Ohio History Journal

THE ROUSH FAMILY IN THE MAKING OF AMERICA

By LESTER LEROY ROUSH

Introductory Remarks.

To present the history of so large a family in so small a

compass and make the story interesting and attractive and useful

to the large posterity of its common ancestors is a most difficult

task.  Two questions the writer certainly must face are, first,

what to choose from the large accumulation at hand, and second,

how to present it.

The wider man's realistic knowledge of history, including

thought and social relationship, and the more certain and true

his insight into things to come, the more likely is he to fit into

the policies of the new thought world in which he finds himself

from generation to generation.   A degree of knowledge along

these important lines, at least the practical phase of them, must

be accredited to members of the Roush family. In the periods of

social, political, religious and economic change their intuition was

sufficient to land them on the progressive side of issues involved.

The theme chosen here is not one of mere genealogical data,

although a certain amount of this is necessary and useful in such

an article. Rather the object has been to show that which will

help the reader visualize the part the Roush ancestors have con-

tributed to the social, moral, economic, and political development

of America. A correct knowledge of their historical significance

will help him the better to appreciate the principles on which are

based his own ideals toward the institutions of the present Ameri-

can civilization. In the preparation of this article the social, in-

dustrial and political life of the country and the contributions of

the family thereto have been kept in mind, preserving at the same

time the thread of genealogical connections for the use of future

generations.

It is timely for this memorial article to appear now as this

year, 1936, marks the two hundredth anniversary of the family's

arrival in America. Until ten years ago no attempt had been

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made to preserve the identity of the Roush Family. After five

strenuous years of organized research effort by the family, the

writer was able to present a volume of some seven hundred pages

on them and their allies.  Not until the volume became well

circulated and members of the family throughout the nation gained

access to its contents was further progress made.  Much new

data recently have been brought to light which is included in this

article. A bibliography of considerable size is still growing.

A colonial family with nearly as many descendants as Ohio

had population when it was admitted into statehood must have

made a contribution to American life of no inconsequential im-

portance. In this day when every effort possible should be made to

stimulate world peace, references to war might better be omitted.

Such omission is impossible, however, in a historical sketch of this

kind because of the part war has played in the past.

Pre-American History.

First let a sweeping view be taken of the European progeni-

tors of this large American family. They came of the tribes that

pushed steadily westward from the motherland of men in the

heart of Asia, over the plains of Europe, down into Rome and

Gaul for centuries uncounted until about 1000 A. D. when threads

of their history begin to show here and there. At this time they

are no longer in tribes but in family groups, or standing out as

individuals.  As early as 1020 they were definitely connected

with the history of central Europe. The name again appears in

the Anglo-French detachment of the Third Crusade of 1190. For

the next two or three centuries the name appears and reappears

at intervals. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the name

comes to the front with a good deal of frequency, and, in varied

connections, mostly in patriotic and religious functions.  In the

tower of Saint Michael's church hangs a bell bearing the follow-

ing inscription: "By the help of God I was carved by Hans

Heinrick Rausch 1677." "Nicholas Roush was a bell founder in

1683," is inscribed on another bell in St. Michael's. In similar

and other connections, especially among the early Protestant

clergymen and educators is the name common.

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The coat of arms of the Roush family has three variations,

a more artistic touch being given the second and the third. In

coloring and art it is seldom if at all exceeded by any family coat

of arms. The first grant was made to Rausch de Traubenberg,

Bavaria (Nob. au St. Empire Dec. 23, 1539; conf. de nob. 19

Sept. 1660).  At this second granting of nobility to the family

in 1660 certain scrolling was added, and the knight, supposed to

represent the member of the family thus honored. It is a quar-

tered arms, the first and fourth being charged with a grapevine

supported by a pole or prop resting upon the ground.   The

second and third quarterings are charged with a knight holding

in his hand a flaming bomb. This shield is charged in the center

with a smaller shield of black, having an irregular band of silver.

The crest is a knight placed between two black wings. The first

grant of the coat of arms was made during the reign of Charles V,

the most important in the German annals and the most brilliant

of the sixteenth century.

The family is found widely dispersed over Europe, especially

in the central and western countries. A branch of the Switzer-

land family emigrated in the last century to Russia, and Rausch

Von Traubenberg of this line was a commander of the Russian

cavalry in the late war. Ottomar Rausch was a ranking general

in the German army. Anton Rausch is a professor in an academy

of art in Munich. His work is of high order and he is spoken

of in art journals as the modern Raphael.  In Great Britain

the name is Anglicised to such forms as Roush, Rouse, Rush and

some other variations. The most common spelling in this country

is Roush, Rausch and Rouse. The earlier families of colonial

days almost without exception use the spelling Roush. The later

immigrant families use the original form of Rausch; a certain

large and well known branch of the family in the South, particu-

larly Kentucky, uses the name as Rouse. That streets, villages,

public buildings and highways of western Europe not uncom-

monly bear the name is affirmed by members of the family who

were in the World War and those who have traveled abroad.

Constantinople, named by Constantine the Great, maintained

its prestige in the Byzantine Empire for a thousand years after

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Rome had fallen. The Turks, a fierce people, after many cen-

turies conquered this city in 1453 and besieged the rest of southern

Europe. They became terrors to Christendom. Their military

forces were defeated at Vienna in 1529 and their naval forces at

Lepanto in 1571. This definitely turned them back and saved

Europe for Christendom. The name Rausch appears among the

opponents to the mighty Mohammedan forces.

Long before this the Rausches were definitely classified with

the Christian peoples of Europe, at least from the crusade of 1190.

They were not satisfied merely to prevent a more corrupt form

of religion from dominating Europe, but they were among those

who first became conscious of the corruption of their own accepted

form of worship. When they turned from pagan belief is not

now known. That they are found among the early Christians is

one of the first evidences of their ability to adjust themselves to

a new and progressive movement pointing toward modern civiliza-

tion.

In the foothills of the Harz Mountains, the birthplace of Mar-

tin Luther, lived some prominent members of the Rausch family.

As shown by the grant of the coat of arms, one branch of the

family had received favorable recognition from the government.

Coincident with Luther members of this branch became Protes-

tant. They believed that no man on earth had power to forgive

sin, that remission of sin is possible through repentance alone,

and urged the people to search the Scriptures for the words of

eternal life.

For the next century they saw and suffered the horrors of

persecution resulting from the reformation movement. Early in

Protestant history one of them, Johannes Abraham Rausch, was

appointed to the responsible task of supervising the church and

schools of the Darmstadt district. Here for fifty years he was a

clergyman and educator of considerable influence. Records show

that he was prominent in the affairs of Baumholder University.

Certain of his sermons are still kept in the archives of this uni-

versity, and his own funeral oration has been preserved.

He was the progenitor of the early emigrants to this country

between 1735 and 1740.  Among the first immigrants was John

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THE ROUSH FAMILY                   201

 

Adam Rausch who landed in 1736, followed two years later by

Nicholas Rausch, a brother or cousin. A branch of this same

ancestry came about a hundred years later and is now numerously

found in the vicinity of Marysville, Ohio. Still another branch

settled a decade later at Wabash, Indiana, some of the members of

which are now physicians and bankers. John Casper Roush whose

ancestry has not yet been determined, came even earlier.

The Colonial Forefathers.

Toward the close of the year 1736 the Perth Amboy, having

sailed from Rotterdam, came up the Delaware River bearing a

young immigrant listed on the ship's record as Johannes Adam

Rausch. Some years were spent in the Germantown vicinity of

Philadelphia where he seems to have been joined by the above

named John Nicholas Rausch. It appears that he later went up

into Northumberland County where he probably met and married

the young woman who was to be his companion in the New World.

Her surname is not known but her Christian name was Susannah,

which appears with much frequency on church and legal records.

Emigration to the Shenandoah Valley had set in and this

family was among the early settlers there.  By 1773 some of

their children were grown and permanently fixed on a 400-acre

tract of land on a drain of Mill Creek, in Shenandoah County,

which had been purchased from Lord Dunmore. The entry of

the name on these land grants was the occasion of its changing

from Rausch to Roush, which form has been consistently followed

by their descendants to this day.

Good news and glowing accounts of the new home on the

American frontier must have been sent back to Darmstadt; other

members were arriving and finding their places in the William

Penn colony.  They, too, married, settled down and grew up

with the new country. Social and political developments of the

last century seemed to fix certain policies very definitely in the

thinking of these young men--sane and loyal devotion to the

Church, and love for political freedom and democracy in gov-

ernment. One motive seemed to predominate--the glorification

of peace through the consecrated genius of justice and righteous-

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202   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

ness. There is evident hatred against the tyrant whose cruel hand

had mercilessly crushed the life blood out of thousands of inno-

cent people throughout the eighteenth century.

Voltaire had spoken. It may have seemed to him that he

was fighting a warfare alone--war for the oppressed against

the oppressor--for justice, goodness, kindness.  But there were

other hearts and true ones, into which fell the seed certain to grow

the harvest of a new and better political age. The old dogma of

inhuman severity, the feudal lord whose power was supreme, the

Roman priest, who knew not nor cared for the justice and tender

mercy of the Christ he preached, were to be conquered. Voltaire,

Montesquieu, and Rousseau fought with their quills in keen wit

and sarcasm. And great though their genius was against worn-

out codes, creeds and customs, their glory was dimmed by certain

confusions.

The task of assimilating and working into practical citizen-

ship the permanent values of the teaching of these men of letters

was left to lesser lights. The oppression of a thousand years was

to be stopped; a new spirit and a new age was to be ushered in.

But it was quite unlike anything the literary men of fame had

dreamed.   Antiquated customs and practices were to go, but

reverence and faith and conscience were not among these. They

would abide. These men made the mistake of attacking the moral

foundations on which the existence of human society depend.

