Lancaster, Ohio, about midway between Columbus and Logan, was another locale to explore. Visitor information in Logan had told us about the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio located there. It is both an art museum and a historic house, a So, Susan and I spent an afternoon here.
The Decorative Arts Center of Ohio had two exhibits in progress: Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life & Art of Barbara Shermund and 200 Years of Valentines to coincide with Valentines Day. The Barbara Shermund drawings and illustrations were in a gallery space while the antique Valentines cards were displayed in rooms around the house. Barbara Shermund was a cartoonist for the New Yorker in the 1920s to 1940s. Her cartoons brought flappers and humor form a womans point of view to the magazine. Examples of her illustrations were on also on display. The basement had and exhibit on the work of Billy Ireland an editorial cartoonist for the Columbus Dispatch newspaper.
The Decorative Arts Center of Ohio is located in the House. The Greek Revival style home was built in 1835 for William Reese and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Sherman,
Decorative Arts Center of Ohio. Square 13 Historic District. National Register of Historic Places 72001008. DSC_0206
the eldest sister of General William Tecumseh Sherman. It was considered to be the finest house in Lancaster. As one moves though exhibit space, one experiences various rooms of the house: the entry hall, parlor, dining room and the free standing spiral staircase.
Two other historic houses flank the House in the block known as Square 13. At the left is the Sherman House, the birthplace of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman The house is a museum about General Sherman and a National Historic Landmark. (The museum was not open when we were there.) It is also significant as the birthplace of Senator John Sherman author of the Sherman Antitrust Act. At the right is the House dating from 1826. When Judge Charles Sherman, William and Johns father died in 1829, Thomas Ewing offered to take in one of the eleven Sherman children in his home. William was the child and he grew up in the House. Thus, all three houses in the block have a connection to the Sherman family.
