Ohio History Journal

COLLECTIONS AND EXHIBITS THE WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY by MEREDITH B. COLKET, JR.

IN THE DAYS before the Civil War, when Cleveland was emerging as a city, a group of dedicated young men banded together to form an organization known as the Ark. The members were from founding families and had a deep interest in cul- tural matters. Their activities are memo- rialized in a famous oil painting by Julius Gollman dated 1858. Although the group has since passed out of existence, its mem- bers inspired the creation of several Cleve- land cultural organizations. One of these, which was founded in 1867 and which is Cleveland's oldest existing cultural organ- ization, is the Western Reserve Historical Society.

The Western Reserve Historical Society was named after the portion of north- eastern Ohio that was originally the West- ern Reserve of Connecticut. The society continues to have a special interest in this area, which was settled by pioneers from New England and which now covers ten counties and parts of four others. In addition to operating a museum in Cleve- land's Cuyahoga County, it owns and in two instances operates, museums in the nearby counties of Ashtabula, Lake, and Summit. The society is in a very real sense a regional historical society. The Western Reserve Historical Society serves also as the historical society for

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the city of Cleveland. Because of this special relationship, the Cleveland Board of Education provides a full-time instruc- tor with clerical assistance for the instruc- tion of classes of school children who come by bus to learn about the American Indian, the Ohio pioneer, and the city's history. Most important, as the historical so- ciety for Cuyahoga County, it receives, in accordance with state law, certain funds for its support from the board of county commissioners. It has been designated as the official depository of the county's non- current records of enduring value. Citi- zens of the county and others are admitted to the society's building without charge, while many school children of the county are instructed in American history by

trained members of the Junior League of Cleveland. The society is governed by a board of twenty-one trustees. Cleveland attorney Herman L. Vail, a trustee since 1935, has been its president since 1960. The head- quarters building is located at 10825 East Boulevard in the heart of Cleveland's Uni- versity Circle cultural area. In the vicin- ity are located the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Institute of Art, the Library of Western Reserve University, the Gar- den Center of Greater Cleveland, and Severance Hall. The headquarters building is actually a series of buildings, an edifice in which Clevelanders take great pride. The main

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entrance, completed in 1959, opens into a large structure known as the Central Addition. This Central Addition is a con- necting building between two Florentine Renaissance style mansions and harmo- nizes beautifully with them. The man- sions are now designated as the Hay Wing and the Hanna Wing. The first, built in 1910 by Mrs. John Hay, widow of the former secretary of state, contains the original hand-carved stairway that was in the old Hay mansion on Euclid Avenue. The other was built in 1918 by Harry Payne Bingham, grandson of Sen- ator Henry Payne and brother of Con- gressman Frances Payne Bolton. For many years it served as the residence of Mrs. Leonard C. Hanna and Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., the nephew of Marcus A. Hanna. A special Hanna drawing room, appropriately furnished, pays tribute to the contributions that the Hanna family made to Cleveland. To the rear of the Central Addition is a three-tier stack building capable of future upward ex- pansion. It houses most of the society's books and newspapers. A principal feature of the Central Addi- tion is the impressive Napoleon Room filled with artifacts of the Napoleonic era. Prominently displayed is the hand-painted French wallpaper, sixty feet in length, depicting the procession on the Champs Elysees on the occasion of the second interment of Napoleon in 1840. This room serves primarily as an exhibition gallery but can readily be converted into an auditorium capable of seating two hundred persons. The society was not always thus. It started out modestly in a building on the Public Square; then, for much of the present century, occupied a building at Euclid Avenue and 107th Street. Acqui- sition of the two mansions and the con- struction of the central addition were

