200 Years of Lucasville -- What Does It Mean?

“The Lucasville Area Historical Society has been a critical fixture in the town of Lucasville, Ohio, serving to bridge the gap between local history and personal

and familial significance. It aims to be a central hub for historical records from

the area, and its large collections, mostly gleaned from personal donations, demonstrate the penchant for the preservation and exhibition of history

within the community.”

– Center for Folklore Studies, The Ohio State University

The Bicentennial Celebration of Lucasville, Ohio, is upon us. Without the Lucasville Area Historical Society, the small community of Lucasville may have allowed this commemoration to slip by with scant observance. A modest number of people in this service organization rose to the occasion to insure that the birthday of the village received its due regard. That commission was not taken lightly, especially reviewing the outstanding sesquicentennial collaboration of fifty years before.

The work being done by club members is monumental to say the least. Early on, the historical society assumed the challenging assignment of planning the 2019 celebration and organizing multiple events during the year. Although the task often seemed overwhelming, caring people volunteered to create an astonishing schedule of meaningful bicentennial engagements – all of which pay homage to an exceptional small town.

This labor of love serves to build community and preserve the heritage of a most significant Southern Ohio hamlet. As people, young and old, add their ideas and energies to the bicentennial celebration, the diverse threads weave a stronger fabric of commonality. The old adage of “It takes a village” transcends its banality when people experience the real dependency of community. This reliance surely mirrors that of the Founding Families of 1819.

It is hoped that many will observe the Lucasville Bicentennial. So much thought and work have gone into making the birthday a memorable time. And, it is surely presumptuous of the historical society to expect throngs to attend all the events. But, I understand that multitudes matter less than enthusiasm, and I am convinced that the Lucasville Historical Society has grown immeasurably due to meeting the pressures, expectations, and deadlines of commemorating 200 years of Lucasville existence.

Therein is great progress. Without a doubt, the Lucasville area is being revitalized by the celebration. Turning this page of history, people are both honoring tradition and revealing new, exciting developments that serve as the lifeblood of the community. We continue to discover ourselves in the process.

"There is no power for change greater than a community

discovering what it cares about."

– Margaret J. Wheatley

The relatively small group of people who dedicated themselves to this mission have grown together mightily as an organization because each individual continues to flex considerable muscle through his or her strong talents and timely industry. Through pushing the limits of their engagement, the club has met the challenge and continues to grow.

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress;

working together is success.”

– Edward Everett Hale, American author and historian

There are lists and there are lists ...

Jordan Adkins  Rosemary Adkins  Ruth Adkins  Hazel Andronis   John Artis            Alice Barker

Don Barnett      Murbel Bice         Walter Buckle Nell Bumgarner  Peggy Campbell  Robert Chestnut

Larry Comer    Beulah Creech     Mike Davis      Betty Dillow      Barbara Dunham Velma Eichenlaub

Bob Herald      Fred Humston      Mary Johnson  Louise Kennedy  Judy Lemaster   Alice McKenzie

Ilse Melior       Betty Merritt         Betty Morgan  William Morgan  Lucille Moulton Ann Oakes

Harold Patrick  Gladys Pfleger     Irene Preston    Dorothy Russell  Glenn Schuler     Clare Slaydon

Andy Steele III Ralph Stewart      Patty Sullivan  Joan Uhl             Charles Violet     Beulah Wells

Ed Williams     Alberta Wolford   John Wolford   James Young      Charles Zaler      Raymond Zaler

This is a list of community stalwarts who worked so hard on the Lucasville Sesquicentennial of 1969. As you see, a great many widely recognizable names appear on the list. And, so many others also offered time, money, and sweat to make that celebration a one-of-a-kind success. Those of us who remember the celebration marvel at the tremendous job citizens did to make the Sequi unforgettable. Folks, I can assure you these names represent truly remarkable people who loved their community with all their heart.

2019 marks the Bicentennial of Lucasville. A much, much smaller group from the Lucasville Area Historical Society has been laboring to plan commemorative events and appropriate ceremonies for next year. As far as I know, this is the only community group involved in making the celebration a reality. 2019 will be here before we know it, and the society needs your help to make the 200^th birthday a success. Some of the events require many more human resources than we presently can muster.

I understand the sacrifice people make to pledge their assistance. It is difficult for many to attend meetings and lend a hand – especially older citizens and those with busy schedules. Then, I think of that list above. So many of those individuals were not spring chickens and they were busy folks, too. These people made lasting impressions in Lucasville because they refused to say “no” when assistance was needed. In fact, the list reads like a “Who's Who” of prominent influences.

Don't we owe each new generation the same initiative and commitment? I think so. I am sure we continue to nurture the same great values and beliefs of those in Lucasville of old. Buildings and streets and faces may change, but the earnest spirit of the area remains. And, it will prevail as long as people take an active role as stewards and stewardesses of our land.

