June 1857 Hocking County Ohio Adventure
June 11-17,2006
Sept. 1856 -- Putnam's Magazine Sept. 1856 issue. "Going to Mount Katahdin."
Below is a description of the part of the trip which will occur just before the event begins, when the participants would leave the Dayton area to travel to the start of the actual camping trip just west of Gibisonville, Hocking Co., Ohio.
We'd begin the trip at the Dayton station of The Little Miami, Columbus & Xenia Railroad. "On this road, four passenger trains are in daily operation." (p. 314 Lloyd's Steamboat Directory by James T. Lloyd, 1856)
The route of the railroad is pictured here in 1864http://www.railsandtrails.com/Maps/Johnson1864Ohio/Ohio1864-200-sw.jpg
We'd travel from Dayton through Xenia and London to Columbus. Here's a description of the trip from Xenia to Columbus, in three parts, with illustrations, from the Ohio Railroad Guide Illustrated, 1854:
At Columbus, we'd take the stage to Logan, by way of Lancaster.
A photo of a restored stage coach, built in 1850: http://www.over-land.com/ccsandwich.html
A photo of an unrestored 1870 stage coach currently located in Dayton, Ohio: http://theconcordcoach.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/carilon.jpg
There was one stage running per day to Lancaster, and two daily from Lancaster to Logan, according to the 1883 History of the Hocking Valley. The stage was operated by Col. F. F. Rempel of Logan. “In 1855 he established a line of stage coaches in the Hocking valley, and conducted this enterprise with great profit until 1868. The line eventually became one of the most extensive in the State, and, through careful and efficient management, constantly enjoyed the fullest patronage of the public. Being under the direct superintendency of John Borland, Esq., a veteran stage-route manager, and agent formerly of the Ohio Stage Company, in the selection of employees Colonel Rempel exhibited good judgment, as they principally remained in said employment, with him, until the completion of the Hocking Valley Railroad dismissed the enterprise. During the thirteen years of its existence, although its stages traversed about two hundred miles per diem, its record was not marred by a single accident.” (The Biographical Enyclopedia of Ohio of the Nineteenth Century, 1876, p. 568)
We'd stay overnight at a hotel in Logan. Here's a drawing of downtown Logan, from Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio, 1851 edition. "The view, taken near the American hotel, shows in the center the court house, an expensive and substantial structure, and on the extreme right, the printing office."
From Logan, we'd hire a private individual to take us just west of Gibisonville, where we’d begin the journey on foot. In Gibisonville, we’d get the last provisions before the start of the trip at the Gibisonville store, started in 1853. Below is a photo of the original building as it appears in 2005:
Here’s another modern photo of the building:http://www.greenappleslingshot.com/gallery/america/gibisonville
During the camping trip itself, we might stop to get supplies from a farmhouse like the following, the Christian Eby homestead located along Queer Creek a mile west of S. Bloomingville in Hocking Co.
The picture above appears on a Hocking Genealogy page at http://www.geocities.com/lonadawn1/hocking_genealogy.htm
For some ideas about early Dayton, for the development of your character, I strongly recommend Dayton History Books.com (Free Site!)
