Henry Howe, the Historian. 311
HENRY HOWE, THE HISTORIAN.
BY JOSEPH P. SMITH.*
"You don't find Ohio much like it was in the good old times
of forty years ago, do you, Mr. Howe?" asked an elderly gentle-
man, at Columbus, in 1886. He seemed well informed and intel-
ligent, but inclined to mournfully, disparage the present.
"' Those who compare the age on which their lot has fallen
with a golden age which exists only in their imagination may
talk of degeneracy and decay,"' cheerily answered the venerable
author, quoting, half unconsciously, the words of the greatest
of historians, "' but no man who is correctly informed as to the
past will be disposed to take a morose or desponding view of the
present.' Since 1840 Ohio has doubled her population and quad-
rupled her wealth, but the average of intelligence among her
people is greater, and that of morality and sobriety higher now
than it was then. The world gets wiser and better every day;
so does Ohio."
Such was the genial spirit in which this kindly, confiding,
and innocent man always wrote or spoke; always hopeful and
helpful, even humorous and gay, amid difficulties and embarrass-
ments that would have crushed a weaker nature, and made the
stoutest heart sick and despondent. With the highest respect
and veneration for the great men and grand work of the past, he
was proud of the enterprise and progress of the present, and
looked confidently forward to a still nobler civilization in the
future. "Human life never had such a full cup," he was fond
of saying, "as in these our days of expanding knowledge and
humanities." Such an observer could not but kindly appreciate
"the age (and place) on which his lot had fallen," and do ample
justice to opportunity and occasion.
Nor did he labor in vain. Poor he may always have been,
distressed he frequently was, but unappreciated he did not
remain, and ages hence will not be. His gain in this regard, at
*Librarian Ohio State Library.
312 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 4
least, is not entirely incommensurate
with his deserts. Certainly
no name is more familiarly or so
indelibly associated with Ohio
history as Henry Howe's, and none is so
certain to be devotedly
cherished for earnest, faithful, and
unselfish work in preserving
the annals of a great State. His name
has been a household
word in the homes of Ohio people,
wherever scattered, for half a
century, and the chief events of his
career are well known to
them; yet it is a privilege and pleasure
always to record the
incidents of so beautiful and useful a
life, and never without
interest and advantage to review the
career of one who conse-
crated himself to so grand an object.
He tells us that his purpose was not
merely to compile an
abstract of written or printed official
records, of easy access in
any period, but rather to tell as simply
as possible the story
of the founding and development of Ohio,
in the very words and
accents, and with all the pride and
enthusiasm, of the brave and
sturdy pioneers, the noble and heroic
men and women, who
made the State great and prominent from
the day of its birth.
He did not aspire "to the high
literary merit, the dignified style,
the generalization of facts, the
philosophical deductions of regu-
lar history." On the contrary, he
studied "simplicity," "full-
ness of detail," and the
introduction "of minor, but interesting
incidents," which the more
ambitious histories "could not step
aside to notice," while at all
times he "avoided the philosophy
which only the scholastic can
comprehend." He sought to
present a work that would contain
"something adapted to all
ages, classes, and tastes," so that
if the unlettered even should
stop to examine the volume, they, too,
"in many instances,
could derive gratification from the
pictorial representation of
their native villages-of perhaps the
very dwellings in which
they first drew breath, and around which
entwined early and
cherished associations." This was
something new and far ahead
of the times in authorship and
book-making. Indeed, Mr.
Howe may be said to have been the
pioneer author, teacher, and
leader of the whole country in the
important mission of prepar-
ing and inspiring town, county, and
State histories. In four
great commonwealths-New York, New
Jersey, Virginia, and
Ohio-he himself collected invaluable
materials for the State at
Henry Howe, the Historian. 313
large, and both pointed the way and laid
the foundation for
hundreds of other useful local
histories. His plan had a charm
of simplicity, naturalness, and fidelity
about it that attracted the
people and gained from the start their
support and confidence.
Well might be said of his first work on
Ohio: " The book
reached more minds, and has been more
extensively read, than
any regular State history ever
issued; thus adding another to
the many examples of the productions of
industry and tact
proving of greater utility than those
emanating from profound
scholastic acquirements."
He came to Ohio at an auspicious time; a
period of great
material development, when the State was
not too new for him
to fail to conceive its magnificent
possibilities; nor yet too old
for him not to meet many of its first
settlers, of every walk and
station, men of every degree of
intellectual acquirement, or of
the severest schooling in the field of
actual personal experience.
From every source he gathered valuable
information and data.
He saw about him everywhere, as he rode
from county to county
throughout the State, evidences of
progress and growth that
enabled him to wisely estimate the
future and produce the most
perfect encyclopedia, as well as history
of Ohio, that has yet
been written. Indeed, as he advanced in
his original undertak-
ing, his work expanded so greatly with
the times, and grew so
rapidly with fresh inspiration and
opportunity, that it may justly
be said that he published at length the
most interesting, authen-
tic and voluminous work of the character
ever issued by any
author for any State.
We can not measure (though it would be
difficult to over-
estimate) the value of his
"Historical Collections" to the people
of our own times, nor will we vainly
attempt to speak of their
priceless value to posterity. It can be
approximated only as we
appreciate the dignity and majesty of
the State itself, for no
author has contributed so much toward
making the name Ohio
forever respected and honored, if not
famous and illustrious.
"I take you as my guide through
Ohio," wrote George Ban-
croft to Mr. Howe, and certainly this
has been the experience of
thousands who could never hope for so
profound a knowledge of
our country as that eminent historian
possessed. To call the
314 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 4
"Collections" a history
"tells but a part of the truth. So broad
is its scope that it is the State itself
printed and bound, ready to
go into every family to show the people
of every part concern-
ing the whole collectively, and each
part in succession, and in all
the varied aspects that go to form the
great commonwealth of
Ohio."
This will be the more apparent as we
review the incidents
of his life; the unselfish, industrious,
noble life of one who was
not simply the biographer, but the
contemporary, friend and
companion of the men who laid such
enduring foundations for
the prosperity, growth and fame of Ohio.
We give his history
practically as it appears in his own
modest autobiography, in the
first volume of the Centennial edition
of his "Collections."
Henry Howe was born in New Haven,
Connecticut, October
11, 1816. His Pilgrim ancestor on his
father's side came from
Norfolk, England. He landed in Boston in
1647, and after
enjoying the rare distinction of having
lived in three different
centuries died in 1702, aged 104 years.
Hezekiah Howe, the father of Henry, was
a bookseller and
publisher, but he was always greatly interested
in the militia
and during our second war with England,
in 1812-15, was called
into active service as a
Brigadier-General and stationed with his
command at New London, Conn., which for
months was threat
ened by the British fleet. For this
reason he was always subse-
quently called General Howe, and by this
title is still fondly
recalled by some of the older citizens
of New Haven.
