REVIEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS
BY THE EDITOR
"VERILY THE WORLD DO MOVE"
Under this caption the Lancaster Daily
Eagle, of
September 13, 1927, publishes the
following editorial:
In another portion of this paper, we
reproduce, possibly for
the twentieth time, a resolution
supposed to have been passed by a
Lancaster School Board away back, a
hundred years ago, in 1828.
These records of the school board of
that period are not obtain-
able, and even though they were, this
resolution denying the use
of a schoolroom for a public debate as
to whether or not railroads
were practical, would be absent from the
minutes of the Lancaster
School Board's session of that date.
We were inclined for a time to take this
matter as an insult
upon the discernment of our early
citizenship, which for a century
or more has boasted of an intelligence
of the superior stage.
Lancaster has produced three cabinet
officers, Ewing of the
Treasury and Interior Department,
Stansberry of the Attorney
General's office, and John Sherman,
Secretary of the Treasury
under McKinley, and one of the greatest
generals of the Civil
War, General Sherman. They are our
jewels and we are proud
of them.
In those early days, along about the
time that a Lancaster
School Board was supposed to have
thought that telegraphs and
railroads were impossibilities and rank
infidelity, our fair city
was credited with having the best and
brainiest group of lawyers
of any county in the state and several
educators and teachers of
national repute.
In Mr. Will Scott's article in another
column it is plainly
shown that this resolution was not the product of a
Lancaster
School Board, but of the South
Charleston, Ohio, skeptics, a
little village more than fifty miles
away. But even though it
should have had its birth in Lancaster,
does the passage of a
resolution like that show a lack of
learning or a deficiency of
grey matter?
No, absolutely not.
(190)
Reviews, Notes and Comments 191
Why, it has only been a few weeks ago
that our beloved
Lindbergh hopped off from New York to the Le Bourget
Field
of France, and what did the New Yorkers
say? Ninety-nine out
of a hundred called him the
"flying fool," and many still so
believe, although they are afraid to
say it. Edison was declared
"crazy" when he claimed that
he would light the world with
electricity and the Wright Brothers
were declared everything
almost, when they claimed they could
fly with a heavier-than-air
machine.
And while Lancaster does not claim the
authorship of that
famous resolution, which declared that
on a railroad you could
travel at the frightful speed of
fifteen miles an hour, we really
believe that there were some people in
Lancaster who believed
the same, as the South Charleston,
Ohio, School Board, believed
a hundred years ago.
Verily, the world do move.
The article by Mr. Will Scott, to which
reference is
made, is published elsewhere in this
issue of the QUAR-
TERLY.
DR. HERVEY SCOTT
Judge Van A. Snider, of Lancaster,
Ohio, has for-
warded to us a biographical sketch of
Dr. Hervey Scott,
quoted from the Centennial
History of Lancaster,
written by C. M. L. Wiseman, and
published in 1898.
It is here reproduced in full.
Dr. Hervey Scott, the subject of this
sketch, was born near
Old Town, Greene County, Ohio, January
30, 1809. He re-
mained on his father's farm until his
seventeenth birthday, when
he took up his residence with the
family of William Milton, in
South Charleston, Clark County, Ohio.
At this place he attended
school and learned the trade of
manufacturing spinning-wheels.
When he was twenty-four years of age,
he gave his entire atten-
tion to the study of medicine,
attending the Ohio Medical Col-
lege, in Cincinnati. In 1836, he
entered the practice of his chosen
profession and continued for about
three years, when he turned
his attention to dentistry, which
calling he followed in Lancaster
for more than forty years.
During most of his life, especially the
latter part, Dr. Scott
manifested a decided liking for
journalistic work, and his many
historical and pioneer sketches have
attracted attention. In 1859,
192 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
he bought the Lancaster Gazette and
American Democrat, con-
solidating the two papers, placing the
office under the supervision
of his son, Hervey.
