Freedom Twp. – The October 11th meeting of the Freedom Township Historical Society began with Judy Thornton leading the attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance. Amanda Garrett then read the minutes from the September meeting. They were approved as read.
Next, Jim Hammar shared information about a collection of American Indian artifacts collected on his Nichols Road property. The Hammars and Mrs. Thornton took the items to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History where they were identified and dated by archeologist Brian Redmond. He identified two arrowheads while the rest of the items were tools such as knives, drills, and hide scrapers that were made from roughly 10,000 to 500 years ago. Several of the items were made from flint that came from either Coshocton or Licking counties. The Native Americans who lived in this region before European settlements had a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and they preferred swampy areas like Freedom because it was easier to catch game, according to Redmond. Jack Minski also shared a stone tool that was found on his Limeridge Road property.
Next, there was discussion of the former schoolhouse No. 2 on S.R. 303. The schoolhouse is now in a state of disrepair and, according to information obtained by Mr. Hammar, the property owner owes $9,700 in unpaid property taxes and his mortgage is also several thousand dollars in arrears. Trustee John Zizka said he is pursuing a $450,000 land grant that would rehab the property and return it to the township, but that might not be possible if the property is involved in a bankruptcy case. Mr. Zizka was waiting for more information before he could proceed further. Mrs. Thornton passed around documents with historical information about the property, including a deed that shows the property being transferred from Alice James to the Full Gospel Church of Freedom on June 15, 1940.
Next, the group discussed the paths to being incorporated by the state of Ohio and becoming a 501c3 nonprofit. The group agreed that they will hold an election of officers at the next meeting and Delores Reed, Mrs. Hammar, and Mr. Zizka formed a committee to put together a constitution and bylaws. Ms. Garrett agreed to gather information about incorporation with the input of Mr. Hammar.
The next meeting was moved to the third Tuesday in November because of Election Day. The next meeting will be at 1 p.m. Nov. 15 at the Freedom Community Center, 8940 S.R. 700.
