I saw this on another list and thought it important enough to pass on
Steve
Ohio's only Civil War battlefield (and only one of three on Northern
soil)
is
about to be destroyed at the hands of a sand and gravel company.
Buffington
Island Battlefield is largely owned by the Shelley Materials of
Thornville,
Ohio, and company has filed and received permits to operate a gravel pit
on
the battlefield because Ohio has no historic preservation laws. The
battle
saved the North from further invasions when 8000 Union soldiers stopped
2200
Confederate raiders after doing huge damage across Ohio. It is the only
battlefield where two future presidents - Hayes & McKinley --
participated.
Between 54 and 105 US soldiers are buried in an unmarked, unlocated
grave
on
the battlefield. Despite the fact that technology exists to locate these
veterans, neither the gravel company nor the state of Ohio will do so.
Currently, Ohio law does not recognize human remains after 125 years
of
burial, so these soliders do not count in the eyes of the state.
If more info is needed contact John Rawdon, 3471 Ellen Drive, Akron,
Ohio
or
Margaret Parker, president, Meigs County Pioneer & Historical Society,
PO
Box
145, Pomeroy, Ohio 45769.
Email addresses:
meigscountyhistoricalsociety(a)dragonbbs.com
kdashley2(a)hotmail.com (Keith Ashley)
Please visit the petition to save the battlefield at
http://www.petitiononline.com/Buff/petition.html.
Also visit the Saving Buffington island Web Site at
http://www.geocities.com/buffington_isle/.
Thanks!