Ashland County Historical Society

Ashland County Historical Society ACHS brings history to life through education, preservation, and community engagement. Come be a part of history!

Join us as we explore the vibrant and inclusive stories of all who have lived, learned, worked, and visited Ashland County. Our campus consists of four buildings filled with items that represent the rich history of Ashland County. Highlights are the turn of the century streetscape, military display, and Ashland County Sports Hall of Fame in the Noonan House. The Manor House is a Victorian home bui

lt in the mid 1800's. Several well known families lived in the home before it became the Historical Society's very first building. The home is filled with memorabilia from the Victorian era, and is a step back in time from the moment you enter. In the Carriage House, you will find several interesting collections beginning with the Sam Brucato glass figurine display, the Industrial Era displays, and the Thornburg insect collection. In the barn are antique farm tools and an original Studebaker Wagon. We are very proud of our museum and invite you to visit us.

Intern Takeover with Gavin – Part 6!Today, I wanted to share some history surrounding the Native American Removal in Ash...
04/03/2026

Intern Takeover with Gavin – Part 6!

Today, I wanted to share some history surrounding the Native American Removal in Ashland County. Removal was the process of systematically taking Native American land away so it could be settled by white settlers. This was done often either through force or manipulation. The Removal Act of 1830 was enacted by Andrew Jackson to legalize and further this process of settler expansion. It allowed for Native Americans to be forced past the Mississippi River. It is also important to note that while removal was officially enacted by the government in 1830 it existed as a concept long before then. The idea of removal was represented through many treaties in Ohio like the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 or the Treaty of Fort Meigs in 1817. Both of which limited Native American territory in Ohio and stripped them of their land after periods of war. The process of removal in Ohio eventually resulted in all Native Americans being removed past the Mississippi. The last Native Americans, the Wyandots, were removed in 1843.
An example of removal in Ashland is an event called the Copus Massacre and the removal of the people of Greentown. This removal took place during the War of 1812 when Cpt. Douglas was ordered to remove the Native Americans of Greentown who were mainly Delaware. This act was a supposed measure of safety for the settlers who lived around them. Douglas relied on the Rev. James Copus to negotiate their removal because he already had a relationship with those of Greentown. After being promised that their homes would be unharmed, they left, but these vows were broken. Greentown was burned after they left. This betrayal resulted in what is known as the Copus Massacre. This event represents Ashland County’s part in the history of removal and the wrongs committed against the Native American people that lived in Ohio. It is important that this is remembered for it shows and reminds us that the land we now occupy wasn’t always ours, there was history before us and settlers played a part in its ending.

Photo 1: Greentown depiction via Ashland Times Gazette
Photo 2: Copus Monument

Today, I want to discuss the steps that come after inventorying. This being rehousing and numbering.What is the process ...
04/01/2026

Today, I want to discuss the steps that come after inventorying. This being rehousing and numbering.

What is the process of rehousing?
Moving and reboxing our artifacts into better preserved containers like acid free boxes.
Assigning artifacts with no inventory number with a new number.
Updating our inventory sheet to match the changes.
And finally putting all are physical data into Catalog It

Rehousing is looking at how certain items should be stored for preservation and using the best practices so they last far into the future. For instance, storing pictures in acid free tissue paper or loose papers in folders. Numbering is also important because it allows us to track the items and know what they are. We do this through physical records and online records like Catalog It. Numbering is a process that takes time because oftentimes an item has an old number that must be double checked in case it wasn’t properly assigned or written down properly. So, rehousing and numbering our historical artifacts is vital to both you and us, for our future research, for displays in exhibits, and to free up more space for future donations from the public.

Photos 1&2: Metal shelves with acid free white boxes that say Hollinger Metal Edge.

Intern Takeover with Gavin – Part 4! 🔍📚Hi, we're back with another week of posts, this time we are going to start with d...
03/30/2026

Intern Takeover with Gavin – Part 4! 🔍📚

Hi, we're back with another week of posts, this time we are going to start with discussing a new project I am working on for the historical society creating a finding aid for all things related to the Myers.

