Interior of the Cozad-Bates House Interpretive Center
OHIO FINDS
FASCINATING OBJECTS FROM OUR PAST
COZAD-BATES: ARTOGRAPHY STUDIOS AND PRESS, LAUREN R. PACINI, PHOTOGRAPHER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; OHIO FINDS: COURTESY OF GARTH’S AUCTIONEERS & APPRAISERS
19TH-CENTURY LADLE & FORK Blacksmith-made hearth utensils marked “Cy. Crites”
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Road to Hope
Dating back to 1853, the Cozad-Bates House stands as the last remaining pre-Civil War home in Cleveland’s University Circle neighborhood. In September, the restored home opened to the public to teach visitors about the city’s history of antislavery activism and its role as part of the Underground Railroad. Andrew Cozad, whose family settled in the area in the early The Cozad-Bates 19th century, built the home for his son, Justus. The Cozads House Interpretive and a neighboring family, the Fords, as well as other locals Center tells the story of helped guide formerly enslaved people on their journey to Cleveland’s abolitionist freedom in Canada. The code name for Cleveland along the history and those Underground Railroad was “Hope.” who helped freedom “We don’t know for sure if the house was a stop on the Unseekers along the derground Railroad,” says Elise Yablonsky, planning director Underground Railroad. at University Circle Inc., which owns the home, “but it is the last remaining fabric from that time period, and some Cozad family members, as well as families around the Cozads, were antislavery activists. We wanted to dedicate space to bringing light to this story.” The home served as a boarding house in the early 1900s and remained one for years before falling into disrepair. In 2006, the home’s owner, University Hospitals, donated it to University Circle Inc., which led a $2 million effort to protect and adapt the property for reuse. It included opening the historic portions of the home and the front lawn to the public as an interpretive center, with help from partners Restore Cleveland Hope and Western Reserve Historical Society. The exhibition presented inside, “Finding Hope: Cleveland and the Underground Railroad at the Cozad-Bates House,” details who the Cozads and Fords were, how Cleveland abolitionists and local courts responded to runaway slaves and much more. The home’s front lawn is filled with educational touches. Medicinal and edible plants in the landscaping reflect the hope that land could provide freedom seekers, while the sidewalk features insightful quotes and the constellations the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. The latter contains the North Star, which served as a guide in the night sky for those escaping slavery. “The center shares a history that is too little known in Cleveland,” Yablonsky says. “[It] celebrates and honors freedom seekers in what was once East Cleveland Township.” — Rebecca Vernak Open Saturdays noon–4 p.m.; 11508 Mayfield Rd., Cleveland 44106, 216/791-3900, universitycircle.org/cozad
mong the most important skilled tradesmen of the 18th and 19th centuries, blacksmiths made everything from horseshoes to hinges. A smithy was vital, but his often-unmarked utilitarian products can be overlooked in the jumble of antique ironwork. Even signed examples can lead to mysteries. That’s the case with a scant number of objects signed “Cy. Crites,” a blacksmith who is believed to have worked in Allen County. Two examples are a 19 1/2inch, two-tine fork dated 1841 and a 21 1/2-inch ladle dated 1848. It’s likely “Cy. Crites” was the son of John Daniel and Maria Catherine Crites, who moved to Ohio from Pennsylvania. The couple had 13 children, including Cyrus Crites. Although census records indicate Cyrus was a farmer, it’s possible he was skilled enough to have made the utensils and tools marked “Cy. Crites.” However, several of his brothers were also blacksmiths, including Charles Cyrus Crites, also a potential source of the utensils. No matter the maker, any blacksmith-made item from the family is a scarce find. — Richard “Jeff” Jeffers
$1,750 (ladle) $1,375 (fork) SOLD AT AUCTION Richard Jeffers is the owner of Garth’s Auctioneers & Appraisers in Columbus. N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2021
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