How do I get a flag on my relative's grave for Memorial Day?

“I recently found out that one of my relatives fought in the Civil War. How do I make sure that he gets a flag on his grave for Memorial Day?”

Our patron’s relative was not buried in Newton Falls, but we were able to easily locate the rules and regulations for the cemetery where they were buried on the internet. The rules stated that the Memorial Day flags were property of the township and would be displayed for “a reasonable time.” We decided that our most straightforward option would be to contact the township directly, so we called the cemetery sexton, who had listed his phone number on the website, and he was able to solve the problem. We also could have called the local chapter of the American Legion.

According to Holiday Symbols and Customs, edited by Sue Ellen Thompson, Memorial Day, first called “Decoration Day,” originated as a day to honor Civil War soldiers. The first official observance was in Waterloo, New York on May 5, 1866, though other towns were decorating soldiers’ graves before then, including women in Columbus, Mississippi, who gathered on April 25, 1866 to decorate the graves of both the Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.

The first nationwide Decoration Day was held by the Grand Army of the Republic, a Union Army veterans’ group, on May 30, 1868. As Union Army veterans were the first to mark the day, several southern states felt that it was only for them, so states instituted their own Confederate Memorial Days on different dates ranging from late  April to early June. This custom mostly ended after World War I, when the American Legion took over planning the holiday.

How many people survived the Titanic sinking?

After a presentation by Carol Starre-Kmiecik, who told the story of the “unsinkable” Margaret “Molly” Brown, a famous Titanic survivor, one of our patrons was curious about how many other people had survived. Ms. Starr-Kmiecik remembered that around 1,500 had died, but no one could remember the number of survivors.

The answer was in Andrew Wilson’s book Shadow of the Titanic: The Extraordinary Stories of Those Who Survived. 705 people survived the sinking. Wilson tells some of their stories, from Jack Thayer, a seventeen year-old who jumped from the rail of the ship in its final moments and managed to swim to an overturned lifeboat, to Dorothy Gibson, an actress who went on to star in Saved from the Titanic, a silent film about the tragedy. 

The website www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/ provides lists of survivors that can be sorted by lifeboat. According to the site, there were twenty-three other people on Margaret Brown’s lifeboat – less than half its full capacity. These other passengers included several other people from first class and their maids, two crew members, an a third-class passenger. One of the women, Mrs. Elizabeth Rothschild, is said to have snuck her Pomeranian aboard and refused to board the rescuing Carpathian without it.

Why did we domesticate ferrets? What are they for?

It’s generally believed that humans domesticated cats to help us with pest control and dogs to provide protection and help with hunting and herding. One of our patrons has two pet ferrets, and he wanted to know when people began bringing ferrets into their homes, and what purpose they originally served.

We found some information in Ferrets for Dummies by Kim Schilling and Susan A. Brown’s article “History of the Ferret” on weaselwords.com. Today’s pet ferret is assumed to be a domesticated form of either the Western or Eastern European polecat, and they have been in our lives for about 2,500 years. It’s not certain who first tamed them. While some sources say Egypt, citing hieroglyphs depicting weasel-like creatures, Schilling believes that the hieroglyphs were probably depicting native mongooses, which were kept as pets to kill snakes and small rodents. While mongooses look similar to ferrets and weasels, they are not part of the same family. Ferrets, weasels, otters, wolverines, badgers, martens, stoats, and minks are all Mustelids.

Ferrets seem to have been first domesticated for hunting and pest control. Between 63 BC and 24 AD, Caesar Augustus was requested to sail ferrets out to the Balearic Islands where an overpopulation of rabbits was causing a famine. They assisted hunters in catching the rabbits. (The practice of hunting with ferrets, called “ferreting,” involves releasing the ferrets near a burrow. The ferret is not meant to catch the game, just drive it out of its burrow to where the hunter is waiting. The ferrets would often have bells on their collars so that the hunters could keep track of them, and sometimes they would also be tethered.)

Like cats, ferrets were considered very useful on ships for the ability to keep the rodent population down. The Colonial Navy of Massachusetts named the ferret their official mascot in 1986, saying that, in the days of wooden ships, ferrets were even better than cats, as they could fit into all the tiny nooks and crannies where mice tried to hide.

