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Groundhog Edition with the 26th Ohio Veteran Voluntary Infantry. Old School Social Media. Beyond the Hog. Where to find Black History Month Events Listings. Abandoned Internet Properties (Digital Blight) and a few Valley Internet Properties worth a look.
According to their website, On April 22, 1861 ( just 8 days after the surrender of Fort Sumter), companies of what was to become the 26th OVI, (Ohio Voluntary Infantry) began organizing themselves and drilling. Two days later, they were informed that Ohio’s quota of the President’s initial call for 90 days service men had been filled, and that there were services were not yet needed.
They were told to disband. Undeterred, the companies reorganized themselves as ” minute men ” for then Ohio Governor Dennison, and continued to recruit, drill and organize themselves. Their perseverance was rewarded as on May 12, 1861, they received word of their acceptance as the 26th OVI, and were ordered to report to Camp Chase, located west of Columbus, Ohio.
The 26th OVI was officially organized and mustered in at Camp Chase (Columbus) Ohio from June 8 to July 26, 1861. The soldiers enlisted from Delaware, Morrow, Marion, Champaign, Madison, Mahoning, Guernsey, Butler, Richland, Scioto, Hamilton, and Ross counties. The 26th was organized under Colonel Edward P. Fyffe.
Lieutenant Colonels: Ephraim R. Eckley, William H. Young, William H. Squires, William Clark; and Majors: Christopher Degenfeld, Norris T. Peatman, James A. Spence. The 26th was one of the first to answer President Abraham Lincoln’s call for troops to defend the Union. Ohio Governor William Dennison made the challenge to Ohioans that ” Ohio must lead throughout the War!”, and the soldiers of the 26th answered that challenge.
One item of interest is that the 26th OVI was sent to Western Virginia wearing gray uniforms that had to be borrowed from Indiana. Due to the rapid influx of enlistments and the mustering in of regiments during the Summer of 1861, the regulation uniforms were not available. This presented some mis-identity problems, and the soldiers of the 26th considered this a slight. This situation was remedied by having the 26th OVI maintain a forward position with the army until such time that their regulation uniforms could be obtained.
The regiment remained with the Army of Ohio until November, 1862 when it was reassigned to the newly formed Army of the Cumberland, in the left wing, 14th Corps, 1st Division, 1st Brigade. The 14th Corps Commander was Thomas Crittenden. 1st Division Commander was General Thomas J. Wood . 1st Brigade Commander was General Milo Hascall. The Regiment was led by Major William H. Squires. During this time, the regiment fought in the battle at Stones River, in what is now Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
The 26th performed admirably. As noted by the Army of the Cumberland :
” Their resistance…was excellently gallant…displayed the highest qualities of soldiers in confronting in actual conflict an army of three corps, and deserve mention in history as brave and heroic, under circumstances of extreme trial and peril.”
Why was the 26th OVI nicknamed affectionately the Groundhog Regiment? The answer is contained in the Roster of Survivors of the 26th OVI, 1888: “…from the facility with which the regiment could bury itself with a bayonet and half a canteen, or a spoon, and the expedition with which it could construct a line of more elaborate field works, and the frequency with which it was called upon to do so, caused the boys to liken themselves to groundhogs and finally to call the regiment, with some
pride, the “Groundhog Regiment”. At first glance many who are not acquainted with this little animal may think it a queer fancy, and not at all complimentary in its nature…they would find that the regiment that has all the “soldierly”qualities of this little fellow, is a good one.”
Make sure to head over to their Facebook Page to give them a like and show em some love. Link in the shownotes of course.
Did you know that before there was facebook and twitter, there were these things called forums? Well forums are still a great place to meet and discuss. Old School Social Media if you will. And the nice thing is that they are generally moderated and that means that if people are less then civil, they get bounced and their posts get deleted.
