Did He Build the Chair He Died In? | This Week in Ohio, Oct. 22-28

This Week in Ohio, October 22-28.

On October 27, 1911, a man named Charles Justice was led to the electric chair at the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus. You'll find a story online that he helped build that chair. Did he? This week in Ohio history is full of stories where the legend and the record don't match.

This week: Pretty Boy Floyd's last afternoon near Clarkson in Columbiana County (1934); the Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1784); John Heisman's birth in Cleveland and the trophy that wasn't named for him at first; Zane Grey of Zanesville; Arthur St. Clair's army marching out of Fort Jefferson (1791); one order that swapped one Ohio general for another (1862); First Lady Caroline Harrison of Oxford; Leo Lesquereux, the deaf Swiss immigrant who helped found the study of fossil plants in America; Thomas Ewing and the boy he raised, William Tecumseh Sherman; a freezing groundbreaking on Broad Street; the Ohio Turnpike (1952); the only Carter-Reagan debate, in Cleveland (1980); and a letter from Warren Harding of Marion (1919).

Chapters:
0:00 Did he build the chair? (Oct. 27, 1911)
0:36 Oct. 22: Pretty Boy Floyd; the Treaty of Fort Stanwix
1:22 Oct. 23: John Heisman; Zane Grey
1:56 Oct. 24: St. Clair marches; Buell out, Rosecrans in
2:41 Oct. 25: Caroline Harrison; Leo Lesquereux
3:15 Oct. 26: Thomas Ewing and Sherman; Hayes breaks ground
3:50 Oct. 27: Charles Justice: the legend and the record; the Ohio Turnpike
4:46 Oct. 28: Carter and Reagan in Cleveland; Harding's letter
5:28 Next: November 4, 1791

Sources:
- Charles Justice: Daily Journal-Herald (Delaware, Ohio), Oct. 27, 1911, p. 1; Times-Democrat (Lima), Oct. 27, 1911; Ohio History Connection, "Myth Busting: the electric chair".
- Floyd: FBI, "'Pretty Boy' Falls" (2009); Ohio historical marker 10-15 (East Liverpool Historical Society / Ohio Historical Society, via HMdb 39894); East Liverpool Historical Society.
- Fort Stanwix: Treaty with the Six Nations, 1784 (Yale Avalon Project); Britannica.
- Heisman: Encyclopedia of Alabama; Encyclopedia of Cleveland History; Heisman Trophy Trust (heisman.com).
- Zane Grey: Britannica; Ohio History Central.
- St. Clair: Ohio historical marker 5-19 (Fort Jefferson).
- Buell and Rosecrans: Daily Ohio State Journal, Oct. 25, 1862, p. 3 (via Ohio Memory).
- Caroline Harrison: White House Historical Association; Carroll Free Press, Oct. 26, 1892; Chagrin Falls Exponent, Oct. 27, 1892 (via Ohio Memory).
- Lesquereux: Daily Ohio State Journal, Oct. 26, 1889.
- Ewing and Sherman: Ohio State Journal and Ohio Statesman, Oct. 27, 1871; Catholic Encyclopedia; Sherman's Memoirs.
- Hayes and the asylum: Ohio State Journal, Oct. 27, 1869.
- Ohio Turnpike: Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission history; Ohio Senate Resolution 233 (131st GA).
- 1980 debate: WVXU; Miller Center debate transcript.
- Harding letter: Warren G. Harding to Harry M. Daugherty, Oct. 28, 1919 (Ohio History Connection / Ohio Memory).

Pictures and film: Library of Congress, National Archives, FBI, Columbus Metropolitan Library (via DPLA), the Clemsonian, Wisconsin Historical Society, Metropolitan Museum of Art (CC0), Wikimedia Commons; 1957 turnpike film from "Building the Massachusetts Turnpike" (Internet Archive, CC0). Individual credits appear on screen.
Licensed under Creative Commons:
Oberlin's Tappan Square (2008) is by Daderot, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Maps: U.S. Census Bureau and Natural Earth.
Music and sound: original score by Cracked Buckeye.