Ferrets were once even used to transport wires and cables through narrow pipes. According to Brown and Schilling, oilmen, telephone companies, camera crews, and sailors have used them in this way. People would tie the wire or cable to the ferret or its harness and the ferret would run through the pipe on its own.

They are still raised for their fur, although this is less common than it once was, and they’re often used in biomedical research. However, most people today know them as companion animals.

Can I exchange this certificate for gold?

“While cleaning out my mother’s house, I found a twenty-dollar bill that says “twenty dollars in gold coin payable to the bearer on demand.” It’s bigger than a regular twenty-dollar bill and it has George Washington on it. Can I really exchange it for gold?”

Our patron brought in a picture of their find and we were able to identify it as a 1922 series twenty-dollar gold certificate. The U.S. Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve History websites answered our patron’s question. While it can be redeemed for a regular twenty-dollar bill through any financial institution, it can no longer be exchanged for gold. In fact, for thirty years it was illegal to have a gold certificate.

Gold certificates circulated until December 28, 1933, until the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 withdrew all gold certificates, gold coin, and gold bullion from circulation. President Roosevelt gave the order that all privately-owned gold certificated be turned over to the Treasurer of the United States by midnight on January 17, 1934. It was then illegal to hold them until the restrictions were removed in 1964.

However, there is good news! According to the thirty-fourth edition of the Standard Catalog of United States Paper Money, a 1922 series twenty-dollar gold certificate in fine condition can be worth about two hundred dollars.

Is there a way to find out what was happening on a certain day in history, particularly during World War II?

In January, we answered a patron’s question about how to find an obituary that was published years ago, and that information is available on our library blog and is useful in knowing where to look for old local newspapers.

To see what was going on in any given year, we have Timetables of History by Bernard Grun, Chronology of World History by H.E.L. Mellersh, and Chronicle of the World by Jerome Burne and Derrik Mercer. These books are set up like timelines, documenting the important events that happened every year.

History, HistoryNet (publisher of several magazines including Military History), and the New York Times all have a “This Day in History” feature on their websites. The New York Times even includes a picture of the front page of the paper from a particularly significant date.

For World War II-specific information, World War II Database and HistoryOfWar.org both have timelines of the war that go day-by-day. We also have VFW’s Pictorial History of the Second World War, which is a chronological collection of captioned photographs.

For further research, the Newton Falls Public Library has an extensive collection of World War II nonfiction, including The Second World War by Antony Beevor, Eyewitness to World War II by Neil Kagan and Stephen G. Hyslop, and The War: An Intimate History 1941-1945 by Geoffrey G. Ward and Ken Burns.

Was there someone from Braceville on the Lusitania?

“I was reading Dead Wake, Erik Larson’s book about the Lusitania, and it mentioned that someone on the boat was from Braceville. Can you tell me anything about her?”

A quick internet search told us that Jessie Taft Smith was the Braceville resident in question. She was born into one of Braceville’s original pioneer families in February 1876. In October 1901, she married John Smith (also from a prominent family) at the Methodist Church, and the two moved to Chicago shortly after. John developed an airplane engine that the British Admiralty was interested in, so in 1915, he went to England and Jessie moved back to Braceville. A few months after he’d left, he contacted Jessie, asking her to bring him blueprint plans for one of his engines. We were able to find her passport application (including a photograph) on Ancestry.com. On the application, she gives “to accompany husband (who is there with passport)” as her reason for visiting Great Britain. John paid for her passage on the Lusitania.

The Lusitania began its journey from New York to Great Britain on May 1. On May 7, it was torpedoed by a U-20 submarine in the Irish Channel. Jessie made it into one of the lifeboats and was rescued by a British ship and reunited with her husband. She survived the sinking, but the stress of it took a toll on her, and she suffered a mental breakdown from which she never recovered. Jessie Taft Smith died in 1928 at the age of fifty-two. She is buried in Braceville Cemetery.

We found our online information at RMSLusitania.info, FirstWorldWar.com, and Encyclopedia Titanica. The History of Braceville Township Trumbull County Ohio by Grace R. Sells has a brief section on Jessie Taft Smith. We also have Erik Larson’s Dead Wake, the book that inspired the question. 