It is not censorship the way that Facebook or Twitter are proposing to do, it is self governance. The Moderators do not keep some agenda hidden from the participants. We in the Mahoning Valley have an active and vibrant Forum running. Here is a link to your passport to digital interaction unencumbered with advertisements and hidden agendas. MahoningValley.info Stop by and set up an account. Then if you want to discuss issues relevant to the Valley in a civil way with your fellow digital citizens, you can express yourself fully without being concerned with being trolled.
Not to say that you may not find opinions contrary to your own, but you may learn a few things from your fellow community members. That is the benefit of having diversity. The avoidance and extinction of “group think” so that the best answers can be arrived at together. Just as an example of what kindof Community Information you can find here. One of the Forum Users set up a feed from a Youngstown Police Radio Scanner. Visit it here. In the shownotes and transcript if you are listening in to this today.
There is a calendar where you can post events, and plenty of concerned and interested participants. Sometimes Old School is the best school. By the way, there are 836 Registered Users on the Forum. Not all of them are active, but if you like podcasting, blogging, and Social Media in general, then you probably will like using a forum. Go ahead and give it a try.
Beyond the Hog there were a lot of other things that happened on this day in history. Admittedly, not all of these things or even any of them happened in the Mahoning Valley, but much like many of the days that people make out to be different from any other, I think that Groundhog day is more silliness and superstition then anything.
So from the Vindicator, here are few of the other things of note that happened on this day in history.
1536: Present-day Buenos Aires, Argentina, is founded by Pedro de Mendoza of Spain.
1653: New Amsterdam — now New York City — is incorporated.
1848: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican-American War, is signed.
1882: Irish poet and novelist James Joyce is born near Dublin.
1887: Punxsutawney, Pa., holds its first Groundhog Day festival.
1912: Broadway composer Burton Lane (“Finian’s Rainbow”) is born in New York City.
Frederick R. Law parachutes from the torch of the Statue of Liberty in a stunt filmed by Pathe News.
1922: The James Joyce novel “Ulysses” is published in Paris by Sylvia Beach’s Shakespeare and Co. on Joyce’s 40th birthday.
Of more importance then whether Phil saw his shadow is the beginning of Black History Month in February. I do believe that our history can and does consist of teachable moments. Events and people who have had a hand in bringing us to today. And who have taught us to become a better society and community. So I will simply encourage you to look some at the historical events and people who have shaped us as a whole here in the valley. I have included a link to some of the Black History Events already scheduled from the Vindicator.
One that I noticed and could be of interest is over at YSU. This Saturday, there will be an African Marketplace in Kilcawley Center. The African Marketplace will take place from 12:30 to 4 p.m. in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center. There will be food, vendors and performances.
On a side note briefly, if you listen to this podcast, you know that I do link to and quote the Vindicator quite a bit. There are two reasons for this. First. I just like the name Vindicator. The other is that they do gather news from all over the Valley. And they are owned by people here in the Valley. And as far as I am concerned they are still adhering as closely as they can to journalistic standards for their reporting. Where TV and Radio does sometimes fall to the idea of “breaking the news first” and then has to retract due to not fact checking; the humble Newspapers here in the Valley still take enough time to figure out if they are reporting something accurate and use credible sources. So a shout out to the Valley’s Vindicator for adhering to some standards in Reporting.
Did you know that people start Social Media Accounts and Blogs and then abandon them due to numerous reasons. It happens. Our Valley and the Internet has a whole has a plethora of Accounts, Blogs, Websites, and other internet communications efforts and projects that have been left like a pregnant teenager.
Why does this happen? A few reasons I suppose. Keep in mind that I am not reporting facts here just guessing. I am speculating. Much like I speculated when I decided to do this podcast. I guessed that there are people in the Mahoning Valley who have a vested interest in supporting a project that puts our Valley’s best foot forward on the global stage of the Internet. I am right about that be the way. Eventually we will meet and greet and start working together. You’ll see.