accomplishments that are credited to the wisdom and foresight of the late Laurence Harper Norton. Mr. Norton, whose father years ago collected the Napoleoniana in his Euclid Avenue mansion, was presi- dent of the society for twenty-five years. The purpose of the society was officially set forth in the charter that it received from the State of Ohio in 1892. The charter provides for the collection of his- torical materials, the maintenance of a museum and library, and the extension of historical knowledge. Generally speaking, the society has three main functions: (1) to serve as a research center for scholars and others interested in national, local, or family history; (2) to educate the school chil- dren of our community in the field of history; and (3) to bring to the atten- tion of the people of our community a greater awareness of our cultural heritage. During the decades following the issu- ing of the charter, the society has come to emphasize two of its cardinal princi- ples: the collection of historical materials, and the maintenance of a museum and library. The society has admirably followed the charter's objective of collecting, becoming a literal treasury of rare books, manu- scripts, stamps, coins, antique furniture, glass, china, and oil paintings. Although a large percentage of our collections re- lates directly or indirectly to Ohio history, some objects do not. As a matter of fact, a few outstanding items come from other continents. Of European origin is the Napoleon Collection, one of the finest in the world, with many rare original pieces, including the logbook of H.M.S. Northumberland, which conveyed Napoleon to St. Helena in 1815. From Africa comes an object that has been the most talked of in the society's collection, the mummy of the

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Egyptian priest Othphto of 1600 B.C. Of Asiatic origin is one of the society's most spectacular exhibits, the Chinese imperial altar screen of the Chien Lung period of the Chin dynasty, eighteenth century, inlaid with many fine pieces of jade and other semi-precious stones. South America is represented by the superb collection of early Peruvian pottery. From the southern states comes one of the outstanding collections of Confederate imprints. From New England comes a superb collection of published town and local histories. A collection of letters of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence represents all the thirteen origi- nal colonies. This wide divergence in material is attributed to the collecting interests of Cleveland supporters. The society has for its present aim the collect- ing of Americana, with emphasis on northeastern Ohio. The society's charter has a broad pro- vision for extending historical knowledge. Such action is accomplished by evening lecture programs, by special Sunday pro- grams during the winter months, by monthly historical tours sponsored by the society's Women's Council during the summer, by weekly television programs, by regular showings of historical films, and by a publication program. Our publi- cations are in two major series. The first series, with publications numbered 1 to 116, includes the more substantial his- torical studies issued by the society. A checklist of the publications identifying those still in print is available on request. This publication is issued irregularly, but current policy is to issue one, if possible, each year. The second series, an illus- trated bulletin called the Historical So- ciety News, began in 1946. It is mailed monthly to the society's 1675 members and to public schools of Cuyahoga County.

The concept of maintaining a museum and library as outlined in the charter has been conscientiously developed. These separate facilities attract people of all ages in all walks of life. During the calendar year 1962 over 65,000 persons visited the society, a number more than double that of five years ago. The museum's permanent exhibits are diversified in subject. Some are early American period rooms, some show the general history and culture of the Western Reserve from the days of the pioneer, some others depict phases of American history of interest to all Americans. Finally, there are exhibits designed to capture the interest of school children at the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade levels. The exhibits that have a special appeal to school children are varied. The Indian Room, with two old cigar-store Indians guarding the entrance, has dioramas showing Indian life in various areas of the country in early days. Here and else- where are numerous objects relating to Indian craftsmanship, such as pottery, baskets, blankets, war clubs, projectile points, flaking tools, axes, and banner stones. Exhibits of pioneer life include dioramas depicting the arrival of the city's founder, Moses Cleaveland, a repro- duction of an eighteenth-century grist mill in miniature, and a full-scale log cabin room. The log cabin room is set up to resemble an early pioneer home. A fire- place at one end has primitive cranes holding up an iron tea kettle and cooking pot, and a built-in oven for baking. Among interesting exhibited artifacts are pewter plates, a powderhorn, gourds, foot warmer, butter churn, and a spinning wheel. Children also delight in a trans- portation room showing various modes of early transportation and a marine room with ship models of many ages. Among exhibits pertaining to specific

