EDITORIALANA. |
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"HISTORY OF JEROME TOWNSHIP, UNION COUNTY, OHIO." In this interesting addition to the local history of Ohio, the author, Colonel W. L. Curry, has preserved the facts and traditions in the life of a typical American community. He has given to the third generation from the pioneer a thrilling account of Indian warfare and interesting stories of that period of settlement. The record will be invaluable to the historian of the future. It presents with vivid detail the life, trials and hardships of the early settlers, all of which will be of intense in- terest to this generation. Especially will it be instructive and valuable to the descendants of those hardy pioneers of Jerome Township. The first settlers in this locality were Joshua and James Ewing, two brothers. They settled in this territory in 1798 and erected the first cabin on the west bank of Darby Creek, about one mile north of Plain City. This was the first cabin erected in Union County. Lucas Sul- livant had laid out a town near this spot and called it North Liberty, about a year before the Ewings emigrated from Kentucky, but no house had been erected. It appears that the Indians were very numerous along Darby Creek and were unwilling to leave their favorite "hunting grounds" for the white man's settlement. James Ewing established the first store in Union County, at his farm in Jerome Township, and was appointed the first postmaster. Soon after the Ewings arrived in Union County, other settlers fol- lowed, prominent among whom were the Taylors, Robinsons, Mitchells, Kents, Currys, Cones, McCulloughs, Bucks, Probins, Notemans, Mc- Cunes, Sagers, Shovers, McClungs, and Connors. The majority of these came from the colonies of Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with a sprinkling from the New England States. The character of this sturdy stock will be appreciated when it is known that there never has been a saloon within the territory of Jerome Township, although it has been settled for more than one hundred years. Another remarkable fact which is recorded in this work is, that no one of the old settlers or their descendants has ever been convicted of a felony. Many of these pioneers came from Revolutionary ancestry, and a number of old Revolutionary soldiers settled in Union County. Among (219) |
220 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
these was James Curry, who secured one
thousand acres of land in part
pay for his services as a Revolutionary
soldier. This land pension
was for seven years' military service as
an officer of the Virginia Con-
tinental Line. The author is one of his
descendants, and some of the
land is still owned by the Curry family.
Jerome Township has a creditable and
patriotic military history.
Colonel Curry devotes the greater part
of this volume to its detail and
narration. In addition to its early
Revolutionary settlers, it furnished
soldiers to the War of 1812, the
Mexican, Civil and Spanish-American
wars. Few localities in Ohio have so
enviable a record of faithful
service to our country.
The most notable and valuable portions
of this history are those
relating to the Civil and
Spanish-American wars. Herein is given the
official records of every regiment in
which Jerome Township soldiers
served, with the names of each by
companies. It is safe to say that the
historical history of Ohio contains no
such complete military record of a
locality as is furnished in these pages;
and no one is better qualified for
the work of patient research and recording
than Colonel Curry. He has
established his reputation as a military
historian by other historical works
of pronounced originality and value. The
military literature of Ohio
has been enriched by his pen, as the
author of the following works:
"War History of Union County,
containing a History of the Services
of Union County in the War of the
Revolution, the War of 1812, the
War with Mexico 1846-1847, and the War
of the Rebellion 1861-1865,"
"Four Years in the Saddle, History
of the First Regiment Ohio Volunteer
Cavalry, War of the Rebellion
1861-1865," "Raid of the Union Cavalry,
Commanded by General Judson Kilpatrick
around the Confederate Army
at Atlanta, August, 1865," and the
"Raid of the Confederate Cavalry
through Central Tennessee in October,
1863, Commanded by General
Joseph Wheeler." From
a literary and historical standpoint Colonel
Curry's works are among the first
contributions to the Civil War litera-
ture of Ohio. In all his writings he
displays in a high degree a faculty
of historical narrative and a power of
perspective in describing events
that are essential in writing military
history.
Colonel Curry's writings gain additional
value from the fact that he
was a participant in the scenes which he
describes, serving in the First
Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, and concerning
the events which he writes it
can be said that he truthfully records
"all of which he saw and part of
which he was."
"VIRGINIA UNDER THE STUARTS."
This work, by Thomas J. Wertenbaker, Ph.
D., recently published
by the Princeton University Press
($1.50), is an exhaustive and scholarly,
as well as an interesting, history of
England's first colony in America.