Their social and political dreams, not their skeptical philosophy,

were to be transplanted in the common citizenry of the colonies

by such faith as was to be found in the Roush and other families.

Such was the background of the early Roushes. With them

were many others of like mind, luminous lights and fruitful also.

In Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and New York they sowed

the seed for a new society, for equality and concession, tolerance,

goodwill, the serenity of souls, the spirit of indulgence, harmony

and peace. Ferocious magistrates could sway no power among

such a citizenry; money changers could not enter the sanctuary of

the new land. The weak, the poor, and the suffering must have

protection, the persecuted and oppressed must be liberated.

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THE ROUSH FAMILY                   203

 

The Roush families with these principles, deep and abiding,

were becoming numerous by the time the American Revolution

was springing up. There is a tradition that John Roush and pos-

sibly his oldest son, Philip, had part in the French and Indian War

on the side of the English. This has not been established.

Of the John Roush family nine sons and three daughters are

said to have lived in Shenandoah County in the Forestville-New

Market vicinity.  Different historians state that nine brothers

of this family were in the war for independence. The services

of seven of these, Philip, John, a captain of the Shenandoah Com-

pany, Jacob, Henry, Daniel, George and Jonas have been estab-

lished by government records. Some of the sisters are known to

have married men who were also soldiers in this war. These

were all men of virile faith. It is said that it was their daily

custom in family devotion to pray for their "beloved country,

the United States of America."

The Public School System.

At first thought it seems contradictory that the family, so

loyal to the Lutheran Church with its parochial school system,

could be at the same time so ardent in support of public education.

Their emigration from east to west kept them on the advance

guard of newer and more progressive ideas in the nation's de-

velopment.  As they settled in new communities their homes

were opened for the purpose of worship and education. Usually

the first educational advantages offered were those under the

direction of the Church.  This system soon yielded to public

education. This was particularly noticeable in the early settle-

ments in Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.

By the time settlements reached the Far West the public school

system was more generally practiced.

Personal interviews with aged members of the family have

brought interesting phases in the progress of public education

before the writer. Again the European background has had a

marked influence upon the family's interest in this connection.

It is evident that the family had its origin in central Europe.

The history of their educational awakening is essentially a history

of their civilization. School organization and educational theories

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204   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

advanced by the family after all are but the expression of the type

of civilization which they as a people gradually evolved. The

Franks of the early centuries were a people among whom might

made right. The road over which the family has traveled since

these days when might was the power that ruled, and children had

no rights which even parents were bound to respect, to a time

when the child is regarded as of first importance and adults have

declared by law that the child will be cared for and educated for

the welfare of the state, is a long road.

The three strong influences in awakening educational interest

in the members of the early family were the Greeks, Romans and

Christians. Superimposed upon these foundation stones the cul-

ture and civilization of this American family rests.

There is much evidence that the family was influenced by that

period of awakening and discovery which led to that wonderful

revival of ancient learning, the great expansion of man's thought,

a new and mighty religious awakening and a period of world

exploration and discovery. It is in these impulses and forces

that the American family must look for the background of its

awakened interest in educational and spiritual development of its

modern generation. To this should be added the influences inci-

dent to the great revolt against religious authority, known as the

Reformation. These were the influences which, in large part, led

them to colonize in America.

The dominant idea in the early education of the family is

clearly discernible when the religious background is known. Hav-

ing the clerical family as its progenitors, members were devoutly

given to religious and church influences. They were ardent

proponents of Luther's idea of substituting the authority of the

Bible in religious matters for the authority of the Church. As

a consequence this meant the substitution of individual responsi-

bility for salvation for the collective responsibility of the Church,

and meant that those who were to be saved, according to this

theory at least, must be able to read the Word of God, participate

intelligently in Church services, and conform their lives to the

accepted teachings of the heavenly Father. The education of all

the members of the family was therefore a vital necessity.

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THE ROUSH FAMILY                    205

 

With the European school plan of an elementary school sys-

tem for the masses, and a secondary school system for the classes,

the family seems to have been in great discord.  A democracy

in spirit and thought led these early settlers to demand a com-

mon school system for all.

The attitude of the family toward modern education, generally

speaking, is of religious origin, and comes as one of the fruits of

the Protestant revolt in Europe. From diaries, biographies, deeds,

wills and certain other sources it is learned that when the families

moved from the East to the West, schools were soon begun in

their homes. Religious instruction was a necessary part of

education. Girls were educated as well as boys, the emphasis

being placed on reading, writing, counting and religion rather

than upon higher forms of learning.

A question often asked among the allied families as well as

those bearing the name is: How do you account for so large a

number of the family being engaged in some field of educational

and religious work? It can be thus easily seen how the attitudes

toward religion and education prepared them for the public school

system, and how they became strong proponents of the new plan

for common education. Another strong qualification for their

work in the field of public education which should be noted is that

there were among these families many young men and women of

strong character and good personality.  Representatives of the

family are to be found in all departments of education from the

presidents of colleges and professors in universities to common

school teaching; and in religious activities from presidents of

seminaries to preachers, missionaries and active laymen in various

denominations.

Upon asking some of the older members how the early fami-

lies came to lend such large support to the public school system

the answers received have been in substance as follows: They

believed that education tended to prevent pauperism; that it helped

to reduce poverty and distress; that it made people prosperous

and productive; that schools open to all, equally upon all terms,

would prevent class differentiation so common in Europe; that

the church system of education had become inadequate; that the

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206    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

free education of all children at public expense was the natural

right of free children in a republic; that the cost of such a system

would be amply compensated by the social, moral, political and

industrial benefits to be derived from it; that the wealth of the

state should educate the children of the state. Evidence that this

was a family characteristic accumulates as inquiry is made from

the settlements in the West Central and Far Western States.

The Question of Slavery.

An inquiry was made of some of the older members of the

family, some of them in their high eighties, concerning the fore-

father's attitude toward slavery. Some of these men were men-

tally keen and had treasured with much interest the traditions of

the family. The results may again seem paradoxical since the

early families were almost all of the Democratic Party affiliation.

The Shenandoah branch had come from one of the slave states

but not one of them ever held slaves. The same strong attitude

of opposition toward slavery is found among them that is to be

found among the Pennsylvania branches. The background must

be examined. While inquiry along this line has been mostly

among those of the Shenandoah branch, the same general attitude,

however, is found in the other lines.

One of the old veterans of the Civil War from Mason County,

West Virginia, was asked how it happened that so many of the

Roushes were in the Union army in the war. Having come from

Virginia and being Jeffersonian in political principles were they

not sympathetic toward slavery? He replied:

No, you see it was this way. Our forefathers all served in the Revo-

lutionary War. They believed in the cause of their new country. They

believed in the "Father of their Country," they fought with him and lived

for him. George Washington, you know in his will, freed his own slaves.

We believe that George Washington foresaw that slavery could not be a

system in keeping with our American principles of government.

But coming from Virginia was it not to be expected that they

would be sympathetic toward the southern point of view? he was

asked. His reply was:

No, none of our families so far as I have heard held slaves.¹ These

1 The census of Virginia lists all families of the Shenandoah branch as having

no slaves.

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THE ROUSH FAMILY                         207

 

pioneer families were very devoted in their religious faith, and somehow

they came to believe that it was not in keeping with Christian principles

for one man to hold another in bondage. Then they saw that slavery in

the New World was causing an enormous amount of suffering. Anyway

slavery came about because a stronger race or nation captured a weaker

one. The Bible does not teach that this is right.

Another veteran of the Civil War, John Roush from Gallia

County, Ohio, was asked about the political phase of the ques-

tion. He said:

You know, that was a delicate question. Our people were all demo-

crats, strong supporters of the Jeffersonian principles of government. But

Jefferson was opposed to slavery. He saw to it that the words slaves and

slavery were not used in the Constitution. And Jefferson once declared as

to slavery, "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just."

You see, that not from the standpoint of religion, morals, nor politics could

we believe slavery right.

In questioning another of the venerable men it was found

that he confirmed the attitude expressed by the others. He added,

however, these remarks:

Two important facts in connection with the family's relationship to

the slavery issue have been overlooked. So many of our forefathers could

not have given their service in the cause of independence unless they had

believed strongly in the nation. We thought that if they had risked all to

make the nation possible we should give ourselves for the preservation of

the Union.  For these reasons almost all of our families chose to stand

by the cause of the Union. Then by the time the slavery issue had become

so intensified many of our families had come west under the influence of

the Ordinance of 1787 which forbade slavery in the Northwest Territory.

They were living among people who for the most part thought as did they

about the injustice of slavery and involuntary servitude.

Records show that from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio,

Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and other states, scores bearing the name

were engaged on the side of the Union army, some as officers.

Some were captured and held in Confederate prisons, some

wounded, others were killed on the battlefield, some died from

the terrible suffering and starvation in the enemy prisons.

The only exceptions to be noted in their devotion to the Union

are to be found in one or two instances from West Virginia, and

certain ones from the branch of the family in Kentucky which

later came to bear the name Rouse. The Nicholas Rausch family

of Martinsburg, Virginia, owned slaves in the early days but

voluntarily freed them. A son, John Martin Roush, left Vir-

ginia because he did not desire to live in a slave state. He freed

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208   OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

his slaves and in 1846 migrated to Springfield, Ohio. One of

his slaves followed him.  Here his former master helped him

establish a home. The little house in which this slave lived for

many years still stands on the National Road near Springfield.

Life in the Economy of Scarcity.

The family has not been one of rulers, lords or capitalists.

