HAPPY NEW YEAR—
And Fogeyisms is starting off steamed!

Ohio likes to call itself “The Mother of Presidents” laying claim to eight of them; the term “Mother” clearly implying they were born here.

Wrong!

One of the eight in this aberration of historical accuracy, William Henry Harrison, was born in Virginia.

In fact, at the time Ohio became a state in 1803, Harrison was serving as Governor of the Indiana Territory. He served as a general and was a hero in the War of 1812. Later he was appointed by President James Madison to negotiate treaties with the Indians and did not emerge with an Ohio identity until 1816 when he was elected to the US Congress to fill the unexpired term of an Ohio Representative.

He had no official connection to Ohio until 43 years after his Virginia birth in 1773.

I feel betrayed.

I grew up believing Ohio truly was the birth state of more US Presidents than any other state in the union.

Somewhere along the way our educational system allowed itself to be hijacked by some clever public relations stunt and my perception of historical accuracy wound up seriously flawed.

Virginia, Harrison’s birthplace, alone leads the country in producing eight sons who were born there and later elected US President.

Come on Ohio; drop this nonsense and let scholarship alone track the foundation of our history.