Beginning with the organization of the
London Company and the charter
Editorialana. 221
granted by James I. in 1606, giving it
the right to found a settlement in
Virginia, Dr. Wertenbaker follows the
adventures of the fast-growing
colony through the reigns of James I., Charles I.,
Charles II., and James
II., through the Commonwealth and the
Restoration, and concludes with
the accession to the throne of William
and Mary in 1688. The numerous
hardships of the colonists, their
political and economic fortunes and the
contest between loyalitsts and liberals
all are faithfully portrayed. Dr.
Wertenbaker dwells particularly on the
political growth and disturbances,
but gives interesting little incidents
and quotations which make the book
more readable and prevent it from
becoming dry even to the casual
reader. A most complete bibliography has
been prepared, showing that
the author has with difficulty, but with
careful discrimination, gone di-
rectly to the original sources to obtain
his material, and has succeeded in
presenting the subject fairly in spite
of the highly prejudiced reports of
the time.
As three little ships brought the
adventurous band of Spanish ex-
plorers to America with Christopher
Columbus in 1492, so did three
little ships bring to our shores the no
less adventurous English colonists
in 1607 under Captain Christopher
Newport. The best and most loyal
blood in England was represented in this
venture, and their lofty purpose
was to extend the English domain and the
English religion and increase
British trade. Little did they suspect
the disasters this colony would at
last bring to England.
After the founding of the historic
settlement at Jamestown, and the
establishment of the government by
Council under the King's command,
the colonists began to undergo hitherto
undreamed-of hardships. As Dr.
Wertenbaker says, "Thus was the
immigrant to Virginia beset on all
sides with deadly perils. If he escaped
the plague, the yellow fever and
the scurvy during his voyage across the
Atlantic, he was more than apt
to fall a victim to malaria or dysentery
after he reached his new home.
Even if he survived all these dangers,
he might perish miserably of hun-
ger, or be butchered by the savage
Indians. No wonder he cursed the
country, calling it 'a miserie, a ruine,
a death, a hell.'" At one time the
famine was so extensive that they killed
and ate the Indians, and one man
even killed and ate his wife, "for
which hee was executed, as hee well
deserved."
When the settlers became acclimated to
the new country, the terrible
"sicknessse" decreased, and
the warfare with the Indians ceased for a time
after John Rolfe's marriage to
Pocahontas. With the introduction of the
use of tobacco into England the material
welfare of Virginia rapidly in-
creased and immigration to the new
country became popular.
The early contest between the Company in
its effort to realize its
ideal- that of making a liberal
stronghold of the colony,- and the King,
who wished Virginia to be a royal colony
and the nucleus of a colonial
empire, is described at length. The
contention that American colonists
should have the same rights as native
Englishmen was forwarded in the
222 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
earliest colonial period, making the
character of the Virginians apparent,
as well as the deep-rooted claims
causing the Revolution more than a
century later.
After a long contest and many delays,
representative government be-
came a reality in Virginia when the
first General Assembly, composed of
Burgesses elected by the freemen of the
colony, convened at Jamestown,
August 9, 1619. This Assembly was a
truly representative body, and had
important legislative powers, -notably
the control of taxation in Virginia,
a right which they never relinquished.
But misfortunes again attacked the
colony in the form of the "sick-
nesse" and, in 1622, the widespread
massacre by the Indians. This war
with the Indians is one page in American
history which is unmarred by
the treachery of the whites. Since the
time of the treaty in 1615, the
savages and the white men had been on
the friendliest terms, but suddenly
and without warning, the Indians, led by
Opechacenough, executed one
of the most cruel and repulsive series
of murders in American history.
Three hundred and fifty-seven people
were killed in one night. Not un-
til the resulting war did the colonists
begin to fight them with their own
weapons of craft, treachery, and
cruelty.
Basing his actions on these frightful
conditions in the colony, but
really on account of his jealousy of the
London Company and their lib-
eral government in Virginia, James I.,
after a series of parliamentary
and legal proceedings, in 1624 succeeded
in eliminating the Company
and making Virginia a royal colony. From
this time until the Revolu-
tion Virginia was governed by royal
officials of widely varying merits.
One of the first, Sir John Harvey, was
also one of the worst. His ty-
rannical efforts to overthrow the
people's power resulted in his expul-
sion by the Council. During this time
plots and intrigues concerning the
government of the colony were numerous
both in Virginia and in Eng-
land, and misunderstandings between the
King and the colony were
common.
