Thoughtless Marietta Boys...
Shelley Gorrell, a volunteer at the Archives, and my wonderful wife, recently pulled copies of the Tallow Lights from 1968 out of the collections of the collections held at the Washington County Historical Society Archives for me to read through.
The issues includes an installment on the postal history of Newport Township, by Jerry Devol, an article on the Milligan family and several other articles of interest. The back issues of the Tallow Lights are a wonderful source of information on the history of our county and I encourage you to visit the Archives and spend some time digging into the collections.
I have to say though, that the short newspaper notice caught my attention right away. It read as follows:
“REPREHENSIBLE! Some thoughtless Marietta boys, on the morning of the fourth, fired a shell down the river, striking about a mile below town, and deluging Mr. A.S. Hale and wife, who were in a skiff at the time. Fortunately the shell did not explode, or we might have a different story to tell. The same chaps also fired canister shots a number of times, five balls striking the steamer OHIO. For the latter act the boys are to be called to account by Capt. Wm. Knox.”
Oh. So many questions come to mind. Where did one find a cannon and canister shot laying loose around town? Who’s idea was it? And most of all, how much paint was blistered off the walls by the response from Captain Knox?
Come on by the Archives at 346 Muskingum Drive, Marietta Ohio from 10-2 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The phone number is 740-373-1788.