Stuffbymichele's Blog

Civil War Encampment

Originally uploaded by michelewithonel

This was taken in 2001. This was the trip we took with Jim. This was at President Rutherford B. Hayes home, called Spiegel Grove. I’ve posted pictures of the house before, and I believe there’s a link about President Hayes along the right side under Stuff About History.

Originally uploaded by michelewithonel

This was taken three years ago. This is one of the homes that didn’t allow photos inside the house (either that or my camera died because I have no inside shots!).

Here is a link about President Truman:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ht33.html

Enjoy today’s history lesson!

I decided it was time to do some housecleaning.  I took all the extraneous posts off this blog and added them to my new one.  It’s called www.ramblingsandotherstuff.wordpress.com.  There’s also a link to it under Other Stuff.

From now on, I will only post vacation photos and links to historical sites/information on this blog.  That way you don’t have to “listen” to me rambling about other stuff.

This is the home of President Rutherford B. Hayes.  Mike and I have been here a couple of times.  The first time was with Jim, and Mike timed that visit to coincide with a Civil War encampment.  The last time we went was two years ago.  The question that kept getting asked was what was the burlap around the trees for.  I don’t remember all the details, other than it was some way to trap a certain type of bug and keep it from destroying the trees.  You can read more about President Hayes and Spiegel Grove here:

http:\\www.rbhayes.org

From the website:  “As you enter the grounds of Spiegel Grove, a pair of large iron sentinels flanks the roadway. Closer examination reveals the ornate gates bear the Presidential seal at their center. These are in fact the original gates to the White House. They are one of five sets donated in 1928 by Congress for use at the entranceways to Spiegel Grove – site of the nation’s first presidential library.”

The last line in the above paragraph sums up the joke of that trip.  Every presidential home we visited (and there were quite a few that trip) claimed to have had the first presidential library in some form.

This was taken back in 2001.  We took Jim on a trip with us to see some Civil War Battlefields, presidential homes and Washington, D.C.  I was begging to go to Harper’s Ferry because I’d been there in 1977 and remembered it as a really great place.  Traveling with Mike is always very informative since he’s a walking Civil War Encyclopedia.  However, I can recall very little of the discussion that day, so I will resort to the wonders of the internet and give you this link:

http://www.civilwarhome.com/johnbrown.htm

Enjoy today’s history lesson!