The History of Fairfield County, which made its advent in
1876, was a very meritorius production
of Dr. Scott. It was
highly appreciated by our people,
especially the older ones. He
possessed a most wonderful memory with
regard to incidents
and events of years long gone by, and
his general knowledge and
recollections of early pioneer life were
decidedly accurate.
At the time of his death, which occurred
at Toledo, in Sep-
tember, 1895, Dr. Scott was in his
eighty-seventh year. He pos-
sessed a wonderfully strong physical
organization, coming from
a hardy race of people.
His many acts of kindness and charity
extended to those in
need, his deferential bearing toward his
seniors and constant
attention to the sick, will be recalled
by many of our citizens.
QUARTERMASTER'S RECORD BOOK--1793
Through the interest of Mr. Frazer E.
Wilson, of
Greenville, Ohio, the Society has come
into the posses-
sion of a Quartermaster's Record Book,
which was kept
in old Fort Washington, the site of
which is now in-
cluded in the city of Cincinnati.
This is a record of 238 receipts for
supplies issued
by the Quartermaster, and other routine
matters in his
line of duty in the old Fort from April
24 to June 14,
1793, while preparing for his
expedition against the In-
dians of the Maumee Valley.
The record, which had been handed down
as an heir-
loom for two or three generations,
became the property
of George W. Worley, of Richmond,
Indiana, from
whom it was purchased by Mr. Wilson and
presented to
this Society.
Mr. Worley's grandfather, James Worley,
served in
General Wayne's army and in the War of
1812.
The record has been somewhat marred by
the
Reviews, Notes and Comments 193
owners through whose hands it has
passed in the long
period since it was originally written.
They have re-
corded in it quaint receipts, accounts
and other matters
of little or no value today. For a time
it appears to have
been used as a copy-book. It is,
however, in spite of
these insertions, a venerable,
interesting and legible
document, which throws strong
sidelights on the activi-
ties of the frontier army during this
interesting period.
JOSEPH GREEN BUTLER, JR.
Joseph Green Butler, Jr., pioneer iron
manufacturer,
philanthropist and author, died at his
home in Youngs-
town, Ohio, December 19, 1927. Had he
lived two days
longer, he would have been 87 years
old. He was born
at Temperance Furnace, Mercer County,
Pennsylvania,
December 21, 1840. He was the son of
Joseph Green
and Temperance (Orwig) Butler. His
father was an
iron manufacturer and blast-furnace
expert. His mother
was descended from one of the oldest,
families in Berks
County, Pennsylvania.
The Butler family lineage has been
traced to those
bearing that name who went to Ireland
in the reign of
Henry II. The family emigrated to
America in the
eighteenth century and seven members
had commissions
in the American Army during the
Revolution.
Col. Thomas Butler, a close friend of
George Wash-
ington, was a charcoal contractor and
furnished fuel for
furnaces in Pennsylvania. His son,
Joseph, was an iron
master at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. His
son, Joseph
Green Butler, Sr., followed the iron
business for some
time in central Pennsylvania. Later he
moved west-
ward and operated a furnace at New
Wilmington, Penn-
194 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications sylvania, succeeding William McKinley, Sr., father of President McKinley, as manager. Joseph Green Butler, Jr, was a third son and was |
|
JOSEPH GREEN BUTLET, JR. one year old when the family moved to Niles, Ohio. He spent most of his boyhood there, attending the village school with William McKinley, afterward president of the United States. The two were intimate and lifetime |
Reviews, Notes and Comments 195
friends. In their boyhood days, while
in the Mahoning
River, young Butler is said to have
rescued William
McKinley, when he was on the verge of
drowning.
At the age of fifteen, Mr. Butler
entered a store in
Niles, as clerk, but soon afterward
became a shipping-
clerk in the iron-works of James Ward
and Company.
He was promoted to financial manager, a
position which
he held from 1858 to 1863. He was with
Hale and
Ayer, of Chicago, from 1863 to 1866. In
the latter
year, he became manager of the Girard
Iron Company,
Girard, Ohio, and was associated with
Ohio's War Gov-
ernor, David Tod, William Ward and
William Rich-
ards. They built the first
blast-furnace, in the Mahon-
ing Valley, to be equipped with a
closed top, and con-
ducted the business for twelve years.