So as an experienced internet owner. And yes, I do own parts of the internet. So do you if you have a Social Media Account or a Blog, if you own a website or a forum. If you only have an email address you are more of stakeholder then owner, but most people actually do own a small part of the internet. Of course, technically you and I are only leasing our space. The people who actually OWN the Internet are the ones who control the physical Servers who handle all the data. But that is semantics. For the most part, the internet is owned by all of us who participate in some way.
I am guessing here as to why some of the internet has been abandoned from my own perspective. Why there is digital blight if you will. Properties that have not been touched for years. For me, I lost interest. Or lost a password and username. Or lost the login for an email account. BTW, I do have a few email accounts and have been a lot of places on the Internet. If you are curious, do a search on me in quotes.
And if you want, interact. I like interactions.
Anyway, for me, I lost interest in some properties I set up. Just as an example, at the beginning of the blogging craze or trend if you will. When blogging was a little baby, I started some blogs. I also helped some other people start blogs. But check this list if you want. I have not posted on any of these in years, but for a time, they interested the heck out of me.
Then I got a job. And some family obligations. And so forth and so on. I just forgot about them. But to prove the point that the Internet never forgets, they are still up and available.
So I am guilty of contributing to Digital Blight. But I have reformed. Now that I have sufficient free time and an inclination to use the internet to build this community, I will no longer abandon any of my internet properties. What about you? Have you had the experience of abandoning an internet property? Or do you know of any? Let me know with some feedback or an email.
Now for a few Valley Internet Properties worth a look. And Why.
Mahoning Valley Eats and Treats This is a well written review site run by Monnie Ryan. Just a brief excerpt as to why she decided back in 2009 to start reviewing restaurants and other places here in the Mahoning Valley and elsewhere: “The reason for this blog is to showcase some of the eateries and other treasures our little part of the world has to offer. There’s no set schedule for updates, but the plan is to add something new every couple of weeks. For the most part, what you’ll see is what we get in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties in Ohio and Mercer and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania. But once in a while — especially since I’m an official “Ohio Ambassador” charged with promoting what the Buckeye State has to offer — I’ll stray into other parts of Ohio (and maybe even another state or two) to bring you a look at a special restaurant or attraction we’ve found.”
Mahoning Valley Historical Society Here is why you may want to visit them.
Founded in 1875, The Mahoning Valley Historical Society (MVHS) celebrates the history of the MahoningValley, utilizing its significant collections of artifacts and archives. The Arms Family Museum of Local History, located in a magnificent 1905 Arts & Crafts-period residence, is the headquarters for MVHS serving 13,000 people annually through interactive exhibits, outreach programs to schools, lectures, historic walking tours, and special community events. The Museum has been accredited by the American Association of Museums since 1977, a standard achieved by fewer than 10% of American museums.
The Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaberative Why you may want to visit them. At MVOC, we believe that true change only occurs when individuals are actively engaged in the political, economic, and social decisions that affect their daily lives. Our staff, leaders, members, and partner organizations share a set of common values like justice and equality that sits at the core of our work in the community.It is our mission to identify and develop leaders, organize neighborhoods, and build the capacity necessary to create positive community change. This work is accomplished by fulfilling several key principles:
TO ORGANIZE individuals, organizations, and neighborhoods working on quality of life issues in the Mahoning Valley into a supportive and united entity that can deliver people and get things done.
TO TRAIN individuals and organizations to identify the needs of the community and to hold public institutions accountable to meeting those needs.
TO PROVIDE RESOURCES through technical assistance and support, assist organizations in developing membership, raising funds, and identifying issues and problems that block attainment of a healthy community.
TO LINK neighborhoods to larger community initiatives – regional, statewide, and national – for the betterment of the Mahoning Valley.
TO GIVE HOPE to individuals and local grassroots organizations working to create sustainable neighborhoods and enhance their community together.
TO ENCOURAGE individuals and neighborhoods affected by an issue to create a campaign to address that issue.
Let’s say that you have an internet property you would like featured on this podcast. If that is the case, then by all means reach out to me on one of my social media properties or my website and we will see what we can do.
