Decorative drawing: a nineteenth-century public building. Not a photograph of this place.

Mo-John, Betsy, Cabin

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.

From the record

one of 21 National Register listings in Ottawa County · listed in 1976 · category: Building.

Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. About 4 mi. E of Port Clinton off OH 53, Port Clinton, 43452
When was it listed? 1976-05-06
Category. building
Township. Catawba Island township
National Register reference number. 76001505 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 6,785 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 6,785 specimens collected within 10 miles of Mo-John, Betsy, Cabin between 1865 and 1975: 5,720 Animalia, 912 Plantae, 135 Fungi, 8 Chromista, 6 Protozoa, 4 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. D. Selby, A. F. Satterthwait, A. J. Eames and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
Amblema plicata (Say, 1817)	1898	not recorded	Portage River
Lampsilis radiata radiata (Gmelin, 1791)	1898	United States Fish Commission	Sandusky Bay
Pyganodon grandis (Say, 1829)	1898	United States Fish Commission & W. Kendall	Sandusky Bay near mouth of Sandusky River
Hydroprogne caspia (Pallas, 1770)	1865	Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard)	Winous Pt., Bay Twp, Ottawa, Ohio, USA
Carex L.	1871	H. Gillman	Put-in-bay Island, Lake Erie.
Astragalus canadensis var. canadensis	1872	T. Morong	Shores of the Is. at Put-in-Bay. Lake Erie
Mentha arvensis var. glabrata (Benth.) Fernald	1872	T. Morong	Put-in-Bay Is. Lake Erie. On the lake shore.
Solidago hispida Muhl. ex Willd.	1872	T. Morong	Put-in-Bay Island, Lake Erie
Diphasiastrum complanatum (L.) Holub	1878	Roberts, Thomas	Put-in Bay;;;;
Maianthemum trifolium (L.) Sloboda	1878	Juni, B.	Put in Bay;;;;
Anemone canadensis L.	1881	Mertz, H.	Put-in-Bay
Calystegia sepium (L.) R.Br.	1881	Mertz, H.N.	Put-in-Bay

All 6,785 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Mo-John, Betsy, Cabin: 4 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Gypsum-Anhydrite, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Ottawa County Hwy Dept.	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
American Mine No 2	Gypsum-Anhydrite	Producer
American Mine Number 2 Quarry	Gypsum-Anhydrite	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Lower Mine	Gypsum-Anhydrite	Past Producer
U.S. Gypsum Mill	Gypsum-Anhydrite	Past Producer
United States Gypsum Co. Mine	Gypsum-Anhydrite	Past Producer	Sedimentary