Hezekiah Howe's book store was in those
days one of the
most famous in the country. Standing in
the shadow of Yale
college, it was the daily resort and
gathering place of the learned
men of that institution, and for those
from many other localities
who were temporarily drawn to New Haven
through its at-
tractions as a literary and educational
centre. General Howe was
a man of high culture and intellect, and
an excellent authority
on everything pertaining to books. It is
said that in bibli-
ography he had no equal in the country.
The mother of Henry Howe was Sarah,
daughter of
Ebenezer Townshend, a successful
merchant and ship owner
of New Haven, sometimes called the " Merchant Prince," on ac-
Henry Howe, the Historian. 315
count of the large number of his ships
and the success of his
ventures. It is a tradition of New Haven
that one of his ships,
"The Neptune," yielded to its
owner in a single voyage the net
profit of $288,000. Late in life,
however, he met with business
reverses which swept away the greater
part of his fortune.
Henry Howe was the youngest of seven
children, and was
considered an odd yet lovable child, of
a sunny and even
temperament, always full of fun, but
seldom in mischief. He
attended the Lancasterian and grammar
schools of New Haven
and assisted during vacations as errand
boy or clerk in his
father's book store. In connection with
the store his father
conducted a printing office, in which
Henry learned to set type
and mastered the mysteries of the
printing trade, a circumstance
of much benefit to him in later life in
the business of book-
making. He always referred with great
pride to the fact that
his earliest occupation in life, when
but eleven years old, had
been to carry the proofs of the first
edition (1828) of Webster's
famous dictionary from his father's
office to the doctor's home,
some three blocks distant. The edition
was of only 2,500
copies, but it was immediately followed
by an edition of 3,000
copies, published in England, and its
superiority was manifest,
since it contained 12,000 words and
40,000 definitions that were
not found in any similar work. The
dictionary was of two
quarto volumns, well printed and bound,
and bore the im-
print of Hezekiah Howe on its title
page.
"I do not remember to have ever
seen him (Dr. Webster)
smile," wrote Mr. Howe. "He
was a too-much pre-occupied
man for frivolity, bearing, as he did,
the entire weight of the
English tongue upon his shoulders. In my
boyhood days I
often saw and listened to the
conversation of such men as Noah
Webster, Benjamin Silliman, James L.
Kingsley, Roger M.
Sherman, Eli Ives, Nathaniel Taylor, et
al., and that strange, un-
earthly, spiritual being, the poet
Percival. Men of such in-
tellectual mark, united to moral worth,
as I then used to see,
I have since rarely met."
He was preparing to enter Yale College
when his father met
with financial reverses, due entirely to
heavy indorsements for
friends. These losses compelled Henry to
give up aspirations for
316 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 4
a higher education, so he left school at
fifteen and entered his
father's printing office. Here his
literary instincts quickly
asserted themselves, but for several
years his productions were
anonymous. With a half dozen other
"printer's imps," he
organized a "Franklin Club"
for "literary purposes." They
would meet each week and read papers,
written by themselves,
and engage in debates, but the limits of
the club were too
narrow for his ambition, and he sought
the columns of the local
press under various noms de plume. There
appeared from time
to time a number of communications, some
in prose, others in
verse, that excited the curiosity and
amusement of the entire
village, for New Haven was then a place
of little more than 7,000
inhabitants. These articles touched up
local institutions and
characters with a rare yet kindly humor
and burlesque that set
the whole town to guessing their
authorship. They were attrib-
uted to many different local writers,
older and better known, but
none suspected the young "printer's
imp." One of his literary
efforts at this period was "The
Trial of Jonathan Syntax for the
Murder of the King's English," a
burlesque of a prominent local
politician whose use of our noble
language failed entirely to
conform to the rules of Lindley Murray.
In a note written
some years later he says: "I
printed this pamphlet while a
printer's imp in my father's office, but
fear of the consequences
prevented my publishing it."
When about eighteen he left his father's
printing office to
go out with a surveying party on the
line of the New York,
New Haven and Hartford Railroad, the
first built in Connecti-
cut. Professor Alexander Twining, of
Yale College, was the
leader of the party, and Mr. Howe's
nephew, Alfred Howe
Terry (later of the United States Army),
a few years his junior,
was one of its members. Civil
engineering, however, was not
to his taste; the party met with much
inclement weather, and
their sufferings, through severe cold
and other hardships, made
very acceptable an offer from his uncle,
Ebenezer Townshend,
to take a clerkship in the New York
banking house, of Towns-
hend & Nevins. From this bank he
went to that of Prime,
Ward & King, where he had for a
fellow-clerk Mr. George Coe,
Henry Howe, the Historian. 317
afterwards prominently identified with
New York's banking
interests for more than half a century.
But his thoughts were constantly
recurring to what he calls
his "life-directing incident,"
which he describes as follows:
"One day early in 1838 there was
brought into father's
book-store, for a subscriber, a book
entitled 'Historical Collec-
tions of Connecticut.' The author of the
book, the pioneer of
works on this plan, was John Warner
Barber, by profession an
engraver, then just forty years of age,
and my fellow-townsman.
He had traveled in a little one-horse
wagon entirely over Con-
necticut, from village to village,
taking pencil sketches and col-
lecting materials for the same. His book
came upon the people
like a work of magic. Few had ever seen
pictures of places
with which they were acquainted. But
here was a book that
showed multitudes the very houses in
which they were born, the
school-houses where they had been
taught, the churches where
they had worshiped God, and the hills
where from infancy they
had seen the sun set every night in his
sublime circuit around
our globe. Every village and town was
shown, birth places and
monuments of noted men, historical
localities, and so on. Every
man in Connecticut, after he got that
book and saw what a grand
little State she was, how glorious her
history, furnishing as she
did more soldiers, more food and more
general supplies to the
Revolutionary army, in proportion to
population, than any other,
felt at least two inches taller. Never
had any book been pub-
lished on any State that so fed the
fires of patriotism as did that
of the people of Connecticut.
