No General meeting for the month of August is planned. 

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General Robert L. Eichelberger Marker

     A Marker Dedication Ceremony will be held Saturday, August 27, 2005 at 11:00 am. The marker will be placed at 907 Scioto Street ( Mr. & Mrs. Hollingshead's home ), to honor the memory of General Eichelberger for his services to the United States Government during WW II.

Curator, C.R. Virts

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                                                    Recent Acquisitions

      Jim Dorsey has given the museum a campaign button for Brand Whitlock when Whitlock was running for mayor in Toledo. Jim also donated a glass jar full of clay marbles: a circa 1900 Rex Riveter: and a large metal shovel hanger.

      Kenneth Cox donated a historical map of the Panama Canal: a list of Japanese regulations for prisoners during World War II: and two photographs of Nagasaki after the atomic bomb fell.

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Nearly every Wednesday evening a group of Historical Society members gather at the museum to work on exhibits. Rocky Teets, one of the major participants, has compiled the following list showing areas in which the group has been active.

1. Workers have covered the windows of the Victorian living room area to protect the artificts from ultra violet rays.

2. We have revamped the structure of the gravestone of Harmon Limm who was appointed the Marshal of North Lewisburg on July 24th, 1860.

3. We are in the process of installing a new computer program which will allow our administrative workers to provide us with better service.

4. A new display of police uniforms is being developed for placement in our municipal government area.

5. WE have installed roller casters on the upper level display cases.

6. DP & L has cut trees on the south end of the building.

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                                                      Historical Tidbits

                                                   Warren S. Cushman
                                                      By Barbara E. Sour

                                        
                                           Please click on photos above to enlarge.

     These portraits of Edward and Hannah Gaumer are part of the art collection at the Champaign County Historical Museum. They hang above a desk that once was used in their carriage factory. The factory, Gaumer Carriage Factory, initially was located at 198 East Court Street and later was moved into a three - story structure at 310 - 318 West Court Street in Urbana, Ohio. The business was discontinued in 1917.

     The two oils were painted in 1884 by Champaign County native, Warren S. Cushman. Cushman, a small and somewhat eccentric gentleman, was born in Woodstock, Ohio in 1845 and became a noted photographer, sculptor and painter. At various times he maintained studios in Urbana, Bellefontaine, Springfield, and Dayton as well as in Washington D.C.

                                                      
                                                         Warren S. Cushman
                                        ( Please click on photo above to enlarge )

       In 1875 - 1876, while studying at the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington D.C., he completed a portrait of President Hayes that today hangs in the Capitol.

        On 1883, Cushman was commissioned to paint and frame a 3 foot by 5 foot painting of Ava Devore, only child of doting parents near Mingo, Ohio. This full - length painting, along with the pink dress and the little shoes, is privately owned.

                                                        
                                                                 Ava Devore
                                         ( Please click on photo above to enlarge )

        In 1893, Cushman's " Spanish Dancing Girls ", was exhibited at the World's Fair in Chicago and later sold for $ 10,000. His portrait of Dr. Earl Sloan, of the famous Sloan's Liniment, hangs in the Sloan Library in Zanesfield, Ohio. Three panels, Faith, Hope and Charity, are among Cushman's many biblical subjects. He painted these in 1913 on the wall of a chapel in Zanesfield. Other Cushman paintings are known to be in existence in Champaign and Logan counties.

        In 1895, he designed and constructed a large family monument in the Woodstock, Ohio cemetery. He used 50 tons of cement to sculpt the 16 foot monument that has become known as the " Cushman Monument" . It not only honors the Cushman family, but also on is a legacy to the Civil War Veteran's of Woodstock. He inscribed the names of 147 area veterans who fought in the Civil War. Among the names are those of family members who participated in the war. Warren Cushman, himself, served as a bugler in the army and is one of the individuals represented in bas - relief on the memorial.

        In, 1999, the badly deteriorated cement monument was reconstructed and rededicated by Cushman descendants. Descendants also erected a large, clear plastic canopy to protect the monument from future weather damage.

                                                           
                                  Monument prior to reconstruction and erection of canopy.
                                           ( Please click on photo above to enlarge )

         The Warren S. Cushman home at 131 South Main Street in Woodstock is the present day residence of Amy and Duane Davis. The pictures shown here are the front facade of the Cushman / Davis house and a garden ornament sculpted by Cushman. It is one of several that still stand in the garden.

                                                                
                                                   ( Please click on photos above to enlarge )

Barbara E. Sour, Trustee / Editor