Beautiful Ohio

I recently found a button made in Columbus, Ohio. It is about 2 1/8 inches in diameter.

Although it is not a campaign button, it does mention the names of 5 presidents from Ohio. That helps to date the badge between 1900 and 1908, since the names of Taft and Harding do not appear.

What is interesting, is that by 1901 there had been 6 presidents from Ohio. Two of them were named Harrison (William Henry and Benjamin). Maybe the badge designer figured every one knows about both Harrisons, and used the name only once to save space. Or maybe he decided not to count William Henry, as he held office for only a month. I guess we will never know.

The badge has a picture of the State Capitol at the top, the State Seal in the center, and a picture of the Battle of Lake Erie on the right side.

The picture on the left side is the scene of a land battle. The question is, which one? My guess is it may be the 1794 “Battle of the Fallen Timbers," in which General “Mad Anthony” Wayne defeated a force consisting of Blue Jacket's Shawnees and Buckongahelas's Delawares, Miamis led by Little Turtle, Wyandots, Ojibwas, Ottawas, Potawatomis, Mingos, and even some Canadian militia.

The music at the bottom is “Home Sweet Home.” It seems strange to me that the designer did not use “Beautiful Ohio,” which became the official state song in 1889, before William McKinley became president.

Figuring out the history associated with the old buttons is part of the fun I get from collecting them...