"Although born in an atmosphere of
books," he continues,
"this impressed me more than any
book I had ever seen, and I
felt that I would like of all things to
dedicate my life to travel-
ing and making such books for what
President Lincoln calls
'the plain people'--an expression which
gives the idea of the
possession of the solid virtues and the
recipients of the simple
home joys, and is, therefore, peculiarly
grateful to the honest
heart. Two years passed; in the interim
my father had died. I
had learned to sketch from nature, made
a small book which,
published by the Harpers, went through
many editions. I had
passed nearly all these two years with
my uncle, a stock broker
318 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VoL. 4
in Wall street, an uncongenial spot,
where I felt that Tophet was
not afar. The spring of 1840 arrived,
when one day I walked
into Mr. Barber's office and inquired if
he had thought of making
a book on New York State. He replied
'Yes, but it was a great
undertaking.' When I told him I would
like to join him in such
an enterprise, his face broke into
smiles, and like the good man
he was, thereupon, on going home, as he
knew me only in a gen-
eral way, consulted with his wife. Now
she happened to have
been when a maiden under the simple name
of Ruth Green, the
identical school marm that had taught me
my letters, when,
taking a pin in her fingers and pointing
to the successive letters.
of the alphabet, she asked 'What's
that?' Her report in regard
to me was according to the first letter
of the alphabet, with a
number at the end-thus, 'A, No.
1."'
A few days later Barber & Howe
commenced their historical
exploration of New York, Albany being
the objective point.
After spending a few days in Albany,
visiting libraries, searching
records, etc., they took the railroad to
Schenectady (then one of
two or three in the Union) and from that
place crossed the State
by canal to Buffalo. Here they separated
and young Howe went
afoot, with knapsack on his back,
visiting county seat after
county seat, until he had twice crossed
the State. In the fall
of 1840 he returned to New Haven
"to cast his first vote for
General Harrison," as he proudly
confesses, and then resumed
his work in New York. Reaching
Cooperstown he met James
Fennimore Cooper, the great American
novelist, then in the
zenith of his fame. "He was a large
man every way," says Mr.
Howe, "lordly and imperious in his
manner and with weighty
voice."
The following winter the historical
explorations of New
York were completed, when he again
turned his steps home-
ward. Proud of his work and content with
his occupation, he
thus describes his elation at this time:
"One bright morning in February,
1841, I crossed the ferry
from Jersey City and landed in New York,
and then rode the full
length of Broadway on horseback out into
the country towards
my home. It was a beautiful winter
morning, just the hour the
down-town merchants were thronging to
their places of business.
Henry Howe, the Historian. 319
The sidewalks were filled with
multitudes of elegantly dressed
men, and it seemed as though every eye
was upon me, for I was
a conspicuous object, with my knapsack
strapped to my horse,
long hair streaming from behind my cap,
and a pair of bright
scarlet leggings covering my limbs from
ankle to thigh. I didn't
care, for from my elevated perch I
looked down upon them, and
would not have exchanged situations with
the proudest and
wealthiest of them all. I had an
avocation that I loved, one
that would benefit the world, and
competition with none."
Arriving in New Haven, he prepared his
New York book for
publication and issued it from the press
in the fall of 1841. It
had a sale of some 10,000 copies; but,
although a profitable ven-
ture, his ambition to make books was so
much stronger than his
love for selling them, that in 1842 we
find him traveling over
New Jersey, gathering material for a
work on that State, at a
time when it would have been more
profitable to him, from a
financial standpoint, to be giving more
attention to the sale of
his New York book. He was again
associated with Mr. Barber,
but, as in the work on New York, that
gentleman's business was
principally the making of pencil
sketches of views in the larger
cities, and of points of historic
interest, and from these, and
similar sketches by Mr. Howe, were made
the engravings for
illustrating all their State historical
works.
The "Historical Collections of New
Jersey" was published
in 1842, and in the spring of 1845 Mr.
Howe straightway engaged
upon a similar work for Virginia. His
association with Mr. Bar-
ber ended with the work on New Jersey,
and although Mr. Barber
engraved most of the pictures for Mr.
Howe's succeeding works,
he had no other interest in them than
that of an engraver em-
ployed by Mr. Howe to make wood cuts
from his own pencil
drawings. Landing at historic Jamestown,
with knapsack on his
back, he started across the fields for
Williamsburg, when he met
with an adventure which he describes in
an entirely characteristic
manner:
"The day was pleasant, the air soft
and balmy; but I was
in a land of slaves. I had come from a
land of freemen. What
were my emotions? Grand and glorious. I
felt the Nation owed
a debt of gratitude to old Virginia. Her
very form was grateful
320 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 4
to my eye on the map, and when it was
marred by the excision
of West Virginia, I felt as though a
sacrilege had been corn
mitted. The memories of the strong men
she had given to the
country in the time of her great
struggle, and in the forming
years of her government, crowded upon
me. Washington,
Patrick Henry, John Marshall, Jefferson,
Madison, and a host
of others, prove that slave-owners can
be men of the loftiest
patriotism and possess the brightest
virtues that adorn humanity.
I was soon to meet slavery, and it
struck me, not as presented
at the hands of a kind Christian
gentleman, who felt for the best
welfare of a mass of humble dependents,
only a few removes
from savage Africa, but it struck me
butt-end first, from the
hands of a negro-driver, a Virginian,
the first white man I was
to meet on my introduction to Virginia
soil. After walking
mile across the fields I discovered a
body of men whom
approached to inquire my way and found
them to be a gang of
slaves, working a few feet only apart,
and in their midst stood a
solitary white man, their overseer. They
were armed with
heavy hoes (mattocks I think they called
them), and were busy
grubbing the ground. They looked stolid,
stupid and sad, as
they lifted up their coarse implements,
and then sunk them in
the earth. It was a novel sight this, to
the overseer-my appear-
ance, a stranger, on foot, and bearing a
knapsack. On learning
I had just landed and was from the North
he opened up on the
subject of their 'peculiar institution,'
and in less than two min-
utes said to me in a calm voice: ' I'd
as leave kill a nigger as kill
a dog.' With this a sardonic grin spread
over his countenance,
and I looked around to see what effect
his words had upon this
group of abject beings. They looked as
before, stolid, stupid,
sad, while their coarse implements
continued to go up in the air
and descending cleave the earth-God's
earth."
But the observations of Mr. Howe on
slavery, unique and
interesting as they are, in showing the
conditions actually exist-
ing in Virginia at that date, can not be
repeated here. They
give us a valuable insight into the
character of the gentle and
humane man, disclosing his great
charity, freedom from preju-
dice, his breadth, and
humanity-characteristics especially im-
portant in the work he had adopted as
his calling in life, that of
Henry Howe, the Historian. 321
gathering the facts of history and
conditions of American common-
wealths, and putting them in attractive
and permanent form for
the use and benefit of the people. So
thoroughly and conscien-
tiously did he labor that his work has
proved invaluable to all.
As in his explorations of New York, he
made pedestrian tours
over Virginia, visiting and sketching
places of historic interest,
interviewing the aged, illustrious, and
well-informed, and search-
ing records. West Virginia was then a
part of the mother
State, so it was included in his
travels. He met with many trying
experiences in these pedestrian tours,
some of which are described
in his reminiscences of travel in
Virginia.