What is a finding aid? It's a tool that:
✅ Helps researchers providing an ease of access to archival resources.
✅ Allows archivists to know quickly where certain items are located in our archives and library.
✅ Allows for proper organization of different mediums and content for documents and artifacts.

We start with doing a survey. It is a kind of general overview unlike inventorying which is more in depth. A survey records all kinds of items, like photos, books, papers and more, as well as their relevance, like if they belong to a certain person or company. It’s a starting point that allows me to begin categorizing documents into different sections that are important to the structure of the finding aid that eventually you as a researcher will use. While the creation of a finding aid may seem daunting the end result is valuable. Not only is it a way to help researchers who come to the historical society looking for specific info. It also allows us at ACHS the ability to provide what you the researcher exactly needs and not have to search multiple different areas in a wild goose chase that could turn fruitless.

Photos 1&2: Gavin Ross performing a survey of Myers documents in the ACHS library.

For my last post, I would like to share some documents found during our inventory that pertain to Orange Township.In a b...
03/27/2026

For my last post, I would like to share some documents found during our inventory that pertain to Orange Township.

In a box of records, from the 1850s, were several records detailing poor and destitute children of the township who were entered into indentured servitude, a common practice for the time. Township trustees signed contracts binding children to “masters” for a specific term. The “masters” would provide basic living necessities, education, and teach the child a trade. When the child’s term of servitude was completed, the master would sometimes furnish them with items to start out on their own, such as a few suits of clothes, money, or furniture.

Photo 1: Documents recording the indenture of Rosanna Long, aged 11, as a housekeeper and presumably her brother Jacob H. Long, aged 13, as a chair and cabinet maker. Dated 1853.
Photo 2: Indenture records for John Lyons, aged 5 years, indentured by his mother, who was unable to support him. He was to become a “husbandman”, or agricultural laborer. Dated 1852
Photo 3: Indenture records for David Scott, aged 6 years, indentured by his father who was unable to care for him. David was also to become a “Husbandman”, or agricultural laborer. Dated 1852.

Hey! This week Gavin (my co-intern) and I are learning to catalog and rehouse the pieces of the collection that we compl...
03/25/2026

Hey! This week Gavin (my co-intern) and I are learning to catalog and rehouse the pieces of the collection that we completed an inventory for. We are learning how to determine accession numbers for items and how to enter items into the computer system called Catalogit. With all our hard work, we will have this place organized in no time!

Photo 1: Interns Gavin (left) and Ashley (right) inventorying and cataloging in our attic
Photo 2: Cataloging sheet
Photo 3: Snapshot of CatalogIt archives

Hi! It’s Ashley back for my second week of the intern social media takeover at ACHS! This week, I'm continuing to spotli...
03/23/2026

Hi! It’s Ashley back for my second week of the intern social media takeover at ACHS! This week, I'm continuing to spotlight the clubs that were active in Ashland County.

The first club I would like to highlight is the Navy Mother’s Club since military history was my undergrad focus. The Navy Mother’s Club was an organization founded by Emma Jones in McAllen, Texas in 1930 and the Ashland chapter was founded on March 4, 1942. The organization sent packages and wrote letter to servicemen overseas. During World War 2, the Ashland chapter made layettes (a babies first set of clothes), sold war bonds, and stitched thousands of seeping pads. They also promoted educational welfare and social interest among families of Navy men. I'm not sure if the organization is still active in Ashland, but it continues at the national level.

While flipping through minutes from the Brytes Country Club, a local club that existed in Ashland in the early 1900s, I discovered an entry discussing Women’s Suffrage. I was amazed to find a document pertaining to Women’s Suffrage and I'm excited to research this club.

Another artifact in the ACHS inventory is a photograph that shows a Pre- Civil War Carpet Rag Sewing Session (sort of like a club but not designated as one). The photograph was taken by E.M. Ensminger who owned an ambrotype and photographic studio on Main Street in 1863. The goal was to sew together rags into a large ball that would be later braided into rugs.