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events in American history, one, now in the course of completion, is the Pilgrim Room. The society has many rare books and prints relating to the Pilgrims, in- cluding some almost priceless works printed in Leyden, Holland, by William Brewster, before the Mayflower sailed to New England in 1620. A unique feature of the Pilgrim interest is a series of miniature rooms depicting the interiors of homes from 1620 to 1880. These exhibits portray reconstructed rooms in the homes of the Mayflower passenger Richard Warren and certain of his de- scendants. They reflect the economic and cultural growth of America. Others per- taining to specific events are the George Washington Room, the room containing pictures and letters of the presidents, and the Signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence Room. The latter is believed to be the only room in America where a set of signers' letters is permanently dis- played to the public. A room honoring George M. Humphrey, secretary of the

treasury in the Eisenhower cabinet, brings in twentieth-century history. The period rooms with excellent exam- ples of antiques and other furnishings relate chiefly to the nineteenth century. Some rooms represent life in a cultivated American family shortly after 1800, while other rooms, in particular a parlor and a bedroom, are of the Victorian period. One magnificent dining room is furnished almost entirely in curly maple. The indi- vidual pieces are said to have been made by members of one Virginia family dur- ing a period of over a century. Photo- graphs of some of this furniture have been reproduced by Alice Winchester in a chapter of her book, Living With Antiques. Interest in antiques prompted the establishment recently of a room devoted to early American clocks and watches. Many of the objects of the museum are not on permanent exhibit but are reserved for changing exhibits. From time to time special exhibits are set up, some of which

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commemorate specific historical events. It is then possible to draw upon the rich collection of artifacts in storage. Soon we plan to exhibit a wonderful collection of oil lamps, the most recent accession among our collections of lighting equip- ment. Some of the collections in storage are regarded as study collections. Exam- ples of these are the collections of woven coverlets, household linens, quilts, and women's clothing. The collection of women's clothing includes 973 garments dating from the late eighteenth century up to the present. They are typical of the correct fashions of the time for both formal and informal wear, including a number of gowns worn at inaugural balls dating from the time of Abraham Lincoln down through the Eisenhower adminis- tration. The museum gives special attention to the history, customs, and habits of reli- gious peoples who settled in the Western Reserve. These include the Mormons, who built their first church at Kirtland in 1836; the Shakers, who in 1822 settled at North Union Village, now Shaker Heights; and the Amish, who settled in Ohio as early as 1809, and in Middlefield in the Western Reserve in 1883. The library shows growth as an his- torical research center. It is constantly increasing its fine collections of Ameri- cana, giving special attention to local ma- terial. Its holdings include bound volumes, pamphlets, maps, prints, photographs, and manuscripts. Over the years it has tended to concentrate in special fields, particu- larly in the following: (1) Manuscripts of the Revolutionary War period, with emphasis on the signers of the Declaration of Independence. (2) Rare books contemporary to and concerned with the Lewis and Clark expe- dition. (3) Books and manuscripts relating to

the War of 1812. The two books recently published by the Ohio Historical Society as Volume X, Parts 1 and 2, of Document Transcriptions of the War of 1812 in the Northwest are based upon this collection. (4) Books, manuscripts, photographs, and prints of the Civil War, chiefly col- lected by William Pendleton Palmer. There is a large number of glass plate negatives, some of which are attributed to Mathew Brady. The manuscript collec- tion of the Civil War is rated by com- petent experts as one of the twelve finest in America. The reproduction of our original drawing of the Lincoln cabinet room in the White House in The White House Guide (1962) illustrates one of the many ways in which this important collection is used. Its greatest use is for the historian writing books and articles. (5) Manuscripts and other materials concerning the Shakers, or the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, chiefly collected by Wallace H. Cathcart. The 6,000 manuscript volumes relating to nineteen Shaker communities in eight states is considered the finest Shaker collection ever assembled. It is valuable for the light it throws not only on this interesting sect but also on the life and customs of America during the nine- teenth century.