"Late in the fall of 1845," he
says, "I left my home for a
final pedestrian tour through western
Virginia. I entered at
Point Pleasant at the mouth of the
Kanawha, and penetrating
about one hundred and fifty miles inland
to the White Sulphur
Springs, I turned southwest, my
objective point being the
Natural Tunnel in Scott county, that
extreme point where unite
a trinity of States, Virginia, Kentucky
and Tennessee, each send-
ing great mountain tops high in the air.
One object I had was
to sketch the Natural Tunnel, a passage
through a mountain,
down which ran a small river. No artist
had ever visited that wild
spot. I was for weeks footing it through
the mountains. The
population was very sparse; that of an
entire county in some
cases could be easily got into one of
their churches. Their
houses were generally cabins and of a
single room, standing in
the narrow valleys of the mountain
streams. The people dressed
in homespun and lived the life of
half-hunters, half-agriculturists.
The pleasure which comes from using our
muscular systems
when everything is in high working
condition is beyond words.
My physical vigor in this pedestrian
excursion through south-
western Virginia was brought up to the
highest point of perfec-
tion. The season was most propitious; it
was the early winter,
the climate bracing, the scenery wild
and picturesque, and the
semi-civilized people I was among
supplied me with a fund of
thought and amusement. Poets and
preachers, they say, are
sometimes inspired. Theirs is brain
inspiration. Mine was of a
different character. I had walked so
much that my locomotive
muscles had become like whip-cords; and,
full of high spirits, it
Vol. IV-21
322 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 4
seemed as though my limbs were inspired.
I suppose this might
be called 'leg inspiration.' I remember
one day in particular
when near the Tennessee line I walked
about fifty miles, and
that in the last two hours it seemed as
if something had broken
loose; I flew rather than walked. David
Livingston, the African
traveler, relates in his African
experiences, that when he had got
broken into walking he felt as though he
had no feet. For my
part I felt as though I had no legs.
They were wings. In the
country I was in there were no bridges
and the streams were
broad and shallow. I never stopped to
take off my shoes, but
waded across as I was; sometimes broke
ice to do it, but never
received any harm. In summer this is
especially beneficial, cool-
ing the feet swollen by the heat, and
invigorating the entire sys-
tem. I experimented in all modes of
walking and I found that
adopted by Captain Alden Partridge the
easiest. He was famous
sixty years ago, in Middletown,
Connecticut. One day he walked
seventy miles, in the course of which he
ascended and descended
Ascunet, in Vermont, a mountain 3,000
feet high. His mode
was to expand his chest, bend forward at
the hips, throwing his
weight in front of his legs, which then
had nothing to do but
shuffle after, loose and easy, and keep
him from tumbling to the
ground. I saw him thus walk when I was a
boy and I felt sure
he would 'get there.' He was well named
'Partridge.'"
The work on Virginia was published in
1845, and although
its sale was large, in proportion to the
population of the State, it
was not financially profitable to the
author and publisher. It
was highly prized by the people of
Virginia, and their Legisla-
ture adopted resolutions of thanks to
Mr. Howe for the valuable
work he had prepared.
John C. Calhoun, the distinguished
Senator, was so favor-
ably impressed with the Virginia work
that he importuned Mr.
Howe to undertake a work of the same
character on South Caro-
lina. At his earnest solicitation Mr.
Howe visited Charleston
with that object in view, but the plans
were not completed, and
so the project was abandoned. "It
fell through with," says he,
"owing to the timidity of a person
there (presumably not Mr.
Calhoun) who was to pecuniarily join in
the enterprise."
Then it was that he came to Ohio, which
had attracted him
Heury Howe, the Historian. 323
long before by its wealth of material
and its promise of future
greatness. "Ohio, the bright young
State," he says, 'dedicated
to freedom, lay before me, a mine of
rich, ungarnered history."
His experience in other States, added to
his natural ability, with
his enthusiasm and love for his
occupation, gave him an especial
fitness for that which was destined to
be the most important
work of his life. From boyhood, in his
Connecticut home, he
had heard much of Ohio--to the young
"a land of romance and
adventure"-for Ohio had absorbed
some of the best blood of
his beloved native State, and tales of
the brave spirits in the
wilderness, their hardships and
privations (which seemed but to
strengthen their determination to
establish a commonwealth
where all men should be free and equal),
had made a deep
impression upon him, and he longed to
act a part in its develop-
ment and fame. It was in this spirit of
love and enthusiasm
that he entered upon his work. Following
in the footsteps of
the founders of Ohio, he commenced his
tour of the State from
the spot where they had first landed. He
intended to walk over
the State, and starting at Marietta in
January, 1846, he walked
more than a hundred miles, but at
Delaware bought a horse, on
whose back he rode over most of the
State. Pomp, as he was
called, was docile and old, not worth
much in the market, but
valued highly for the faithful
performance of his new duties.
His master became strongly attached to
him, as he did to all
God's creatures, and many years after
the sole companion of his
first tour was dead, he was wont to
speak of faithful old Pomp
in terms of great endearment.
Travel at that day was difficult and
laborious, many of the
roads were frequently absolutely
impassible on account of mud
so deep that no animal could struggle
through it for any consid-
erable distance. The onlyhotels, called
" taverns," were mostly
crude log cabins, often infested with
vermin, so that the traveler
dreaded the coming of night, and he
frequently remarked in later
years that he had enjoyed more sleep
rolled in his blanket on the
floor than in beds, during his first
tour through Ohio. But the
public were never sensible of the
privations and hardships he
endured, nor heard from him the least
complaint in the work
324 Ohio Arch. and His. Society
Publications. [VOL. 4
which he pronounced as "congenial
with his loves," and thought
would so "widely benefit his
fellow-men."
"When in 1846, my snow white
companion, old Pomp, car-
ried me, his willing burden, on his
back," he writes, "so young
was the land that of the very lawmakers
eighty-four out of one
hundred and seven were born strangers.
(That is, in other
States or countries than Ohio.) Only
four years before had the
State grown its first Governor, in the
person of Wilson Shannon.
The very State capitol in which the
Legislature assembled was a
crude structure that scarce any Ohio
village of this day would
rear for a school-house. Ohio was a new
land, opening to the
sun. Its habitations were largely of
logs, many of them stand-
ing on the margin of deep forests, on a
soil for the first time
brought under the benign influence of
human cultivation."
The appearance in towns and villages of
such a traveler was
an event to attract extraordinary
interest, and everywhere he was
cordially welcomed and given all
possible facilities for obtaining
the information he desired. The early
settlers were proud of
the record they had made, and from these
he gathered much
of the valuable historical information
he preserved. Many of
the pioneers had passed away, but some
were still living, and
from the lips of these actual
participants he gathered and
recorded the tales of struggle and
privation, adventure and dar-
ing, hardship and toil, peculiar to the
opening up of the Ohio
wilderness. The pioneers of Ohio had to
overcome greater
obstacles than those of most other
States, and to this, in no
slight degree, he always claimed, is due
the strong character-
istics of the Ohio men of to-day.
