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Historical Collections of Harrison County, in the State of Ohio

Excellent source of information, very helpful in Genealogy research. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

A nice gift for Buckeye State natives
The short story is that this is a book about the official residence (Bexley, Ohio) of the Ohio governors' families during these chief executives' respective terms in office. Some lived here for only a brief period, (such as Democrat John Gilligan whose second term was snatched away in an 11th-hour electoral rally for his popular Jackson County opponent, Jim Rhodes), while others managed to grab notably more benefit from this great old mansion (like the venerable Rhodes who was governor of Ohio for a total of 16 years, not contiguously, but he only occupied the residence during his first two terms.)

It's chiefly a picture-book (most color photographs are by Ian Adams, an Ohio eco-photographer), a coffee table book in many ways (except that it was, sadly, published in softcover by the Ohio University Press), which includes mini-biographies of the various governors' families, detailed botanical information in regard to the property's heritage garden punctuated by some nice art illustrations (by Dianna McElwain) of some of the more showy plants which are found there.

I have slightly known four of these governors personally (Jim Rhodes, Dick Celeste, George Voinovich, and Ted Strickland, the latter being the most recent chief executive and a native of my own south-central home county of Scioto), partly stemming from the fact that I was a career state employee (Jack Gilligan actually hired me in 1973 but I never met him), but chiefly because I had taken up journalism as a part-time endeavor.

Dick and Dagmar Celeste in particular enjoyed hosting medium-sized gatherings of 50-75 guests (he and Dagmar divorced subsequent to his governorship), often for minor press minions like myself, so I was at the residence a couple of times. I always noted that certain key Ohio businessmen, such as the famous southeastern Ohio hog farmer and restaurateur, Bob Evans, seemed ever-present on such occasions. A side note, Celeste once got himself into a ridiculous political media-snafu as a consequence of one of these parties when he served delightful-tasting ice cold Coor's beer to his attendees (one of whom was I, and one of the handful of non-whiners), a non-union-made beverage! And I always laughed as Dagmar repeatedly grumbled that some of her guests stole the washcloths and towels from the bathroom, all of which bore the governor's (Ohio) insignia. In the end, the governor's residence is a very impressive property.

One of the book's contributors, Guy Denny, is a former environmental state executive who manifested superb leadership in that role as well as being a hands-on naturalist of the First Water and of considerable renown. He has probably forgotten more about Ohio flora and fauna than most of his peers will ever know. Guy's 12-page contribution (Appendix I) is entitled "Ohio's Botanical Heritage" and is more of a general commentary on Ohio's natural heritage... in other words, "filler." Still, his text and photos are quite informative even if the link to the Governor's Residence is somewhat tenuous. Dianne McElwain also published a section focusing upon the residence's Jacobethian architecture.

There's practically no juicy political scandal discussed in the book (e.g., discussion of the Jim Rhodes Kent State Shootings, Celeste's controversial pardons, or the George Voinovich fiasco of the 1993 Easter Sunday prison siege at Lucasville) -- this work is strictly an upbeat public relations spin, all fluff and joy. But this is much what we would expect to encounter in such a document so I'm not overly-critical of the work on that front.

If you're wondering at this point about my own assessment of these politicos, I can simply assert that I liked Dick Celeste, on a personal level, the best -- he was a really nice guy and he fostered an overt and engaging passion for meeting regular, everyday people. Ted Strickland has clearly shown the least competence for the office (although he's only been in the driver's seat for a short time so he still has an opportunity to turn things around -- we'll have to wait and see), and Bob Taft was by far the most destructive governor ever. Jim Rhodes practically had to be led by the hand during his final days. Fortunately, the power of these executives has been typically curtailed by the state's legislature when they have gotten too far afield with their hare-brained schemes, expected quirks not limited to any one of them. Celeste and Strickland are both Democrats and Taft is a Republican. The late Jim Rhodes was also a Republican. I cannot judiciously pinpoint who our "best" governor was but we've been fairly lucky here in Ohio that none of our governors in recent years has been overtly crooked or corrupt. (I'm a registered Republican but I always vote against all incumbents, regardless of their party affiliation, as a matter of good conscience *.*)

Getting back to the book, it's 132 pages in length, profusely illustrated (mostly in color), and the outer dimensions are 8" x 10". I can recommend this book to political historians, students of architecture, and residents of The Buckeye State.
... Read more

Product Description
This work consists of all of the cemetery record articles published in The "OldNorthwest" Genealogical Quarterly between 1898 and 1912. It consists primarily of tombstoneinscriptions from cemeteries in the following counties: Trumbull, Geauga, Portage, Lorain,Guernsey, Knox, Licking, Delaware, Franklin (including the city of Columbus), Madison,Fairfield, Pickaway, Athens, Vinton, Ross, and Jackson. There also are some burial records andinscriptions from cemeteries in East Haddam, Conn., and Rutland, Mass., which were importantdeparture points for migrations into the "Old Northwest."Many of the recorded inscriptions identify not only the age and death date of the deceased, butthe names of his parents, spouse, or children. Provided for this work is a full-name index ofnearly 20,000 persons identified in the records. ... Read more

Product Description
Abstracts names, dates, relationships, property and relationships for the period. 2000, 6x9, maps, index, paper, 332 pp.