I'd like information about Watkins Wall

“Could you give me some information on Watkins Wall? When did it go up and why was it taken down?”

Longtime residents of Newton Falls may remember the wall, which stood from 1978 until 1986 on the corner of Broad and Center Streets. Ella A. Woodward’s History of Newton Falls (the revised edition, which had only been published in 1977) didn’t offer any information, so we turned to our Local History Room.

The Local History Room is open most Wednesdays, and one Wednesday evening Linda, our Local History Room volunteer, was able to locate an article from the April 30, 1986 issue of the Newton Falls Herald. The wall had been torn down that Tuesday.

It had been built in 1978, part of a beautification plan that involved planting trees, developing parks, and redesigning storefronts. The city built the ornamental wall, which included planters with trees and shrubbery, and put down new sidewalks on the south side of Broad Street, but unfortunately funds became unavailable before the plan could be finished.

Tearing down the wall was also part of a beautification plan. The Parks and Recreation Commission intended to create a better sense of flow in the Four Corner Parks area. Most of the wall was going to be replaced by a low planter filled with flowering trees and accompanied by a long bench. The trees and shrubbery in the Watkins Wall planter were removed. Some of them were moved to Sixth Street and some to the front of City Hall. It was one stubborn tree that ultimately brought the wall down. When workers went to remove it, it turned out that its roots had been holding together part of the wall, and taking out the tree took brick out with it.

What Used to Be Built Near the Falls in Newton Falls?

A patron was walking near the falls and grew curious about their history. “What used to be built near the falls in Newton Falls? Was there a mill or anything like that?”

We were able to find a lot of information in Fragments of History of Newton Falls and Newton Township, Ohio, compiled, edited, and annotated by Wendell F. Lauth and the Friends of the Newton Falls Public Library and History of Newton Falls, compiled by Ella A. Woodward. Fragments of History even included a picture of the falls, circa 1900, with the Hoyle Woolen Mill on one side and part of the Eagle Mills on the left.

Mr. Canfield and Mr. Ruggles (no first names available) built a sawmill in 1806 on the site that would later house the Hoyle Woolen Mill. The woolen mill itself was built in 1825, enlarged and improved in 1843, and sold to Allen Hoyle in 1857. Under Hoyle's ownership, it became well-known for the excellent quality of its products. According to History of Newton Falls, some of the blankets from the Hoyle mill were still around a hundred years later.

Canfield and Ruggles built the first grist mill (also known as a flour mill) in 1811, but a drunk man took refuge in it one winter night in 1817 and ended up burning it down.Twelve years later, Horace and Augustus Stephens (or Stevens, depending on the source) built the Eagle Mills, another grist mill, to take its place. The Stephens were bought out and their mill rebuilt by the Porter family in 1871, who renamed it the Eagle Mills of Porter and Sons.

Both the Eagle Mills and the Hoyle Woolen Mill seem to have been bought up by an electric company around 1908.

We’re fortunate enough to have a dedicated volunteer who works in the local history room most Wednesdays and may be able to pull more information and old pictures. Give us a call any Wednesday to see if she’s available!

Can I Have More Information about the Orphan Train Program?

Our library book club recently read Christina Baker Kline’s Orphan Train. The title refers to a program developed by the Children’s Aid Society (with a similar program developed later by the New York Foundling Hospital) that transported orphaned and homeless children from the big cities in the East to new lives in the West. Some found loving families, but others weren’t so lucky, meeting with abuse often in the form of unscrupulous adults who saw fit to use them as unpaid labor. The orphan trains ran from 1853 until 1929.

While the back of the book provides a lot of information about the orphan train riders, one of the members of the book club was curious about the aid workers’ side of the story. Were there any primary sources available from them?

The Children’s Aid Society still exists today. They understand that people are curious about their history, and they give a phone number (212-949-4847) and an email address (archives@childrensaidsociety.org) for people to contact to learn more about the orphan train program. They also provide access to the Victor Remer Historical Archives of the Children’s Aid Society. A guide to the archives can be found online here. While you’ll need to be at the library of the New-York Historical Society to view most of the materials yourself (which include journals and memoirs of Children’s Aid Society agents and correspondence with children who were placed out), some of the material has been digitized and can be viewed here. 

