Ohio History Journal

BOOK REVIEWS

 

Secret History of the American Revolution. By Carl Van Doren.

(New York, Viking, 1941. 534p. Illus. $3.75.)

This book of seventeen chapters gives an account of the con-

spiracies of Benedict Arnold and numerous others drawn from

the secret service papers of the British Headquarters in North

America. which were taken to England at the close of the Revo-

lutionary War. They were unavailable and unknown to the

public for more than a century when they were purchased by the

late William L. Clements of Michigan and were added to the

valuable manuscript collection of the Clements library at the

University of Michigan. The possibilities of this material were

suggested to Mr. Van Doren and he proceeded to work through

the Clements collection as well as other rare materials in other

great libraries in the eastern part of the United States.

The author has deciphered messages and discovered missing

links which he has gradually unfolded into a story not known

before. He uncovers much treachery and intrigue on the part of

the British in their efforts to win over the mighty leaders of the

American cause. The book appears at a very appropriate time

since it shows that in a time of stress and storm, most of the

citizens of the New America were sincere and devoted to the

cause of independence in spite of temptation and bribe.

There is an appendix of 56 pages giving the Arnold-Andre

correspondence and Clements' narrative. A general bibliography,

chapter references and an index, bring the book to a close. The

book contains portraits, facsimile reproductions of unpublished

manuscripts, and a map of the Arnold-Andre country.

H. L.

 

 

 

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66     OHIO   ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

The Economic History of the United States. By Chester W.

Wright. (New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1941.

$4.00.)

In this book the author surveys the economic history of the

United States from the first settlement down to 1940. The

primary purpose is to describe and explain the economic progress

made by the American people, and in addition to provide the

economic background for understanding the country's political

and social history. The approach to the study of economic his-

tory that dominates the presentation of the subject matter in this

volume is that of the economist, rather than that of the political

historian, whose immediate and primary function is to study the

production and distribution of wealth with the objective of learn-

ing how the nation's economic progress can be promoted and its

standard of living advanced. It can be called the functional ap-

proach to economic history. Although the narrative provides

such knowledge of the general background of economic history

as is needed for most purposes in the interpretation of political

history, and has frequently been turned aside to indicate the

reactions thus involved, this was a secondary rather than a

primary consideration in the selection and organization of the

material.

Although facts are the basis of history, the history that ends

with their mere narration is largely sterile. To give the facts

significance and value, their relationship to some human problem

of importance must be made clear. This book endeavors to do

so by making the struggle of the American people to raise their

standard of living the central and unifying problem of this his-

tory and by pointing out, especially in the introductory chapter,

the relationship of the mass of factual material to this problem.

Yet the full value of the facts--their value for the purpose of

future guidance in both individual and social action--is attained

only as the events and developments covered by the facts are

interpreted and explained, and as the influence of the various

factors that determine economic progress is made clear. There-

fore, throughout, the book seeks above all to stress the analysis

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BOOK REVIEWS                     67

 

of the causes chiefly responsible for the results obtained by the

American people in their attack on this fundamental economic

problem.

Nearly half the book is devoted to the period since 1860.

Three chapters deal with economic developments in the rest of

the world, chiefly significant because of their influence on Ameri-

can economic development. Particular attention is given to the

economic problems of war, as reflected in the experience of the

Revolution, the Civil War and the World War. There is a sys-

tematic and comprehensive analysis of the relation of government

to economic life. In a stimulating final chapter, the author re-

views the whole development, analyzing the main factors respon-

sible for the achievement, and offering certain conclusions as to

why greater success was not attained.

One of the outstanding features of the book is the extensive

use made of graphs and maps. A good bibliography and general

index are also included.

A. J. O.

 

 

Council Fires on the Upper Ohio. By Randolph C. Downes.

(Pittsburgh, The University of Pittsburgh  Press, 1940.

367p.)

