In 1959 my father was transferred to Fremont Ohio. I attended Rutherford B Hayes Elementary School from first to fourth grade. A block from my home was the Hayes home and burial site. For four years i was able to visit RBH museum weekly, that sparked my interest in the Civil War and history in general. From a uniform the Hayes had been wounded in to a collection civil war weapons and artifacts i was hooked. Fremont was known for Fort Stevens in the war of 1812. The town library was built on the fort site and contained artifacts from the 1814 battle there, including the cannon that defended the fort.
To my grandpa George Dick who as a 16th BDay present gave me a 10 day visit to the eastern battlefields…I selected the fields & conducted most of the tours while he drove & made the motel reservations as I taught him about the war…my first visits from Wisconsin…an incredible experience & bonding during the Centennial!
If you are asking who, then I must say my late father and Bruce Catton. I live in England and saved my pennies to buy The Penguin Book of The American Civil War in the midmid sixties and had been published in America by American Heritage. My father seemed to know so much and encouraged me to find out more. If you asked what then I have to say having toy soldiers with grey uniforms as well as those with blue. Finally I cannot forget collecting the complete set of Civil War News bubble gum cards. My mother disapproved but I still managed to be the first person at school to have a complete set and still have them as well as a large book collection. I have a very patient wife!
My parents for the World Book Encyclopedia set they purchased for myself and my siblings when I was very young. It was in those pages that I first became aware of events and eras like those of America’s colonial period and the Civil War. They also provided me the means to investigate and research many things I was seeing on TV and in movies, like when “Cowboys and Indians” were going at it.
As far as any actual historical figures who made an impact on me, I have to say the first and still most enduring and endearing one for me is Nathaniel Green.
My parents who encouraged a 7 year old by taking me to Gettysburg; my wife who tolerates me researching, writing and traveling; and Gary Gallagher who taught me to do things right on my Master’s Thesis.
My paternal grabdfather whio died 20 years before I was born. He was eight years old at the Civil War’s beginning. He was a schoolteacher in a one room schoolhouse in the late 19th century. He stored his library in the attic of the farmhouse that my faterh purchased from him. When I came down with a communicable disease, I was quarantined at home for a month while in elementary school. As I got better, I became very bored and decided to explore the house and eventually found my way to the attic where I discovered his library. It included textbooks for the students he taught in a one- room schoolhouse, that were filled with the adventures of the soldiers in the most recent war that had been fought when he was teaching. I was hooked! Since we lived less than an hour from the Gettysburg battlefield, my first trip there after reading about it in a style meant for elementary school students, I couldn’t help myself. I still can’t.
I am most thankful for having made friends with Horace Mewborn, a neighbor who showed me real history. Also for having met and listened to Ed Bears.
My good friend, The Ear Doc. We did the entire 1862 Valley Campaign, finding a Jackson HQ.
In 1959 my father was transferred to Fremont Ohio. I attended Rutherford B Hayes Elementary School from first to fourth grade. A block from my home was the Hayes home and burial site. For four years i was able to visit RBH museum weekly, that sparked my interest in the Civil War and history in general. From a uniform the Hayes had been wounded in to a collection civil war weapons and artifacts i was hooked. Fremont was known for Fort Stevens in the war of 1812. The town library was built on the fort site and contained artifacts from the 1814 battle there, including the cannon that defended the fort.
Ed Bearss and Jack Davis
E. Julio for his painting of the last meeting of Lee and Jackson and of course Bruce Catton.
To my grandpa George Dick who as a 16th BDay present gave me a 10 day visit to the eastern battlefields…I selected the fields & conducted most of the tours while he drove & made the motel reservations as I taught him about the war…my first visits from Wisconsin…an incredible experience & bonding during the Centennial!
My dad, who taught me about the joy of reading.
If you are asking who, then I must say my late father and Bruce Catton. I live in England and saved my pennies to buy The Penguin Book of The American Civil War in the midmid sixties and had been published in America by American Heritage. My father seemed to know so much and encouraged me to find out more. If you asked what then I have to say having toy soldiers with grey uniforms as well as those with blue. Finally I cannot forget collecting the complete set of Civil War News bubble gum cards. My mother disapproved but I still managed to be the first person at school to have a complete set and still have them as well as a large book collection. I have a very patient wife!
My parents for the World Book Encyclopedia set they purchased for myself and my siblings when I was very young. It was in those pages that I first became aware of events and eras like those of America’s colonial period and the Civil War. They also provided me the means to investigate and research many things I was seeing on TV and in movies, like when “Cowboys and Indians” were going at it.
As far as any actual historical figures who made an impact on me, I have to say the first and still most enduring and endearing one for me is Nathaniel Green.
I’m thankful for archivists and librarians who have shown me how to access history resources.
My parents who encouraged a 7 year old by taking me to Gettysburg; my wife who tolerates me researching, writing and traveling; and Gary Gallagher who taught me to do things right on my Master’s Thesis.
My paternal grabdfather whio died 20 years before I was born. He was eight years old at the Civil War’s beginning. He was a schoolteacher in a one room schoolhouse in the late 19th century. He stored his library in the attic of the farmhouse that my faterh purchased from him. When I came down with a communicable disease, I was quarantined at home for a month while in elementary school. As I got better, I became very bored and decided to explore the house and eventually found my way to the attic where I discovered his library. It included textbooks for the students he taught in a one- room schoolhouse, that were filled with the adventures of the soldiers in the most recent war that had been fought when he was teaching. I was hooked! Since we lived less than an hour from the Gettysburg battlefield, my first trip there after reading about it in a style meant for elementary school students, I couldn’t help myself. I still can’t.