When Mr. Howe came into a town every
means of informa-
tion was placed at his disposal. He
considered nothing too insig-
nificant or trival that served to show
the causes of the advance-
ment of the State, and the prosperity of
its people, but was very
painstaking, and carefully considered
and investigated the data
given him. It was his invariable
practice to require that all in-
formation should be written out, and if
for any reason the
relator of reminiscences or facts could
not write them out, he
would do so himself, at their dictation,
and then carefully verify,
as far as possible, the statements thus
made. To insure further
Henry Howe, the Historian. 325
verification, and also with a desire to
give credit to every one
who aided him, he would always give his
authority, or state the
source of his information. Perhaps his
reputation as a historian
might have been greater had he been less
unselfish and adopted
the practice of many writers by giving
all information as if
originating with himself. Works relating
to Ohio are full of in-
formation taken from his humble records
(gathered and pre-
served at so great a cost of labor and
effort) with no credit to
Mr. Howe, although the original data
would never have been se-
cured, and probably lost forever, but
for him. He sought the
fountain-head for his facts, not only
dusty records, dingy family
archives, old papers and letters, but
frequently the statements of
the very persons who made the history-in
fact he consulted
everything and everybody that served to
illustrate the develop-
ment and progress of the State. Pencil
in hand, he made
sketches of every point of interest. He
hunted up the old plans
and made sketches of all the
battlefields and forts famed in the
early annals of Ohio. When making a
sketch of a town or vil-
lage he would seat himself frequently on
a tree- stump, or on a
chair, in the middle of a road, or
street, and the strange sight he
presented would soon gather a crowd
about him. A remark he
often overheard while thus engaged, and
which afforded him
much amusement, was, "I wonder what
that fool is doing!"
But all were not so disrespectful, and
many of those whose
attention was thus attracted, gave him
aid and information of
great value. Among these was one at
Lower Sandusky (Ruther-
ford B. Hayes), who afterwards became
his associate in the Cin-
cinnati Literary Club and a life-long
friend. Two young men
he thus met at Athens were Horace G.
Wilson (later the law
partner of Alien G. Thurman) and Samuel
S. Cox (subsequently
famous as a member of Congress),
room-mates at Athens Uni-
versity. Another who went with him to
point out the birthplace
of Tecumseh, was known as J. Warren
Keifer, a plucky boy
who became Speaker of the National House
of Representatives.
He traveled over the State for more than
a year, and in Feb-
ruary, 1847, returned to New Haven, to
arrange and prepare the
materials he had gathered in suitable
form for publication. In
September the work was published and at
once became the
326 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 4
standard on Ohio history, finding its
way into thousands of
homes, giving the people knowledge of
themselves, and inspir-
ing them with a love of their State such
as they had never before
possessed. More than 18,000 copies of the first edition were
sold, a wonderful record for those days,
and not surpassed in
Ohio by any similar work published
since. Even the famous
"Memoirs of General Grant,"
published when the State had
more than twice the population, reached
a sale of only about
14,000 copies in Ohio.
In many Ohio homes at that day, next to
the family Bible,
Howe's "Collections" was most
highly cherished. The genera-
tion that made Ohio such a great factor
in the trying period of
the Nation's struggle against slavery
and for the Union, learned
their lessons of patriotism largely from
his work. It made them
proud of the deeds of the fathers in
opening up a bright and
beautiful new land to civilization, and
filled them with a desire
to emulate their heroic examples in
self-sacrifice and heroism.
Hundreds have testified to the value of
the book in giving in-
struction and inspiration in youth to
strong purposes and high
aims, and in the impulse it gave to
their subsequent lives and
histories. Perhaps no single volume has
done so much for the
youth of Ohio then and since.
After its publication, in September,
1848, Mr. Howe was
married to Miss Frances A. Tuttle, of
New Haven, Conn., and
removed to Cincinnati. Here he engaged
for a number of years
in compiling, publishing, and
distributing through canvassing
agents, works on travel and history. He
was eminently success-
ful in making books that were peculiarly
attractive to all classes,
and aimed to instruct, while seeming to
entertain only. He es-
pecially desired to reach those who
seldom read books and
sought to arouse interest by the
attractiveness of the pictures
which he used to illustrate the text, as
well as the adventures or
scenes he described.
His publications during this period
were" The Great West,"
"Achievements of Americans,"
"Life and Death on the Ocean,"
and "Travels and Adventures of
Celebrated Travellers," tales
of travel and adventure, achievement,
suffering and heroism.
He never introduced fictitious
characters, nor issued any book
Henry Howe, the Historian. 327
that was not fully authenticated as a
record of actual events and
experiences, nor any that was not
calculated to instruct and ele-
vate his readers. He had little love for
fiction of any kind, but
was always a searcher after truth.
He never could read but one novel with
any degree of inter-
est--Goldsmith's "Vicar of
Wakefield." which he admired for
the beautiful simplicity of its diction
and the artlessness of its
characters. He was always a student of
literature, fond of
poetry, particularly that of Percival,
Whittier, Longfellow, Bry-
ant, Halleck, and Willis-but besides
"Japhet in Search of His
Father," by Marryatt, and "Tom
Jones," by Smollett, both read
in his youth, the "Vicar of
Wakefield" was the only novel he
ever read, and this he read and re-read
all his life.
In 1856 he commenced the preparation of
a work which he
expected to be the greatest and best of
his life. A series of vol-
umes to be entitled "Our Whole
Country," a history of the
United States on the same plan as his
State histories. He had
been financially successful with his
"Ohio" work, and its suc-
cessors, and all his savings were
invested in his latest venture.
After five years of labor and an
expenditure of many thousand
dollars, the work was issued from the
press, but in the same
month Fort Sumter fell. History was
being made, not read.
"Our Country" was a financial
failure. He made an assignment
of all his property for the benefit of
his creditors, and with a
wife and four small children to care
for, started anew in the
world. He would have enlisted in the
army, but there was no
one to care for his family, nor provide
for their support during
his absence. He continued the
subscription book business and
managed to earn a livelihood. When
Cincinnati was threatened
by Kirby Smith, he joined the
"Squirrel Hunters," and crossing
the pontoon bridge into Kentucky aided
in the defense of the
city. He was a popular man, and the
members of his company
chose him as one of their officers. A
near neighbor had been a
candidate for the office and felt
greatly chagrined at his defeat,
whereupon Mr. Howe went to the
commanding officer and ten-
dering his resignation asked for the
appointment of his friend in
his place. He was better fitted for the
office himself, as he had
had a little military training in the
New Haven Grays, as a young
328 Ohio Arch. and His. Society
Publications. [VOL. 4
man, but his friend's disappointment
appealed to his sympathies,
and he never considered self when the
interest or happiness of
his friends was concerned.
