Bill Potter’s Shores of Lake Erie Tour Recap

The Peace Memorial on South Bass Island commemorates the peaceful border with Canada and the restoration of peace with Great Britain, a relationship that has lasted until this day, both achieved beginning with Perry’s victory.

Our second stop, on Johnson’s Island, commemorated the three hundred Confederate prisoners who died in the POW camp located there 1862-65. Braving freezing winters with the thermometer registering 30 below zero, reduced rations on order of the Secretary of War, and diseases common to prisoner of war camps, some 12,000 Confederate officers passed through the precincts of Johnson’s Island. A great spiritual awakening occurred among the prisoners housed at the island and we were reminded that God never ceases to expand His Kingdom, regardless of circumstances.

We travelled to the Ohio Soldiers’ home which maintains an excellent museum housing the artifacts of Johnson’s Island and the records of the service of the men from that state in all the wars. After learning something of the War of 1812 — and the Civil War especially — we ate supper there and afterward met with some of the veterans now dependent on the Soldiers Home for their survival. Our group met with the old warriors to hear their stories and to witness to them of Christ. The directors said the men loved the interaction with our group; some of them are simply abandoned there and many feel as if no one really cares what happens to them.

Our whole family leaves these tours spiritually recharged and excited about how God has providentially acted in history!” —Chad R.

Thursday

We began the day at the home of Rutherford B. Hayes, the nineteenth President, in Fremont. Few presidencies have begun with as much controversy or ended with such satisfaction. Hayes was known for his honesty, patriotic service in the Civil War, and experience in law and politics. Nonetheless, the nation was tired of corrupt rulers and was ready to move on from military “reconstruction” of the South. The election hung in the balance with the electoral votes in Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina in doubt. Congress stepped in to resolve the issues and Hayes was declared the winner. He ended Reconstruction, instituted civil service reform, and maintained a popular White House social life except for his wife’s (“Lemonade Lucy”) prohibitionist convictions. The house they inherited from his Uncle Sardis Birchard is preserved much as the Hayes left it and is redolent with the importance of generational continuity and family preservation. The importance of reading and passing on books was a family value of the Hayes and is readily visible in the house and presidential library — one of the finest in the nation.

Our final stop on the tour brought much reflection on God’s providence, especially as it relates to the life and influence of Thomas Edison. As a devoted evolutionist and self-absorbed scientist and inventor, Edison showed little interest in God, the church, or other people. Yet he was used of God to change history in significant ways, acknowledging perseverance and hard work as the chief end of man. With more than a thousand patents (one of his sons had eighty himself) and his development of the use of electricity, the phonograph, moving pictures, and many other innovations, Edison stands as a stellar example of “Common Grace,” never acknowledging the origin of his genius or the true purpose for which he was created. Every generation seems to produce such men — Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, or Bill Gates — ever learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.