Summary: Stop five on the Holmes Farm Tour will highlight people from Holmes County who tried to avoid the American Civil War Draft. David Weiss, Life member of the Historical Society, will offer a presentation about Fort Fizzle and the history behind it.
Stop five on the 2012 Holmes Farm Tour is the historic site of Fort Fizzle. Fort Fizzle which is deemed a historical site off County Road 6 near Killbuck, was a living ground for men escaping the American Civil War draft in the 1860s.
The space off County Road 6 is limited, so David Weiss will be speaking about the landmark during the stop at French Ridge Vineyard and Winery, which is stop number 6 on the tour. The sign that is posted off of County Road 6 was recently posted within the last ten years on behalf of the Ohio Civil War Commission.
The Holmes Farm Bureau decided it would be nice to have the Farm Tour visitors to go from the Killbuck Museum to the Historical Landmark. The museum will have a little bit of information about Fort Fizzle, and this way they can come there and learn more about the landmark, said Holmes County Farm Bureau Member, Lauren Croskey.
After the Farm Bureau asked Weiss to give a presentation the location became a problem, with no parking and no area to give the presentation he decided to move it. After Farm Tour Members drive from the museum they will pass the Historical Landmark sign off County Road six, and will turn right to go to the Vineyard. Once they arrive at the Vineyard Weiss will begin a presentation about Fort Fizzle.
The Battle of Fort Fizzle was an uprising in Holmes County to protect local residents from federal provost marshals and deputies sent to Ohio to enforce the Conscription Act, which was also known as the Enrollment Act, during the American Civil War.
Im going to talk about the Holmes County Rebellion, the Battle Place, share some facts and details about Fort Fizzle, and offer a question and answer session for those who are interested in learning more about the battle, said Weiss, who is a former Holmes County Historical Society president and Life Member.
Since the visitors of the Farm Tour will be appearing at various times to the Vineyard Weiss has decided to do a more informal presentation that can be informative yet easy to understand.
The hard thing is going to be that people are coming at different times, so what Im planning to do is just explain what happened on French Ridge at Fort Fizzle and the progression of events that led up to the entire civil war riots, said Weiss. It will be a very extemporaneous presentation where people will be able to ask questions and be interactive with the conversation. The topic is just very interesting and I think people are going to enjoy it and want to be an active part in it.
The Fort Fizzle land mark will be another interesting and educational piece on the 2012 Holmes County Farm Tour.