In 1642 one of the leading governors
came into power, Sir William
Berkeley. His administration is noted as
being important and turbulent
as the Puritan Revolution occurred at
this time. In spite of the class of
small farmers and freedmen who favored
the Parliamentary party, Gov-
ernor Berkeley and the wealthy planters
kept the colony staunchly
royalist until the Commonwealth sent an
expedition to demand a sur-
render and arrange a compromise. For
eight years Virginia was prac-
tically a republic, all the power being
in the hands of the Assembly, and
the governor and other officials being
elected by the people. Just before
the restoration of Charles II. to the
throne, the Assembly showed its
foresight by electing as its executive
the former royal governor, Sir
William Berkeley. The bid for royal
favor thus made was sadly disap-
pointing. Charles was utterly
indifferent to the welfare of the colonists,
as was shown in his approval of the
Navigation Acts, which fatally crip-
pled Virginia's trade, and his gift of
the colony to his favorites. These
Editorialana. 223
injustices, combined with the unfair and
oppressive policy of Governor
Berkeley, and his failure to quell the
Indian uprisings led at last to the
rebellion of the downtrodden planters
under the leadership of Na-
thaniel Bacon, a descendant of Lord
Bacon. Bacon led the planters
successfully against the Indians and
protected the frontiers, then drove
out Berkeley and remained master of
Virginia until his death a few
months later, when Berkeley once more
assumed control. Then oc-
curred a systematic and wholesale
persecution of the rebels, which
lasted, contrary to the King's commands,
until Berkeley was recalled to
England.
Affairs in Virginia were becoming more
and more confused. The
people no longer supported the King and
his royal governor, but con-
tested for their own rights and
privileges. This feeling became stronger
with the efforts of Charles II. and
James II. to curb their independence
and bring them more closely under royal
control. The House of Bur-
gesses showed itself ready to protest to
the King himself rather than obey
his unwise commands, and the Burghers
and rich planters, descendants
of English aristocracy though they were,
refused to give up any of the
people's privileges. During Lord
Howard's administration many of the
powers of the House were curtailed, but
their political experience was
deeply extended. The revolution of 1688
and the accession to the throne
of the Protestant rulers, William and
Mary, were joyfully welcomed by
the colony. The liberal policies and
consideration for colonial affairs
adopted by these rulers were continued
to the great advantage of Vir-
ginia until George III's attempts to
encroach upon the American col-
onists' rights established during this
period resulted in the Revolution a
century later.
We can recommend this work as one of the
most valuable contribu-
tions to American history, and it may be
regarded as a conclusive and
authoritative source for the student of
history and politics of this period
of colonial days.
WOMEN OF OHIO.
Ohio historians and writers, numerous
and brilliant though their
works have been, have for the most part
neglected a fertile field of
interesting and important material-that
of the work of the women
of Ohio. Many well-known names and
influential characters are enrolled in
the list of Ohio's daughters, adopted as
well as native, and their lives and
experiences make a fascinating study
which the body of Ohio citizens
should be made familiar with, especially
in these days when the women
are awakening to new interest in
themselves and in their State.
In the early frontier days, great women,
strong and hardy pioneers,
marched shoulder to shoulder with their
adventurous husbands, shar-
ing all the labors, hardships and
dangers, and helping to snatch a home
224 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
from the perils of the wilderness. Ohio
was founded as surely on the
strength and fortitude of her women as
on the bravery of her men.
Some of these names worthy to be
recorded in the history of women
as well as in the history of Ohio are
seldom noticed now, while others are
well known, but all should be part of
the household lore of the State.
In the earliest pioneer days we meet
Elizabeth Kenton, the wife
General Simon Kenton, strong, patient, a
typical pioneer. A true heroine
of the time was "Mad Ann"
Bailey, who saved the fort on the Great
Kanawha, where Charleston now is, by
riding alone to Camp Union,
one hundred miles away and returning
with ammunition, enabling the
garrison to repel the attack of the
Indians. Mrs. Bailey is as picturesque
a figure as can be found in the history
of the State. Her peculiar
characteristics, her masculine
attributes, and her intrepid bravery com-
mand our interest. One of her typical
actions was to invariably join
the militia when they were mustered, and
to march in the ranks armed
as a soldier.