About the close of the war, Mr. Howe
published his work
on the "Times of the Rebellion in
the West," and engaged in its
sale, which brought very profitable
returns. From 1870 to 1877,
he republished some of his former
publications which had gone
"out of print," with moderate
financial success. During this
period he was often importuned by
prominent and influential
Ohioans to revise and bring down to date
his Historical Collec-
tions. His invariable reply was that he
expected to do so some
day, but that he was not ready just yet.
Thus matters rested
until 1878, when he removed to New
Haven. Here he engaged
in literary and other work, always
intending to return to Ohio
and revise his work on this State, until
in the summer of 1885
he began to realize that he was fast
reaching an age when it
would be a physical impossibility for
him to carry out his cher-
ished plan if delayed much longer.
A friend once said of him; " He has
the heart of a youth,
the head of a poet, and the faith of a
saint." The spirit and
vigor of youth were his until the last.
At seventy-one he was
as strong and active as most men of
fifty; had never known a
day of sickness in his life; had no
aches, pains, or ailments of
any kind; and so his years seemed no
obstacle in starting upon a
work that would require especial ability
and fitness, and steady,
persistent, and arduous labor for many
months. He wrote to
friends in Ohio:
"I have been loitering under the
beautiful elms and watch-
ing the ever -varying groups of humanity
flitting across the
bright sward of its far-famed Green.
There eight generations
of my ancestors have come and gone-and
there they worshipped
God. To me the spot is a paradise. A
sense of duty now im-
pels me to change, to repeat the story
of my youth in a larger,
better form, to again pass over Ohio,
take views of the places I
took forty years ago, contrast the new
pictures with the old, as I
have preserved the original engravings,
and bring down the his-
tory to date. Since that old time Ohio
has increased in popula-
tion from a little over a million and a
half to nearly four millions,
Henry Howe, the Historian. 329
while her advancement in material
resources and general intelli-
gence, no arithmetic can measure. Should
some great cataclysm
ensue, some morning dawn to find the
rising sun shining over
a vast inland sea where on the eve
before it had gone down
upon the broad, noble State of Ohio, the
rest of the Nation
would feel as though its very heart had
gone. Then they would
realize to the full what has been the
moral grandeur and manly
vigor of your great commonwealth. We
desire no higher crown
for our last days than to worthily
perform our task. * * *
Autumn is now upon us in the perfection
of its beauty, in the
generosity of its fruitage. The air is
as balm; the leaves blush
in crimson and glint in gold. Time has
whitened my hair, but
the blood in my veins is as red as of
yore. The joy of health,
maturity of judgment and enlarged
experience are yet mine, so
that in view of the good work set before
me, I am blessed with
such exuberance of spirits that each
passing hour seems as a
benediction. Besides, I shall not be
alone. Patriotic spirits
everywhere will be more than glad to
help me. With their aid I
hope to make a work that in every way
will be worthy of the
greatness of the subject; that shall be
regarded as a household
treasure by every family in Ohio that
may possess it."
As soon as his friends in Ohio became
cognizant of his de-
termination to bring his history down to
date, he received letters
of encouragement from prominent citizens
in all parts of the
State. President Hayes said: "Your
first edition has been of
inestimable benefit to the people. One
copy of it is now within
my reach, and always is, when I sit as I
now do in my place of
writing at home. So if I can help you, I
will be more than glad
to do so." Governor Hoadly wrote:
"I am delighted to hear
you contemplate a second and enlarged
edition of your work
on Ohio." Hon. Alphonso Taft, Judge
Allen G. Thurman,
Senator Sherman, Hon. William McKinley,
ex-Governors Foster,
Cox, and Noyes, and hundreds of others,
of the most prominent,
intellectual and patriotic citizens of
Ohio, expressed their pleas-
ure, and gave encouragement and aid to
the project.
Not having available funds to carry him
over the State in
his contemplated second tour, he
determined to try a plan some-
times adopted in England, but never
before tried in this country;
330 Ohio Arch. and His. Society
Publications. [VoL. 4
that of advance paying subscriptions.
This could not be suc-
cessful except by one known to all those
who gave subscriptions,
and by one in whose integrity and
ability they had perfect faith.
But so well was Mr. Howe's character
known, and so great the
appreciation of his former work, that he
secured more than two
hundred advance-paying subscribers among
leading citizens of
Ohio, who paid him $10.00 each four
years in advance of their
receipt of the book.
President Hayes invited him to his home
in Fremont, and
in October, 1885, he spent two weeks
there, with this liberal
patron of educational and charitable
work, planning for his sec-
ond historical tour. Starting from
Fremont, he again made a
tour of the State, visiting every
county-seat, principal town, and
place of historic interest, searching
records and gathering ma-
terials for a history of the chief
events occurring since his first
tour, forty years before. Everywhere he
made arrangements
with local photographers and took them
to the points from which
he had made his pencil sketches in 1846,
that he might give con-
trasting pictures, showing the changes
and developments of the
intervening time. His tour partook
somewhat of the character
of an ovation. He was constantly greeted
with expressions of
gratitude from men of mark for the good
his book had done
them in their younger years in giving
them an accurate knowl-
edge of our noble State. It was
acknowledged and praised by
all as the greatest factor extant to
that end. In many places
parents brought their children to meet
him, and everywhere he
was greeted with enthusiasm and afforded
every facility for the
prosecution of his work. He finished his
second tour in March,
1887, and then in connection with his
eldest son, Mr. Frank H.
Howe, whom he had called to his
assistance, set about arranging
and preparing his materials. It was a
tremendous task, involv-
ing much labor and great expense. The
amount of materials
gathered was vastly greater than on his
first tour; many author-
ities had written on the subjects in
hand, and the work of selec-
tion and verification was extremely
laborious and difficult, so
that with the most indefatigable
industry it was two years before
the first volume of the new history was
issued. The task would
have been an easier one had he not been
greatly cramped for
Henry Howe, the Historian. 331
means to prosecute his work to the best
advantage. The only
assistance he had, aside from special
articles on the leading fea-
tures of the State, contributed by high
authorities on each sub-
ject, was that of his son. At
seventy-two, he devoted himself
with such indomitable and persistent
labor to his work, as few
young men could have survived. It
absorbed his whole life for
the time being. Rising at seven each
morning, he would work
an hour before breakfast, resume work
when the scanty morning
meal was finished, and keep at it until
noon. After dinner he
would lie down for an hour, then work
again until supper, and
then, after a cigar, and a short rest,
would resume work and
often labor untill midnight. This, too, when his physician ad-
vised him that he was threatened with a
disease of the nature of
a cancer on his left temple, which
continued to grow, and gave
him great pain. He became alarmed and
concluded it was sim-
ply a question of time as to when it
would cause his death, and
so set to work the more resolutely to
complete his history of
Ohio before the summons came. He thought
that his case was
somewhat similar to that of General
Grant's, but its results were
more fortunate, for the supposed cancer,
after it had reached the
size of a silver quarter, and been a
source of trouble and pain,
began to decrease, and four years after
its first appearance was
completely healed.