Neither has it been one of penury and want. However, speak-

ing in terms of economics, the past history of this family has been

conditioned in terms of scarcity.  The traditional wisdom re-

ceived by members from their forebears, the philosophies they

developed, whether in terms of radicalism or conservatism, the

sermons they have listened to, the books they have read, the laws

they have inherited or adopted, the constitutions they have honored

and obeyed, the codes of morality they have observed with intense

rigidity, all have grown up in a soil of economic scarcity.

The trail of their historical past leads through a civilization

that has been a mass of poor peasants, or slaves tilling the soil.

Their small surplus earnings above dire need was taken by land-

owner, noble, priest, warlord or king. They looked from their

wooden plow with envy to the man on horseback in scarlet cloak,

sometimes expressing bitter anger against him. They awaited the

opportunity to hit the inhuman system a crushing blow, or if

this failed, a chance to escape from it.

Nourished in this economy of scarcity they maintained ar-

tists, cathedral builders, prophets of a new order, statesmen,

scientists, philosophers, educators, clergy, soldiers. The New

World afforded the only possible opportunities for the realization

of some of these worthy ideals. For a generation or so these

pent up ambitions seemed more or less dormant while they were

emerging from the wilderness of a new continent. Two phases

of their interests were paramount in these quiet years-religion

and good government. To these they gave their full measure of

devotion.

The immigrants soon found themselves the possessors of

large farms. The children were first taught by their mothers,

then attended such community school as the families could jointly

maintain. The first and second generations had little concern in

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THE ROUSH FAMILY                    209

learning outside of fundamentals. The techniques of business

and farming were picked up at home under the tutelage of the

father or older members of the family. Handicraft work by the

girls was easily learned by assisting the mothers. They learned

business also. Large landowners were not mere farmers; they

made loans of seed and grain. Bartering was a common practice

and one in which they were well skilled. They were engaged in

lumbering.  The tanning business arose to a fine art amongst

some of the families, especially the Shenandoah branch.  The

large water-wheel on a drain of Mill Creek at Forestville in Shen-

andoah County remains as evidence of their craftsmanship and

industry.  Deeds still on record specify the purchasing of land

for certain kinds of tan bark.

Accounts were kept in a crude but creditable manner. Credit

the blacksmith with shoeing horses, oxen, "upsetting ax," setting

tires, making andirons; charge him with bushels of corn, wheat,

barley. An occasional balance sheet was struck with "receipt in

full for all accounts from the Beginning of the World to this

day."

The Shenandoah homestead remains as an example of what

their artisans could do. The large chimney, now gone, perhaps

ten or twelve feet square; the oak sills a foot square, good for two

centuries; the logs, hand-hewn from the best timber taken from

the virgin forest, show their skill in the use of tools. The large

cellar well, walled and drained, supplied room for the storing of

fruit and vegetables in winter, and with its wide exit an excellent

dining-room where the men and their hired hands could eat in

comfort in the heat of summer. Brick was not to be had, but

native stone was quarried and appropriated for their use.  The

whole community had part in the raising when a new building

went up.

The kitchen was the heart of the home and the large fireplace

was the heart of the kitchen. Two wells with long pole well-

sweeps formed the source of their water supply.

The daughter's dower, when such there was, consisted of

homemade linen, iron pots and sometimes a large brass kettle,

chairs, dressers, tables and some crockery. The Bible, providing

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210   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

blank pages for marriages, births and deaths, was never forgotten.

The house and the land about it supplied the family with

wood, food and clothing. Hogs and beeves were slaughtered, and

bacon and sides preserved in the smokehouse. A little wild meat

now and then added to the variety. Leather was tanned on the

premises and a cobbler's bench set up. Weaving was a part of

the work of each household.  In rush seasons a journeyman

weaver would come and weave as needs required.  Sometimes

this proved fortunate for some beautiful daughter, a romance

begun, ending in a newly-established home. The Eleanor Roush

and Alexander Waddell courtship and marriage furnish romance

enough for a great novel. Their descendants have supplied a

large percentage of the best citizenry of Gallia County, Ohio.

A huge woodpile, the diminishing size of which indicated

the waning of winter, supplied warmth and comfort to occupants

of both the large floors upstairs and down. The large iron kettle

on the edge of the yard served for the rendering of animal foods,

and making soap.  Lye came from wood ashes on the hearth.

There was a dye pot for homemade dyes. Every member of the

household worked.  Nothing was wasted or destroyed, no time

lost. Idleness on the part of husband or wife, child or hired help

was disreputable.

Yet the tempo of life seemed less hurried than today. Man-

ners were cultivated; little girls courtesied and little boys bowed

to strangers on the road. The latch string was always on the

outside when the family was at home. Whoever entered was

made welcome, given food, drink and shelter.

Books were few; travel extremely limited. The Church was

the cultural center, and loyalty and devotion to the Church and

pastor was manifest almost without exception. Denominational

rivalry was not an experience common to this family group.

Lutheran and Reformed groups could meet in the same church and

with no dissension. Every child was baptized; the date of birth,

date of baptism and the name of witness or sponsor to the christ-

ening with relationship indicated were accurately recorded and

preserved to the present time.

The homemade candles were lit by a coal held in stout tongs.

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THE ROUSH FAMILY                    211

 

Thin sticks were sometimes whittled to use as lighters; paper

was too scarce. Few imports were enjoyed. During the Revo-

lution even these were unobtainable. Pins were not to be had

at any price. Molasses jumped to $20.00 a gallon, and they soon

turned to making their own. Tea and paper vanished.

This account of the Roush family is a picture of the economic

conditions through which they, and most families of their times,

passed. It graphically sets forth the kind of world in which the

family's economic customs, behavior and philosophies were de-

veloped.

At the center of the stage in this setting is hard work, both

as a stark necessity and as a moral obligation. One member of

the family could become an outcast in no quicker way than to

attempt to eat at the sweat of another's brow. This duty to work

devolved upon employer and employee, and upon children almost

from the time they could walk. Play, however, was not taboo,

if enjoyed in its proper place. They were never harrowed by

the harsh tyranny of time-serving and clock-watching, so exact-

ing in the economy of today. Unemployment and overproduc-

tion were not in their vocabulary. Unknown, too, was the idea

of quantity production.

Of like interest is the extent of their self-sufficiency. Using

the Shenandoah family again as an example, it is learned that

perhaps seventy-five per cent. of all economic goods and services

were made available from resources of their own household. An-

other twenty per cent. came from the village of New Market

near by. The other five per cent. from the world outside when

it could be had--tobacco, spices, Holland lace and such like. The

valley families in cooperation with their village neighbors were

self-sustaining, and had they been cut off from the rest of the

colonies they would have suffered the loss of but few necessities

of life. These conditions of economy continued in their west-

ward march until late into the nineteenth century. Such condi-

tions of scarcity created a small orbit in which they moved. Yet

their vision and objectives were not to be permanently limited by

these small worlds.

Almost equally striking in their economy of scarcity is the

• 15
 

212   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

fact that their scarcity was one of function.  Money figured a

very small part in their system of economy. Most articles were

made, not bought; raw material was grown by their own labor,

not imported. Things were made by the user to use, hence the

better they were made the longer he could use them. Pride was

expressed in the length of time a garment could be used, rather

than the frequency in which they would change styles.  The

energy they expended passed directly into goods to be consumed

by them, thus contributing to the rugged integrity and moral

responsibility of these early families.

Any irregularities in church or personal behavior were suf-

fered by members of the immediate families. They could not

be hidden in the density of the city's population. From the

founding of the first Lutheran church in Pennsylvania in which

John Nicholas Roush had part, along their trek to the Far West

their trail is marked by high moral and spiritual influence.

Though their descendants number nearly 40,000 people, it is a

rare exception to find one apprehended by law. They have loved

their native land, stood ready to defend it, promoted the welfare

of its people and obeyed its laws. Their conduct was governed by

the principle that moral beauty is the basis of civilization.

Let it be observed further that class struggle among them is

difficult to find. The clean-cut distinction of lord and peasant

so universal for many years in Europe was unknown among

them. They hated it in Europe and built their economic system

in America as far as possible from it. Had this principle been as

universally practiced by all American families, there would be no

fertile soil for communism in this fair land. Today man seems

to be moving from an economy of scarcity to an economy of abun-

dance. The family doubtless will perform its part in the great

transition.

Pennsylvania Dutch Proclivities.

From their Palatine ancestry they inherited a certain degree

of art in painting, decorating and landscaping. The painted fur-

niture of the Pennsylvania Dutch reflects their immemorial fond-

ness for color. The finely painted furniture and highly decorated

homes of some of these Pennsylvania families are well known.

• 16
 

THE ROUSH FAMILY                   213

The families of the Lima, Ohio, vicinity are said to have led

their community in beautifully finished homes and surroundings.

This distinction has also been attributed to the Ohio Valley

families.  Photographs collected from the western families do

not indicate a loss of this tendency.

A study of some of the old homes of fifty to one hundred

years ago in Gallia and Highland Counties indicates a more than

average interest in art for well decorated and beautiful homes.

This, classically speaking, was a pleasant art much to be desired

and one that has in no small way contributed to the making of

"America the beautiful." Beauty in their own craftsmanship was

an inexhaustible source of happiness to these families.

In the art of home decoration a most elegant example is to

be found in the John L. Schneider rural home of North Canton,

Ohio.  Mrs. Schneider is of the Godfrey Roush line.  Other

members of this family specialize in different crafts to beautify

the home.

Artists speak of the "golden age of paint."  Our early

families enjoyed this luxury. They could not afford to go in for

fine silver or Venetian glass, for Genoese velvet or rare tapestries,

but they could afford to make their homes more attractive. More-

over, these early families were Protestant, whose revolt against

Catholicism made them object to the pageantry of Rome, to rich

church interiors and priestly garments. But though they would

not have highly decorated temples, they did have a persistent love

for beautiful home situations and interiors.  English boxwood

and evergreen planted by the original families, such as surrounds

the Shenandoah homestead, speak for themselves.