"The Indians believed they were an original, a superior,

race. . . . Before the white man came to disillusion the Indians

there was no world other than theirs; they were the only existing

race. They were the supreme earthly creatures, the chosen of

God, and the only other forms of animal life were the beasts of

forest and field, the fish of the river and sea, the birds of the

air. These constituted the other 'races,' over which it was given

them to rule." But into the Indian's sylvan paradise blundered

??he vanguard of another, a "super-superior," race which had been

??'chosen" to rule him as he had ruled the beast, the fish and the

??ird.  The conflict that resulted, "a conflict. . .between two

??nethods of living, one based on hunting and fishing, the other

??in farming and commerce," or that crucial part of the conflict

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68     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

that took place in the upper Ohio Valley, is described more ob-

jectively than ever before in Council Fires on the Upper Ohio

by Randolph C. Downes.

Beginning his book with an essay on "The Indian Point of

View" the author reviews, with a genuine attempt at an impartial

treatment, the incidents which led to the "inevitable defeat of

the Indians." No one can doubt, when he has read this book,

that the white conquerors were unjust on many occasions. Nor

can he doubt that the Indians were often truly "savages."  He

will have seen how the misunderstandings and jealousies natural

in a situation involving two groups wanting the same thing were

fanned to hatred and bloody warfare by mistakes on both sides.

Council Fires on the Upper Ohio is the story of the Indians

in the Ohio Country from the time of the coming of the Shaw-

nee, Delaware and Mingo to that region, about 1720, to the

Treaty of Greenville, following General Anthony Wayne's cam-

paign, in 1795. It tells of the futile efforts of the Indians to

save themselves--by confederation to present a united front, and

by allying themselves with one or another of the white nations.

The confederations that were at least slightly successful in stem-

ming the tide of white occupation were those promoted by Pon-

tiac in the 1760's and by Joseph Brant in the 1780's. The In-

dians usually chose the wrong white allies--first they joined the

losing cause of the French and then the declining cause of the

British.

The setting of the story moves westward as the conquest by

the Americans forced the Indians to retire in that direction. The

first portion, therefore, deals chiefly with events in Western

Pennsylvania, while the latter part forms the beginnings for the

history of the Northwest Territory and the country that later be-

came the State of Ohio. In an earlier volume, Frontier Ohio,

1788-1803, published as volume 3 of the Ohio Historical Collec-

tions of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, in

1935, Mr. Downes had presented, in his first chapter, the story

of the Indian conquest during the period of 1788-1795. The

present volume presents much additional material covering that

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BOOK REVIEWS                     69

 

period as well as the earlier history of Indian activities in the

Ohio Valley.

In addition to being a well-documented, dispassionate but

interesting history of the Indians in the Ohio Valley, Council

Fires on the Upper Ohio is one of the finest examples of book-

making yet produced in the field of local history. Artistic head-

piece illustrations by Alex Ross, a fine choice of type-face and

paper, and an attractive binding make it a beautiful book and add

much to its readableness. Carefully prepared footnotes, bibliog-

raphy and index add much to its usefulness.

K. WILLIAM McKINLEY.

 

 

 

Wilderness Chronicles of Northwestern Pennsylvania. Edited by

Sylvester K. Stevens and Donald H. Kent. Prepared by

Pennsylvania Historical Survey (Frontier Forts and Trails

Survey), Division of Community Service Programs, Work

Projects Administration. (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Histori-

cal Commission, 1941, 343p. Illus. and maps.)

This is the first volume of a series covering the region of

northwestern Pennsylvania. The book contains a selection of

sources describing outstanding events as seen by contemporaries

or participants. The material is classified into twelve periods in-

cluding, "The Discovery of Northwestern Pennsylvania," "The

French Fortify the Allegheny Valley," "Warding off English

Threats," "Raiding the English Frontier," "The Expulsion of

the French," "The English Reopen the Venango Trail," "The

Building of the English Forts," "Life in the Wilderness Posts,

1761," "The Year before the Storm," "The Indians Burn the

Forts," "The English Regain Control," and "Bradstreets' Treaty

and Bouquet's Peace." There is a brief bibliography and a very

full index.

H. L.

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70     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Hamilton in the Making. By Alta Harvey Heiser. (Oxford, Ohio,

Mississippi Valley Press, 1941. 402p. $3.00.)