In 1889, the first volume of his
centennial "Collections" was
issued and was received with the highest
praise from the people,
the press, and the best authorities,
both within and without the
State, but it was not as successful
financially as he had expected,
and the returns were entirely
insufficient to enable him to com-
plete the work. He then appealed to the
Ohio Legislature to
purchase a sufficient number of copies
to enable him to bring
the history to a successful conclusion.
The General Assembly
responded nobly, considering the work
too valuable to the peo-
ple to allow it to perish for want of
financial aid, and purchased
1,200 copies, for which he was paid
$12,000 by the State, the
volumes to be delivered and paid for as
published. This enabled
him to go on with his work, and in 1891,
after six years' constant
and arduous labor, and many
embarrassments, the history was
completed, in three splendid quarto
volumes, instead of two, as
332 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL.
4
originally planned. Mr. Howe had agreed
to give to his advance-
paying subscribers and to the State a
two-volume work, but,
when it had grown on his hands to three
volumes he promptly
delivered these at the price of two,
although he thereby entailed
upon himself a very heavy and
troublesome debt. The tremend-
ous task was at last accomplished, and
he was ready to die con-
tent. He gave to it the best thought,
care and effort of his life.
In the endeavor to furnish a full and
complete record of the
principal events, features, and
characters that have made Ohio so
great a State, he was obliged to make a
larger and much more
expensive work than the masses of the
people could afford to
buy. He fully realized before its
completion that its sale would
not prove remunerative, but he went
steadily on, sparing no
expense or labor, feeling that the pride
and patriotism of the
people of Ohio would eventually sustain
him, and that the good
of the State and its posterity demanded
the completion of the
work on the elaborate plan he had
designed from the start it
should be.
In this, perhaps, he would, in any
event, have been doomed
to disappointment; but death, " the
poor man's dearest friend,"
soon intervened to end all his
embarrassments and sufferings.
The compilation and publication of the
" Historical Collections"
required a cash outlay of $ 35,000.
After exhausting all the
funds that he could possibly raise, his
devoted wife contributed
all her private fortune, their home in
New Haven was mortgaged
for $7,000, and, besides this, such
other necessary debts were
contracted that when the last volume was
finally issued Mr.
Howe found himself indebted to printers,
electrotypers, artists,
engravers, and book-binders more than
$14,000, which, of course,
was a direct lien upon the plates and
cuts, then in the hands of
the publishers. In return for this great
outlay, aggregating
$56,000, the advance subscriptions and
sales had amounted to
about $12,000 and the State had extended
much needed assist-
ance in the purchase of 1,200 copies at
$12,000 more.
Still he did not despair. With all the
courage and determi-
nation of a young man, he began, at the
age of seventy-five, to
canvass the larger cities of Ohio, and
was not disheartened by
his comparatively small sales. He was
ambitious to see his
Henry Howe, the Historian. 333
history placed in every school in the
State. With this in view,
he succeeded in getting the General
Assembly to enact a law
authorizing city boards of education and
village school directors
to purchase the'"
Collections," and devoted no little attention to
securing "adoptions" by them.
But the law was not mandatory,
and the process was too slow and
expensive for the small returns
secured. Thus it often happened that the
venerable historian
was almost without a dollar. Yet he
never lost faith in his
work, nor hope in the outcome. He was
braver than all his as-
sociates, and murmured less at failure
and ill-fortune than any
of them.
The aid extended by the General Assembly
of Ohio, val-
uable and indispensable as it had been,
was not without at least
one disadvantage. It decreased
subscriptions, and deprived him
of many good canvassers, upon whom he
had confidently relied,
since popular expectation fastened upon
the hope that the State
would eventually purchase the work and
distribute it gratuit-
ously to the schools and public
libraries, where it would be of
easy access to all. Realizing, at last,
that this was his only hope,
Mr. Howe petitioned the Legislature to
purchase the plates of
the work for the State, and vainly
urged, in person, the members
of the Seventieth General Assembly to
make an appropriation
for that purpose. His appearance among
them was pathetic,
however dignified and respectful, and
did more for his cause
than any or all the friends who
volunteered to help him. As a
rule he was treated with great deference
and regard, but the
resolution for the purchase failed of
adoption in the House by a
single vote. Still not disheartened, Mr.
Howe was preparing
for another effort at the next session,
when, in October, 1893,
his death occurred-his anxiety
doubtlessly hastening its ap-
proach.
Contrary to the usual fate of such
deserving measures, the
Seventy-first General Assembly, to the
general surprise, did
honor and justice to his memory by
adopting a resolution pro-
viding for the purchase of the copyright
and plates of the
"Collections," and
appropriating $20,000 for that purpose, for
the exclusive benefit of his widow, Mrs.
Frances A. Howe. His
petition to the Legislature for the
purchase-for it can justly be
334 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 4
claimed as a personal tribute-was one of
the most remarkable
ever presented. It bore the signatures
of Senators Sherman and
Brice, ex-Senator Allen G. Thurman,
ex-Governors Cox, Foster,
Foraker and Campbell, Governor McKinley,
and nearly all the
State officers, and many ex-State
officers, all of the Ohio Con-
gressmen to whom it was presented, and
many ex-Congressmen,
eighteen college presidents, the State
School Commissioner, the
officers and members of the principal
teachers' associations of
the State, the superintendents of the
schools of the larger cities,
and many other prominent educators, the
President of the State
Historical Society, and scores of others
of the ablest and most
influential citizens of Ohio. It was
unanimously indorsed by
the press, and both the resolution for
the relief of Mrs. Howe
and the necessary appropriation were
eloquently and effectively
advocated before the Senate and House
Finance Committees by
such men as Gen. John Beatty, Dr.
Washington Gladden, Super-
intendent Shawan, of the Columbus
schools, Mr. E. O. Randall,
Secretary of the State Historical
Society, and Mr. A. H. Smythe,
the well known book-seller and
publisher. By this timely aid
the home of Mrs. Howe in New Haven was
saved and the bulk
of her husband's debts so far reduced
that the balance could be
liquidated by their faithful son, Mr.
Frank H. Howe, who had
the general management of the matter
before the Legislature.
It is perhaps the only instance in Ohio
history where any author
received such direct recognition and
great aid of this character,
and never were both more richly merited.