Louis Lippman Roush of the Nicholas branch is representa-

tive of those who have inherited this art tendency.  For many

years he was a designer and illustrator for Harper Brothers and

for Scribner's, and later for the Ladies Home Journal. He trav-

eled extensively in the Orient in the interest of a large Japanese

steamship company.   In this capacity he attained his highest

achievements.  Stanley Roush of the same branch has been an

architect in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, for many years.

His work includes architectural studies for a new entrance to the

• 17
 

214   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Allegheny County Court House, and new city-county bridge, and

boulevards.

Another Pennsylvania Dutch tendency less pronounced among

the families is the dower chest.  It is easy to understand the

importance that a farmer's daughter attached to her dower chest.

Her general attitude toward life was reflected by its contents.

In keeping with the common sense and customs of her people she

insisted that her bridal chest should be built for pleasure as well

as for usefulness, for looks as well as strength. There were no

schools for manual arts then, but somehow the older brothers

achieved fame as artisans in this capacity even in their own

lifetime. Evidence remains of this particular skill among the

Cheshire families of Gallia County and those of the George Roush

branch of Racine, Ohio, and the Shelby, Ohio, families. Tall

clocks and large chests of drawers show skill in cabinet work in

many settlements where the family is numerous. Dr. Ralph R.

Roush of Columbus tells of such a chest possessed by his father's

family near Shelby, Ohio. Among other contents of it were

preserved old letters exchanged by this family with relatives back

in the Shenandoah Valley. On some of them $5.00 had been

paid for carrying in the pre-postal days.

A custom, more common in America today than any other

country, is that of serving pie, especially the well-known Ameri-

can fruit pie, mince and pumpkin included. This is one of the

most American of all institutions and does honor to the Pennsyl-

vania Dutch as its founder. This particular culinary art has long

held the place of perfection among the descendants of these early

families. A single glance at a long table of one of the reunion

gatherings today is ample evidence that the art is not a lost one

among the present-day housewives.  It should be observed in

passing that the early pie-baking required the development of a

certain type of pottery to meet this particular demand. So far

as can be learned, the Roush family left this particular art to

others so inclined.

The guest towel cannot be overlooked. Who among early

American families have contributed more to the modern guest

towel than the early Pennsylvania families commonly classified

• 18
 

THE ROUSH FAMILY                     215

as Pennsylvania Dutch? A maid of one of these families would

not be married without a supply of linens, the making of which

was the women's work. The accumulation of these, with other

things which filled her dower chest, gave some measure of her

housewifely value.

By a study of these remnants of the past, their decorative art

in the old homes, their artisanship as cabinet makers, the situations

selected for their buildings, some pottery, linens, books and cabinets

that survive, the successive stages in the evolution of the artistic

instinct and the gradual improvement in the surroundings of

this family in their household decoration and in their floriculture

may be revealed with fair accuracy. More detailed study in this

line gives a glimpse of their likes and dislikes, their mental traits,

their homely philosophy and many interesting facts of the family

that have not otherwise been recorded in history.  It is evident

that the sense of beauty, like the moral sense, had not faded out

in their generation.

Farmers Plus.

To the Roush families, agriculture has for the most part been

a way of life. They have been more than farmers, they have

been a part of a cultural unit, providing not only most of their

own economic goods, but educational, social, and spiritual values

as well. They farmed because they loved it; for the good of life

as well as for food. Land to them has not been a capital invest-

ment, it has been a home, a mother. What the farms became to

them may be expressed in the words of the unknown Chinese poet:

From break of day

Till sunset glow

I toil.

I dig my well,

I plow my field

And earn my food

And drink.

What care I

Who rules the land

If I

Am left in peace.

Hard times for these families who are life farmers has meant

more work; not eviction and unemployment. Deeds and records

show that virtually all the land transactions of the first two or

• 19
 

216   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

three generations were made. for cash considerations. Wills show

nearly all the families had little or no indebtedness, and almost

always some money to be left to their heirs.

No sooner had the virgin soil been depleted than they set

themselves to the task of rebuilding the soil by scientific methods.

They have more than made two blades of grass grow where one

grew before. The recent technological improvements have caused

the Roush families to yield but slowly from their age-long agri-

cultural activities. They have a strong bent toward staying on

the farm, but they follow the agro-biologist in his improved

method of production.  A study of the various communities

densely populated by the family indicates that they have resisted

the ravages of depression considerably above the average of the

statistical report of the country.  This fact is accounted for by

two major causes.  They have from a long train of ancestry

inherited a type of frugality and thrift which has given them a

marked degree of independence. To be able to sustain themselves

and provide for their own is an esteemed family pride current

during all of their two-hundred-year sojourn on American soil.

The second contributory cause is their ownership and operation of

medium-sized farms. This same rule holds good even with the

small number engaged in factories.

Being largely a rural people it is not possible to mention the

large number who, from their colonizing days to the present time,

have succeeded in the agricultural industry. On the Ohio Com-

pany's Purchase, the Bounty Lands, the Swamps of Highland

County, the central and northern counties of the State they have

been among those who practice intensive and scientific farming.

Some of them are to be found in the professional and business

lines of this industry. Frank Cross, of the George Roush line of

Racine, Ohio, is professor of horticulture in the University of

Oklahoma; his brother Joe is a milk engineer for the Majonnier

Brothers Creamery Supply Company of Chicago, with his resi-

dence in Columbus. Dr. Carl W. Gay of the Eleanor Roush

Waddell line has a place in Who's Who in America for his

contributions to animal husbandry. He has been a professor in

Iowa State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the

• 20
 

THE ROUSH FAMILY                   217

 

University of Minnesota, and since 1920 professor of animal

husbandry at the Ohio State University. He is the author of

Productive Horse Husbandry, and Principles and Practice in

Judging Live Stock. His son Hayward, however, has turned to

other lines and is now business manager for a large Cincinnati

firm covering the city of Detroit; while the daughter, Lucy, is a

student in the College of Commerce of the Ohio State University.

The number could be enlarged by reference to those who have

made like achievements in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. Others

have helped to organize and promote the Grange, Farm Bureau

and cooperatives among the rural people.  In Mason County,

West Virginia, and Gallia and Meigs Counties of Ohio the families

have been especially active in these rural interests.

In the Field of Creativity.

In the near one thousand years of the known existence of

the Roush family, it has passed through several civilizations.

Any section of the human family, be it large or small, may be an

active or a passive force or even a liability in the moving civiliza-

tion of the epoch of which it is a part. One has facetiously re-

marked that civilization is a conspiracy of the old against the

young. Though this definition is unsatisfactory there is a truth

in it which cannot be overlooked.  Civilization is otherwise de-

fined in these earlier centuries as "commodious living." If this

is not limited to the abundant consumption of goods and the en-

joyment of mere physical comfort, the influence of such philosophy

upon this family can easily be traced. If by commodious living

is meant commodity of the spirit more than of material goods

they are seen to have made large contributions thereto. An at-

tempt has been made to determine whether the influence of this

family has been creative or passive, or whether the family has

been one of those unfortunate sections of the human race that

has been a continuous liability.

Perhaps the most serious crisis any family faces in the con-

tinuity of its spiritual and intellectual life is when any consider-

able portion of its members changes its attitude toward traditional

beliefs and policies long rooted in family lore. And yet this is

exactly what must be happening constantly if the family is to be

• 21
 

218   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

an asset and not a liability to a creative civilization. The revolt,

though confined to mental combat alone, may create sufficient con-

vulsion to shake folkways, at least temporarily.

There is no evidence of sufficient family unity, at least not

in the last four centuries, to believe that they ever exerted their

combined physical energy or prowess as a demonstration of their

strength. The ancestry of the American lineage has been, almost

without exception, on the side of social evolution.  In church

reform, in government transition and economic change their major

influence has been with the creative thought and forces of their

time.

Religion.

The creative influence of this family has been especially felt

in the field of religion. It is true that if our culture is to be kept

healthy and creative new worlds to conquer must be found. The

Roush family, as the pages of history disclose, has through the

changing ages found these worlds. But whatever changing scene

of history has absorbed their attention most at any given time they

have ever believed that the most difficult and the most worth while

world to conquer is the inner world of man's spirit. Their devo-

tion to this aim has been as though they must meet the challenge

or face extinction. From the early clergy family of the seething

Reformation days, through the Kassel and the Darmstadt clergy

lines which became the ancestors of most of the large American

branches this type of devotion is found.

In the colonizing days they were ever the prime movers for

religious and educational progress in their newly formed com-

munities. The Nicholas and Casper Rausch and other branches

of the family of Pennsylvania that later became numerous in

northern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and likewise the John Adam

Rausch branch, original settlers of the Ohio Valley in the vicinity

of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and in the Ohio Company's

Purchase and the Bounty Lands, immediately established churches

and a system of education for their families and neighbors.

Equally encouraging is a study of the John Rausch branch from

Virginia which moved through Kentucky under the name of

Rouse.  In all of the larger branches of the Protestant Church

• 22
 

THE ROUSH FAMILY                   21₉

 

today are to be found members of the family either of the name

or allied names. Dr. Emil Rausch, D.D., LL.D., president of

Wertburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, because of his

contribution to the field of religion and learning has found a place

in Who's Who in America. He is the son of a well-known

clergyman, Gideon F. Roush, active during a long life in Ohio

Lutheranism.  Walter Roush of one of the Ohio families is

professor of Old Testament languages and interpretation at

Bonebreak Seminary, Dayton, Ohio. Many others now hold

important pastorates in the Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist

Episcopal, Disciple of Christ and United Brethren Churches. The

family was among the original founders of all these religious

bodies in Ohio and other states of the West. These frontiersmen

have given themselves that in humanity might be born a new

soul. Devotion to their mystical insight led them to the fulfill-

ment of their highest desires, inner strength, spiritual light, divine

love, ineffable peace.  Their religious intuition was as real as

their aesthetic inspiration.