This history is unique in two respects. In the first place it

is written by a capable local historian, whose objective has been

to present in accurate form a history of the home community and

in the second place it is made available at the very reasonable

price of $3.00 per copy. All this is in marked contrast with the

ordinary county or local history prepared by some commercial

minded firm, written to sell to subscribers at a price entirely out

of proportion to its value. It comes as a result of the use of

much source material and this gives it an added value. The his-

tory is told in a series of nineteen chapters beginning with the

story of the two towns located on the east and west banks of the

Miami River which eventually were united. The author adopts

the biographical style in telling her story.  She tells of early

transportation, mills, hotels, churches, schools, banking and in-

dustry.

The chapter on "Monuments to Pioneers" gives a history of

Hamilton's cemeteries and the last chapter gives the history of

the final union of Hamilton and Rossville. As a narrative of a

representative community, the book furnishes an example for

other historical contributions, reflecting the life of America as it

emerged from the small rural group and gradually expanded into

urban centers.

The story of the pioneer, John Wood, in whose memory the

book is dedicated, is woven into the whole book. The author has

given a fine example of a local history, having breathed into her

narrative the spirit of life. The book appeared very appropri-

ately at the time of the sesquicentennial celebration of Hamilton

and Butler counties. The volume contains seventeen illustrations

and is provided with a good index. The binding is both attractive

and durable.

H. L.

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BOOK REVIEWS                      71

Old Oxford [Ohio] Houses and the People Who Lived in Them.

By [Mrs.] Ophia D. Smith [author of Life and Times of

Giles Richards.]  (Oxford, Ohio, The Oxford Historical

Press, 1941, 149P. Illus. $1.05 postpaid. Address Mrs.

W. E. Smith, Oxford, Ohio.)

This book, the first of a group to be called the Oxford His-

torical Series, covers a subject which is more and more claiming

the interest of historical societies and persons interested in local

history. Old houses, mills, bridges and churches are receiving

more and more attention, as they should, and some state historical

societies are creating committees to make surveys and records of

them.

The history of Oxford would very naturally reveal an unusu-

ally large number of historic houses and with painstaking re-

search, which often becomes very difficult, Mrs. Smith has ac-

complished this in a most satisfactory way. Valuable as are these

sketches, it is unfortunate that the book could not have contained

a full set of illustrations rather than only about half of them.

These would have added much to the permanent record and to

the value of the series. Probably no other town of the State,

rich in history and tradition, could offer as good an opportunity

for such a record. Twenty-four such houses are described with

their historical background. Many of them are nearly a century

old. Among them are the homes of Robert Hamilton Bishop,

first president of Miami University, and William Holmes Mc-

Guffey, the birthplace of Caroline Scott, later the wife of Presi-

dent Benjamin Harrison, Dr. Scott's boarding home for young

adies, and the home of Robert W. McFarland, a later president

of Miami University. Such a series of books in Ohio would be

of great value and interest, and it is to be hoped that Mrs. Smith's

excellent work may serve as an example.

H. L.

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72     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Inventory of Business Records. Ohio Historical Records Survey.

(Cleveland, Ohio, 1941, 104p.)

This inventory of the records of the D. Connelly Boiler Com-

pany (1875-1931) and the J. B. Savage (Printing) Company

(1869-1939) constitutes another step forward in the development

of an interest in the care and preservation of business records as

important historical source materials. These records were turned

over to the Western Reserve University Library and this 100

page catalogue supplies one of the first, if not the first, work of

its kind in this country.

Western Reserve University Library now has the nucleus of

a collection of business records to which the historian, economist

and others hope contributions will be made by business firms

having old and non-current records. The Historical Records

Survey, under the direction of Miss Lillian Kessler, deserves

much credit for editing and publishing a usable and accurate de-

scription of these materials. The booklet contains an historical

sketch of each company and a descriptive paragraph following

each entry in the inventory proper. The records seem fairly

complete, consisting of accounting, purchase, production and sales

records as well as reports on industrial relations, labor statistics

and correspondence.

In the foreword of the book, John W. Love, Business Editor

of the Cleveland Press, who is one of the leading promoters of

this movement to preserve such records in Cleveland, acknowl-

edges the contribution of the late Dr. Robert C. Binkley and Dr.

Arthur C. Cole of Western Reserve University in securing these

records for their library.  He also mentions Mr. Paul Feiss,

president of the Joseph & Feiss Company who recognizes "the

value of preserving company records for the light they throw

upon business methods and indirectly upon the life of the times."