At the end of
this time, Mr. Butler sold his
interests and became
manager of the Brier Hill Iron Company,
Youngstown,
Ohio. This was a large and successful
iron-making
establishment, operating blast-furnaces
and mining coal
on a large scale.
Subsequently, Mr. Butler was
prominently connected
with many manufacturing enterprises. He
has prop-
erly been regarded as perhaps the most
potent personal
influence in establishing the great
iron industries of the
Mahoning Valley.
He was one of the organizers of the
Ohio Steel Com-
pany, the first concern to make steel
in the Mahoning
Valley. He was a director of the
American Iron and
Steel Institute; president of the
Portage Silica Com-
pany; vice president of the Brier Hill
Steel Company;
chairman of the board of the Bessemer
Limestone and
Cement Company; director of the
Youngstown Sheet
196
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
and Tube Company, Pennsylvania and Lake
Erie Dock
Company, Cleveland and Mahoning Valley
Railway
Company, Pittsburgh, Youngstown and
Ashtabula Rail-
way Company, Pennsylvania and Ohio
Light and Power
Company, Youngstown and Suburban
Railway Com-
pany, the First National Bank and of
numerous lesser
enterprises.
Mr. Butler took an active interest in
politics. This
dated from his early years. He used to
relate incidents
in the life of Governor Tod; and was
present when the
latter received a telegram from Abraham
Lincoln ten-
dering him the position of Secretary of
the Treasury
of the United States, which office he
declined. Mr.
Butler was a Republican. He was
delegate to three
national conventions of that party the
last of which was
held in Chicago, in 1920.
Mr. Butler is the author of a number of
books writ-
ten in the later years of his life and
devoted largely to
the history of the iron industry in the
Mahoning Valley
and his contact with noted men and
events covering the
interesting period of his lifetime.
Following is a list of
his principal works:
Life of William McKinley, 1900; First Trip Across
the Continent, 1904; First Trip Abroad, 1906; Presi-
dents I Have Seen and Known, 1910; A
Journey
Through France in Wartime, 1917;
Fifty Years of Iron
and Steel, 1917; History of Youngstown and the Ma-
honing Valley, in three volumes, 1921; and Recollections
of Men and Events -- an
Autobiography, 1925.
The last-named was reviewed in the
QUARTERLY of
July, 1925.
Reviews, Notes and Comments 197
In his "Personal
Reminiscences," which form the
concluding chapter of his History of
Youngstown and
the Mahoning Valley, Vol. I, he tells how he got into the
iron business:
In 1857, James Ward, Sr., came into the
company store at
Niles, where my father had charge, and
told him that the ship-
ping clerk in the mill was "on a
spree," and that he would have
to borrow one of the clerks until this
man sobered up. Father
said: "There are three of them;
take your pick of the lot." Mr.
Ward looked the boys over and chose me,
and that was the way
I got into the iron business.
Mr. Butler contributed liberally of his
wealth to
many enterprises and institutions. The
National Mc-
Kinley Birthplace Memorial, in Niles,
Ohio, is a monu-
ment to his public spirit and his
devotion to his lifelong
friend. To the building of this
memorial he gave freely
of his time and money, contributing to
the endowment
fund alone an initial subscription of
$100,000. His in-
terest in art extended over many years.
His desire was
to establish in his home city an
institution that should
continually foster and encourage a
similar interest
among the rising generation. He erected,
in the city
of Youngstown, an institution known as
the Butler Art
Institute. To this he contributed rare works of art
collected during his lifetime and, in
his will, he left to
the Institute the large residue of his
fortune, estimated
at more than one million dollars.
Through the years to come, the McKinley
Memorial,
in Niles, and the Butler Art Institute,
in Youngstown,
will attract an ever-increasing number
of visitors to
these two cities.