James D. Gillilan of the Eleanor Roush Waddell family, a

Jackson County boy, was educated for the Methodist ministry

and went first as a missionary to Utah where he did an important

work.   He then went into the regular ministry of the church.

He was later sent on an inspection tour of the Methodist mission

fields of China and other countries. Frank Gillilan, of the same

line, served many important charges in the Ohio Conference of

the Methodist Church and was honored by a place on the cabinet

as district superintendent of the Portsmouth District.  Henry

Mills, another member of this line, gave his talents to the aboli-

tion of the liquor evil.  Representing the Ohio Anti-Saloon

League he traveled most of America in the temperance cause,

often appearing with William Jennings Bryan and Captain Richard

Hobson.   He resides in Westerville where Ray L. Cross

of the Shenandoah branch is now pastor of the Methodist Church.

The writer of this article, whose record is to be found in Who's

Who in the Clergy, 1936, is pastor of the Worthington Methodist

Episcopal Church. Charles R. Archer is active in the work of

• 23
 

220     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

the United Brethren Conference and now stationed at McClure,

Ohio.

The Melvin C. Roush and Roy Roush families, of Parkers-

burg, West Virginia, have been prime movers in building the

largest church school in West Virginia. The former has for

some years been superintendent of the school.

Carey H. Roush of Hillsboro, Ohio, may be said to represent

the pioneer preacher. For thirty years he has been in the postal

service at Hillsboro. During this time he has preached for many

of the worthy, but less fortunate, churches in Highland, Adams

and Clinton Counties for small or no remuneration.  He is a

recognized leader in the Church of Christ's Disciples, in which he

holds ordination. Captain John Roush, as lay preacher, traveled

most of Ohio with the Rev. Paul Henkel in his first visits to the

Lutheran Churches of the State in 1806.  He is mentioned in

Paul Henkel's diary as his friend and man of God. Charles V.

Roush of the Jacob branch from Jay County, Indiana, is an active

clergyman in Indiana Methodism.

Government in the Making.

Next to religion in the field of creative influence is the pass-

ing from old and decadent forms of government to the newer and

modern trend of political control. Every culture has its problem

to solve; once it is solved it must be challenged by a new one or

weaken and die. Through the days of conflict between the Mo-

hammedan and Christian forces, the extermination of the feudalis-

tic system, the transition from despotic to democratic rule and

the extinction of human slavery and the attempt to abolish the

liquor evil, the family, as records reveal, has done its full share.

Hardly was an American family more stirred by the ringing

phrases of our Declaration of Independence than those belonging

to the Roush clan. "When in the course of human events, it

becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds

that have connected them with another, and to assume among

the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which

the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them . . ." meant

economic independence as well as political freedom.  To them

there was the deeper challenge to the human spirit. The charter

• 24
 

THE ROUSH FAMILY                   221

 

of our liberty continues: "We hold these truths to be self-

evident that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by

their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are

life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these

rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just

powers from the consent of the governed." Through these

lines history was marching and this family was keeping step.

Nine brothers of the Shenandoah family and nearly as many in

kindred branches gave their services in the fulfillment of these

ideals. Though many interpreted the privileges thus gained as

a right to unlimited "rugged individualism" in a highly materialis-

tic sense the dominant element in the Roush family never lost sight

of the need of the human spirit.  Some have believed that the

greatest barrier to the full enjoyment of the genuine results of

the Constitution was the recalcitrant spirit of man himself, and

this remains the strongest redoubt which still must be stormed.

Their citizenship has influenced the shaping of a new spirit, the

creation of a new soul without which culture must die. Democ-

racy became to them the best way to a civilization that properly

respects and adequately helps to unfold the richness of human

diversity.

Education.

The culture of the family in their pre-American days was

arrested only temporarily by the wilderness life in the New

World which afforded small opportunities for educational ad-

vancement. In this land they became pioneers and conquerors;

in the old lands neither their brains nor their fortune had made

them masters and they disdained to be slaves. They chose the

wilderness to conquer, finding it easier than man. A new cul-

ture, a new system of education by their own creation was to be

enjoyed.  Cast forth by great struggles of classes, they refused

to believe in classes, but had faith that somewhere "beyond the

ranges" men might be free and equal still. They began on the

American seaboard and drove ever westward conquering the

wilderness until they reached the Golden Gate and the Great

Northwest.  Slowly but surely they were building for higher

learning as they marched in this westward advance. They em-

• 25
 

222    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

braced the opportunity offered by the "public school clause" of the

Ordinance of 1787 to the fullest extent.

Some were pioneer teachers in the days when they could teach

as young as they could qualify, often as early as sixteen years

of age. These were days when the power to discipline was

quite as essential as technique in the "three R's." Members

of the family bear the reputation of having been skilled in both.

Communities still recall the day when a certain Roush took over

the school and rescued it from the chaotic rule of undisciplined

youth. Many point to that event as the day marking the change

in their educational careers.

In "Short Stories of Ohio" by J. H. Galbreath in the Co-

lumbus Dispatch there is the following statement of early educa-

tion in the Northwest Territory:

The settlers of both Marietta and Cincinnati brought the love of edu-

cation with them, and as soon as they had attended to things that must

have first attention, they began to plan for the education of their children.

It was in the summer of 1789, the second year after the settlement, that

Miss Bathsheba Roush established a subscription school at Belpre, adjacent

to Marietta, a settler granting her the use of a cabin as a school room.

No American generation has been without the influence of

the educational effort of some members of the family for new and

improved educational advantages. Edgar Ervin of Meigs County,

Ohio, of the Shenandoah branch initiated the movement for a

better paid teaching profession. As a member of the Ohio Gen-

eral Assembly he proposed and championed House Bill No. 1302

to make appropriations for the schools of the State. As a mem-

ber of the Finance Committee and speaker pro tem., his influence

for progressive legislation was widely felt.  From this time on

the teaching profession of Ohio has been a more lucrative calling.

Ervin also organized normal schools for the training of teachers

and promoted laws for higher qualifications for teachers in the

public school system.  These laws met with intense opposition

in some parts of the State but it was a step forward in public

education from which Ohio has never receded. Simeon Hutsin-

pillar Bing, Ph. D., of Gallia County while president of Rio

Grande College and a member of the Ohio General Assembly

introduced a bill providing for a more effective attendance law.

• 26
 

THE ROUSH FAMILY                   223

This law still remains a part of the statutes of Ohio. Dr. Bing is

now on the faculty of Ohio University, the oldest State university

of Ohio. He, too, is of the Shenandoah branch.

Prof. Ira B. Cross, of the John Casper Roush line, is pro-

fessor of economics in the University of California. He has served

as an agent of the Wisconsin State Bureau of Labor Statistics,

Wisconsin Tax Commission, and the United States Industrial Re-

lations Commission, a member of the American Association of

Labor Legislation, and the American Economic Association. He is

also a member of a number of honorary educational societies

among which are Phi Beta Kappa, Beta Gamma Sigma, Delta

Sigma Rho, Pan Xenia and Artus. He is the author of Co-

operative Stores in the United States, Essentials of Socialism,

Collective Bargaining in San Francisco, and a two-volume work

on The History of Banking in California, and others.

Catherine Andrews, Gallipolis, Ohio, of the Eleanor Roush

Waddell line received her B. A. degree from Wellesley; M. A.

from Ohio State University, majoring in chemistry. Later she

became instructor in chemistry at Ohio State University.  She

was president of the O. S. U. Faculty Women's Club, regent of

the Columbus Chapter D. A. R., honorary member of Sigma Xi

and Kappa Alpha Theta. She married Dr. Carl W. Gay, pro-

fessor of animal husbandry of O. S. U., and lived in Worthington,

until her death in 1930.

Howard A. Roush, Ph.D., of the Jersey City schools was,

during the days of his stage performance, considered America's

most marvelous handwriting expert. "The skill and mental con-

centration in his act transcends reporting," was written of him.

His work was of such character that it has not been, and perhaps

will never be, imitated. Charles G. Roush of Muncie, Indiana,

of the Philip Roush line of Pennsylvania, received wide recogni-

tion for developing a new method that combined grade school

geography and history. The work was recognized by nationally

known educators and gave promise of a revolutionized method in

the study of history and geography.  In the midst of this work

death suddenly called him in 1934. Robert D. Brinker of the

Shenandoah line has gained renown as a teacher and scholar;

• 27
 

224   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

a graduate of Marshall College, Huntington, West Virginia, a

Ph. D. from George Washington University, of Washington, D.

C., and now in the public schools of that city. Arthur J. McCul-

lough of the Shenandoah branch is instructor in ancient and

mediaeval history in the Upper Arlington High School, Columbus,

Ohio. Wilbur D. Roush of the Jonas branch, taught for several

years, then became a railway mail clerk on the Cleveland-Chicago

run, and now lives in Cleveland.

Professor Charles A. Fisher, a Yale graduate with B.A. and

M.A. from that institution and Ph.D. from Lebanon University

(the old National Normal University of Lebanon, Ohio), organ-

ized the Department of Business Administration and Commercial

Teacher Training in the Susquehanna University in his native

town of Salinsgrove, Pennsylvania. He is now head of the De-

partment of Economics and Business Administration at the John

B. Stetson University, DeLand, Florida. He is of the Casper

Roush line of central Pennsylvania. He is interested in the

religious educational work of the Lutheran Church, being the

eighth generation of the name known to have been active in this

religious organization.