Every working recorded in Ottawa County

Storms near this property

53 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Port Clinton, the town this property stands in, in 53 storm reports between 1996 and 2023: 28 thunderstorm wind, 14 hail, 4 storm surge/tide, 3 flash flood. The reports record 22 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
June 1998	Tornado (F2)	Port Clinton	13 hurt, $20,000,000	A tornado touched down approximately 10 miles west of Port Clinton and just west of the Davis Bessie power plant. Winds were between 113 and 157 miles per hour. Considerable damage occurred, with some barns completely destroyed and an apartment complex heavily damaged. Sixty three homes were destroyed, 63 sustained major damage, 238 had minor damage, semi trucks and mobile homes were overturned and trees and utility poles were downed. Loss of power lines outside Davis Bessie triggered a shutdown and a second stage alert; power was out for several days in places. A state of emergency was declared and all roads were closed in the county. Many buildings were destroyed and trees were downed at Camp Perry. A tree containing an eagle's nest with 2 eaglets was blown down. One of the eaglets survived.
May 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	5 hurt, $20,000	Damaging thunderstorm winds hit the area during the Annual Walleye Festival. Thunderstorm winds downed a large entertainment tent in Port Clinton. Between 25 and 30 people were trapped beneath the collapsed tent. The incident resulted in a total of five people sustaining minor injuries. Three individuals were transported to Magruder Hospital, while two others walked to the hospital.
November 2002	Tornado (F2)	Port Clinton	4 hurt, $13,500,000	A tornado touched down south of Port Clinton and then moved northeast entering the city just west of the intersection of Wilcox Road and Fulton Road. The tornado moved through the heart of the city reaching Lake Erie at Lakeview Park. From there, the tornado moved northeast over Lake Erie to Catawba Island where it finally dissipated after a ten mile long damage path. Four people suffered minor injuries as a result of the tornado. Hardest hit was the Lakeview Park area where two condominiums were blown off their stilts into Lake Erie and many other structures where destroyed. The initial storm damage in Port Clinton occurred along 11th Street where several homes were heavily damaged or destroyed. Significant damage also occurred near 8th and Fulton Streets. As the tornado moved through the city, it damaged the local high school and a hospital. Significant damage also occurred on Catawba Island with several homes damaged and destroyed before the tornado finally dissipated. A total of 24 homes and 16 apartments were destroyed along the damage path with approximately 60 additional homes damaged enough to be deemed uninhabitable. Another 80 structures sustained minor to moderate amounts of damage. The damage path was typically no more than 50 yards in width. Dozens of vehicles were damaged or destroyed by the tornado and hundreds of trees and power poles were toppled.
August 2011	Flood	Port Clinton	$2,500,000	An official NWS observer measured 6.58 inches over Port Clinton on the 14th. Emergency Management estimates at least half the town experienced some form of flooding as storm sewer systems were overwhelmed. The H.B. Magruder Hospital was inundated with ankle deep flood waters. Many homes and businesses in Port Clinton observed water in their basements, garages, or into their first floors. Many residents report this to be the worse flooding since the July 4-5th storm of 1969. EMA estimated a lot of property was affected with minor flooding, very few major, and no destroyed.
May 2009	Flash Flood	Port Clinton	$2,000,000	Slow moving, training thunderstorms produced torrential rainfall in Port Clinton, flooding nearly every street in town. Basement flooding was common due to the high water in the streets. The hospital lobby experienced flooding starting around 2:33pm local time, with water one to two feet deep just outside the main entrance. The foundation of a bank building at East 2nd and Madison collapsed around 3:55pm. 3.75 inches of rain fell in one hour at the sewage treatment plant between 1:30pm and 2:30pm. Storm total rainfall of 5.1 inches was measured in Port Clinton, with 4.5 inches measured on Harbor Road just east of town.
April 1998	Storm Surge/Tide	Port Clinton	$2,000,000	no account filed
August 2023	Flash Flood	Port Clinton	$400,000	Reports of widespread flash flooding in Port Clinton. Multiple flooded and impassable roadways reported along with widespread basement flooding. Radar estimated around 4 inches of rainfall in just under a 3 hour period ending 300 AM EDT on August 24, 2023, with total rainfall of 5 to 5.5 inches ending 500 AM EDT on August 24, 2023.
June 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$125,000	Thunderstorm winds downed at least a dozen trees. Three of the trees damaged houses. Three cars were also damaged.
August 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$100,000	Thunderstorm winds downed trees and power poles along Lake Erie from Long Beach to Port Clinton. A 64 mph thunderstorm wind gust was measured in Port Clinton by an observer. Also in Port Clinton, a roof was torn off of a building and at least one car was damaged by trees. Many trees were also downed on Catawba Island.
March 1998	Storm Surge/Tide	Port Clinton	$100,000	no account filed
February 1998	Storm Surge/Tide	Port Clinton	$100,000	no account filed
May 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$75,000	Thunderstorm winds tore a section of roofing off of a auto parts store in Port Clinton. No injuries were reported.
March 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$75,000	Showers moved across Ottawa County during the evening hours. Although no thunder or lightning was reported, the showers were intense enough to cause some damage in the county. Wind gusts were estimated to be in excess of 50 mph. A few trees and large limbs were downed in Port Clinton. A barn was leveled near Oak Harbor and a nearby house was also damaged by the strong winds.
February 1998	Storm Surge/Tide	Port Clinton	$75,000	no account filed
August 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$50,000	Thunderstorm down burst winds downed many trees in the Port Clinton area.
September 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$40,000	Thunderstorm winds downed many trees and large limbs. Two cars were damaged by fallen trees, one each in Port Clinton and Marblehead.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$15,000	Thunderstorm winds downed several large tree limbs. Scattered power outages were reported.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$15,000	Several power poles were reported down.
November 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$15,000	Three trees were reported down. One of the trees fell onto a trailer.
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$10,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees.
June 1996	Flash Flood	Port Clinton	$10,000	no account filed
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$8,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees near Port Clinton.
May 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$5,000	Several trees and power lines were blown down.
August 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$5,000	Thunderstorm winds downed numerous large tree limbs.
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$5,000	Thunderstorm winds downed several large tree limbs.
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$5,000	Thunderstorm winds downed several large tree limbs.
July 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$5,000	Many trees and large limbs downed.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$4,000	Several trees were reported down.
May 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$4,000	Trees were downed.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$3,000	Large limbs and power lines were reported down. Also, a few windows were broken at a hotel.
May 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$3,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a large tree west of Port Clinton in Bay Township.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$2,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a few large tree limbs.
July 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$2,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a tree and a large limb.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$2,000	A few trees were reported down.
July 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	$2,000	Thunderstorm winds downed one tree and one large limb.
July 2010	Hail	Port Clinton	$1,000	Thunderstorms produced 1.00 inch hail.
July 2010	Hail	Port Clinton	$1,000	Thunderstorms produced 0.88 inch hail.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	-	Trees downed about two-miles WNW of Port Clinton.
September 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	-	Trees downed in Port Clinton.
November 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Clinton	-	Multiple trees and power lines down in the Port Clinton area.
May 2014	Hail	Port Clinton	-	Amateur radio operator reported penny size hail in Port Clinton.
June 2013	Hail	Port Clinton	-	Penny sized hail was observed.
March 2012	Hail	Port Clinton	-	Nickel sized hail was observed.
July 2012	Hail	Port Clinton	-	Quarter sized hail was observed.
July 2012	Hail	Port Clinton	-	Quarter sized hail was observed.
July 2012	Hail	Port Clinton	-	Quarter sized hail was observed.
May 2010	Hail	Port Clinton	-	Nickel sized hail was observed.
May 2010	Hail	Port Clinton	-	Nickel sized hail was reported.
May 2006	Hail	Port Clinton	-	Penny size hail was observed.
June 2006	Hail	Port Clinton	-	Penny size hail was observed.
May 2004	Hail	Port Clinton	-	Penny size hail was observed.
September 1999	Waterspout	Port Clinton	-	A waterspout was sighted on Lake Erie approximately 2 miles offshore from the Camp Perry military installation or about 10 miles northwest of Port Clinton. No damage was reported.
July 1998	Hail	Port Clinton	-	Large hail fell in the north central portion of the county approximately 10 miles west of Port Clinton.