We also found a book about the founder of the Children’s Aid Society, Stephen O’Connor’s Orphan Trains: The Story of Charles Loring Brace and the Children He Saved and Failed, which is available through CLEVNET.

If you’re ever in Concordia, Kansas, and want to know more about the orphan train movement, you can visit the National Orphan Train Complex. (For more information, their website is located at http://orphantraindepot.org/.)

What's the Soda Pepsi Introduced to Compete with TaB?

“What’s the soda Pepsi introduced to compete with TaB?”

Royal Crown Cola’s Diet-Rite, introduced in 1958, was one of the first diet sodas on the market. Once the nation started watching its weight and Royal Crown Cola started advertising Diet-Rite as a soda rather than a specialized diet product, the Coca-Cola company knew they had to do something to compete.

In 1963, Coca-Cola introduced TaB, their first diet soda. Snopes.com, a website dedicated to investigating rumors and urban legends, gives the origin of the name, which some people have erroneously assumed stands for “Totally Artificial Beverage.” Coca-Cola was unwilling to dilute their brand by referring to their diet soda as Diet Coke. Instead, they came up with a list of three- and four-letter combinations and put about two dozen of them through market tests. TaB emerged victorious. According to Coca-Cola, it brings to mind keeping “tabs” on your weight.

Knowing a little more about TaB, now we needed to find its Pepsi counterpart. The Pepsico website has a timeline section that goes back to the sixties, but there’s not much information there. However, searching “Pepsi drinks 1960s” in an online search engine brought up the Wikipedia page for Patio, which jogged our memories. Introduced by Pepsi in 1963, Patio came in several different flavors including cola, orange, root beer, strawberry, and grape.

Fans of the television show Mad Men may be familiar with the drink. In one episode, the characters put together an ultimately unsuccessful commercial for Patio imitating the opening song in “Bye Bye Birdie,” but changing the words to “Bye bye, sugar.” 

In 1964, Patio Diet Cola was replaced by Diet Pepsi, though some of the flavored sodas stuck around into the seventies. TaB, however, can still be found in some stores today.

For more information about Pepsi’s history and their rivalry with Coca-Cola, Pepsi: 100 Years by Bob Stoddard and The Cola Wars by J.C. Louis are both available through CLEVNET.

Where Can I Find Authentic Cowboy Slang?

“I’m writing a story about cowboys, and I’d like to incorporate authentic cowboy slang. Could you help?”

While we have “Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang” and “A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles” available in the reference section here at the Newton Falls Public Library, both are more useful for looking up the origins of specific words and phrases. Putting “cowboy slang” into an online search engine brings up quite a few websites, but we had a tough time finding one that cited its sources, and so we weren’t sure how authentic they actually were.

Looking through CLEVNET, however, we found “Cowboy Lingo” and “Western Words: A Dictionary of the Range, Cow Camp, and Trail.” Both are written by Ramon Frederick Adams, a respected Western writer, historian, and bibliographer, and both can be put on hold and sent to any other CLEVNET library.

Here at Newton Falls, we have Candy Moulton’s “The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in the Wild West From 1840-1900,” which has a short chapter on language along with a wealth of other information, including sections about the clothes people wore, the food that they ate, and what they did for fun. We also have “The Cowboys” by Time-Life Books and a selection of more general books about the American West, including Geoffrey C. Ward’s “The West: An Illustrated History” and James D. Horan’s “The Great American West.”

Could You Give Me Some Information About Buffington Island?

"Could you give me some information about Buffington Island?" One of our Newton Falls Public Library patrons who had recently traveled to Buffington Island wanted to know more about it.

The Battle of Buffington Island has the distinction of being the only significant Civil War battle in Ohio. The battlefield is in Meigs County, Ohio, and is owned by the Ohio Historical Society. It's free and open to the public year-round during daylight hours. The 150^th anniversary of the Battle of Buffington Island took place this past July, and was commemorated with a memorial service and demonstrations by Civil War reenactors.