In 1885 there emigrated from Highland County, Ohio, one

John Roush III and his wife Rebecca Rhoades who settled in

Marion County, Iowa. They had a family of eighteen children.

These grew up with the early history of that state and became

active in civic and educational interests of their county and state.

A son Daniel was a pioneer in developing public education in the

growing West, A son, John Roush IV, followed the inclination

of his father in progressive religious and educational work of their

growing country, and is remembered still as a founder and pro-

moter of the public school system in that part of the West.

Branches of this line went on to Montana, and in Missoula and

other communities they have found their place in educational

advancement.

Capital University of Columbus, Ohio, was brought into

existence by the Lutherans who emigrated from Virginia, Penn-

sylvania and Maryland. It was deemed costly and unnecessary

to send their youth back to Pennsylvania and Virginia to be edu-

• 28
 

THE ROUSH FAMILY                   225

cated. Out of that conviction grew the school which is now

known by the above name. It has in conjunction therewith a

theological seminary for the training of ministers. Records show

that the churches of which the Roushes were official members en-

couraged and supported this undertaking. Because of this con-

nection it is now planned by the Roush and Allied Families As-

sociation of America, Inc., to memorialize the name in connection

with some Lutheran school. Rio Grande College in Gallia County

was greatly in need of reorganization and refinancing. Dr. Simeon

H. Bing was called to its leadership and eminently succeeded.

His program received the loyal support of many other members

of the large family in this part of the State.

Exploration and Travel.

As for exploration and travel no member of the family has

surpassed Dr. Sigel Roush of Troy, New York, whose summer

home is in his native county, Highland, in Ohio. He studied

widely both at home and abroad and received consecutively the

degrees of B.S., B.A., and M.D. Later he studied in both London

and Berlin which gave him a lifelong desire to travel. He has

visited every country of the world, going mostly into out-of-the-

way places, seldom or never visited by the usual traveler. He has

sailed every sea and was on one polar expedition that penetrated

to within a few degrees of the north pole.  He has written

widely for news columns in many countries and is the author and

co-author of several volumes. The Swamps is a pioneer history

of the time when the Ohio Valley was a wilderness with cata-

mounts and timber wolves howling about the cabins of the early

settlers and when deer paths and not broad paved highways

wound across the plains and around the hills. Dr. Sigel Roush

recalls the acts of the pioneer Roush family in the reclamation

of an extensive area of the Middle West (Highland County,

Ohio). It forms an invaluable source of information to those

who desire to know the origin of American civilization from a

social and domestic rather than from a political point of view.

Miss Jessie E. Roush of Chicago has made many visits to the

Holy Land and annually conducts tours to Europe and farther

east, as her sister Lucy has also done. The Reverend Thomas W.

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226   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Coleman, a well known minister of the Methodist Episcopal

Church South, twice visited the Holy Land. He made extensive

study and did some intensive research into the history and geogra-

phy of Palestine which resulted in the publication of a large

volume, Light from the East. Sarah Roush of the Henry Roush

line of Letart Falls, Ohio, was his wife. Their grandson, Thomas

Coleman, now an attorney of Charleston, West Virginia, has not

only been an active layman in religious affairs but has gained

reputation as a business economist. He received his B.A. from

Marietta University; Bachelor of Laws from the University of

West Virginia; M.A. from the Columbia University; and filled the

chair of Latin and English in Watson Seminary, Ashley, Mis-

souri. He then became associated with the Fourth National Bank

of New York City. In this connection he conducted a personal in-

vestigation of the bank clearing house system which furnished

him data for a book on the subject. In his investigation he visited

all the large cities of the United States and Canada inquiring into

the history, methods and administration of the clearing houses

of both countries.  The resulting Treatise on Clearing Houses

was exhaustive and became an authoritative reference work in

both this country and Europe. Coleman has given many lectures

on Biblical subjects, especially the life and works of Paul.

Other members of the family both of the name and allied

names have traveled extensively, some to the European nations,

some to the Holy Land, some to the Far East. Commercial inter-

ests, the mission fields, teaching opportunities and philanthropy

are among the interests taking them to these distant parts of the

world, while others have been lured on by the mere pleasure and

culture to be derived by such experience.

 

Science.

Among those advancing the cause of science is Gar A. Roush,

metallurgist, one of the Pennsylvania lines. The following in-

formation is from his biographical sketch in Who's Who in Amer-

ica: Received his A.B. from Indiana University; M.S. University

of Wisconsin; assistant professor of metallurgy, 1912-20, associate

• 30
 

THE ROUSH FAMILY                   227

professor 1920-26, Lehigh University; acting professor of metal-

lurgy, Montana School of Mines, 1926-27; editor since 1913,

Mineral Industry, an annual devoted to world mineral interests;

special adviser to the Museum of Peaceful Arts, New York. Ap-

pointed supervisor of training of the inspection division Ordnance

Department, U. S. A., June 1, 1918; appointed head of Educa-

tional Bureau, Inspection Division, and later chief of tests, Metal-

lurgical Bureau; member of American Electrochem Society;

American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, Amer-

ican Chemical Society, American Metric Association, American

Legion, Presbyterian, Chemists' Club (New York); contributor

of numerous articles on electrochemical and metallurgical topics

in the technological press and various standard encyclopedias.

Ulric Roush, son of Charles A. Roush of the Highland

County families, majored in chemistry and turned to the agri-

cultural field. He was sent under the employment of a large

fertilizer corporation to Germany to acquire additional scientific

knowledge of plant life and their fertilizing needs.

Others who have contributed largely to scientific progress are

John Uri Lloyd, whose wife was Emma Rouse (Roush) of the

Kentucky branch, and his son John Thomas Lloyd. The record

of Lloyd as chemist, teacher and author can be found in other

publications.  He wrote continuously through the years for

pharmaceutical and medical journals, but in addition to these he

is the author of the following books: Chemistry of Medicines;

Drugs and Medicines of North America (with C. G. Lloyd);

American Dispensatory (with Dr. John King); Elixirs, Their

History and Preparation; Etidorpha, the End of Earth; The

Right Side of the Car; Stringtown on the Pike; Warwick of the

Knobs; Red Head; Scroggins; Origin and History of All the

Pharmacopoeial Vegetable Drugs; Felix Moses, the Beloved Jew.

Four times he received the Ebert Prize of the American Pharma-

ceutical Association, awarded for papers giving the results of

original research of value to pharmacy and chemistry. He once

received the Remington Honor Medal, the highest award of merit

in the field of American Pharmacy.  He has been honored by

degrees from many American universities, among which are:

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228   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Doctor of Pharmacy, University of Cincinnati; Doctor of Phil-

osophy, Ohio State University. In American pharmacy the Lloyd

Brothers firm of Cincinnati is a well known institution.

The son John Thomas Lloyd is traveling in his father's foot-

steps. He is vice president of the Lloyd Brothers' Pharmacist

Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio. He is author with Dr. J. G.

Needham of Life in Inland Waters; and is author of the Biology

of North American Caddis Fly Larve and numerous papers on

entomology and kindred subjects.  He is a member of Gamma

Alpha, Sigma Xi, American Association for the Advancement of

Science, Fellow of American Entomological Society, Member of

American Pharmaceutical Association; B.A., Cornell; Ph.G., Cin-

cinnati College of Pharmacy.

In the field of medicine and surgery many have made contri-

butions of more than ordinary importance.  Ralph R. Roush,

D.D.S., of Columbus, Ohio, has performed some of the most

notable acts of dental surgery of this country. His accuracy and

skill has commanded the respect and attention of the dental asso-

ciations throughout the East and South and Central West. Re-

cently he made a tour of the South addressing various dental

associations on his discoveries in this field. His scientific inves-

tigation has been chiefly in the relationship of oral infection to

systemic diseases. Dr. William Roush of Lima, now aged, is a

surgeon of recognized authority in northern Ohio.  Dr. D. I.

Roush of Springfield, Ohio, has done research work in an effort

to combat the dreaded diseases of cancer and tuberculosis with

results sufficient to gain the recognition of the Health Bureau of

the United States Government, Washington, D. C. Dr. L. F.

Roush became chief surgeon with the rank of major in the Cen-

tral Branch National Military Home, Dayton, Ohio. His ability

well qualified him for the responsibility which devolved upon him

in that service. He is now practicing in St. Petersburg, Florida,

where he serves a large constituency.  His father, Dr. L. F.

Roush, was a well known physician in Pomeroy, Ohio, for many

years.

Dr. Sigel Roush was for many years a leading dentist in

Troy, New York, where he had a very select patronage. A

• 32
 

THE ROUSH FAMILY                   229

 

brother, Dr. Wilbur Roush, began his career as a pharmacist in

Maumee, Ohio, but later sold his business and went to Anderson,

Indiana, where he has been a leading pharmacist for a period

of forty or more years. Dr. Philip T. Williams of the Nicholas

Roush line has a practice of recognition in Philadelphia; Dr.

Hansen of the Eleanor Roush Waddell line practiced many years

in Gallia County, Ohio. Dr. James Maurice Bowman of the

Philip Roush line from Adams County has an extensive practice

in Columbus, Ohio; Dr. Howard C. Lisle of Springfield, Ohio,

of the Nicholas Roush branch, stands high in the American

Medical Association. Dr. H. P. Roush of South Bend, Indiana,

of the Darmstadt branch, though of later immigration, is recog-

nized as an authority in his field. He has made valuable contri-

butions to the accumulating history of the family. Dr. William

Waddell Mills was a physician and surgeon of high rank in Gallia

County, Ohio, having served as surgeon in the Civil War.