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(6) Postage stamps. A collection ex- ceedingly fine in basic United States issues and stamps of the world before 1885. (7) Coins, with special emphasis on ancient coins and a type set of United States coins. (8) Newspapers, which are unusually rich in Ohio and nineteenth-century America issues. The Daily Intelligencer of Atlanta, Georgia, 1861-1865, and the Scioto Gazette, 1800-1866, are considered the finest extant runs. The society has made microfilms of each, and the micro- film of the Scioto Gazette was made after obtaining copies of scarce issues from seventeen other depositories in the United States and England. (9) Paper money, with extensive col- lections relating to colonial currency, Continental currency, state bank notes, federal notes, and fractional United States currency. These collections are very use- ful as study collections in the preparation of monographs and special works identi- fying various issues and printings. (10) Incunabula, which are chiefly of exhibit interest, including the 1493 edi- tion of the Nuremburg Chronicle, pro- fusely illustrated with woodcuts. (11) Books on antiques which are of

use in studying our museum collections. (12) Genealogy, including family his- tories, local histories, microfilm, and manuscript genealogies. The printed fam- ily histories, arranged alphabetically by name of family, occupy 253 three-foot shelves. The microfilms include micro- films for the Ohio population census schedules for the years 1820 to 1880, inclusive; microfilms of the federal popu- lation schedules for 1830 and earlier (in- sofar as the National Archives has made microfilm publications), and microfilms of vital records of Connecticut before 1850. Among manuscript materials of genealogical interest are alphabetized and indexed typescripts of early Ohio marriages for most Ohio counties. This genealogical collection is one of the ten finest in America and is consulted by per- sons from all sections of the country. The society is one of the few great genea- logical libraries that uses the open stack system. By agreement the society empha- sizes genealogical collections relating to the United States, while the Cleveland Public Library emphasizes genealogical collections relating to England and some other foreign countries. (13) Materials relating to the early history of the Western Reserve and in

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particular the Connecticut Land Com- pany. (14) Maps, including rare maps relat- ing to early North America collected by Judge Charles C. Baldwin and maps collected by R. Henry Norweb. The society's manuscript collections are an invaluable source for the research student. A brief summary of their scope and content appears in A Guide to Archives and Manuscripts in the United States, Dr. Philip M. Hamer, editor. These manuscripts are consulted by students working on advanced degrees at Western Reserve University and other universities and are of special interest to persons writing books on various aspects of our local, state, and national history. Unfortunately, a large percentage of this collection had been difficult to con- sult because it had never been described or arranged adequately. Accordingly, the society requested and received a grant from the Cleveland Foundation to catalog the material. As a result of money re- ceived from this grant, it has been pos- sible to arrange, box, label, and describe many of the manuscripts. A checklist of the groups for which formal registers have been completed follows: (1) Warner M. Bateman Papers, 1837- 1897. (2) Braxton Bragg Papers, 1861 - 1865. (3) Theodore E. Burton Papers, 1876- 1928. (4) Maria D. Coffinberry Papers, 1767-1930. (5) Auditors' Tax Volumes, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, 1819-1869. (6) William Pitt Fessenden Papers, 1837-1869. (7) James A. Garfield Miscellany, 1857-1890, 1936. (8) William J. Gross Papers, 1862- 1867.

(9) Jonathan Hale Family Papers, 1810-1940. (10) Myron T. Herrick Papers (with Charles A. Lindbergh Correspondence), 1827-1935. (11) Peter Hitchcock Family Papers, c. 1804-c. 1896. (12) William McKinley Miscellany, 1850-1912. (13) Medical Department and Hos- pital Papers (Union and Confederate Armies), 1846-1866. (14) Alfred Mewett Papers, 1736- 1955. (15) Daniel Edgar Morgan Papers, 1929-1949. (16) Perley Peabody Pitkin Papers, 1861-1868. (17) Regimental Papers of the Civil War, 1861-1865. (18) Albert G. Riddle Papers, 1835- 1901. (19) Samuel J. Ritchie Papers, 1870- 1918. (20) Franz Sigel Papers, 1861-1901. (21) Dr. Samuel H. Stout Papers, 1861-1865. (22) Virginia Military District of Ohio Papers, 1787-1839. (23) Charles Whittlesey Papers, 1807- 1889. (24) Elisha Whittlesey Papers, 1804- 1863. This cataloging project, which began in January 1961, is scheduled to be com- pleted in December 1963. It is contem- plated that the compilations resulting from this work will form the basis of a printed guide to the manuscript holdings of the society. A challenging addition is now being planned for the headquarters building. It is considered to be one of the most important events now scheduled in the University Circle cultural area. This addi- tion will be a wing to house antique auto-

