By Austin Rust-

The Adams County Heritage Days were held last weekend, September 27 and 28, at the John T. Wilson Homestead in historic Tranquility, located on Old State Route 32 between Seaman and Peebles. The event, which has been put on by the Tranquility Heritage Association and Grassy Run Historical Arts Committee for several years, aimed to allow its visitors to “relive and experience the lives of our forefathers with their families in a relaxed atmosphere.”
Activities at the Adams County Heritage Days this year included rope-making, basket-weaving, broom-making, tin-stamping, quilt-stitching, candle-making, musket-shooting, hatchet-throwing, and cannon-firing. Visitors were encouraged to dress in period clothing to help recreate the feel of frontier days, defined as pre-1840, and members of the Grassy Run Historical Arts Committee dressed and set up camp in authentic Colonial style, with lessons to teach in historic tools, work, crafts, food, and pastimes. The event was open to all ages.
“I think this is the sixth year that we have done this event,” said Dave Dowler, a member of the Grassy Run Historical Arts Committee. “Before, I think it was a little more of a Civil War-era event, and then our organization took it over. We’ve been enjoying it ever since. It’s a fun event to do. We do this as a hobby, our organization – we don’t get paid to any of this.”
Mr. Dowler, dressed in Colonial garb, sat at a chair in his camp to play the hammered dulcimer.
“This instrument here is not something you would have found in the frontier,” he said, gesturing toward the flat and wide wooden stringed instrument, “because of the bulkiness of carrying it in from the east coast. This type of instrument actually dates back to biblical times.”
“We’re just here to demonstrate what we do, and have fun with it,” Dowler concluded. “We’re just hoping to get more of the public back in (to see us).” He said a few school groups had come to visit the event Friday afternoon, and that they had enjoyed rope-making and tin-pushing.
According to their website, the Grassy Run Historical Arts Committee was organized in 1988 by a dedicated group of individuals who wanted to educate the public on the history of the Battle of Grassy Run that had taken place on April 10, 1792 in Clermont County, where the organization is based. Their mission is to educate the public on the settlement years in Clermont County, and in 1992, they organized a large 200th anniversary recreation of the battle between members of the Native American culture led by Tecumseh and the white culture led by Simon Kenton.
Other tents at the Adams County Heritage Days this year were set up by organizations such as the Buckeye Trail Association, Friends of Serpent Mound, and the Adams County Beekeepers’ Association. Local honey, jams, and jellies were sold, as well as newly-made brooms, walking sticks, quilts, clothing, and more. A gunsmith set up shop in one corner of the homestead with at least one gun in-the-making, and information on the different types and varieties of antique guns. In another tent, cases of Native American arrowheads and artifacts were put on display.
A number of speakers talked on various topics in history throughout each day, and free tours of the John T. Wilson home were available. A musket or muzzle-shooting contest began on Saturday and the cannons were fired on Friday.
The John T. Wilson Homestead is a National Historical Landmark, and is recognized as a Historic Underground Railroad site (UGRR) by The Friends Of Freedom Society – Ohio Underground Railroad Association. In its early past, parts of the homestead served a general store and post office for the Tranquility community, and it was a recruitment and training site for Union soldiers in the Civil War. Artifacts found on the grounds, a hidden staircase, and an underground tunnel, along with the fact that John T. Wilson was sympathetic to the abolitionist cause, all point to the homestead being an important stop on the Underground Railroad.
John T. Wilson was born April 16, 1811 near Belfast in Highland County, Ohio. His family moved to Virginia in his early childhood. In his young adult life, he worked in a variety of professions, becoming a stone quarrier, school teacher, farmer and merchant. In 1829, he returned to Ohio, and settled permanently in Adams County, Ohio in 1832.
In 1832, Wilson rented a room out of a stone dwelling belonging to John and Martha Smiley on Old Paint Road, somewhat near Tranquility, where he operated a mercantile business selling dry goods, groceries, and whiskey. In that same year, he built a log cabin and moved the store to this location. He named the village that was forming around his growing business Tranquility. His store continued to prosper, and in 1840 he began work on a brick home, finished in 1844. Both structures still stand today.
After leading local troops he had mustered – called Company E of the 70th Volunteer Ohio Infantry – in the Civil War, Wilson was elected to the 7th District of the Ohio State Senate in 1863. He was then reelected in 1865. He was nominated and was elected as a United States Congressional Representative for the 11th Ohio District in 1866, and was reelected in 1868 and 1870. During these last two terms, he served as the Chairman of the Agriculture Committee.
Through his wealth, Wilson left a legacy of charity in Adams County, as well- he donated $46,000 (equal to $1.1 million today) to build the Adams County Children’s Home in West Union, Ohio, completed on December 5, 1884, now called the Wilson Children’s Home. Upon his death, John T. Wilson had a net worth of $550,000 (over $15 million in today’s dollars). It was stipulated in his will that all of his wealth should be made to go to worthy causes and individuals, certain colleges, and close friends.
He was buried in the Tranquility Cemetery, across the street from the John T. Wilson Homestead, with his wife, son, and long-term house keeper, Sarah Couser. His monument is the largest in the cemetery.