Music.

Fame in musical accomplishments has not been attained by

large numbers of the family. There has, however, been a certain

talent toward both instrumental and vocal music that has been

evident from the earliest American days. Of the western fami-

lies there is no report, but in Ohio there has been considerable

musical ability found in most of the settlements where the fami-

lies are numerous.  In the Danville community of Highland

County no rural function was complete without the Roush or-

chestra or quartet. For a half century Emanuel Roush has been

a leader among these groups. In Mason County members of the

family are numerous in church choirs, community choruses and

music clubs.  Their quartets travel far to furnish entertainment

for the National Roush Reunion. From Meigs County comes

William K. Wilson, now in the Department of Education of the

state of New York, who has won prizes in the Eisteddfods and

other musical contests.  He has done some original work in the

composition of popular songs. In Lynchburg, Ohio, is Frank

E. Roush who has written many hymn poems now in use by

church organizations; he has compiled and published a hymn

book of his own. In the Racine vicinity John J. Roush was for

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230    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

several decades authority on sacred music and taught many of the

old style singing schools.

But the work of some has been more widely felt. From

Gallia County springs "The Florida Mocking Bird," coloratura

soprano. From a Florida publication is clipped the following

statement concerning her musical art and attainment:

Esther (Waddell) Dunham, native of Ohio, distinguished herself in

high school and college days by vocal work that first brought out the pos-

sibilities of a remarkable range and outstanding technique. At Ohio State

University she figured prominently in musical societies and laid the founda-

tion for later study and experience that now enables her to take a thrilling

high altissimo A or to execute an arpeggio or chromatic scale with the clear-

ness of a flute... She sings the most exacting operatic arias with ease. She

was soloist for the Tampa Symphony Orchestra, fellow artist with Lajos

Shuk, famous cellist, who characterized her as "a great coloratura soprano

of charming personality."

Esther Dunham has a coloratura voice of unusual quality,

comparing favorably to Galli Curci. She has been called the

"Jenny Lind of Florida."  She studied with William  Shake-

speare of Chicago, Professor William B. Hoxie of Philadelphia

and Professor Frank LaForge of New York. Esther Dunham

is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Waddell, both of the

Eleanor Roush Waddell line, now residents of Worthington, Ohio.

From the same branch there comes Miss Nelle Mills, now

supervisor of public school music of Westerville, Ohio.   Her

career began with Madam Dotti in the College of Music, Cin-

cinnati. Later she studied with Millicent Brennan of Ottawa,

Canada. Miss Mills graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University,

Phi Beta Kappa, B.A. She studied also in the Morrey School of

Music, Columbus, and under Margaret Pary Hast, associated with

the Allied Arts Studio of Columbus. She enjoyed a season of

music with Jacques Isnardon in Paris of the Paris Conservatory

of Music. The same year she studied French diction under

Pierre Lescaume. In the University of Washington, Seattle, she

specialized on public school music. She is a daughter of Mr. and

Mrs. Henry Mills of Westerville, formerly of Gallipolis, Ohio.

Homer Campbell, baritone, of this connection, studied voice

at the University of Berlin for two and one-half years. He is

with a film production firm in Hollywood.

• 34
 

THE ROUSH FAMILY                   231

 

In Literature.

In literary attainment some excellencies are to be found.

References have been made above to the achievements in author-

ship by many members of the family. Newspaper editors and

contributors are to be found among most of the groups, and some

free lance writers. Dr. Sigel Roush has contributed to numerous

papers and magazines in this and many foreign countries. The

writer of these lines has been a contract writer for the last five

years to the Abingdon Press Sunday School lessons on Literature

and Life; Emory Carleton was editor of one of the Meigs County

weeklies for the last several years; N. Esta Arnold was for eight

years editor of the Marion Daily Mirror of Marion, Ohio.

Better known than these is Strickland Gillilan, editor, and

well known writer of humorous stories and verse. He was born in

Jackson County, Ohio, of the Eleanor Roush Waddell line of the

Shenandoah family. He did newspaper work on the Jackson

Herald, was city editor of the Daily Telegram of Richmond, In-

diana, and city editor of the Richmond Daily Palladium; and was

staff member of the Los Angeles Daily Herald, and Baltimore

American. He was a free lance writer with the Adams Syndicate,

United Press Syndicate, Farm Life and Roycroft. He was also a

well-known after-dinner lecturer and lyceum speaker. He served

as president of the American Press Humorists. The following

books bear his name: Including Finnigin; Sunshine and Awk-

wardness; A Sample Case of Humor and Laugh It Off.

Pastor Emil Rausch, D.D., LL.D., president of Wertberg

Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, has contributed to and

edited publications for the Lutheran Church. In 1909 he became

associate editor of the Lutheran Herald, and, in 1910, its editor,

which position he held for sixteen years. He has also acted as

translator of several works from the German to the English lan-

guage. Octavia Roush, daughter of Wellington and Helen Roush

of Columbus, Ohio, Shenandoah branch, is majoring in journalism

in the Ohio State University, graduating this year from the Col-

lege of Commerce.

Among those active in research work of the family history

some should be remembered. The initiative was taken by Lyman

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232   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Plummer Roush of the Philip line of the Shenandoah family. His

effort was cut short by his enlistment in the World War. The

next step was taken by the writer of this memorial article. In

collaboration with many others the work was brought to comple-

tion and published in December, 1928. Some work was done in

this research on the John Rausch line which is now known in

Kentucky as the Rouse family. It was discovered, however, that

the history of this family was too voluminous to be included in

The Roush Family in America. Mrs. Emma Rouse Lloyd, Cin-

cinnati, Ohio, continued the research and in 1932 published a

handsome and authentic volume on this line entitled Clasping

Hands with Generations Past. Mrs. Julia Roush O'Melia, Pitts-

burgh, Pennsylvania, of the John Nicholas Rausch line of that

state has given intensive work toward the completion of a volume

on the lines not fully covered by these volumes. Her work is

nearly completed and will soon be ready for publication.

The Iowa Branch of the Roush Family (Shenandoah Line)

is ready for publication, prepared by Bleth Wilson Dobson, Mis-

soula, Montana, and Blanch Roush Dansby, Manor Circle, Sioux

City, Iowa. Some Genealogical Data Concerning the Cross, Brad-

ford, Clemons, Havley, Mobley, Hessey, Dillman and Rhorer

Families ties them into the Barbara Roush-Andrew Dillman line

of the John Casper Roush family, one of the early emigrants to

this country. This work was brought to completion by Professor

Ira B. Cross of Berkeley, California. Jack Nida of Columbus,

Ohio, is now completing the Alexander Waddell and Eleanor

Rausch line. This will present much history yet unwritten and

will be a memorial to this worthy family of many achievements.

James A. Roush of Union City, Indiana, and his brother Sam

D. Roush of Fort Wayne completed the history of their branch

of the family that emigrated nearly a century ago from Gallia

County, Ohio. They are of the Jacob Roush line from Shenan-

doah. Mrs. Belle Doran of Muncie, Indiana, has assisted with

the Nicholas line, as has Mrs. Ida Belle Smith. Mrs. Doran

was appointed by the governor of Indiana on the Indiana George

Washington Bicentennial Commission. The work was completed

and her report has become a part of those records filed in the

United States Government archives.

• 36
 

THE ROUSH FAMILY                   233

George Harold Roush of Fairmont, West Virginia, did much

for the branches in his state. Professor Charles Adam Fisher of

the John B. Stetson University, DeLand, Florida, whose avocation

is genealogy, wrote The Snyder County (Pennsylvania) Pioneers,

The Fisher Family History, and is now compiling the history of

the Herralds, assisting in the George Casper Rausch and other

family lines. Owen L. Roush and daughters, Una Dell and Alma,

of Hillsboro, Ohio, have recovered all the branches of Highland

County and made extensive contributions to the history of the

descendants of these families now in the West. He has discov-

ered lost church records and translated important historical facts

long forgotten and not elsewhere recorded. J. L. Schneider and

daughter, Verlie, present the history of the Godfrey Roush fam-

ily, a large branch from Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, that set-

tled in the Canton, Ohio, vicinity.

Business Men and Statesmen.

Wyatt Roush, whose family had emigrated from Hillsboro,

Ohio, to Kansas, began his career as a teacher in the public schools;

later became interested in politics and was elected to various posi-

tions in his county. His party nominated and elected him to the

legislature of his state and twice reelected him.  He was after-

wards associated with the Slaughter and Taylor Bank of Bur-

lingame, Kansas, and then with the Pioneer Mortgage Company

of Topeka, Kansas.  His interest in state affairs has been con-

tinuous. W. E. Richey of the Jonas Roush family of Meigs

County was trained for business and later became interested in

insurance. For many years he has been prosperous in business

as president of the Richey-Flickinger-Barrett Insurance in Cleve-

land, Ohio. Okey Roush of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, has

grown up with the automobile business and is a large stockholder

in local banks. Guy Brown Roush graduated as a pharmacist

but did not find this his vocation. He founded a business of his

own in Louisville, Kentucky.  His firm, the Pioneer Roofing

and Painting Company, is well established in that city. Thomas

Carleton from Meigs County, B.S. from Ohio University, was

admitted to Suffolk bar and became a well known attorney in

Boston. There he had many business and political interests and

• 37
 

234   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL  AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

his legal counsel was widely sought.  He was an ardent sup-

porter of his party interests. The excellent quality of his voice,

as often remarked by his colleagues, contributed much to his

success in both business and in his legal practice. In his early

life he traveled much in this country and holds a certificate as

being the first to climb Pikes Peak, Colorado.  A  daughter,

Helen, is a well known teacher in the public school system of

Boston and vicinity. Clyde W. Roush of Columbus, Ohio, of

the Shenandoah branch, graduates this year from the College of

Commerce of Ohio State University. He is majoring in foreign

trade and marketing. During his university course he has been

employed by the F. & R. Lazarus & Company.