The battle took place when Confederate Brigadier-General John Hunt Morgan and his raiders made an attempt to ford the Ohio River. They were met by Union soldiers and gunboats under the command of Brigadier-General E.H. Hobson and General H.M. Judah. Morgan and several hundred of his men escaped and headed north in the hopes of finding a better place to cross. They were finally surrounded and taken captive in Columbiana County, thus ending the raiding campaign. 

For more information on John Hunt Morgan's raids, "The Last Night and Last Day of John Hunt Morgan's Raid: Eyewitness Accounts of Morgan's Ohio Raid of 1863" and James A. Ramage's "Rebel Raider: The Life of John Hunt Morgan" are available through CLEVNET. For general information on Ohio's involvement in the Civil War, "Ohio's War: The Civil War in Documents" and Robert S. Harper's "Ohio Handbook of the Civil War" are both available at the Newton Falls Public Library. Ohiohistorycentral.org, History.com, and Ohiohistory.org all have information on the Battle of Buffington Island.

Where is Fzilas Located?

"I am working on tracing my family history.  It seems that each online source of information has different spellings for individual family members.  At EllisIsland.org, I found someone I think may be the person I am looking for.   He came into Ellis Island in the correct year and is approximately the correct age.  I don't recognize the name of the town that was listed on the ship's manifest.  I know the area other family members came from in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but I don't recognize the town of Fzilas.  Can you find where that is located."  The Newton Falls Public Library staff is always willing to get people started on their genealogy searches, and the library has many resources available for them. 

Using the search words "towns in Austria-Hungary" we located The AllGalicia Database.  This site covers vital and historical records from the old Austro-Hungarian Empire province of Galicia.  Fzilas was not listed, but it linked to JewishGen's community search.  We typed in the name of the town and narrowed our search by the pre-WWI country selection Austrian Empire.  Our search was successful.  We found that this town is now known as Puclice, Czech Republic; circa 1900 before WWI it was Pustlitz Bohemia, Austrian Empire.  He will now be able to compare this location with those of other family members to determine if this is the ancestor for which he is looking.

For those doing family trees and searches, a free version of Ancestry.com is available inside the library to our patrons. Patrons can access this by going to the library's homepage, clicking on Ohio Web Library, then choosing Resources, Genealogy, and Ancestry Online - In Library.  While we do not do genealogy, we are always willing to get people started by assisting them in finding sources of information in the library's collection and online.

I Want to Find Information About My House

"I recently purchased a home in the city of Newton Falls.  It is over 100 years old and I'm trying to find more information about it. Does the library have anything that can help me?" The Newton Falls Public Library staff has several resources for assisting patrons with a question such as this one.

The first is the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. These are large scale street plans produced by the Sanborn Fire Insurance company from 1867 to 1970.  They may be accessed for free through the library's website, www.newtonfalls.org.  Once there, select Ohio Web Library, then Resources.  The maps are in the subject category Genealogy. Below the list of recent submissions, there is the option of searching within this historic map database.  Typing in the street address and Newton Falls, we found maps back to March of 1889. A great deal of interesting information can be gleaned about the city over the years, such as there was a well and pump at the intersection of Broad and Canal Streets. A notation on the August 1908 map, by the Klingensmith Bro's Flour Mill, says that the mill is to be moved that year from its site by the W. Branch of the Mahoning River.  It is to be replaced by a fire proof electric power plant of the Peerless Electric Co. Sometimes there is information about the materials used in the construction of the buildings or if there was a night watchman. Looking at the maps over the years, it is also possible to see when additions or changes were made to buildings. Viewing these maps, our patron was able to see how her home had changed over the years.

We next viewed the Trumbull County Auditor's property search site. This website includes useful information about some past sales of the property, improvements, and a sketch with construction information.

The library's Local History Room has city directories from 1963 to present which are useful for tracing ownership of houses. The collection of old photographs may also be examined to see older views of some of the homes in the community. 

There is also available a copy of the 1856 map of Trumbull County, Ohio.  Homes are marked on the map, along with the names of the property owners. While the  Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps only include homes within the city limits, this map includes township homes.  The map may be viewed by going to the library's website, selecting Local History and then 1856 Trumbull County Map.