He belonged to many associations --
industrial and
198 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
learned and was a life member of the Ohio State
Archaeological and
Historical Society.
Joseph Green Butler,
Jr., married Harriet Voorhes
Ingersoll, of
Honesdale, Pennsylvania, January 10,
1866. Of this union
were born Mrs. Blanche (Butler)
Ford, Mrs. Grace
Ingersoll (Butler) McGraw, and Mr.
Henry A. Butler. The
latter two survive. Mrs. Butler
died in 1921.
Mr. Butler was
familiarly known as "Uncle Joe,"
and his wide circle
of acquaintances and friends felt a
personal loss, when
they learned that his death had
come on the eve of
the celebration of his eighty-seven
years of life in the
Mahoning Valley.
PROF. AZARIAH SMITH
ROOT
A librarian of state,
national and international repu-
tation died at his
home in Oberlin, Ohio, Sunday, Octo-
ber 2, 1927. He was
born at Middlefield, Massachu-
setts, February 3,
1862. He was the son of Solomon F.
and Anna (Smith)
Root.
He came as a student
to Oberlin College, Oberlin,
Ohio, from Dalton,
Massachusetts, in 1879. He was
graduated from the
College with the degree of A. B., in
1884, and received
his A. M. degree in 1887. He was a
law student at Boston
University from 1884 to 1885;
cataloguer in the
Oberlin College Library from 1885 to
1886, and student at
Harvard Law School from 1886
to 1887 and at the
University of Gottingen, Germany, in
1898 and 1899. He was
a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
For forty years
Professor Root was librarian of the
Oberlin College
Library; and was, for some time, an
annual lecturer
before the Library Schools of Columbia,
Reviews, Notes and Comments 199
Western Reserve and Michigan
Universities and Pratt
Institute. During 1916 and 1917, he was
acting direc-
tor of the New York Public Library
School. He was
president of the Ohio Library
Association in 1901 and
1914-1915; of the American Library
Association, 1921-
1922; of the Bibliographical Society of
America, 1909-
1912 and 1923-1926. He was also a
director of the
American Correspondence School of
Librarianship.
He was active in temperance work. With
Howard
Russell, A. G. Comings, J. P.
Henderson, H. M. Tenney
and other prominent citizens of
Oberlin, he assisted in
organizing the Anti-Saloon League of
America.
Throughout the remainder of his life he
was a faithful
supporter of this organization.
In his long service as librarian of the
Oberlin College
Library, he built up what is said to be
the largest college
library in the world. When he entered
upon his duties
in this institution, it numbered 14,000
volumes. When
he died, it had grown to 507,587
volumes, most of which
were bound and all of which were
thoroughly indexed
and available for loan and reference
use. The Oberlin
College Library is Professor Root's
enduring monu-
ment.
Shortly before his death, Professor
Root had been
elected to the position of secretary,
librarian and chair-
man of the Book-Purchase Committee of
the Spiegel
Grove Committee of the Ohio State
Arch??eological and
Historical Society, and director of
research at original
sources in Spain, France, England and
Canada, relating
to the State of Ohio, the Northwest
Territory, the
United States of America and the
Western Hemisphere,
in the Hayes Memorial Library, at
Fremont, Ohio. He
200
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
had been especially active in the
selection of books for
the Hayes Memorial Library.
He was a life member of the Ohio State
Archaeolog-
ical and Historical Society and served
on its Spiegel
Grove Committee.
Mr. Root was a scholarly gentleman,
unassuming,
modest, and from early manhood a great
student. He
was a wise and trusted counselor among
the student
body and faculty of Oberlin College and
a constantly
widening circle of those who came to
him for advice.
His death leaves a vacant place that
will be long felt by
his library associates, especially
those in Ohio.
Professor Root is survived by his wife,
Mrs. Anna
Mayo (Metcalf) Root, whom he married in
1887; by a
daughter, Marian, connected with the
New York City
Public Library, and by a son, Francis
M., professor
of Social Hygiene and Public Health, at
Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore.