And what more romantic story than that
of Louisa St. Clair, the
daughter of General Arthur St. Clair, a
charming and cultured girl
with the daring and recklessness of a
true soldier's daughter. In 1788,
at a time when the relations with the
Indians were most critical,
Governor St. Clair sent a ranger with a
message to the Indian leader,
a son of the great Joseph Brant. Louisa
St. Clair overtook the messenger
and persuaded him to let her take the
letter to Brant, whom she had known
when he was at college. Her bravery and
audacity captivated the young
chieftain, and he escorted her back to
the fort. Later he appeared to
ask Governor St. Clair for his
daughter's hand, and on being refused
retired to lead his warriors later at
the disastrous battle resulting in
St. Clair's defeat. Is a more
fascinating incident related in fiction than
this legend of the St. Clairs?
No less interesting are the adventures
among the Indians of Mary
Heckewelder, the first white child born
in Ohio, and daughter of the
Rev. John Heckewelder, a Moravian
missionary. Such stories and such
brave women are not infrequent in the
early history of our State, but
they are too little recognized.
Two movements of the greatest importance
to the later welfare of
the State were begun by women of this
time. Mrs. Andrew Lake in
1789 started a Sunday school in her own
home at Marietta, because she
"took compassion on the children of
the garrison, who were spending
the Sabbath afternoon in frivolous
amusements." In 1790 the first school
for white children in Ohio was held at
Belpre by Miss Bathsheba Rouse.
Ohio women were not lacking to show
their bravery in the War
of 1812. Sarah Sibley, wife of Judge
Solomon Sibley, was in Detroit
during the attack by, and surrender to,
the British, and has given inter-
esting accounts of that trying time.
Rebecca Heald experienced the
horror of the massacre at Fort Dearborn,
Chicago, with her husband,
Captain Heald, commandant of the Fort.
Editorialana. 225
But in later times, Ohio has sent forth
women just as strong in a
different way and as interesting. An
Ohio woman, Delia S. Bacon, in
1811 first advanced what is now called
the Baconian theory concerning
the authenticity of Shakespeare's
authorship. The renowned "Uncle
Tom's Cabin" was written by Harriet
Beecher Stowe in Cincinnati. Mrs.
Mary A. Bickerdyke, of Ohio, was one of
the most conspicuous and best-
loved of the army of nurses on the field
during the Civil War.
The well-beloved poets, Alice and Phoebe
Cary, were born near Cin-
cinnati, and Alice Cary was the
president of the first organized woman's
club. The world-wide movement embodied
in the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union was originated in Hillsboro,
Ohio, by Mrs. Thompson,
daughter of Governor Trimble, and a
woman affectionately called
Mother Stewart.
Ohio women have taken a part as well in
the history of art. Mrs.
Bellamy Storer, of Cincinnati, founded
one of the most renowned of
America's art factories, the Rookwood
Pottery, and invented the process
herself. In other lines, the names of
Susan Coolidge, Sarah K. Bolton,
Sarah Piatt, Dr. Mary Wood Allen, Julia
Marlowe, Clara Morris, Fannie
Bloomfield Zeisler, Julia Rive-King and
Frances E. Willard are all
famous, but they are not all recognized
as being Ohio's daughters. And
these are only a few, taken casually
from the roll of Ohio women, who
have been leaders in every line. Ohio is
not only the "Mother of Presi-
dents" and brilliant men, but of
noble and illustrious women. Let her
authors and citizens realize it and
claim these other names among her
jewels.
"SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF WEST
VIRGINIA."
To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of
the statehood of West Vir-
ginia in 1912, the Semi-Centennial
Commission decided that a history of
the state would be a fitting and
permanent tribute. The work was put into
the hands of James Morton Callahan,
professor of history and political
science in the West Virginia University.
As author of the historical
sketch and editor of the various special
articles on the development and
resources of the state, all credit is
due Professor Callahan for the com-
prehensive volume just published by the
Commission.
Professor Callahan's own part of the
work,-a history of the state
in all its phases, comprised in fourteen
chapters,-is a masterly condensa-
tion of a wide range of facts and
incidents. Dealing first with the geo-
graphical conditions of West Virginia,
Professor Callahan lays the founda-
tion for the subsequent social,
economic, and industrial opportunities.