Photo 1: A Navy Mother’s Club pamphlet
Photo 2: Brytes Country Club minutes- The transcription: “The debate- Should the women of Ohio have the right of suffrage, aff (affirmative) by Paul Thornburg and Sollie Yohernian (?) and opp (opposed) by Harry Shearer and Mr. Ferguson, was decided in favor of the aff. (affirmative) After a social hour the club adjourned to meet in four weeks at Frank Stones. No. Present- 66.”
Photo 3: Photo of the ladies who participated in the Carpet Rag Sewing Session, instead of taking a group photo Ensminger took photos of two ladies at a time and mounted them together to form this unique photo collage.

Intern Takeover with Gavin – Part 3! ✍️✍️Another interest I’ve had this winter is an organization called the Independent...
03/20/2026

Intern Takeover with Gavin – Part 3! ✍️✍️

Another interest I’ve had this winter is an organization called the Independent Order of Odd Fellows that once existed in Ashland.
The I.O.O.F. was a secret society similar to the Masons that branched off from the Order of Odd Fellows in 1819 and was founded by Thomas Wildley in Baltimore, Maryland. The guiding principles of the I.O.O.F. are to visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead, and educate the orphan. The Mohican Lodge NO. 85 was the lodge established in Ashland County. They were first established in 1846 and had their first meeting in 1847. Five members attended the first meeting, but then the number grew to sixty-one members in 1861.
Researching the group has been challenging, as documentation is limited for the branch in Ashland and requires deeper exploration. From what I’ve gathered, they hosted public festivals and gatherings, raised funds for community causes (including church organs), and published newspaper notices honoring deceased members.
The Odd Fellows once met in a third-floor hall in downtown Ashland and occupied the space above the First National Bank building, which has since been torn down.
Why is this important? Researching organizations like the I.O.O.F. helps us understand how people connected, supported one another, and shaped Ashland’s values over time.

Photo 1: A black and white picture of the Odd Fellows Hall, a brick building, people are leaving the building and walking on the street.

Photo 2: A picture of me holding an I.O.O.F. artifact, a red collar that goes over the shoulders, which has gold stars and metal tassels.

Photo 3: A decorative metal ornament in the form of two keys connected by three metal chain links. Behind it is a blue program with the same three chain links over the Ohio flag. In bold, the Grand Lodge of Ohio, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Intern Takeover with Gavin – Part 2! 👋📚A few discoveries while inventorying sparked deeper research projects for me this...
03/18/2026

Intern Takeover with Gavin – Part 2! 👋📚

A few discoveries while inventorying sparked deeper research projects for me this winter, including a drawing of a man named Gutelius Israel Yearick, which was hidden behind an attic shelf.

Gutelius Yearick was a businessman, soldier, and politician who lived in Ashland in the 1850s to the 1890s. His parents, Anna Catherine and Peter Yearick, moved to Ashland County (then part of Wayne County) around 1834 from eastern Pennsylvania. In 1855, he started a furniture business in downtown Ashland. But a year later, in 1856, on Thanksgiving weekend, he lost all of his product when his storage room caught fire and burned everything within it. He managed to keep the business running, and four years later, he sold the business to Col. D. J. Stubbs.
In 1861, he enlisted in the 82nd O.V.I. during the Civil War and served as a recruiting officer. After the war, he created a loan agency and later served as Ashland County Treasurer, beginning his career in local politics as a Democrat.
Later in life, in 1889, he married Carrie Maude Yearick. Their son, Gutelius Leo Yearick, was born two years later.
Why does this matter? Gutelius provides another link in the chain of Ashland history, and by performing research and figuring out who he was and why he was important, it provides context for other stories still left we could tell. Also, this research could allow others a jumping-off point into their own research.

Photo 1: A black and white drawing of the side profile of Gutelius I. Yearick, a young man with long hair and a thick mustache. In the top left corner of the drawing is a sticky note with his name and the year of his birth, 1829, and his death, 1898.

Photo 2: A colored painting of Col G. L. Yearick, an elderly balding man in a gray suit and red tie.

Intern Takeover with Gavin – Part 1! 👋📚Hi, I’m Gavin, an intern at the Ashland County Historical Society and I’ll be tak...
03/16/2026

Intern Takeover with Gavin – Part 1! 👋📚
Hi, I’m Gavin, an intern at the Ashland County Historical Society and I’ll be taking over social media this week and will be sharing what I’ve been working on this winter.