WILLIAM PENDLETON PALMER
William Pendleton Palmer, president of
the Ameri-
can Wire and Steel Company, died at his
home in Cleve-
land Heights, December 19, 1927. He was
born in
Pittsburgh, Pa., June 17, 1861; was the
son of James
Stewart and Eleanor Pendleton (Mason)
Palmer; and
was educated in the public schools of
his native city. He
took an active interest in educational
institutions; was
trustee of Case Library and Oberlin
College; president
of the Western Reserve Historical
Society; and mem-
ber of a number of literary and
industrial societies.
His estate, at the time of his death,
was valued at
over $1,000,000. He left gifts of
$25,000 to both the
Reviews, Notes and Comments 201
Western Reserve Historical Society and
the Cleveland
Foundation.
Mr. Palmer was a life member of the
Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society
and was at one
time a member of its Board of Trustees.
DEATH OF DR. WILLIAM C. MILLS.
While the current issue of the QUARTERLY was
pass-
ing through the press, Dr. William C.
Mills, since 1898
archaeologist and director of the Ohio
State Archaeo-
logical and Historical Society, passed
to his final rest at
midnight, on January 17, 1928. In the
death of Dr.
Mills the Society has sustained a great
loss. The Mu-
seum, which is the result of his long
years of faithful
and devoted service, is his enduring
monument.
An extended sketch of his life and
services to the
Society and the State, will appear in
the next issue of the
QUARTERLY.
ROSS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
A four-day exhibition of historical and
archaeological
material was held at the Chillicothe
Armory, Novem-
ber 21 to 24, 1927. The occasion was a
reorganization
or revival of the Ross County
Historical Society, for
some years inactive. Several members of
the Museum
staff were in attendance and a small
exhibit of archaeo-
logical specimens from Ross County
mounds was in-
stalled. On the afternoon of the 22nd,
Mr. H. C.
Shetrone, curator of archaeology, spoke
on the "Pre-
historic Resources of Ross
County." In the evening of
the same date, Mr. Arthur C. Johnson,
president of the
Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Society, made
202 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
the principal address in which he
stressed the rich his-
toric background of the county and
predicted a gratify-
ing future for the local Historical
Society. Many rare
relics of Chillicothe, from the days
when the town was
the capital of the state, were brought
out by the exhi-
bition.
At that time John A. Poland was elected
president
of a temporary organization, and E. S.
Wenis, secretary.
A total of 150 members were secured,
and this number
had been increased to about 200 when
the permanent
organization was effected in January.
On Thursday, January 12, the Society
met to hear
an address by Mr. C. B. Galbreath,
secretary of the
Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Society. The
speaker congratulated the local Society
upon its suc-
cessful inauguration and flattering
prospects. He spoke
of previous attempts to organize local
historical societies
in the Scioto Valley, directing especial
attention to the
organization of the Logan Historical
Society. He read
the following paragraph from the
initial meeting of this
Society, which was organized in 1841.
In an assemblage of pioneers and
citizens from different
parts of the Scioto Valley, at Westfall,
in Pickaway County,
July 28,
1841, Judge Corwin, of Portsmouth, a
pioneer of the
last century, in a short, impressive
speech, stated, that from the
best information he possessed, we were
on or very near the spot
where Logan, the Mingo chief, the Indian
philanthropist and
friend of the white man, delivered his
celebrated speech, sent
to Lord Dunmore, creditable to mankind
and honorable to him
and his nation. The venerable pioneer
concluded by proposing
that, as if listening to the speech, we
uncover and resolve our-
selves into a Society, determined to
perpetuate those principles
for which Logan suffered the sneers of
his red brethren, by the
erection of a monument to his memory,
and by the careful col-
lection, safe-keeping, and lasting
preservation, for the use of
Reviews, Notes and Comments 203
posterity, of the many scattered but
interesting fragments of
the history of the early settlements of
the western country, as
well as what remains of the first and
successive settlements of
North America. Whereupon, uncovered as
we were in the sight
of God, all present resolved themselves into a
Society, determined
to carry out the wishes of every one,
as expressed by the proposer,
and also to invite all who are warmed
with American feelings to
aid them in their enterprise. They then
elected Felix Renick,
Esq., of Ross County, another pioneer
of the last century, presi-
dent, and John S. Williams, of
Chillicothe, recording and corre-
sponding secretary.
