This view (above) is looking north at the Mansfield Blockhouse, newly renovated in South Park on the city’s west side. In the lower photo, Bob Carter (left) shares his ample knowledge of the blockhouse’s history with visitors during a recent Sunday open-house.
THE MANSFIELD BLOCKHOUSE—
And a peek at our early history
On the 13th of August 1812 Levi Jones, a storekeeper in Mansfield, after helping with some land clearing east of town and walking home, was attacked and shot by Indians. Friends heard the commotion of the attack and found Jones dead on a trail through the woods.
He also had been stabbed and scalped.
When news of this killing reached town, “All the inhabitants immediately took refuge in the blockhouse.”
At sundown that day, a volunteer named John Chapman, bareheaded and barefooted headed toward Mt. Vernon to summon help. He was better known as Johnny Appleseed.
After the war of 1812, the blockhouse, then located near the present site of the court house, was serving both as a court room and a jail. By 1827 Mansfield’s population had increased from the eight or nine families that were reported to be here in 1810 and plans were laid for the construction of a new courthouse on the town square.
When Johnny Appleseed made his run through the woods to Mt. Vernon only a trail existed between Mansfield and there.
Lewis Leedy wrote about his life here in those days. “Wild animals were plenty,” he explained. “We had difficulty to keep the wolves from killing old dog Bounce. We frequently had to get up and chase them from our wigwam and wagon.”
“Bears, deer, wildcats, coons, opossums, skunks, rattlesnakes, copperheads, and snakes generally were plenty....” **
Remnants of that original blockhouse remain a noticeable part of the renovated blockhouse that stands to this day in the city’s South Park.
During a recent open house celebration of the renovation it was a moving experience to watch local historian Bob Carter point to the actual logs that remain as part of the renovated structure.
Imagine, if you will, those hand-hewn timbers actually being witness to the earliest history of Mansfield’s existence.
THE MANSFIELD BLOCKHOUSE—
And a peek at our early history
On the 13th of August 1812 Levi Jones, a storekeeper in Mansfield, after helping with some land clearing east of town and walking home, was attacked and shot by Indians. Friends heard the commotion of the attack and found Jones dead on a trail through the woods.
He also had been stabbed and scalped.
When news of this killing reached town, “All the inhabitants immediately took refuge in the blockhouse.”
At sundown that day, a volunteer named John Chapman, bareheaded and barefooted headed toward Mt. Vernon to summon help. He was better known as Johnny Appleseed.
After the war of 1812, the blockhouse, then located near the present site of the court house, was serving both as a court room and a jail. By 1827 Mansfield’s population had increased from the eight or nine families that were reported to be here in 1810 and plans were laid for the construction of a new courthouse on the town square.
When Johnny Appleseed made his run through the woods to Mt. Vernon only a trail existed between Mansfield and there.
Lewis Leedy wrote about his life here in those days. “Wild animals were plenty,” he explained. “We had difficulty to keep the wolves from killing old dog Bounce. We frequently had to get up and chase them from our wigwam and wagon.”
“Bears, deer, wildcats, coons, opossums, skunks, rattlesnakes, copperheads, and snakes generally were plenty....” **
Remnants of that original blockhouse remain a noticeable part of the renovated blockhouse that stands to this day in the city’s South Park.
During a recent open house celebration of the renovation it was a moving experience to watch local historian Bob Carter point to the actual logs that remain as part of the renovated structure.
Imagine, if you will, those hand-hewn timbers actually being witness to the earliest history of Mansfield’s existence.
____________________________
**A Pioneer History of Richland County, Ohio by Gen. Roeliff Brinkerhoff, Mary Jane Henney, Ed. Published by the Richland County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society, 1993.
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