Jonathan Alder: The frontier captive who bridged two worlds

Above, a large crowd fills downtown Plain City during one of the community’s original Corn Carnivals. Held annually from 1914 through 1919, the Corn Carnival drew visitors from across the region with parades, contests, entertainment and agricultural exhibits. The festival celebrated the area’s agricultural heritage while bringing together residents for one of the community’s largest annual gatherings. More than a century later, the Corn Carnival remains one of the most cherished traditions in Plain City’s history. (Photos submitted)

The Doellinger-Geer cabin is pictured circa 1898 on the family farm along Weaver Road south of Marysville. Shown, left to right, are Anna Elisabeth Rausch Doellinger (1829-1904), widow of Stephen Doellinger; grandsons Henry Geer, Albert Geer and Walter Geer; daughter Anna Mary Doellinger Geer; and son-in-law John Leonard Geer. Two younger grandchildren, Lawrence Geer and Matilda “Tillie” Geer, who was born in the cabin in 1903 and is believed to have been the last person born there, were not yet born when the photograph was taken. (Photo submitted)

Fireworks light up the night sky during a past Independence Day celebration in Marysville. Community Fourth of July festivities have been a local tradition since 1828, when about 75 people gathered in the village’s tiny frontier settlement for Marysville’s first Independence Day celebration. (Journal-Tribune file photo)