He drew attention to the fact that
eminent men of
Ross County were largely represented in
this organiza-
tion, the members of the executive
committee of which
were as follows:
Hon. George Corwin, Hon. William
Oldfield, and Moses
Gregory, Esq., were appointed for
Scioto County; Hon. Sam-
uel Reed, Hon. John I. Vanmetre, and
John Carolus, Esq.,
for Pike County; William M. Anderson,
Owen T. Reeves, Esqs.,
and Colonel John Madeira, for Ross
County; William B. Thrall
and Philo N. White, Esqs., and Dr. M.
Brown, for Pickaway
County; and Hon. Gustavus Swan, Noah H.
Swayne and John
G. Miller, Esqs., were appointed for
Franklin County.
He then proceeded with the address of
the evening
on "The Relation of George
Washington and Abraham
Lincoln to Ohio and Its History."
The Ross County
Historical Society then effected a
permanent organiza-
tion as follows:
John A. Poland, president; Dr. C. W.
Mills, first vice pres-
ident; Mrs. L. C. Anderson, second vice
president; Charles M.
Haynes, treasurer; Edwin S. Wenis,
secretary; Miss Martha
T. Bennett, Miss Effie S. Scott, Lyle
S. Evans, Dr. Johns Gal-
braith, Albert C. Spetnagel, Dr. B F.
Sproat and Morris Buch-
walter, directors.
A constitution and by-laws were adopted
also.
204 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
MUSEUM ECHOES
The first issue of Museum
Echoes has been published
and distributed by the Society. It
fills a need that has
long been apparent. It makes it
possible to get promptly
the current news of the activities of
the Society to its
members and all others interested in
its work. Ten
issues will be published each year, one
for each month
except July and August. Words of
appreciation and
encouragement for this venture have
already been re-
ceived from many sources.
REVIEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS
BY THE EDITOR
"VERILY THE WORLD DO MOVE"
Under this caption the Lancaster Daily
Eagle, of
September 13, 1927, publishes the
following editorial:
In another portion of this paper, we
reproduce, possibly for
the twentieth time, a resolution
supposed to have been passed by a
Lancaster School Board away back, a
hundred years ago, in 1828.
These records of the school board of
that period are not obtain-
able, and even though they were, this
resolution denying the use
of a schoolroom for a public debate as
to whether or not railroads
were practical, would be absent from the
minutes of the Lancaster
School Board's session of that date.
We were inclined for a time to take this
matter as an insult
upon the discernment of our early
citizenship, which for a century
or more has boasted of an intelligence
of the superior stage.
Lancaster has produced three cabinet
officers, Ewing of the
Treasury and Interior Department,
Stansberry of the Attorney
General's office, and John Sherman,
Secretary of the Treasury
under McKinley, and one of the greatest
generals of the Civil
War, General Sherman. They are our
jewels and we are proud
of them.
In those early days, along about the
time that a Lancaster
School Board was supposed to have
thought that telegraphs and
railroads were impossibilities and rank
infidelity, our fair city
was credited with having the best and
brainiest group of lawyers
of any county in the state and several
educators and teachers of
national repute.
In Mr. Will Scott's article in another
column it is plainly
shown that this resolution was not the product of a
Lancaster
School Board, but of the South
Charleston, Ohio, skeptics, a
little village more than fifty miles
away. But even though it
should have had its birth in Lancaster,
does the passage of a
resolution like that show a lack of
learning or a deficiency of
grey matter?
No, absolutely not.
(190)