Sometimes I hear comments like ... “Well, people don't really care about these things anymore” or “There just isn't a core of committed folks around now” or “No one wants to waste time on stuff like that.” Imagine how our youth react to these utterances. If they hear these statements and take them to be true, they come to believe in a defeatist mentality. I know the Lucasville community not only has a strong heritage and a committed tradition but also has an enduring base of proud residents. People young and old continue to move into our area and find a place of acceptance and cordial pride. The area is still a splendid valley of opportunity.

This Bicentennial is an opportunity for all locals to celebrate our history while building our social integrity. Nothing like working together on a common goal can strengthen the ties that bind us together. I hope more people decide to dedicate time to the planning and the execution of the events in 2019. 50 years ago the Sesquicentennial was a booming success, and there is no reason the 200th commemoration should be less fitting. By the way, no age is too young or too young to get involved – there is work for all.

The historical society is busy making wonderful plans. Bless all of those kind souls – a group of maybe 20 or 25 at full muster. I am not shortchanging the tremendous work being done. It is spectacular that so few can do so much. I just know that so many things would be so much better and easier to accomplish if more took an avid interest. Please, consider how you can help make the Bicentennial a great celebration, one worthy of our fair town. May we build a list of citizens that makes those on the list above proud.

NOTICE: The next Bicentennial Planning meeting will be held on July 12, 2018, at 6:30 at Emmanuel U. M Church basement in Lucasville, Ohio. Everyone is invited.

To Honor the Lucasville Area and the Valley of Opportunity

 

School-Day Ties, 1909 
by Nell Yeager Bumgarner

You are graduated, go far away
Leaving the old accustomed life; 
Enter your name in the book of the day
And begin to unravel the knot of strife

Now thoughts eddy past; no echoes rebound;
Strange faces, the old familiar ones dim.
Daily duties, the time now surround
And enclose the horizon with limited rim.

But it is changed; dear scenes revive,
Sweet memories refreshed grow
For you have met one still alive -- 
A school-fellow of long ago.
 
2019 commemorates the Bicentennial of Lucasville, Ohio, and it also marks the 50th reunion of our Valley High School Class of 1969. My family moved to the area from Portsmouth during the summer of 1962, and we remained in Lucasville until 1971. Growing up there was a wonderful experience. I became friends with so many loving classmates and other locals who cared about our schools, our town, and our area.

I soon developed a sense of pride in my community while so many positive influences helped mold my character. Above all, the people of Lucasville cared so much for each other. I treasure and honor my community. I owe a deep debt to those who helped cradle and guide me.

Just in the last couple years, I have been fortunate to become better informed about the long, illustrious history of the Lucasville area. From the days of the Hopewell Mound Builders to the present, the region has truly been a valley of opportunity. In fact, the entire Scioto River Valley holds a very significant place in Native American culture as well as in the history of the settlement of the Early American frontier and the operation of the antebellum Underground Railroad. For well over 2,000 years, the hills and waters have given birth to human settlement, to transportation, and to the inhabitants' insatiable quest for freedom. We have a proud and storied past. We must be stewards of this legacy.

As we remember John Lucas, the founder of the town of Lucasville, we also need to consider our own special links to the Lucasville area – the places, the people, and the hearts and minds that shaped our beloved home. 2019 is a time of remembrance, and maybe more importantly, a time of sharing. History calls upon us to come together, learn about our heritage, and employ this knowledge to forge an even brighter future. We ensure this great legacy as more and more native sons and daughters commit to the challenge. Change is inevitable and progressive movement requires hands-on initiative.

Right now, the Lucasville Area Historical Society is very busy planning the Bicentennial Celebration. We are a small group that offers a tremendous reward – supplementing the knowledge of local history. In order to make the commemoration a success, we need the cooperation of all who care. That includes help and dedication from local officials, businesses, schools, and other citizenry … people that have been blessed, like me, to live in the Lucasville community. It is imperative that we achieve a greater commitment. We will have a celebration. How big depends upon the help of the faithful.

Will you join this effort? We need your help. History calls … not as as cold artifacts of the past, but as living memories of places and people so important to so many. This memory is purple and gold; it's red white and blue; and it's peopled by red, white, and black human beings. They are the faces in your mind and in your backyard. Helping preserve the history of Lucasville, Ohio is enrichment for the soul.

I am bound to them,
though I cannot look into their eyes
or hear their voices.
I honor their history.
I cherish their lives.
I will tell their story.
I will remember them.

--Author Unknown

This is the Facebook address of the Lucasville Area Historical Society Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LucasvilleAreaHistoricalSociety/?fref=nf

This is the homepage of the Lucasville Area Historical Society: http://www.lucasvilleohio1819.com/

 

The Journal of Robert Lucas -- Founders of Lucasville

 

Lucasville will celebrate its Bicentennial in 2019. The settlement and town have a storied history rivaling that of any other habitation on the Ohio frontier. Who put the “Lucas” in “Lucasville”? It turns out that a very notable family did so in a very distinguished fashion. Allow me to present just a little about the founders. There is much more to local history than a footnote … much, much more. I hope you explore and find the rewards for yourself.

