----- Original Message ----- From: Johnny Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2000 12:37 PM Subject: OHIO-SAVE YOUR HISTORY-SAVE BUFFINGTON ISLAND-OHIO'S ONLY CIVIL WAR BATTLEFIELD Dear Fellow Ohio Citizen's, My Name is John Rawdon, I have resided in Akron, Ohio for over 30+ years. In that time I had never known that Ohio had in its possession a civil war battlefield. Buffington Island is it's name, and it's located in Meig's county Ohio. In the less than 2 years that I've known of the battlefield, I have put together a report on it, which took about a year to research. The support I have received over it was so great that a gentleman built me a website with the report, so folks can access it .The site contains rosters links to as many units involved in the battle as I could find. The importance of this will be explained in this letter. This is all the result that this Battlefield is in danger of being destroyed by a Gravel Mining co. named Shelley Gravel co. The Gravel Company owns the site , privately, and has every right to do with it as they feel free to. The historical importance of this site, is only overshadowed by the humanitarian importance of the site. As in any battle there are casualties, and Buffington Island was not exempt. It is said that no less than 60 men are buried on the field at Buffington Island. These are men from both sides of the war, and range from many states. This is what originally brought me to build my report. Only about 20 of the men are identified, but no one is really sure where they are.I ma hoping that someone might find their relative at Buffington Island. The Gravel Company has agreed to set aside 40 acres that they say was where the heaviest fighting was done & where the men are said to be buried. A study was done that determined that this might not be correct. They also have agreed that an archeologist be on hand when new ground is broke , and work must stop if any historical items are uncovered. In addition to the civil war aspect, the battlefield also sets next to what was once a ford across the Ohio River. An Indian mound resides on the 4 acre memorial to the battlefield, and several Indian sites have been said to be found on the battlefield. Is this what we really what for ourselves as Ohioians? We have been given the responsibility as people to care for our fallen dead, and we are about to bulldoze them for gravel. Never mind the fact that the site is truly unique, as we dont have another battlefield in Ohio. Work is beginning at Buffington Island to begin the gravel mining operations, I implore you as Ohioans, not to set back & let this happen, without voicing your opinion. IF YOU SIGN- BE SURE TO LIST YOUR STATE- I , at this time have a petition out , to show your support. Please get behind this, if this site is far from you, dont think that your local history is safe from what will happen to Buffington Island. Big Business has no shame when it comes to chasing the Almighty Buck. The support for the battlefield has been nationwide, and we should as a state should save this site for the emmense learning & historical aspects of it, and certainly not if only out of due respect for the men buried there. Certainly , there are states out there that would give their eye teeth to have what we are willing to destroy. I shall say that I am working on this alone, and that, other than APCWS, I belong to no organizations. I have been in contact with the Meigs County Pioneer & Historical Society , which has a case in court, challenging the laws stating about gravel mining operations, and how they shall reclaim the land when they are done. They have been working on the issue at Buffington Island the longest, and are probably, the most educated in the issue as a whole. I intend to send this petition to any and all politian's I can, and am in the process of emailing the latter to, hopefully , make them aware of the opinions of those signed on the petition. Below is a bit from the Meigs Society, for those that are interested in helping with the fight for Buffington Island. Thank You For Your Time John A. Rawdon 3471 Ellen dr Akron, Ohio 44312 (330) 628-8138 VISIT THE SAVING BUFFINGTON ISLAND WEBSITE http://www.geocities.com/buffington_isle/ SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE BUFFINGTON ISLAND http://www.petitiononline.com/Buff/petition.html I hate to sound like a sales man, but the Meigs County Pioneer & Historical Society has a lawsuit in court right now against the Shelley Gravel co. It is basically the ONLY thing standing in the way of them & their gravel, and the gravel company truly fears it. The Society has been in the fight since around 1987 and have organized the annual reenactment of the battle in the summer ( this year July 14-16). Their lawsuit hinges on the fact, that unlike strip mining, which has laws requiring reclamation, gravel mining has none of these laws. But there is one "snag" in the law for the gravel company. The lawsuit hinges on previously untested part of the law that says that "the gravel land must be put back to its ORIGINAL purpose". Defenders of the battlefield contend that the original purpose of that land is a battlefield, and battlefields cannot be restored once destroyed with 100-foot deep pits. The Society is currently about $3000.00 in debt to their lawyer despite the lawyer cutting his fees in half. If funds do not become available, the society will have to bow out. They are non-profit and are not not able to use the society's money for this cause. I plan to contribute to them because they are sincere & have stated that they have even gone into debt themselves on this issue. In addition, this society is the ONLY organization in this fight that has legal council on hand for the fight. I am currently about to email about 50 papers in Ohio to drum up vocal support for the battlefield. Unfortunately, more than half of Ohio is ignorant to the battlefields existence. I believe in my heart that "Big Business" and corrupt politics has coerced our state government to try to let this historic landmark slip away quietly in chase of the almighty dollar. It is the only answer to the reason our state would let such a precious historic site go and has been so grossly unloyal & uncaring to the men that are buried on the battlefield. So to answer your question, education & money are the keys to this battle...Send out this or your own email to anyone you know. People must know what is at stake & sadly enough, will have to pay to keep what should not have to be paid for. If everyone that signed the petition was to send just $10.00, that would be over $22,700.00 , enough to farther forward on this fight. It is sad, but this fight comes down to money. Thank you very much for your time. Johnny--------- Here are the folks I've mentioned: The Meigs County Pioneer & Historical Society P.O Box 145 Pomeroy, Ohio 45769 Margaret Parker, President meigscountyhistoricalsociety@dragonbbs.com OR Keith Ashley, Trustee kdashley2@hotmail.com Checks can be written to Buffington Island Battlefield Preservation Fund, c/o Meigs County Historical Society, P.O. Box 145, Pomeroy, OH 45769. All money donated to this fund has been and will continue to be used for the preservation effort. Monies have been and are also raised through special fund raising projects of the Meigs County Historical Society. No funds from the general treasury of the Meigs County Historical Society are used, except for sponsorship of the annual reenactment of the Battle of Buffington Island, held the third weekend in July at Portland, where the battle happened.