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Minerd.com Founder
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Minerd.com founder Miner (far left) with organizers of the Custer Homestead marker dedication ceremony in Tontogany, Ohio: Paul Houser (portraying Thomas Ward Custer), Bernard Scott and Steve Alexander (the nation's foremost General Custer re-enactor). Right: Miner giving his powerpoint talk. |
TONTOGANY,
OHIO, Aug. 10, 2008 -
Minerd.com
founder Mark A. Miner joins state and local dignitaries to formally dedicate a
bronze Ohio Historical Society marker honoring the "Custer Homestead"
in ceremonies in Tontogany, Wood County, on Sun., Aug. 10.
Tontogany Times article
The plaque memorializes
the family of General George Armstrong Custer and his family during their
little-known years of residence in Tontogany during the Civil War.
The event was
held as part of the 2008 Tontogany Festival at the new Otsego High School
Auditorium and Performing Arts Center. At the dedication, Miner reprises his
powerpoint talk on "Tontogany's Deep Secret" featuring the story of
Thomas Ward Custer, Rebecca
Minerd and their child born out of wedlock, Thomas
C. "Tommy" Custer.
Also speaking are Jim Carter, president of the
Wood County Commissioners and past president of the Historical Society of Grand
Rapids; Representative Randy Gardner of the 6th District of the Ohio State House
of Representatives; Senator Mark Wagoner of the 2nd District of the Ohio State
House; Jody Blankenship, manager of outreach programs at the Ohio Historical
Society; Mark Young, president of the American Civil War Museum of Ohio in
Bowling Green.
The new marker
Other VIPs taking part were James Shank, re-enactor with the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry;
Steve Kryder, president of the Historical Society of Grand Rapids; re-enactor
Paul Houser portraying Captain Thomas Ward Custer; and re-enactor Steve
Alexander, portraying General George Armstrong Custer.
The event is featured in the Toledo Blade newspaper and profiled in a special community newsletter, Tontogany Times. The festival is organized by Bernard Scott and a committee which worked for five years to generate support for the project. Minerd.com assisted with fundraising, and all told, the project raises more than $2,000.
Charles "Robert" and
Beverly Miner of nearby Bowling Green attend the events -- Beverly's
groundbreaking research of the "Tommy" Custer story in the late 1980s
and the national publicity it is now receiving have been a vital component of
the formal effort to recognize the Custer homestead.
News of the
event and Minerd.com's research and role in the event are highlighted in a
feature article in The Mirror, picturing and quoting Beverly Hansen
Miner, and headlined "Ohio Historical Marker to Be Unveiled At Tontogany
Festival."
The Mirror article