Ohio History Journal

34       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

search history other than that of our own state for noble ideas.

The story of the foundation of our state and its progress is like

a romance.

Well did Washington say in the dark days of the Revolution

when he was questioned as to what he would do if he met defeat,

that he would come out here and settle in the valley of the Mus-

kingum. Several years ago a friend of mine, a lady of Ohio,

met an English woman whose whole idea of America was based

upon a winter spent on a ranch in Colorado, and she said to this

lady: "What do you raise in Oao?" "We call it Ohio, and we

raise chiefly great men and women." And that was a very apt

reply, my friends, because that is what we have done in this state

from its foundation. We have, from the days of the passage of

the ordinance of 1787 down to the present time, been in history.

It is useless for me to try to explain to you what Ohio has done

for this Union; you already know. I merely want to say that a

day like to-day marks a patriotic epoch; and also, that it is par-

ticularly gratifying to me to see so many children here, because

they learn by precept, and a day like this is a wonderful object

lesson to the citizens of the future. You know in former times

it used to be the custom when they wanted to mark boundary

lines between two places they would take the children out and

whip them and the children remembered where they were whipped,

and in that way the record of the boundaries was preserved. I

think this is on the same principle.

 

ADDRESS OF D. J. RYAN.

I congratulate Morgan county and I congratulate our society

on this occasion in doing honor to itself and credit to the people

of this county in remembering in the manner that they have the

noble pioneers who went before them, of a century ago, and I

congratulate Mr. Brokaw on living to see the day when his

judgment and patriotism inspired him to contribute something

that will bear in the mind and keep the memory green of the

younger generation, of those men and women who laid the foun-

dation of this commonwealth. The greatest thing that Ohio has

are its plain men and women who live among the hills and on

the plains, and that consecrate their lives to the dignity and

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Big Bottom and Its History.             35   nobility of the home. It is greater than all the wealth and all the power and all the fame that is won on any field, be it the field of commerce, the field of finance, or the field of war; greater than the greatest money magnate of to-day; more loved in the memory of the people of Ohio is the memory of these peo- ple who lived a century ago, and who gave up their lives and became martyrs to the progress of the state of Ohio in order that its great foundation might be built like unto that of a stone. The state of Ohio is great; this state of Ohio has taken the position that it has in history because the best blood, the best brawn, and the best brains of America contributed to lay the foun-

dation of Ohio, and we assembling here to- day do more honor to ourselves than even we do to their memory; nothing that we can do or say to-day can consecrate this ground any more than it was consecrated when the wonderful act was performed by which this people were made martyrs to the development of Ohio. I do not think Mr. Randall has said as much as he ought to have said about our society; it was founded in 1885 by General Brinkerhoff, Allen Thurman, Rutherford B.

Hayes and Mr. Sessions.    The object of this society is, in the midst of all this rush and bustle to turn backward and to perpetuate by monument, by speech, and by writings the deeds and   acts of our forefathers.  It is good for the people to be reminded that there was a great solid race that preceded them; it is well that in this age when men think of nothing but chasing the almighty dollar that some organ- ization be formed for the purpose of preserving the memory of the deeds of our forefathers in order that their sons may not for- get them entirely. We are not here to-day to share in this honor; we are here simply as your agents, believing that we meet the expectations of your patriotism. Whenever and wherever this society can do anything to make the memory of Ohio greater or to perpetuate the memory of her former sons, she does it with the approval of the people of Ohio.

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36       Ohio. Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   This state was the thoroughfare for all the races and all the people in their struggle to reach the west. Its foundations were laid by the very best brains of this country, when that great Amer- ican stream of settlers founded this composite Ohio. Wherever you look you will find the Ohio man; and as long as we have The Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society to per- petuate the greatness of the Ohioan, and mark the places where they have accomplished their great acts, Ohio will live long in the history of the country.     DR. NAYLOR'S POEM-"THE HARDY PIONEER."

When the century old was dying And the new was waking to birth, When the shortening days were flying Like the shadows across the earth; When the speeding months were a-shiver In the fall of the fading year, To the banks of the bonny river Came the hardy pioneer.   No castle secure and massy, No orchard or field of grain, No meadowland smooth and grassy

Found he in his vast domain; For the earth in its pristine glory Knew naught of the tiller's ban- And the solitude lisped the story Of a land unspoiled by man.   But the woods were his for the asking, And the streams at his door, and the fish - While the game on the hillsides basking Was the fruitful fact of his wish. And the nuts, in a fit of vagrance, Dropped into his waiting hand - And the fall flow'rs shed their fragrance Over all the bounteous land.

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