Oberlin M. Carter, of the Waddell line, graduated from West

Point with George Goethels, builder of the Panama Canal. Cap-

tain Carter, while in the United States Engineering Corps made

the Havana Harbor improvements for the War Department.

The Honorable John W. McCormick was long an outstanding

figure in Gallia County affairs. He was ordained to the Methodist

Episcopal ministry which he followed more or less until the close

of his life. His business judgment was sought by leading men

of the county.  His Congressional District manifested its con-

fidence in him by electing him Congressman. Captain James

Campbell of this connection raised "Company M, 7th Ohio Cav-

alry" and served all through the Civil War. Later he was sheriff

of Gallia County and figured in its political interests. A. C. Saf-

ford of this line has been for years an upright man in business

and religious circles of Gallipolis, a descendant also of one of

the pioneers of the old French colony in Gallia County. Fletcher

Ross Williams, now living at Hotel Cleveland, is a successful

financier. James Ross Campbell, a graduate in engineering, was

for years a chemical engineer for the United States Steel Cor-

poration. For six years preceding his recent demise he was with

the Koppers Company of Pittsburgh, as an authority on coal

preparation. Jack E. Nida, LL.D., Ohio State University, a rec-

ognized authority on laws relating to securities, and his brother,

Glenn, are practicing attorneys in Columbus and have business

interests there also. Jack Nida manifests a keen interest in State

• 38
 

THE ROUSH FAMILY                   235

affairs. He was for five years general counsel and assistant chief

of Ohio Division of Securities; past president of National Asso-

ciation of Securities Commission, the national organization of the

State and Federal Blue Sky Commission; author of several law

reviews, articles and works on securities laws, member of the firm

of Blanchard, Touvelle & Nida, Columbus, Ohio. James Ross

Campbell, Jr., is a Cornell graduate in electrical engineering, with

graduate study in the University of Berlin, and is with the Kop-

pers Coal Company, a Mellon concern of West Virginia.

Arthur Blythe Rouse was a member of Congress from 1911

to 1927 from the Sixth Kentucky District. He was never de-

feated in seeking office. John Kilby Pollard participated in the

battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Nashville and other engagements,

served his county as sheriff for two terms, was member of Con-

gress of the Eleventh Ohio District, appointed by Governor Wil-

liam McKinley as financial officer for the Institution for the Deaf

and Mute in Columbus, Ohio, and later consul-general of the

United States at Monterey, Mexico. He was elected by the Meth-

odist Church as a delegate to the General Conference held in

New York in I888. Stanley F. Smith of the Philip line served

in the Ohio Legislature four years. Isaiah McConnaughey was

for many years an active influence in Highland County political

affairs. Robert Roush, attorney, of West Union, served his

county in the Ohio Legislature. Eugene P. Mumford, also of the

Philip branch, was appointed by President Grover Cleveland as

deputy revenue collector, which position he held for six years.

His family had gone from Adams County to Beatrice, Nebraska.

G. G. O. Pence was elected to the House of Representatives in

1912 from Highland County and served four years, followed by

four years as State Senator from Sixth Ohio District. George

Roush from Highland County went to the State of Washington

and engaged in the lumbering industry on a large scale. Mem-

bers of his family have become prominent in the social and busi-

ness affairs of the state. Stanley F. Roush of Meigs County is

engaged in business for the Firestone Rubber Company in Los

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236   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Angeles, California; Leverett L. Roush, Pomeroy, Ohio, is district

manager for the Ohio Farm Bureau and a promoter of the co-

operative movement; Lyman P. Roush of Waynesville, Ohio, is

with the Iowa Equitable Life Insurance Company. Melvin C.

Roush is manager of the Banner Publishing House of Parkers-

burg, West Virginia. James L. Ford of Worthington, Ohio, is

with the Central Building and Loan Company of Columbus. Ben

L. Batey and his brother Fred are architects in Steubenville,

Ohio. James Joy Roush, law student, is with the Huntington

National Bank of Columbus, Ohio. Henry F. Ault of Mt. Gilead,

Ohio, of the Allen County group, represented Morrow County

in the Ohio Legislature for four consecutive terms.

The family is now organized under the name of the Roush

and Allied Families Association of America, Inc., under the laws

of Ohio with the main office at Pomeroy, Ohio. It operates under

a constitution and by-laws which require a Board of Trustees to

be elected annually at the time of the National Reunion. This is

the bicentennial year of the Shenandoah Branch which originated

the organization and coordinated the various ancestral lines into

a cooperative unit. The National Reunion will be held near the

old homestead in Shenandoah County, Virginia, where the grave

of John Adam Rausch and his wife Susannah will be appro-

priately memorialized. To promote this effort the national or-

ganization named Lester L. Roush, Worthington, Ohio, Ralph

Bryan Roush, Parkersburg, West Virginia, Roy Roush of the

same city, Owen L. Roush of Hillsboro, Jack Nida of Columbus,

Ohio, William H. Roush of Mason County, West Virginia, and

Ben L. Batey of Steubenville with the president, Dr. D. I. Roush

of Springfield, Ohio.

Summary.

The name "Rausch" of twofold origin--the rustling of the

wind in the forest trees and breaking the newly cleared soil--

has survived the centuries. The roots of the history of this fam-

ily have been traced to that pre-medieval civilization developed

by the Greco-Roman world. The Roush antecedents passed through

those days when men first began a conscientious effort to order

• 40
 

THE ROUSH FAMILY                   237

 

their lives by their understanding of Christian principles and

were agreed in submitting their lives to be judged by Christian

standards. They came through that titanic struggle of the empire

and the papacy, the most momentous conflict in the history of

Europe. They believed in the unity of Christendom, the fellow-

ship of professedly Christian nations considered as a unity, and

thought that if Christianity was to become a living force it must

have focal manifestation. They looked out over the kingdoms of

the world and the glory of them, and desired to win them for

the Son of Man, though they sometimes ignored the method

which he himself adopted--that of loving the enemy and suffering

for Him.

The activity in which their idea of Christendom found most

expression was that of the Crusades. Our modern point of view

condemns their method, but it is agreed that the proper modern

counterpart is the missionary enterprise. From these early cen-

turies there remains in the living descendants a pronounced be-

lief in a restored Christendom, or a fellowship of nations based

on the Christian principle.

From the viewpoint of the American family and many re-

maining in Europe the Reformation served the purpose of break-

ing away from ecclesiastical authority which they believed had

degenerated from the true Christian ideal. To what extent they

were right or wrong the reader must judge. But there is one

conclusion upon which agreement can be reached. Up to that

time the idea of Christendom had some appeal to all nations of

western civilization, but since that time it has had very little.

This point of view, however, is from the results of history

rather than from the intolerable facts as they faced them. It is

vain to speculate on what might have been, but who knows how

modern civilization might have acted under similar environment?

Let the words of Strickland Gillilan, a member of the clan, in

"Blemishes," explain:

I saw her in the cloistered dimness where

We stranger twain a moment bowed in prayer.

Upon her cheek a grossly-blemished place

Made hideous an elsewise lovely face.

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238    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

I pitied her, deep in my inmost soul,

That Fate on her had levied such a toll.

Then in new radiance the lights upsprang

And with relief my spirit leaped and sang.

The scar that lashed my sympathy like whips

A red rose was its stem between her lips!

Oft in the darkness of our clouded ken

We note shortcomings in our fellowmen:

Soul-blemishes and mind-disfigurements,

Faults, past denial, traits that give offense.

We pity or we blame, inquiring: "Why

Must others so less perfect be than I?"

Then comes the clearer light of graver years--

Virtues enlarged, sins shrunken, through our tears--

Till that which seemed a fault in blinder days

Shines out a glory and compels our praise!

 

Out of this epoch of history they moved into that period of

exploration and discovery which gave them identity with Ameri-

can life. Here they have become the most American of Ameri-

cans. In religious zeal they have been favorably compared to the

Pilgrims of New England. Evidence of their devotion is found

along their entire westward trek. In loyalty to their country they

remain unexcelled, having served the cause of the American Rev-

olution almost to the last man. From then until the World War

in which eighty-four of the name enlisted from Ohio alone, they

have stood with their country in the times of her trouble.

Thus it has been shown that each age has had its own frontier,

and the family has been found there. Each frontier has challenged

them in its own peculiar manner. They helped to conquer the

wilderness in central and western Europe, the wilderness of

America from the rockbound coast of the East to the peaceful

Pacific of the West. The generation of today must conquer the

new wilderness not with the ax and the flint lock of the Colonial

days but with the refined instruments of modern science and the

fellowship of world brotherhood. Future generations are called

upon to oppose the enemies to human justice and progress by

ingenuity, persistence, hard work and high resolve. In sacrificing

• 42
 

THE ROUSH FAMILY                    239

mind and spirit to matter modern man has perpetrated the most

momentous error of the present civilization. The hope is that

this large, purely American family, will maintain its allegiance

to the aesthetic ideal. Will it continue on its way of traditional

objective, that of developing human personality? This is the

ultimate purpose of civilization. The destiny of the Roushes is

in their own hands. Rich in spiritual heritage, and with the

gigantic strength of science, unknown to their forefathers, at

their disposal their future has the possibilities of being associated

with the great adventure of building a better civilization. To-

ward the attainment of these goals may the individual members

of the family be inspired with the beauty of sacrifice and with

the illumination of souls, immersed in God!

• 43