Editor's Note

This issue of Ohio History focuses on the early history of Ohio and the region. In the two articles, the authors deal with various aspects of the pioneer period in the Ohio Valley. The collections piece features the letters of the Neill family. This correspondence offers us a glimpse into the personal lives of a middle-class family from 1847 to 1868; some of the family stayed in the Buckeye State, while others sought opportunities in new lands to the west. Samuel Phillips, who is in possession of these family letters, provides us with images of the originals and his transcriptions. I hope that our readers will enjoy reading these letters as well as the two traditional articles in this issue.

I would like to note the passing of the longtime editor of Ohio History, Robert L. Daughtery, on November 29, 2017. Bob, a U.S. Army veteran, received his PhD from The Ohio State University, where his dissertation on the Ohio National Guard was later published by the Wright State University Press in 1992 as Weathering the Peace: The Ohio National Guard in the Interwar Years, 1919–1940. He became editor of Ohio History in 1979, when it was under the auspices of the Ohio Historical Society (now the Ohio History Connection) and continued until his retirement in the early 2000s. Under Bob's leadership, Ohio History was able to thrive in an era when many state and regional journals ceased publication. His editorial assistant, Laura Russell, remembers Bob's dedication to maintaining the journal's high standards as well as his sense of humor, congeniality, and love of classic film, big-band music, sports, and word craft. Ohio History and all of us interested in telling the story of the Buckeye State owe Bob Daughterty a debt of gratitude for his outstanding stewardship of the journal and his promotion of the best scholarship on Ohio and the Midwest.