July 16th - Holmes County, OH

Angie got a wonderful compliment to start the day. Hank's cousin, Marty, a retired casting director, was struck by Angie's beauty. "If I had a movie now I would cast you in a second!" she said.

The family travelled by motor coach from the hotel in Sugar Creek to the site of the Revolutionary War Fort Laurens, where two of Ludwig's sons (including Hank's ancestor Feidt Wysong) helped build the western frontier outpost of the Revolutionary Army in the fall of 1778. Our visit coincided with the annual re-enactment by men and women dressed as Continental Army, militia, camp women, British soldiers and even an Iroquois Indian!

We were privileged to visit with people in character complete with period tools, weapons, clothes, and tents. We watched formation drills and firing drills. We saw a man using a clamp bench to hold a piece of hickory firmly while he peeled the bark with a hand tool, in order to fashion tool handles and furniture legs. The visitor center told the story of the construction of the fort and the one difficult winter that soldiers occupied the fort. It was meant to be a stepping stone in a supply chain along with Fort Pitt and Fort McIntosh to support an attack on Detroit. Ultimately, the plan and the fort were abandoned, when they saw how impractical it was. 

We had a light lunch followed by a tour at the Ernest "Mooney" Warther Gallery and Gardens.
Warther was a self-taught, world-renowned master carver, who lived in Holmes County from 1885-1973. He was a brilliant man who visualized intricate designs in his head, including the number of cuts and the amount of time it would take to complete highly detailed,  moving wood and ivory sculptures. He was fascinated with the history of the steam engine and created highly accurate scale models of all the seminal models of steam engine from ancient Egypt through the dawn of the diesel locomotive. These sculptures were made of walnut, bone, ebony and ivory and consisted of thousands of pieces, assembled with pins.

Wood carving was a sacred hobby. He refused to sell any of his carvings. Although he made gifts of them to people such as Dwight Eisenhower. He did exhibit his carvings to raise money to support his family and his hobby. Moody made his own carving knives with interchangeable blades. He also manufactured and sold cutlery as a main source of income.

One of the amazing exhibits at the gallery is a working model of the steel mill where Warther worked  for nearly 24 years. The model features Moody and his friends doing their jobs (and even eating their lunch). He mechanized the mill using pulleys, gears and belts.  

Another amazing piece was a walking stick he carved out of a single piece of wood. Abraham Lincoln's head was featured at the top of the stick. In the body, there was a cage that contained a cage ball. Inside the cage ball was a solid ball. Both balls looked perfectly round. He carved this all in place from a single piece of wood! You cannot take the stick apart. The solid ball inside cannot be touched by human hands.

After dinner, a family meeting was held to elect officers, award college scholarships and decide the location of the next two family reunions. We won the award for the longest distance traveled to the reunion.