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mobiles and a specialized library on auto- mobiles and aviation. The automobile collection was begun by Frederick C. Crawford, a trustee of the society and now chairman of the executive committee of Thompson-Ramo-Wooldridge, Inc. Consisting of 136 antique automobiles, the collection is one of the five largest of its kind in America. It is an appropriate collection for Cleveland, the city where automobiles were first commercially sold and an early automobile center. The col- lection has many notable cars of local manufacture, including the Baker, Chan- dler, Grant, Peerless, Rauch-Lang, Royal Tourist, Templar, White, and Winton. Most of the cars in the collection were manufactured between 1895 and 1936. The museum properties owned by the Western Reserve Historical Society out- side of Cleveland are three: Lawnfield, the home of President James A. Garfield at Mentor, Lake County; Shandy Hall, a pioneer home near Unionville, Ashtabula County; and the Jonathan Hale Farm, Summit County. They are open to the public from May through October each year. Lawnfield is on Mentor Avenue (U.S. Route 20), Mentor. It was the home of President James A. Garfield, the only United States president born in Cuyahoga County and the only president buried in Cuyahoga County. The large rambling mansion had been considerably enlarged from the original structure built early in the nineteenth century. It contains many furnishings of the Victorian era, with innumerable pictures and mementos of the Garfield family. Adjoining the main building is a structure used as Garfield's campaign office during his 1880 political campaign. To the rear is a replica of the log cabin in which Garfield, "the last of the log cabin presidents," was born. Lawnfield is administered by the Lake

County Historical Society, which main- tains a separate library, and has museum items relating to Lake County history on the third floor. Shandy Hall, on State Route 84, one mile east of Unionville, is a frame house of seventeen small rooms. The original structure was built in 1815 by lawyer Robert Harper, the son of the pioneer Alexander Harper, a Revolutionary War officer, whose tombstone is regarded as marking the earliest grave in the Western Reserve. During the 120 years that it was occupied as a family residence, it was occupied only by Robert Harper or his immediate Harper descendants. It con- tains many priceless antiques, including an interesting old cherry secretary, twelve Hitchcock chairs, rare china, and wine glasses. All of the furnishings have been handed down in the family, and the major ones were there before the Civil War. The barrel-vaulted banquet hall, with rare scenic wallpaper imported from France, is of exceptional beauty. Horticulturists believe that the immense boxwood on the property is the oldest and hardiest box- wood in the northern part of the state. The Jonathan Hale Farm, on Oak Hill Road, Bath Township, Summit County, came into the possession of the society in 1957 under terms of the will of the late Clara Belle Ritchie of Akron in order "that the greatest number of persons may be informed of the history and culture of the Western Reserve." The tract consists of 176 acres of the original 500 acres of land that were acquired by Jonathan Hale of Glastonbury, Connecticut, in 1810, and on which his brick residence was located. This brick residence, built about 1825, is open to the public as a house museum. It includes a number of the household pos- sessions that once belonged to Jonathan Hale. To these were added many other objects of historic interest that relate

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chiefly to the nineteenth century. Near the brick homestead the society is in the process of erecting a pioneer Western Reserve village. This village will have in its center a village green characteristic of the early Western Reserve. Tentative plans provide for some houses of the period, a schoolhouse, a tavern, a black- smith shop, a general store, and a church around the green, with a sawmill and perhaps a gristmill nearby. The society, instead of reconstructing buildings, is

acquiring original buildings in the West- ern Reserve and is moving them to the site. The interiors of the buildings will be furnished in the most authentic man- ner that skills and materials will permit. As far as possible, the society aspires to convey to the public a true picture of what life was like in the Western Reserve in the early part of the nineteenth cen- tury. It is the object of the society to reconstruct this village for its great edu- cational value to the public.     THE AUTHOR: Meredith B. Colket, Jr., is the director of the Western Reserve Historical Society.

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