Me and my fellow intern Ashley have been busy inventorying the upper attic, researching, and learning how to assign accession numbers to historical objects. We even had the opportunities to sit in on meetings for big upcoming events and projects, like Juneteenth!

One of the bigger projects we have been working on however is inventorying. Inventorying involves cataloging, describing, and assessing various objects. This includes everything from books, to fabrics, to something unique like wooden shoes. While inventorying each object is checked for an accession number, carefully described, and evaluated for its condition.

Why does this matter? Inventorying helps us:
✅ Keep track of where items are located
✅ Monitor their condition over time
✅ Prepare artifacts for future exhibits or research
While inventorying in the upper attic, my fellow intern, Ashley, and I have found lots of fun documents and objects relating to Ashland and Ohio history. But each time we found something new, we wanted to know the “why.” Why were we storing it, and what was its significance to Ashland County as a whole? Two items interested me the most, and so I decided to dive deeper into their “why” with research. Watch for my future posts to learn more about Gutelius Israel Yearick and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
I can’t wait to share more about these discoveries in future posts — stay tuned! 📚✨

Photo: Gavin Ross standing between two shelves, which have various boxes and items on them, all labeled with sticky notes.

Hey, it’s Ashley again and for my last post I want to spotlight Ashland County’s involvement in social women’s clubs whi...
03/07/2026

Hey, it’s Ashley again and for my last post I want to spotlight Ashland County’s involvement in social women’s clubs which emerged in the late 19th century. Social women’s clubs were exclusive small groups for social, literary, and intellectual exchanges. These clubs were often organized by women and became a catalyst for women’s civic involvement. These groups allowed women to build social networks and exercise influence outside of the home.

The Congenial Coterie Club of Ashland was established by Mrs. F. C. Semple and Mrs. F. E. Harris. They wanted to organize a club for “mutual recreation and improvement” for women, and the first meeting was on November 19, 1898, at the home of Mrs. Harris. The group’s plan was to select a book to be read by two members at meetings while the others occupied themselves with knitting or other fancy work. In addition to reading, the club also studied various topics such as parliamentary procedure, various foreign countries, Shakespeare, art, poetry, and Ohio history. The club was comprised of the original founding members, their daughters and daughter in-laws, and granddaughters who were inducted into the club when they reached the age of 24. The club continued for many years and was disbanded sometime during the 1960s.

Another lady’s club was the Halcyon Club, possibly established in 1899. The club originally started as a needle club and was held in various ladies’ homes by invitation only. In 1910, the ladies met in the home of Mrs. B. F. Brubaker to formally organize a lady’s study club, and the name Halcyon Club which meant “happy club” was adopted. The club also adopted the motto, “Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil” because their policy was to never gossip. Only 12 women were allowed to be members at one time, and the annual dues were 10 cents! The club only had about 86 members during its operation since membership was for life. The Halcyon Club officially disbanded in 2009 after 111 years.

📸1-3: Congenial Coterie Club programs (1899, 1901) and photos including the Congenial Coterie Club No year listed.

History is all around us, and without it we risk losing our sense of place. At ACHS, we’re working everyday to bring our...
12/03/2025

History is all around us, and without it we risk losing our sense of place. At ACHS, we’re working everyday to bring our local stories to life for learners of all ages. From helping to process and research-and in many cases helping us identify individuals pictured in our archives, to spotlighting and championing our county’s stories through years of leadership, join ACHS trustee and volunteer Barb Q***r in helping us bring history to life for years to come.

Your gift and support of the historical society will enable us to do even more in 2026 as we gear up for our 75th anniversary, America’s 250th commemorations, and so much more.

Come be a part of history this ! To learn more and contribute, visit https://www.ashlandhistory.org/get-involved/

Address

420 Center Street
Ashland, OH
44805

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 3pm
Wednesday 10am - 3pm
Thursday 10am - 3pm
Friday 10am - 3pm

Telephone

+14192893111

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Ashland County Historical Society posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Museum

Send a message to Ashland County Historical Society:

Shortcuts

Share