The volume is bound in strong paper, printed by a near-

print process, is well indexed and will serve as an example of

what ought to be done with other such collections as well as serv-

ing as a guide to researchers.

W. D. O.

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BOOK REVIEWS                      73

Tommy Carries the Ball. By James and Marion Renick. Illus-

trated by Frederick Machetanz. (New York, Charles Scrib-

ner's Sons, 1940. 78p. $1.50.)

David Cheers the Team. By James and Marion Renick. Illus-

trated by Frederick Machetanz. (New York, Charles Scrib-

ner's Sons, 1941. ¹²5p. $1.50.)

These books for young people in the early teens are by the

director of publicity of the Ohio State University Athletic De-

partment and his wife. The illustrations are by a well-known

Ohio artist who is also an author. The first volume is a football

story where Tommy learns some of the essentials from a univer-

sity player and uses the instruction to a good advantage in his

own game. In the second book, a basketball story, David is de-

lighted to find that "the people who move in next door" turn out

to be the new basketball coach and his wife. David rigs up a

hoop on the garage and soon has the new coach in his back yard

showing him how to play properly. They become good friends

and David becomes mascot of the high school team.

The illustrations are an important part of these books since

they are designed to be instructive as well as decorative. Youth

who aspire to become football and basketball players will find

that the models for these pictures are from life and in most cases

are real stars at Ohio State University. In fact Machetanz was

a basketball star himself several years ago.

W. D. O.

 

 

Clarence Darrow for the Defense. By Irving Stone.   (Garden

City, New York, Doubleday, Doran and Company, 1941.

560p. $3.00.)

This biography is a very vivid portrayal of the life of a man

noted for his integrity and his sense of what was true and right.

Darrow was a "great liberal lawyer, a free thinker, a foe of in-

Tolerance, champion of the underdog and defender of lost causes"

and Irving Stone has given a word picture of unusual attractive-

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74     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

ness. Darrow never shrunk from the responsibility of champion-

ing an individual or a cause he believed right.

The first chapter of the book traces the ancestry of Darrow

and his own life until his removal to Chicago soon after he was

thirty years of age. This chapter also gives a good picture of

life in northeastern Ohio at the middle of the nineteenth century.

It is a matter of interest for Ohio readers that Clarence Darrow

was a native of Ohio and taught school in the State for three

years.

He became interested in law and a few weeks after his

twenty-first birthday he embarked upon his legal career which

was destined to cover six decades. For forty-three years follow-

ing his defense of Eugene V. Debs, case after case was to add to

his reputation as a lawyer for the defense. During this time he

defied public opinion and faced the scorn of his friends, to cham-

pion the causes and individuals he believed right.

Mr. Stone reviews the famous cases with which he was as-

sociated and clearly portrays both Darrow the lawyer and Darrow

the man. Chapter VI entitled "Can a lawyer be an honest man?"

expresses well his philosophy.

Six hundred and thirty source notes arranged to correspond

to the chapters of the book add to its value. There is also a se-

lected bibliography and a list of personal contributors.

H. L.

 

 

 

Christian Newcomer, His Life, Journal and Achievements.

Edited by Samuel S. Hough. (Church of United Brethren

in Christ, Dayton, 1941. 293p. Illus. $1.00)

Christian Newcomer was an organizer and builder of the

United Brethren church. Dr. Hough, after months of careful

research, has produced a book based upon the original publication

of 1834 with additional explanatory notes and interpretations.

After an editorial introduction, a chapter is devoted to Newcom-

er's own life story. Chapters 3-14 are devoted to Newcomer's

Journal covering the period October, 1795 to March 4, 1830. He

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BOOK REVIEWS                     75

 

died March 12, 1830, and was buried near Hagerstown, Mary-

land.

There is much material relating to Ohio. Dr. Hough has

contributed data in the way of making available to the reader

what the pioneer said and did and Newcomer has left an unusual

record in locating many families, places and events. His ref-

erences to hosts and hostesses and colleagues give much material

for the genealogist. He reveals the conditions of the country in

those early years. He also makes records of the places and dates

of all the early annual and general conferences.

It is a book which should be in every genealogical and his-

torical library.

H. L.

 

 

Men at Work--In the Mill. By John Masefield. (New York,

Macmillan Company, 1941. 158p. $2.00.)

