Thursday, January 14, 2021

From Circleville to Chillicothe on the Ohio-Erie Canal

by


 

I wasn’t sure what to think when a friend asked me to join a historical novella collection about the Erie Canal. But this historic achievement soon captured my imagination. I became even more excited when I discovered that the Ohio-Erie Canal connected Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes, to the broad Ohio River.

 

My ancestors settled in Ohio way back in the late 1700s when Virginia gave land to their Revolutionary War veterans instead of paying them in cash. The Virginia Military District, consisting of more than four million acres, was north of the Ohio River between the Little Miami River and the Scioto River. This was before Ohio became the 17th state in 1803. 


Fun Fact: President Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower signed Ohio’s official statehood documents in 1953, retroactive to the March 1, 1803 date. 




 

Getting back to the Ohio-Erie Canal, here are the basics:

·      Date of Construction: 1825 through 1832

·    Length: 308 miles

·    Lift Locks: 146

 

Two towns located along the canal’s route, Circleville and Chillicothe, have connections with my childhood so I chose them as settings for my novella. During my research, I learned fascinating information about both.

 

Circleville

 

My Connection


When I was growing up, my mom and her nine siblings held our annual Christmas get-together at the local high school with a potluck and gift exchange. Multiple cousins and their families still live in the area.

 

The Town's History

 

In 1810, the streets were laid out in a circle on top of a Hopewell Indian mound on the eastern bank of the Scioto River, hence the name of the town. 

 

As time went by, the residents complained about the odd layout. They didn’t like going around in circles or how the circular streets formed irregular lots. 




 In the late 1830s, the Ohio General Assembly created the Circleville Squaring Company which was tasked with changing the streets into a grid layout and to rebuild the curved buildings.

 

The town’s modern-day claim to fame is the popular Circleville Pumpkin Show. It's marketed as the "Greatest Free Show on Earth," and held the third Wednesday through Saturday in October. 




 

Chillicothe

 

My Connection

 

My paternal grandparents lived for a time at the end of a “holler” south of this historic city. I loved visiting my grandparents and often spent a week or two with them during the summers. But I didn’t like driving through Chillicothe to get to their house. The century-old paper mill located there emits a very unpleasant odor. The locals euphemistically call it the smell of money, but I always held my nose!

 

History

 

Chillicothe, first settled in 1796, is also located along the Scioto River. The town has the distinction of serving as Ohio’s first capital (1803-1810) and its third capital (1812-1816). 

 

In the years prior to the Civil War, Chillicothe’s free black community played a vital role maintaining stations along the Underground Railroad. In my story, the heroine and hero help runaway slaves escape the hunters who wanted to take them back across the Ohio River.




For the past thirty-plus years, Chillicothe has hosted the annual Feast of the Flowering Moon Festival, a three-day event celebrating Native American culture, with music, arts and crafts exhibits, and various demonstrations. 

 

The city also hosts the annual Southern Ohio Storytelling Festival. Though the multi-day event only began in 2004, the history of storytelling in the region has a long tradition that includes the Shawnee and Mingo tribes, early settlers, and travelers along the Underground Railroad. All these groups passed stories from one generation to the next.  


My story in the Erie Canal Brides Collection is called "Journey of the Heart" and takes place in 1852. The heroine, Charity Sinclair, secretly writes abolitionist pamphlets while thwarting architect Tavish Dunbar's effort to redesign her father's post office--a hidden stop on the Underground Railroad. When a slave hunter captures a runaway, Charity vows to rescue the fugitive. But can she trust Tavis with her secret...and with her heart?




15 comments:

  1. Fascinating post! Thanks for sharing your connection to these interesting areas.

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    1. Hi, Linda. It's so amazing what you learn about "childhood towns" as an adult. I especially wish I'd known more of Circleville's unique history when I lived closed enough to explore it. So glad to see you here!

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  2. Very interesting! I find it funny that those townspeople in Circleville wanted to "square off" their town! Near where I live at the moment, we have something called a "Flat Iron" building that is triangular in shape, between two streets. It was built in the 1920's and used originally as a school, now converted into senior housing.

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    1. Hi, Connie. Your Flat iron building sounds similar to the Flat Iron building in NYC. I think it's so cool to have a different type of architecture. Thanks for being here!

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  3. We lived in upstate New York for 4 years, and bought a boat. We kept it in a marina on the Hudson river. We spent many a weekend traveling the Erie Canal system. I absolutely loved the small villages along its banks. My mind always took me back to what it might have been like "back then." Thanks for a fun article, Johnnie.

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  4. Ane, is that you??? It's so good to connect with you again. Seems like it's been ages. Boating along the canal sounds like such fun. I'd love to do that. Great to hear from you!

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  5. Coming from Ohio, I was excited to see this post! I love the map you have and all the different sections. Good to see you again, my friend.

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    1. You can take the girl out of Ohio, but you can't take Ohio out of the girl!!! I clicked on your "handle" but it didn't show me your name. Please let me know. :)

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  6. Thank you for sharing this interesting post today. I would love to read this book. I love books with multiple authors. quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

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    1. Hi, Lori. All these stories are terrific. Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  7. Hello Johnnie Thank you for sharing this as I am from Ohio I Love reading post like this!

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    1. Hi, Sarah! It's always fun to talk to a fellow Buckeye!!!

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  8. Two of my daughters live in Ohio. One lives near Sugarcreek and the other in Norwalk. I've also visited other areas in Ohio and enjoyed the history of the area. Thanks for sharing the map and info. Very interesting.
    Julie

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    1. Hi, Julie. I know where Sugarcreek is, but I'm not familiar with Norwalk. Is it in the northeastern corner of the state? Always fun to talk with you!

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  9. this is a very interesting post. thanks for sharing. I would love to read this book. I love books based on history quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

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