Submitted article
Do you really know on whose land you live? This year the Bucyrus Historical Society invites and encourages each resident of Bucyrus and surrounding townships and communities to find out by attending its annual Open Meeting to be held at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27. The primary speaker will be a well-respected Ohio archaeologist, Dr. Jonathan E. “Jeb” Bowen, from Republic, Ohio. He will see that all are more than adequately informed with a program on the Native Americans who lived, loved, raised families, played, hunted, fought and died in Crawford County and the surrounding parts of north central Ohio from the Ice Age through the mid-1800s.
Dr. Bowen will provide those attending the meeting, to be held in the Parish Hall of St. Paulʼs Lutheran Church, 130 South Walnut St., Bucyrus, with historical facts as well as various artifacts for viewing which should enable all present to return to their “own” property with a solid understanding of and appreciation for those first “caretakers” of their land.
A 1957 native of Bellevue, Ohio, Dr. Bowen graduated from Gibsonburg High School in 1957. He received his B.A. in 1979, M.A. in 1981, and PhD (in anthropology) in 1992, all from the Ohio State University.
Since 1976 he has participated in archaeological research all over Ohio. A past president of both the Archaeological Society of Ohio and the Eastern States Archaeological Conference, Dr. Bowen currently serves as president of the Johnny Appleseed Chapter (Ashland-Mansfield area) of the Archaeological Society of Ohio.
According to the November 2009 newsletter of the Ohio Archaeological Council, Dr. Bowenʼs “significant contribution to the advancement of archaeology in Ohio is best exemplified by his decades of work with avocational archaeologists, artifact collectors, and private land owners in documenting, recording, and excavating archaeological sites.” His research has “helped define the Late Prehistoric Sandusky culture of the Western Lake Erie Basin.”
Many of the Native American artifacts uncovered during Dr. Bowenʼs excavations are curated at the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus. He has given numerous presentations throughout Ohio and authored many published articles on Ohio archaeology over the years.
Currently, semi-retired, from his profession as a practicing archaeologist, Bowen serves as manager of the Bowen Nature Preserve, in Republic. This is land which had been in his family for several generations and has in recent years been donated by him and his parents to form a part of the Seneca County Park District.
Dr. Bowen is also serving as co-director of the Ashland-Columbus-Wooster Archaeological Research Consortium. In addition he is a parishioner at Transfiguration of the Lord Parish in Upper Sandusky and active as a Lector and Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister at the Sorrowful Mother Shrine in Bellevue. He enjoys spending time on Sunday afternoons visiting with residents and staff at the Wyandot County Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. This is obviously a man who cares a great deal for both the living and the dead.
Most Americans hold a certain degree of curiosity about the “red man” and yet our knowledge usually goes little beyond The Song of Hiawatha, Tonto or Straight Arrow. Perhaps the Scouting movement in this country has done much to introduce boys and young men to some of the Native American ways and our indebtedness to them. For a more complete and detailed picture of these peoples and what life was like for them here in Crawford County in “those thrilling days of yesteryear,” be sure to mark the May 27 date for this presentation on your calendar. High school and middle school young people should also be strongly encouraged to attend.
There will be plenty of opportunity for discussion with the speaker and viewing the artifacts during a period of light refreshments following the evening’s presentation.
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