Men Working.    By John Faulkner.   (New York, Harcourt,

Brace & Co. 1941. 300p. $2.50.)

John Masefield is a poet, presumably more interested in

emotions than in details of manufacturing.  John Faulkner

(brother of William, the Oxford, Miss., novelist) studied engi-

neering, and supposedly might be more interested in technical

processes than in people's lives. Yet, In the Mill describes in

simple and beautiful fashion the way carpet was made at the

Alexander Smith establishment of Yonkers, N. Y., when Mase-

field worked there in the depression years 1895-97; and Men

Working, a first novel, tells nothing about what was done nor

how it was performed on the "W P & A" project that employed

Paw Taylor in some Mississippi town toward the end of the

depressed 1930's.

The Taylors, Paw, Maw, and the assorted kids (including

20-year-old "Rinno," the drooling idiot who was six feet two and

weighed less than 50 pounds) abandoned their cotton share-crop

when Paw got his "four-o-two" form assigning him to the WPA,

and moved to town to better themselves. They clubbed with

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76     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

similar families and crowded into a big rented house, bought food

and old radio sets on tick, resorted to primitive sanitation when

the water was shut off, lived on relief when Paw got his "four-

o-three" furlough papers, and, when they had to vacate the prem-

ises, moved into the property of another unsuspecting landlord.

They had blind faith in the power and good intentions of Mr.

Will, the politician. They were proud and wouldn't accept charity

until it was made all right by signing the papers. They didn't

complain, except that now and then Paw would say "I'm right

disappointed."

Despite its horrible detail, Men Working is entertaining and

not unpleasant reading. It doesn't tell much about the work, but

it may describe some of the life of certain citizens of Mississippi.

When John Masefield quit the sea at New York and got a

job in the carpet mill (rather an accomplishment for a foreigner

in a time of depression) he was nineteen. He learned to straighten

the yarn tubes and when his work became routine he employed

his mind by planning a model training school for the merchant

marine. Later he became a "mistake finder" and helped keep all

the processes running smoothly and his fellow workers out of

trouble. He found dignity in work and working men. He liked

everybody--the other millhands, the Negro waiter, the Chinese

laundryman--and everybody liked him. He lived well and simply,

saved money, wandered Sundays through the countryside, de-

veloped a passion for reading, and longed (despairingly) to be-

come a writer. He seemed not to mind 60 hours of work a week

nor the pay; there was enough time off and money enough for

him. His only indictment of the factory system is the query why

people who have devised such a wonderful machine can't operate

it smoothly enough to save the workmen the dread of layoffs.

He found America (probably by contrast with what he had known

of the Old World) a land where food and clothes were good and

cheap compared with the effort that had to be put forth to obtain

them.

So John Masefield's twenty-two months in the mill were

pleasant. A hankering to see England at the time of Victoria's

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BOOK REVIEWS                      77

Diamond Jubilee made him chuck the job and go to sea again to

work his way home.

In the Mill is pleasant autobiography, like its author and the

experiences it describes. We need more books like it to round

out our history of industry. Unfortunately, if John Masefield

hadn't already been famous it is doubtful whether his manuscript,

charming as it is, would have been accepted for publication or

widely read if some publisher had taken a chance on it. We may

be glad that the Poet Laureate has set down his memories of

work and workingmen.

MERRILL WEED

 

Democracy Is Different. By Carl Frederick Wittke [and eight

collaborators.] (New York, Harper and Bros., 1941. 230p.

$2.50.)

This book is made up of a series of lectures delivered at

Oberlin College by representatives from the faculties of Oberlin

College, Ohio State University, the University of Chicago, New

School for Social Research and Harvard University. The theme

of the series is "Democracy over against Communism, Fascism

and Nazism." The first and second addresses are by Dr. Wittke

?? The Evolution of Democracy. The preface and the last ad-

dress on Democracy today and tomorrow are contributed by

Ernest H. Wilkins, president of Oberlin College.  Professor

Henry R. Spencer of Ohio State University discusses the "Cor-

??orate State."

The purpose of the book is "to set forth the evolution and

present nature of democracy and of the three forms of dictator-

ship which are today the outstanding manifestations of autocracy,

and to suggest certain possibilities as to the defense and advance

of democracy."

H. L.

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