What Was the Name of the Drug Store Near Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C.?

“I’m trying to remember the name of a drug store chain from the 1950s, 1960s.  There was one near where I lived in Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C., and I remember there was also one in Youngstown.  The one in Washington was replaced by Gray Drugs. Can you find the name of the store for me?”  Questions such as this one are always intriguing, requiring extra thought as to how to approach finding something which has since been replaced by something else.

Initially our online search took us to the article, GRAY DRUG STORES, INC. - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.  This was a joint effort by Case Western Reserve University and Western Reserve Historical Society.  According to the article, Gray Drug purchased Rinks and Drug Fair, before it was taken over by Sherwin Williams. Their Gray Drug division then took over Cunningham Drug Stores. None of these chains were the one for which our patron was looking.

Continuing the search, we changed our focus from the history of Gray Drug, to the 1950s drug stores located in Dupont Circle.  The website greatergreaterwashington.org has the article, Then and Now: Dupont's drug store by Kent Boese  [March 25, 2009]. Boese writes about the Peoples Drug at P street and Dupont Circle in 1968. Another site, www.streetsofwashington.com, posted the article The Once-Ubiquitous Peoples Drug Stores on December 5, 2011. In 1974, the Ohio-based drug store chain, Lane Drug Corporation, not Gray Drug, gained a controlling share of Peoples' stock. These stores have all been renamed and are part of CVS. Streets of Washington has some wonderful photographs of the old Peoples stores. We spoke again with our patron and as soon as we said Peoples, her response was positive.

The Constitutional Requirements of Natural Born Citizenship for President

“There has been some controversy in the last two presidential elections about candidates meeting the constitutional requirements of natural born citizenship. Can you give me some information about this?  Also, what paperwork do I need if I would decide to run for president?” The Newton Falls Public Library staff was aware that this issue was discussed for both candidates in the 2008 election and again in the 2012.

Looking online, the staff found many websites with opinions but wanted a nonbiased, legal opinion.  On November 14, 2011, Legislative Attorney Jack Maskell published the 53 page article, Qualifications for President and the “Natural Born” Citizenship Eligibility Requirement for the Congressional Research Service.  The CRS Report is for Congress, prepared for members and committees of Congress. The summary begins with:

“The Constitution sets out three eligibility requirements to be President: one must be 35 years of age, a resident ‘within the United States’ for 14 years, and a ‘natural born Citizen.’ There is no Supreme Court case which has ruled specifically on the presidential eligibility requirements and this clause has been the subject of several legal and historical treatises over the years, as well as more recent litigation. The term ‘natural born’ citizen is not defined in the Constitution, and there is no discussion of the term evident in the notes of the Federal Convention of 1787.”  

And then closes with:

The weight of legal and historical authority indicates that the term ‘natural born’ citizen would mean a person who is entitled to U.S. citizenship ‘by birth’ or ‘at birth,’ either by being born ‘in’ the United States and under its jurisdiction, even those born to alien parents; by being born abroad to U.S. citizen-parents; or by being born in other situations meeting legal requirements for U.S. citizenship ‘at birth.’”

The full report includes the following sections: History of the Qualifications Clause in the Federal Convention of 1787, Common Law Meaning of the Term “Natural Born” Citizen or Subject, Common Understanding in 18^th Century of the Term “Natural Born” Citizen, and Citizenship at Birth: Case Law and Interpretation.  This latter section includes Legal Cases and Senator McCain and Legal Cases and President Obama.

The second part of the inquiry was answered by the Federal Election Commission, which has an online Candidate Registration Toolkit as well as all the forms needed to declare candidacy. We were not able to find any indication that you are required to show a birth certificate to file.  Once candidates have declared, they are sometimes asked to prove that they are natural born citizens.  According to the Wikipedia article: Natural-born-citizen clause, there have been other candidates whose eligibility has been questioned. The list includes such famous names as President Chester A. Arthur, Barry Goldwater, George Romney, John McCain, and President Barack Obama.

Is There Only One 307th in the United States Army?