The early history of West Virginia is
closely allied with that of
Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and
Kentucky. The early life and vigor
of all these states were furnished by
the same bold army of pioneers,
"the rear guard of the Revolution
and the advance guard of the Re-
226 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
public," as Professor Callahan
calls them. Their life and hardships are
here portrayed, and the long forgotten
names of these settlers and their
first villages are preserved here. Owing
to the condensation necessary to
a history of this type, this romantic
and interesting period of the country's
development has been shortened into
practically a list of pioneers, settle-
ments, and dates.
The early efforts for industrial
development are treated at length,
giving a permanent record of the early
disappointments and failures, and
the final triumph of the first steamboat
on the Kanawha river in 1819,
and the completion of the Baltimore and
Ohio railroad in 1852. This
opening of the country to transportation
and commerce resulted in a
boom to industry. Towns and cities
developed. The early growth of
such cities as Morgantown, Clarksburg,
Weston, and Wheeling will be of
peculiar interest to the present
resident of these localities.
But the critical period of West Virginia
history comes with the ap-
proach of the Civil War. Professor
Callahan traces painstakingly the
deep-rooted causes of the break between
West Virginia and her mother
state. The physical differences of the
two states, their contrasting in-
dustries, western Virginia's small
number of slaves compared with Vir-
ginia proper's overwhelming slave
population,-all these contributed to
the necessity of forming another state
of Virginia west of the Alleghenies.
In 1863 the final steps were taken and
West Virginia entered the Union
which her mother state had already
deserted.
After the terrors of war were over, the
new state began to develop
her natural resources rapidly. New
railroads helped to open up the
country. Agricultural enterprise
quickened. Coal mines, gas and oil
wells, the timber, brick and glass
industries were developed. West Vir-
ginia soon won her present high
reputation for mineral wealth.
The second part of the volume consists
of a number of articles on
various phases of the state life
contributed by authorities. The means of
communication, the varied industries,
the political development, and the
educational evolution are each
forcefully and expertly presented. Fre-
quent photographs of places of
historical interest add to the attractiveness
of the book. There are also many
valuable and important maps showing
better than any wordy description
certain conditions, physical, industrial,
and social. Some are copies of old maps,
others were made by Professor
Callahan himself. Most of the pictures
were furnished by the West Vir-
ginia Geological Survey. A very complete
bibliography of the author's
sources and authorities is added which
will prove particularly useful to
students.
The whole work is a veritable storehouse
of facts which must be
preserved to nourish that state pride
and loyalty so necessary to all suc-
cessful countries. This loyalty and
patriotism already breathes from
every page in the volume, and shows the
fibre of the men who labored so
earnestly to produce it.
EDITORIALANA. |
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"HISTORY OF JEROME TOWNSHIP, UNION COUNTY, OHIO." In this interesting addition to the local history of Ohio, the author, Colonel W. L. Curry, has preserved the facts and traditions in the life of a typical American community. He has given to the third generation from the pioneer a thrilling account of Indian warfare and interesting stories of that period of settlement. The record will be invaluable to the historian of the future. It presents with vivid detail the life, trials and hardships of the early settlers, all of which will be of intense in- terest to this generation. Especially will it be instructive and valuable to the descendants of those hardy pioneers of Jerome Township. The first settlers in this locality were Joshua and James Ewing, two brothers. They settled in this territory in 1798 and erected the first cabin on the west bank of Darby Creek, about one mile north of Plain City. This was the first cabin erected in Union County. Lucas Sul- livant had laid out a town near this spot and called it North Liberty, about a year before the Ewings emigrated from Kentucky, but no house had been erected. It appears that the Indians were very numerous along Darby Creek and were unwilling to leave their favorite "hunting grounds" for the white man's settlement. James Ewing established the first store in Union County, at his farm in Jerome Township, and was appointed the first postmaster. Soon after the Ewings arrived in Union County, other settlers fol- lowed, prominent among whom were the Taylors, Robinsons, Mitchells, Kents, Currys, Cones, McCulloughs, Bucks, Probins, Notemans, Mc- Cunes, Sagers, Shovers, McClungs, and Connors. The majority of these came from the colonies of Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with a sprinkling from the New England States. The character of this sturdy stock will be appreciated when it is known that there never has been a saloon within the territory of Jerome Township, although it has been settled for more than one hundred years. Another remarkable fact which is recorded in this work is, that no one of the old settlers or their descendants has ever been convicted of a felony. Many of these pioneers came from Revolutionary ancestry, and a number of old Revolutionary soldiers settled in Union County. Among (219) |