His death came suddenly, but perhaps
painlessly. So active
was he to the last, and so intent upon
making the most of life,
that he fairly "died in the
harness," a wish or hope he had often
expressed. He was preparing to take his
wife to Chicago for a
short visit to the World's Fair, where
their son Frank was
employed. He had purchased the railroad
and sleeping-car
tickets and made all other arrangements
to leave on the evening
train, Saturday, October 14, 1893. While
in apparently good
health, and most exuberant spirits, he
stepped into the Candy
Kitchen on High street, in Columbus, for
a lunch. On his way
to the restaurant a friend who noticed
his elation, inquired about
his health. "Oh, I am all
right!" was the cheery response. "I
Henry Howe, tho Historian. 335
expect to see more wonders in the next
fortnight than are found
in all the romances ever written. Like
the Count of Monte
Cristo that you've seen on the stage,
'the world will be mine'
till I've seen the whole of the Fair, at
any rate."
He showed no sign of distress or fatigue
whatever, but while
waiting for his lunch, without a
moment's previous warning, he
leaned forward his head upon his hand,
and in that position was
stricken with paralysis, never to rally
or speak again. With a
smile upon his face and joy and
thankfulness in his heart, he
was carried home to breathe his last,
eleven hours later, sur-
rounded by his devoted wife and
children, though never con-
scious of their presence or tender
ministrations. He scarcely
moved after the blow came, and his face
never changed its
bright expression, as if his closed
eyes, tired of all the sorrows
and troubles of earth, had already begun
to study the beauties
and delights of a new and better world
beyond the grave. While
not a communicant of any church, he was
of a deeply religious
nature--one who reviled not nor scoffed
at the beliefs of others,
but held fast to the faith and teachings
of his Puritan ancestors,
without sternness, austerity, or
ostentation, and "giving no
other evidence" than his daily walk
and example, which were
always open, elevating and righteous.
Of his home life, let a word suffice.
None could have been
more tender, affectionate, unselfish and
self-sacrificing than he to
wife and children, who were his chief
concern, his joy, and his
pride. He once described his married
life as "a courtship of
forty-six years," and that tells
the story better than any other
words could describe it.
His funeral services were conducted from
the First Congrega-
tional Church, East Broad street, on
Tuesday afternoon, October
17th. The address was by the Rev. Henry
Stauffer - upon the
purity of character, the noble
self-sacrifice, and the life-long de-
votion, integrity and industry of the
lamented historian. His
love of home and country and grand work
for both were touch-
ingly and truthfully portrayed, and his
labors as an author re-
viewed approvingly, especially his
preparation of the standard
history of Ohio, which was described as
a monument to the first
completed century of the State, and to
the long and useful life
336 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 4
of its author, as well. The pall-bearers
were Gen. John Beatty,
Dr. Norton S. Townshend, Prof. J. A.
Shawan, Charles J. Wet-
more, Dr. F. H. Houghton and R. H.
Osgood. His interment
was at Green Lawn Cemetery, where, in
accordance with his oft
expressed preference, a huge granite
boulder will mark his grave.
On the polished face of this boulder
will be chiseled the words:
"Henry Howe, the Ohio Historian.
Born October 11, 1816;
died October 14, 1893."
Perhaps any discussion of the historic
merits of his last great
work upon and for Ohio, is out of place
here, as posterity alone
can place a just estimate upon its
value. Critics have essayed to
point out its inaccuracies, as critics
always do, but its mistakes
are hardly as palpable as the errors in
judgment of those who so
hastily complain. They fail, as a rule,
to understand entirely
the plan and purpose of his
"Collections," for never was the
word used more advisedly and
appropriately.
" My work," he is recorded as
once saying, " is not a treatise
on the philosophy of history. I have no
theories to prove or
disprove. My endeavor is to record
history as I find it, and not
to color it with my views or opinions. I
seek to compile and
publish the facts concerning the
principal events, features, and
characters that make up Ohio history; to
go among the people,
into every locality, town, village, and
hamlet, and gather this
valuable information while it is yet
accessible, and then to record
it in such shape and manner that it may
interest and attract the
plain people, while, perhaps, at the
same time, it may give to
students and scholars the necessary data
for the study of the
forces and conditions that have produced
the moral, intellectual
and material development of a great
commonwealth."
Keeping this in mind, who will claim
that Henry Howe did
not amply fulfill his mission? We can
not foretell or penetrate
the future; we frequently can not justly
estimate the verdict of
the present, but reckoning the judgment
of the people by the
rules and standards of the past, we
confidently believe that his
fame will grow with the ages, and
increase with the growth, the
prosperity, and the glory of Ohio.
Greater reward he could not
have asked, and less he will not
receive.
Henry Howe, the Historian. 337
In the fullness of years, he passed
away, but he is not dead,
for he "lives in hearts he leaves
behind." His
"Collections"
are his best monument, he needs no
other; nor yet could Ohio,
the great State he loved so well, and
for which he did do much,
with all its wealth and power, erect one
so precious and enduring.
Vol. IV-22
Henry Howe, the Historian. 311
HENRY HOWE, THE HISTORIAN.
BY JOSEPH P. SMITH.*
"You don't find Ohio much like it was in the good old times
of forty years ago, do you, Mr. Howe?" asked an elderly gentle-
man, at Columbus, in 1886. He seemed well informed and intel-
ligent, but inclined to mournfully, disparage the present.
"' Those who compare the age on which their lot has fallen
with a golden age which exists only in their imagination may
talk of degeneracy and decay,"' cheerily answered the venerable
author, quoting, half unconsciously, the words of the greatest
of historians, "' but no man who is correctly informed as to the
past will be disposed to take a morose or desponding view of the
present.' Since 1840 Ohio has doubled her population and quad-
rupled her wealth, but the average of intelligence among her
people is greater, and that of morality and sobriety higher now
than it was then. The world gets wiser and better every day;
so does Ohio."
Such was the genial spirit in which this kindly, confiding,
and innocent man always wrote or spoke; always hopeful and
helpful, even humorous and gay, amid difficulties and embarrass-
ments that would have crushed a weaker nature, and made the
stoutest heart sick and despondent. With the highest respect
and veneration for the great men and grand work of the past, he
was proud of the enterprise and progress of the present, and
looked confidently forward to a still nobler civilization in the
future. "Human life never had such a full cup," he was fond
of saying, "as in these our days of expanding knowledge and
humanities." Such an observer could not but kindly appreciate
"the age (and place) on which his lot had fallen," and do ample
justice to opportunity and occasion.
Nor did he labor in vain. Poor he may always have been,
distressed he frequently was, but unappreciated he did not
remain, and ages hence will not be. His gain in this regard, at
*Librarian Ohio State Library.