Q0585 - 1980WB
... Read more

Product Description
Prior to the Civil War nearly one-third of all native-born Kentuckians lived outsideof the state, many in Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, and Illinois. This work is designed to helpgenealogists seeking ancestors from Ohio or Indiana who were originally from Kentucky. Notusing conventional record sources, it draws its information from published county histories andcounty atlases, works containing the type of information helpful to the genealogist.Arranged in tabular format under the county of origin, entries include some or all of thefollowing data: the name of the Kentucky migrant, his birth date, the parents' names and theirdates and places of birth (if known), and the date of migration. The name index has references tomore than 10,000 persons. ... Read more

Product Description
For this major work, gravestone readings were recorded for all known burial sites in Springfield Township except for Arlington and Landmark Memorial Gardens. The burials in Beech Grove Cemetery are mostly of Afro-Americans and this is the first time these ... Read more

Product Description
This book was originally published in 1995. It contains biographical and genealogical information on the ancestors and descendants of Baltzer and Mary (Buss) Young, early settlers in Columbiana County, Ohio ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

All trees, no forest.
[Note: If you are an old-time upper middle class Columbus resident with little interest in the how's and why's, this is the book for you. Go Buckeyes and all that.]

Columbus, Ohio.

Behind the mask, it is an amazing city. A thriving town with stunning sprawl and clever consumer oriented design, and a surprising diversity as tens of thousands of new Somali and Mexican immigrants pour into this post-modern Oz. The thriving gay culture; the rule of yuppie; the sickening Appalachian slums; the movie-set consumer cities of Polaris, Easton and New Albany; the subsumption of small satellite towns; the sharp racial lines; the real estate bonanza and on and on and on . . . all of it hidden from the reader by Hunker's misty sentimentality.

I, too, love Columbus. However, this is a subject in desperate need of serious study, and is in many ways the face of a new majority America wanting for explication. Its' transitions and losses are the hallmark of an economy remaking an entire region in its image, a stark contrast to post-industrial Cleveland or hilly Cincinnati.

Granted, this is a personal geography: a travelogue that misses more than it sees. The thin (in every sense) volume is devastating testament to the need for a critical approach to geography, least it be reduced to a series of lamentations, winking accolades, and the perpetuation of a such limited reading of the rich story embedded in the dynamic urban fabric. The geography of Columbus is waiting to be written.

Henry Hunker's account of post-World War II Columbus
Columbus, Ohio: A Personal Geography is Henry Hunker's account of post-World War II Columbus from his perspective as a professional geographer and longtime resident of this Ohio city. Personal and anecdotal, Columbus, Ohio spans the past fifty years when the city expanded to become the largest municipality in the state. Hunker includes itineraries for two tours (one in 1956, the other in 1999) and uses them to compare the city then and now. The informative and engaging text is enhanced with eighteen photographs, and four maps of the metropolitan area. Columbus, Ohio provides the reader with fascinating and thought-provoking view of the physical, economic, industrial, and cultural life of Columbus. This outstanding presentation could well serve as a template for historical surveys of other significant and influential American communities. ... Read more

Product Description
In the spring of 1894 Reuben Gold Thwaites, historian and State Historical Society of Wisconsin director, accompanied by three family members journeyed nearly 1,100 miles down the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers in a fifteen-foot rowboat. This title documenting Thwaites’s trip features approximately seventy circular black-and-white photographs taken by Thwaites with his #2 Kodak camera and the historian’s descriptions about each image. Also included are the essays "Reuben Gold Thwaites: Clio’s Pilgrim" by Robert L. Reid and "Reuben Gold Thwaites and the Circular Snapshot" by Dan Fuller. ... Read more

Product Description
Ohio has an abundance of sources available for genealogical research. In addition,numerous Ohio records have been published by genealogical and historical organizations, andmany records and indexes are available on microfilm, microfiche, and even compact disc and theInternet. These sources and many others are described in great detail in this new work by notedgenealogical scholar Kip Sperry. Starting with an examination of the holdings of the major Ohioarchives and libraries, the work focuses on the many resources available to the researcher,covering everything from church records to divorce records, from periodicals to probates, andfrom tax records to town records. So thorough is the coverage that it even includes aone-hundred page bibliography of Ohio books and periodicals, the most comprehensive surveyof Ohio printed genealogical sources ever published.In addition, the work contains addresses of repositories that house Ohio historical andgenealogical records and oral histories, both in and out of the state, addresses of chapters of theOhio Genealogical Society, a list of Ohio publishers and book dealers, a list of Family HistoryCenters in Ohio, and, at the rear of the book, a collection of Ohio maps of historical andgenealogical importance. ... Read more