War of 1812 tomahawk to be donated to Ottawa County Museum
Weapon has been passed down by family for 2 centuries
PORT CLINTON - On Saturday, Warren Ferrell will travel to Port Clinton from his home near Youngstown to formally donate a treasured family heirloom to Ottawa County Museum.
Warren will present a tomahawk that has been in his family since the War of 1812.
Warren’s great-great-great-grandfather, John Myers, born in 1783, was a sergeant in a militia formed in what was then part of Trumbull County. According to a record of family history originally handwritten by Myers’ son, Myers was “a soldier in the War of 1812 and was also in several battles with Indians near Fremont, Ohio, on the Sandusky River.”
Sometime in 1812, Myers was part of a scouting party that was sent across the river in search of renegade Native Americans. During the mission, he carried a gun as well as a tomahawk, which, according to the narrative, was common for soldiers and frontiersman at that time.
The Native Americans, anticipating the soldiers’ arrival, ambushed them quickly. A battle ensued, in which Myers killed two Native Americans, one with the tomahawk and one with the gun. During the battle, the soldiers took refuge in a cabin, where they fought off their enemies for three days.
Myers kept the battle tomahawk until his death in 1842, when it was passed down to his son, J.W. Myers. When J.W. died in 1892, his wife retained possession of the tomahawk, keeping it under her pillow until she died. Since then, the tomahawk has been continually passed to the youngest Myers son.
That is, until the Myers family ran out of sons. Warren, whose mother was a Myers, remembers first seeing the tomahawk when he was about 7 years old. It was then owned by his maternal grandfather, Cloyd Myers, who kept it wrapped in plastic on the top shelf of a closet. In 1976, it was inherited by Warren’s uncle George Myers — his mother’s brother.
Although Warren found the tomahawk story fascinating as a boy, he took little personal interest in it.
“It was neat to see it, but they always told me it would never be mine, because I wasn’t a Myers,” Warren said.
But they were wrong. George had no sons, so upon his death, it was inherited by Warren. For the first time since 1812, the tomahawk fell into possession of a family member who was not a Myers. But Warren’s inheritance presented a new dilemma: what to do with it, because he, too, has no children.
“I don’t have any kids and neither does my sister. I’m not sure if there are any Myers left,” he said.
Warren discussed the tomahawk’s future with George before George’s death. George wanted to donate it to a Youngstown museum, but Warren thought it more fitting to find a museum nearer the original battle site. He chose the Ottawa County Museum, which owns a number of War of 1812 artifacts.
Warren and his wife, Sheri, visited the museum, as well as the site of the first War of 1812 battle on Ohio soil, which took place on Sept. 29, 1812. The spot is designated with an Ohio Historical Society Marker at Battlefield Park in Marblehead.
On that site, about 130 Native Americans ambushed about 60 “citizen soldiers.” While several of the white men escaped by boat to Cedar Point, about 20 white men fought off the Native Americans for two days. By the end of the battle, 40 Native Americans and eight white men had been killed, with neither side gaining a victory.
Through personal research, Warren discovered that John Myers was present at that first battle, adding historical value to the tomahawk.
On Saturday, the 206th anniversary of that first Ohio battle, Warren, Sheri, and Warren’s sister, Susan Ferrell, will present the tomahawk to the Ottawa County Museum during a public ceremony at 1 p.m. All are welcome.
The Ferrells are thankful to find a new home for the tomahawk at the museum.
“We set out to find such a museum that we felt would treasure it as much as we do,” Sheri said. “We met with (museum curator) Peggy Debien, toured her museum, and could feel her love and care for each item in that museum.”
Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at sheritrusty4@gmail.com.
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