Apologies to my new-found readers

Just as I got this blog up and running,… I took some vacation time, so “All History is Local” sat dormant for a bit.  Now I’m back,… and I’m ready to go.  Sorry, for all five of you who waited with bated breath, for the next installment.   GRIN

Confession:  I am about to break my cardinal pledge of not weighting this blog with genealogy, but as “all history is local”, please bear with me.  This is different.  We’re in election season, and I just had a hunch that I’d be able, looking hard enough, to make some local history ties to the candidates who are now vying for the White House. 

Okay,…this blog is not political,…. except that while I’ve been watching these two national political party conventions,… I keep wondering,… “well I wonder if any of these candidates have a historical connection to Columbus or Ohio”.  Well!!  In my vacation week,… I found that the Democratic candidate, Barak Obama, has ancestral ties to Delaware County, Ohio, just north of Columbus.  I’ll post more specifics on that in the next day or so, after I run down some additional facts.

I think I also have Sarah (Heath) Palin’s ancestors pinned back to north central Ohio in the 1800s.  Again,…I’ll post more when I know more.  …As for McCain and Biden,….haven’t looked yet.  But I’m on the case.  HA!

Why is all this of interest to this blog,…. well “All history is local”,….and Ohio has been the mother of several presidents, and a few would-be contenders.  So,….presidential history is hand-in-hand with Ohio local history.  In fact, our current president, George W. Bush traces his ancestry back to Columbus, Ohio.  Below is an etching of one of his ancestral homes, which was situated on the corner of Washington and Town Streets, very near CML Main Library.

This house was built by Howard Cornelius Bancroft, who came to Columbus from New England, in 1853.  He clerked at a dry goods firm owned by the Fernando Kelton family, http://www.keltonhouse.com/ who lived just up the street.  Bancroft eventually became a partner with Kelton in the business.  For a number of years, Bancroft was the President of the Columbus Club.  In later years Bancroft was in partnership with his son-in-law Robert Sheldon, who would become President Bush’s great, great-grandfather.

            Currently, the above street address has a high rise apartment building, which was constructed in the late 1940s.  Progress?  Of course, there are other Bush related ancestral houses strewn throughout Columbus, but this one just fascinated me because it’s no longer here.

 

Thought for the day: I am reminded of the quote by John Morris in, Londinium: London in the Roman Empire, p. 205.  “At most, …living memory endures for a hundred years or so.  Thereafter, even the barest outline of the past is forgotten, unless it is recorded in writing.”