“Is there only one 307^th in the United States Army?”  The Newton Falls Public Library staff was not exactly sure for what our patron was asking, so we asked for additional information.  She needed to know if there was only one 307^th designation in the Army, whether it is a regiment, battalion, etc.

We began with the U.S. Army’s homepage, www.army.mil.  Searching this site using the term 307^th, we found about 429 results. The list of articles included the 307^th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion and 307^th Airborne Medical Company which were part of the 82nd Airborne Division during D Day, 307^th Infantry Regiment and others.  Wanting to know if we were looking for the correct information, we spoke with the patron again. She explained that she is looking for the 307^th that was in North Japan during World War II.

Sometimes successful searching is a matter of happening to select the correct term.  When we Googled the term “307^th regiment”, we found the Department of the Army Lineage and Honors 307^th Regiment.  This history said that it was constituted August 5, 1917 in the National Army as the 307th Infantry and assigned to the 77th Division. It was both active and inactive over the following decades, and was ordered back into active military service March 25, 1942.  March 15, 1946 it was inactivated in Japan, and then activated again December 17, 1946 in the Organized Reserves with Headquarters at Bronx, New York. 

Baxterbulletin.com has an article titled, 3-Wars Veteran Recalls Battles on IslandJust Off Okinawa by Frank Wallis. Wallis states “The 307th Regiment was the third segment of 13 77th Infantry battle groups to land on the west of Okinawa for the battles of Kerama Retto and Keise Shima. The Battle of Okinawa would produce more American deaths — 12,513 in 81 days — than any other battle in the Pacific.”  We gave our patron these links, and told her if she needed more information, we would be happy to continue searching for her.

When Was the Newton Falls Police Department Created?

“Can you tell me when the Newton Falls Police Department was created?” The Newton Falls Public Library staff knew exactly where to look for this information.

We immediately referred to the History of Newton Falls by Ella A. Woodward [Revised 1977 Edition, pages 150-152]. In 1872, H. S. Roberts was hired as the town marshal for the hamlet of Newton Falls, Ohio. On March 12, 1873, H. C. Morley was hired as a township marshal. In 1884, the office changed to include the duties of night watchman and lamplighter with a salary of $35 a month.  The first police officer hired by the new village government, which was established on December 13, 1887, was C. S. Medley.

A police department was created by the Newton Falls Village Council on May 7, 1929. “It consisted of one first class and two second class officers who would be appointed by the mayor and approved by the city council. The officers would be subject to dismissal at the mayor’s discretion.” [p. 150]

Our patron may also wish to visit the Library’s Local History Room. The Police Department has placed on permanent loan to the library a variety of historical items including an old radio and a jug which was used by moonshiners during prohibition.

Why Are Marathons 26.2 Miles Long?

“My kids run marathons. Why are they 26.2 miles long? That seems like such an odd number.” The Newton Falls Public Library staff remembered that had something to do with the Ancient Greeks, but couldn’t remember the exact story for our patron.

We first went to Library Databases on our website, selected the Clevnet Databases, then Almanacs, Dictionaries & Encyclopedias, and Oxford Reference Online. It stated that “The standard marathon is 42.2km (26.2mi) long, which was the distance run by the ancient Greek soldier who brought news to Athens of victory over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon (490 BC).”

Marathon Runner's Handbook by Bruce Fordyce (p.8) has several stories relating to the origins of the marathon and the distance. Fordyce says that “structured distance racing first appeared with the Ancient Greek Olympic Games which date back to 472 BC.” None raced the 42.2km at that time though. “The first official marathon of this distance was raced at the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens . . . the distance was standardized in 1908, at the Olympic Games held in London.”  He also tells three stories similar to the information in Oxford Reference Online, with runners running from Marathon to Athens and also from Athens to Sparta. The stories tell of “trained messengers running very long distances, but it is certain there was no distance remotely resembling a marathon at the Ancient Greek Olympic Games.”

The Ancient Olympics by Nigel Spivey (p.114) supports Fordyce, confirming that the original episode has become muddled in the retelling. It was for that first modern Olympics in 1896 that a course was mapped from Marathon to Athens, and the distance we view as a marathon set.