Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
Spiegel Grove
Fremont, Ohio 43420
Nan Card
Curator of Manuscripts
1/800-998-7737
ncard@rbhayes.org

MAY 2008

EARLY WOOD COUNTY OHIO PROBATE RECORDS WILL TRANSFER TO THE HAYES
PRESIDENTIAL CENTER IN 2008

In the coming months, genealogists and local historians will have access to nearly 5,000 Wood County, Ohio, Probate Court wills and estate case files at the Hayes Presidential Center. In an agreement between Wood County Probate Court Judge David Woessner and the Hayes Presidential Center, the original case files, dating from 1872 to 1922, will be transferred to the Hayes Presidential Center. Microfilm of the files will continue to be available to the public at the Wood County Courthouse in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Before transferring, the records will be processed in archival storage materials. At the Hayes Presidential Center, volunteers will enter data into the Hayes Obituary Index . On-site researchers at the Hayes Center will have access to the original files, while distant researchers can search and request copies through the Hayes Center's website (www.rbhayes.org).

Using the same process, the Hayes Presidential Center worked with Sandusky County officials to transfer its earliest probate records to the Center in 2002. While the Wood County project will take months to complete, the Hayes Presidential Center is pleased to be part of this cooperative effort that will not only preserve the records, but also provide researchers with greater access.

NOW ON THE HAYES CENTER WEBSITE

LETTERS OF FANNY HAYES PLATT

Fanny Hayes Platt (1820 - 1856) , was President Hayes' only sibling to survive to adulthood. Their close relationship as children endured through the years. Hayes was deeply affected by his sister's death at age 36. Her influence and affection would remain a constant memory of Hayes throughout his life. You now can read Fanny's letters to President Hayes as well as his poignant account of their childhhood years written shortly after her death.


OHIO'S YESTERDAYS

Her geographic location - situated between Lake Erie to the north and the Ohio River to the south - destined Ohio to become the "Gateway to the West." Take time to check out Ohio's Yesterdays - a blog highlighting the people, places, and events of the great state of Ohio. Many of the stories -some new and some old - are inspired by the collections of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. Ohio's Yesterdays enables the merging of some of our photographs and documents in new ways. You'll find Ohio's Yesterdays featured on the Hayes Center's Research & Collections Manuscripts News page - or just click on Ohio's flag. We welcome your comments!

ARTIFACTS ONLINE!

For the first time, online viewers have access to images and information about the Hayes Presidential Center's artifacts. Thanks in part to funding from an IMLS grant award, data on and images of nearly 18,000 three-dimensional artifacts have been entered into a searchable database available on the Hayes Center's website. During a 3-year peiod, Collections Manager Mary Lou Rendon oversaw the monumental task of describing and photographing artifacts housed at the Hayes Presidential Center. They include gifts to the President and First Lady, such as this fully-beaded Sioux hide shirt given by Don't Braid His Hair of Pine Ridge. Hayes family possessions and objects donated through the years also can be found through the searchable database .

GILLMOR FAMILY COLLECTION

Among the earliest of Sandusky County, Ohio pioneers were the Gillmor and allied families of Fry, Frary, Speller, Hineline, and Baker . They settled in Ballville Twp. and the Old Fort area in the 1830s. Genealogical charts, documents, family vital records, photographs, and information about Ohio's late U. S. Congressman Paul E. Gillmor are a part of this collection.

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IN RECOGNITION OF DONORS
TO THE
HAYES PRESIDENTIAL CENTER MANUSCRIPTS FUND

Zoe L. and Edward B. Titchener

Jane L. Fox

Robert H. Ballard, Jr.

Ann W. and James S. Reeve II

In Memory of Stephen and Lucy (nee Whittlesey) Buckland

The Ropers

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The Manuscripts Collections at the Hayes Presidential Center are available to all researchers who wish to discover, learn, and share new information about our historic past. We deeply appreciate your continuing support. As a donor, your name appears on our web site, in the Statesman newsletter, and in the Hayes Presidential Center Annual Report.

You can donate safely and conveniently online at Donations to the Hayes Presidential Center Manuscripts Fund. - or you can send your donation to Hayes Presidential Center Manuscripts Fund, Attn: Nan Card, Curator of Manuscripts, Hayes Presidential Center, Spiegel Grove, Fremont, Ohio 43420

THANK YOU!

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RECENT PUBLICATIONS USING THE HAYES PRESIDENTIAL CENTER'S PHOTOGRAPH AND MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS

General James B. McPherson: The Star-Crossed Knight of the Union by Thomas Waldsmith

Resolute: The Epic Search for the Northwest Passage and John Franklin by Martin W. Sandler

The Diaries of John Gregory Bourke: Volume Three, June 1, 1878 - June 22, 1880 ed. Charles M. Robinson III

American Presidential China : The Robert L. Mcneil Jr., Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art by Susan Gray Detweiler

Presidential Temples : How Memorials and Libraries Shape Public Memory by Benjamin Hufbauer

"Crossing the Ice” in Timeline by Fergus M. Bordevich

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Nan Card
Curator of Manuscripts
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
Spiegel Grove
Fremont, Ohio 43420
1/800-998-7737
ncard@rbhayes.org
www.rbhayes.org