OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
REVIEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS
BY THE EDITOR
FAIRFIELD COUNTY IN THE WORLD WAR.
It may be too soon to write a great
history of the
World War. We still stand in the shadow
of that vol-
canic upheaval. We are too close to it,
in time and in-
terest, to measure in due perspective,
its mighty pro-
portions.
It is not too soon, however, to record
the facts upon
which that history is to be built. The
part of the United
States in that war is the aggregate
contribution of the
States and territories; the part of
Ohio in that war
is the sum total of the activities of
the eighty-eight coun-
ties of the State. It is not too soon
to record, in con-
nected and convenient form, the
contributive effort of
each of these political subdivisions.
This should be
done while many of the actors are still
living, before
contemporaneous records are scattered
or permanently
lost.
There has recently been presented to
the Library of
the Society, a neatly printed and
substantially and beau-
tifully bound volume that may well be
noted as a model
for counties whose World War history
has not yet been
written. The title of this book is Fairfield
County in
the World War. The author is Judge Van A. Snider,
(478)
Reviews, Notes and Comments 479
of Lancaster, Ohio, who served as Major
of Infantry,
Headquarters 37th Division.
The frontispiece is a portrait of
Lieutenant Karl
Henry Eyman, who was killed in action.
The dedica-
tion is "To the Gold Star Mothers
of Fairfield County,
Ohio." Then follow, in succession,
an appreciative ac-
knowledgment to those who assisted the
author; a well-
written "Foreword" by one who
modestly signs only
his initials; a beautiful illustration
of the "Memorial"
to those who died in the service of
their country; poet-
ical selections including "In
Flanders Fields," "The
Answer," "In Flanders
Now" and "In the Blue
Heaven"; prints of French and
American Certificates
of Honor to those who made the supreme
sacrifice; and
service flags and bronze tablets in
honor of those who
served from Fairfield County.
A full page is given to a neatly
printed portrait and
biographical sketch of each Fairfield
County soldier
who was numbered with the
"unreturning brave," who
died at the call of country. To these
pages, those who
never knew those boys in life will
often turn, and over
them the eyes of friends and relatives
will long and
fondly linger.
Under the caption "The Home Fires
Burning," are
arranged detailed accounts of the
service of civic bodies
--"Fairfield County Community War
Chest," "The Red
Cross," "Local Council of
National Defense," "Liberty
Loans and War Stamps," "Four
Minute Men," "Fair-
field County Draft Board,"
religious organizations and
patriotic orders.
Under "Firing Line and Camps"
are carefully ar-
ranged the military organizations from
the county, with
480 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
a brief description of the service of
each, and a roster
of officers and men. We are told that
"Fairfield County
is credited with a service enrollment
of 1821" in the
World War. There is a complete list of
these, alpha-
betically arranged. This is followed by
a brief account
of "Women in the Service."
The concluding chapter, "After
Armistice Day," de-
tails the return of the soldiers who
survived the perils
of camp and field, the organization of
the American
Legion and other orders of World War
Veterans.
This survey touches only a portion of
the interesting
material in the 192 pages of this
compactly written
book. One lays it aside with the
conviction that the
writer of the "Foreword" has
well and truly said:
Coming generations will appreciate this
volume and preserve
it as a sacred memory from the fact that
it contains so much that
would never find its way into public
records and which would
otherwise be inaccessible. It will stand
as a monument to those,
who at home or abroad, had anything to
do with the greatest of
all wars, and as a memorial more lasting
than the wreaths to
those who have passed over the heights
into the valley of the
shadow.
When every county in the State has made
a similar
contribution, we shall have the basic
materials for a
"History of Ohio in the World
War."
FORT LAURENS
The Story of the Acquisition of its
Site by the State of Ohio
The following is a stenographic report
of an ad-
dress, delivered by C. L. Baatz, to a
community gather-
ing of the people of Bolivar,
Tuscarawas County, Ohio,
June 21, 1927: