Governor Cox

While investigating collections to see if they contain material about the 1913 flood, I came across a file in the James M. Cox collection containing a bill from the 1915 Ohio General Assembly, that sought “An act to make building and loan associations organized under the laws of the state of Ohio and located in those portions of the state of Ohio affected by the floods of 1913, depositories of state funds for a period not to exceed two years.” Cox thought this was important to help repair the homes and to clean up property to ensure public safety.

So I started looking through more folders, and I found a letter signed by HRM, where he nominated two men from the Dayton area to honor for their bravery during the flood. One man named Thomas Green was a wire chief for the Dayton area and had acquired boats from Zanesville to aid in the rescue of hundreds of people.   

In other folders, there were Western Union telegraphs to Cox about fund raising for flood prevention. The goal was to raise $2 million dollars, which they met and exceeded. According to the inflation calculator, in 2011 that would be equal to $44 million dollars. There are more telegraphs and letters urging the governor to continue his efforts in trying to pass the conservancy district, not to wane in his conviction.

Interestingly, included in one of the folders was one person’s account of the flood. The detailed the noise of the rushing water and how cold the water was. He discussed that there were five people in the house with him, a woman, two boys, and two men. With water rising, they rushed to move what furniture they could to the second floor of their farmhouse. They were rescued from their home by boat when the water level had risen halfway through the second floor

house tours

     The Colleton County Historical and Preservation Society holds a Plantation Tour in October to showcase some of the plantations in Colleton County.  They never visit the same plantation when people come, each year visitors go to different places.  The Society provides lunch since the event takes place on a Sunday after church.  The visitors can buy their tickets in advance or at the first Plantation on the list.

lunch at Beech Hill Plantation

     Some of the Plantations will have people portraying a living history, but this actors normally do not talk to you while in character, they just keep doing what they are doing.  At every site they are people to director on where to park and docents to tell you about the house or shed you are looking at.  These places are always beautiful and well kept.  Sometimes people ask if they can go into the houses, most of the time the answer is no because the owners will not allow it.

     One of the professors at Salkehatchie is a member of the Society and she gets some the students to help at the event each year.  Mostly by saying they will get extra credit for her, some because they want to.  I helped one year, because I wanted to, and I went to two locations that day and helped her collect things afterwards.  At the first location the professor was nice enough to bring us some lunch while we were sitting there directing traffic.  We were also being eaten by bugs and no one could find us some bug spray for the longest time.  At the second location the bugs were worse because we were by water, and we were still directing people where to park and marking on booklets they visited the site.

     At the end of the day when we helped take things down we saw some alligators at one of the Plantations.  We were told that they stayed by the rice gates all day.  It was a fun experience for me, and hopefully I will be able to go back on the Plantation tour and help again.  Tours like this help to show how the upper class lived in the early days of America. 

Alligator by the Rice Gate

King of the Cracker Cowboys

            I thought I would share something from my family history, which I had long ago forgotten, and was reminded when my mom moved and uncovered newspaper clippings.

            The story begins with a character named Bone Mizell, real name, Bonaparte (his father admired Napoleon) a drunk and a cattle thief, who was so well known in those parts, he received the nickname of “King of the Cracker Cowboys.” He was arrested several times for altering brands on cattle, trying to show ownership. He was also a prankster and a frequent visitor of bordellos. It was said since he never owned a home, that if he slept in a bed for the night, it was at a bordello. A song was also written about him called the “Ballad of Bone Mizell.” Frederic Remington traveled to Florida to paint Bone’s portrait for Harpers in 1895.

            Some of the stories about Bone are entertaining, like “One night after Bone had passed out, a group of cowboys carried his inert form to a graveyard in Arcadia. They placed him on top of a grave. When he awakened groggily, he looked around and was heard to say: 'Well, by God! Here it is Judgment Day and I'm the first one up.'”

            His death certificate stated, 'Moonshine-went to sleep and did not wake up.' After his death, they erected a national historical marker in Desoto, Florida. I visited once as a child, I only remember it was next to a red train engine.  

          

            There is even a book written about his escapades by Jim Bob Tinsley named, “Florida Cow Hunter: The Life and Times of Bone Mizell.” I found this entertaining, so I hope you did also.

Rollercoaster capital

While digging around the archive for our storytelling class, I stumbled across the story of Aurel Vaszin, a Romanian immigrant that founded the National Amusement Device Company here in Dayton. Vaszin left Romania at the age of 19 without making it past the sixth grade. He was hired by a New Haven, Connecticut amusement park company as a carpenter. When the Lakeside Amusement Park in Dayton was being built, Vaszin’s company sent him out there to help the engineer. After the job was complete, he headed back to Connecticut and continued to work and save his money. In 1919, Vaszin had $2,500 in savings and decided to move to Dayton, where he founded the National Amusement Device Company.

            Most of the rollercoasters that Vaszin built were wooden, but his company also designed miniature trains that were destined for the Cincinnati Zoo and Busch Gardens. By 1945, it was estimated that National Amusement Device Company had built 75 percent of the rollercoasters in the United States. Later in 1964, Vaszin built the world’s largest rollercoaster in Mexico City named Russian Mountain for $600,000. The rollercoaster is still in use today, but it is no longer the world’s largest.

Russian Mountain

From Lincoln Park, MA.

            In 1973, Vaszin sold the company and it was renamed International Amusement Device Co.  There is a website dedicated to rollercoasters from around the world, and there is an entry for National Amusement Device Co. and it describes if the rollercoaster is still in operation. Many of the kid’s rollercoasters are still in service, like the Comet Jr. in Glen Echo Park, Maryland.

Below is the link to the rollercoaster website:

http://rcdb.com/r.htm?ot=2&co=6867