Pioneer Days connect reenactors to their past
Braxton Montgomery, 2, of Stark County is ready to start trading at Gnadenhutten's Pioneer Days.
For Rick and Chris Norris of East Canton, who camped with their chuck wagon at the annual Pioneer Days celebration at the Gnadenhutten Historical Park, reenacting is a way to connect to their past. Their ancestors were some of the first settlers to head west to Ohio.
“My wife and I, both our mothers were born in Baltimore, Maryland,” Rick Norris said of their portrayal of settlers from Baltimore. “We're portraying our family history because both of our families were living just south of here, a couple of counties away.”
The couple represents the period of about 1800-40, when settlers were coming into the Ohio Valley. Life was very different then, and so were the tools needed to survive.
“My grandfather's farm, it actually wasn't a farm, but they dug coal. They hand-dug coal,” said Chris Norris, who said shovels and picks were tools they would have relied on the most.
Life was not as simple as getting up and taking your vehicle to work to make money for the day. Chris Norris’ great-grandfather had a covered wagon in which he would take furs to Marietta, sell them and buy supplies. The trip took about a month from Summerfield in Noble County to Marietta and back. He purchased shovels, picks, medicines and produce, which he sold on his way back to Summerfield. After resting up, he would make the trip again.
Rick Norris tells more of their settler story.
“What we're doing is I've found out about the lands, that this would be a good area, that we've defeated the British. So we're going to go to the Northwest Territory into the Ohio and make a claim,” Rick Norris said. “And as the years have gone by, now we've gotten up to a covered wagon that we're hauling goods, and I'm hoping to haul all my goods to build a log home.”
Rick Norris has put their chuck wagon together over a period of about nine years.
“I enjoy buggies and carriages and wagons and horse-drawn equipment,” Rick Norris said.
The couple will attend the prefair celebration Aug. 17-18 at the Wayne County Fairgrounds. Rick Norris will do a new demonstration.
“I'll be portraying the construction of how you would use the tools and the materials of the day to build a log home,” Rick Norris said.
Emanuel Zook of Cortland, Ohio, who began reenacting last fall at Gnadenhutten, has been busy. The 19-year-old has already upgraded his equipment. It’s a way of life he enjoys.
“It’s just the people and the way I grew up. I always had an interest in this,” Zook said. “I've always enjoyed history. I'm not as well-versed in the history and stuff. That's why I'm here talking with Rick to learn more. It’s about being out here, and it's peaceful. You get to talk to a lot of new people and learn new things.”
Gnadenhutten Historical Society President Andy McMillen gave an afternoon presentation on three of the most well-known murders, aside from the Gnadenhutten Massacre, in Tuscarawas County.
The first story, The Post Boy murder in 1825, resulted in the only court-ordered hanging in Tuscarawas County. The second topic was the Elijah and Myrtle Cramblett murder in 1933, where the crime was betrayed by buzzards and a fake suicide note, and the only lynching in the county occurred in 1873 in Ragersville when a white man who had taken the name of Jeff Davis met some vigilante justice after he raped an 8-year-old girl in what is now Stone Creek and threatened to kill members of law enforcement, among other serious crimes.
The total of the crock auction, $3,550, was much more than last year’s total of $2,150.
The first crock was purchased by Brotherhood HVAC for $500, the second by Lee Brown & Cory Carlisle Tax Service for $300, the third by Top Notch Auto for $350, the fourth by Village Hardware of Gnadenhutten for $350, the fifth by Kellen and Haley McMillen for $200, the sixth by Koch Funeral Home for $400, the seventh by Modern Auto & Truck Parts for $350, the eighth by Dick Brown for $200, the ninth by Koch Funeral Home for $300, and the 10th by Rick and Juanita Weals for $600.
McMillen was appreciative of the primitive campers who came in for the event and raised a total of $660 to donate to the museum and park. The amount that was donated for the bean soup and cornbread lunch was $335. The total gross amount raised during Pioneer Days was $4,545, which goes to support the Gnadenhutten Historical Park and Museum.
“Many thanks to all who attended for their generosity,” McMillen said.