Every storm recorded in Ottawa County

Newspapers printed here

0 digitised pages

1 paper published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 0 issues, 0 pages. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.

Newspaper	Published
Ottawa County News	1931 to 1956

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

From the nomination file

1,596 words on record

When this property was proposed for the National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is, and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain. It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s typewriter's.

Description of the property

ends, and the east and west sides each have a single, off-center window. was common in furniture making, but not log building. The The roof, foundation, door and window frames are new. 1967 CONDITION notches, used DATE GOOD DESCRIPTION UNALTERED UNEXPOSED EXCELLENT DETERIORATED XALTERED The cabin was moved eight years ago and is presently being restored by the XMOVED CHECK ONE local historical society for use as a museum.The building was moved intact. on the exterior as is usual with log buildings. which were traditionally hews, are in this case achieved The Betsy Mo-John log cabin is 1-l/2 stories high,presently on a cement the same manner.Another unusual feature is that the joists are not evident -RUINS block foundation. with saw and chisel.
Floor joists, rafters, and attic joists are notched in The notching for this cabin is thought to be unique.The detailed dovetailing AREAS OF

Statement of significance

and frame houses, with sawn boards, took the place that such elaborately and survived being moved intact. Most of the logs remain straight, both exterior and interior portions. Don Hutslar, the Ohio Historical Society, County, Betsey Mo-John, daughter of a chief. A squaw, named Mo-John had government, but eventually starvation and discomfort forced them to head Betsy Mo-John-married Henry Luckert, a Pennsylvania pioneer, who was the 1400-1499 1700-1799 1600-1699 ART ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC PERIOD MILITARY BUILDER/ARCHITECT TRANSPORTATION INVENTION INDUSTRY AGRICULTURE SIGNIFICANCE ENGINEERING LITERATURE _COMMUNICATIONS XARCHITECTURE SCIENCE SCULPTURE 1900- ARCHEOLUGY-PREHISTORIC MUSIC cabin was moved three miles to its present location.
X-1800-1899 SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN _PREHISTORIC -EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT The cabin is nominated for its unique notching.Such full notching was not common to log construction as it required much time and precision and most seven children, six of whom died.Only Betsey survived.The area was once an anomoly. The cabin later served as temporary residence for itinerant fruit pickers.The -ECONOMICS last owners donated the cabin in 1963 to the Ottawa County Historical Society Henry Luckert It was also known to have been the home of the last Ottawa Indian in Ottawa to Canada. Sandusky after Luckert's death and died there in 1908. with the provision that it be mvoed.
In 1967 a new location was found and the - EDUCATION - LAW and Clinton Weslogger, author of The Log Cabin in America, believe this to been left behind in 1831 when the Ottawas left for Upper Sandusky. She had log buildings were considered temporary.Sawmills came soon to most areas the homeland of numberous Ottawa Indians - many has escaped removal by the be the only log building so constructed in the United States and as such remains joined log buildings would have assumed.The construction is very sturdy 9

The whole case file for this property - 1,596 words, 13 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 76001505, 13 pages, held by the National Archives in Record Group 79. See the catalogue record.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Catawba Island Wine Company	under 500 feet	1983
Gill--Luchsinger--Bahnsen House and Barn	4.3 miles	1992
Port Clinton City Hall	4.4 miles	2000
St. Thomas Episcopal Church	4.4 miles	1999
Island House	4.5 miles	2008
Ottawa County Courthouse	4.5 miles	1974

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 76001505 in Record Group 79.
Ottawa County	All 21 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.