One of the Lucasville settlers (His brother John is credited as "the" Founding Father of Lucasville.), Robert Lucas (1781-1853), the twelfth governor of Ohio, was born in Shepherdstown, West Virginia on April 1, 1781. He was the son of William Lucas and Susannah Barnes. Lucas came from a Quaker family whose roots stretched back to 1679 in Pennsylvania, though the family had recently relocated to Virginia. His education was attained through private tutors that focused on mathematics and surveying.

According to family legend, Robert's uncle, Joseph Barnes, built a steam-powered boat long before Fulton's invention. Robert received some early schooling in mathematics and surveying, skills which would prove invaluable to his future work. At about the age of 19 Lucas moved to the Scioto Valley of the Northwest Territory, where he was appointed surveyor of Scioto County in 1803. He was preceded by other family members, including two older brothers and a cousin. One brother would later become a general, while his other brother and his cousin would become Ohio legislators. The family bought large parcels of land in Ohio; eventually the nearby town of Lucasville was named for them.

Robert Lucas also joined the state militia, rising in the ranks to brigadier general by the time of the War of 1812. He briefly served under Major General Duncan McArthur before joining General William Hull's campaign against Canada. He also held a rank of captain in the regular army for a short time but resigned from that position in early 1813 to devote his time to his militia duties. Lucas saw no additional combat during the war, although after the war he was promoted to major general and made commander of the Second Militia Division.

During the disastrous Hull campaign in the War of 1812, Robert Lucas was in constant service and in a position which brought him in contact with every phase of the campaign. He kept a daily journal of the events, which is distinctly valuable in that it gives a contemporaneous view of the campaign from the standpoint of an actual participant. It has been carefully preserved by the descendants of Robert Lucas.

In the war, the need for volunteers was urgent, and Lucas threw himself into the enlistment with all his enthusiasm. Instead of waiting for a position as officer, which he could undoubtedly have had after the organization of his own troops into volunteer companies, he enlisted from the first as a private in the companies, which chose his brother John Lucas as Captain. His purpose seems to have been to encourage enlistments among the men of his brigade. His name remained upon the company roll throughout the campaign, but he seems to have preferred the independent duties of a scout, guide, express, and ranger, as the journal clearly shows.

Thus, Robert Lucas was at one and the same time a Captain in the United States Army, a Brigadier General in the Ohio Militia, and a private in a volunteer company.

The volunteer companies started on their march to the rendezvous at Dayton, Ohio, on April 37, 1819; and from this point, the Robert Lucas Journal tells its own story.

The record is entirely in the handwriting of Robert Lucas. It was written in camp and on the march; for he evidently carried the journal with him throughout the campaign. On August 25, as he was leaving Cleveland on his return home he records: "I here got a knapsack and fil[l]ed it with my uniform cloth[e]s hat, my Journal, and Such other aleticles as I did not wish to leave."

Allow me to share Lucas's journal with you. It is available in its entirety online. Perhaps you would like to read this incredible firsthand historical account at http://publications.iowa.gov/11109/1/Robert_Lucas_war_of_1812.pdf

The manuscript online is The Robert Lucas Journal: The War of 1812 During the Campaign Under General Hull by John C. Parish, published in Iowa City, Iowa, in 1906 by the State Historical Society of Iowa.

To whet your appetite, here are the first entries in the Robert Lucas Journal:

“Received orders in Scioto County to march a Company of Volunteers and a Rifle Company from said County to Detroit – Issued orders on the 25th April 1812 Directing Said Companies to march on the 27th, and assemble at Wm Lucas 12 miles up Scioto – Met part of said Companies at Portsmouth on the day appointed and commenc[e]d the march accompanied by a number of the Citizens as a testimony of gratitude for the patriotism manifested in said County –”

[Tuesday, April the Twenty-eighth]

“28th Both Companies having assembled they proceeded to march to Pe Pee (small creek in what is now known as Pike County) and Encamped”

[Wednesday, April the Twenty-ninth]

“on the morning of the 29th the Volunteer Company, having been joined by the Volunteers from Pe Pee, an election was ordered, when John Lucas (younger brother of Robert Lucas) was elected Captain Dennis Murphy Lieutenant, and Joseph Barber Ensign, the Rifle Company having been previously organized David Rupe Capt Tho Arnold Lut and Richard McDougal Ensign – Both of Said Companies thus organized proceeded on their march to Chillicothe, where they Encamped and Drew provisions --”

Sources

“Robert Lucas (1781-1853).” Familypedia. http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Robert_Lucas_(1781-1853)

Robert Lucas Journal. http://publications.iowa.gov/11109/1/Robert_Lucas_war_of_1812.pdf

 

 Robert Lucas House at Friendly Grove