Ohio History Journal

Book Reviews       Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Richard Nixon, 1969. (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Federal Registrar, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1971. lii + 1081p.; appendices and index. $14.50.)   Most students of the history of the United States, particularly those working in the recent period, have long since found this continuing series to be a valuable research tool, one to which they can turn with con- fidence for a standard and reliable compila- tion of all of the President's major ad- dresses, messages, press conferences, and public letters. Launched in 1957 in response to recommendations made by the National Historical Publications Commission, the series now covers in full the years from 1945 through 1969. In the future, as I understand present plans, it will be extend- ed not only forward in continuing annual compilations but also backward to encom- pass the Hoover and Roosevelt adminis- trations. The volume under review, covering the first 346 days of the Nixon administration, is somewhat more selective than its imme- diate predecessors. It contains only 1,049 pages of documents as compared with 1,228 pages in the volumes covering 1967 and 1,404 in those for 1968. The editorship has also changed, Warren Reid having been succeeded by Dorothy G. Chance and Peter J. Haley. But, so far as I can deter- mine, the high quality of editorial work and scholarly standards of selection have not changed. The editorial comments and notes, in fact, seem a bit fuller, more numerous, and more helpful than in the past; and judging from the list in Appendix A, the releases not printed consist almost entirely of formal announcements, biographical data on appointees, background informa- tion, and purely ceremonial items. Included and faithfully reproduced are all the impor- tant public utterances and messages, among them the inaugural address, the special

messages on domestic reform and govern- mental reorganization, the addresses to the nation on domestic problems and the Viet- nam war, the remarks made on the Euro- pean tour and the trip around the world, the descriptions of new departures in vol- untary action and business-government co- operation, and previously restricted por- tions of the press conference on Guam (where the President first enunciated the Nixon Doctrine) and the remarks concern- ing selection of a Chief Justice of the United States. As in previous volumes, the items are in strict chronological sequence, but an excellent index enables the reader to locate quickly those pertaining to any given topic. Given the tendency of American histo- rians to organize their nation's history around Presidential administrations and to debate the elements of continuity and change from one administration to the next, this volume will probably be used more extensively than some of its predecessors. Already, it seems, considerable disagree- ment exists concerning the direction and extent of policy changes during the period since January 1969; and already Nixon has been variously interpreted as a younger Eisenhower, a more corporate-minded Lyn- don Johnson, a resurrected Herbert Hoover, and, more recently, a flexible pragmatist in the pattern of Franklin Roosevelt. In all likelihood, future students of his adminis- tration will find themselves testing these conflicting assessments against the available evidence. And for this volume, with its authentic record of the President's public positions, initiatives, and reactions during his first year in office, they will be grateful.     ELLIS W. HAWLEY University of Iowa       Stephen Douglas: The Last Years, 1857- 1861. By DAMON WELLS. (Austin: Univer- sity of Texas Press, 1971. xvi + 342p.;

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62   illustrations, bibliographical essays, and index. $10.00.) Historians often have not been generous in their appraisal of Stephen A. Douglas, who in his day ranked among the Titans of American politics. It is tempting to portray him merely as the foil of Abraham Lincoln. In the monumental surveys of the Civil War era, both in those written as long ago as James Ford Rhodes' study and as re- cently as Allan Nevins', he is generally dealt with critically, even hostilely, as a pro-southerner and as a narrow politician insensitive to moral concerns. Those histo- rians who place the blame for the Civil War on "agitators" treat Douglas more respect- fully as a clear-headed statesman who saw through the abstractions that deluded aboli- tionists and fire-eaters, and as one who exerted wise efforts at compromise that were calculated to save the Union. Mr. Wells instead seeks a dispassionate understanding of Douglas. It is hardly sur- prising, nevertheless, to find that while often critical of his subject, he sees much in Douglas and his politics to admire. The author is not sympathetic with those men in the 1850's who insisted upon pointing out the moral issues that confronted the nation and takes sides on this point. Doug- las was not mistaken. Popular sovereignty, the political device for which the Democrat is chiefly remembered, offered a means for the "containment" of slavery. Had his program been implemented, slavery even- tually would have withered away, as Charles Ramsdell argued in a related way some forty years ago, and civil war would have been averted (p. 135). The present study is valuable, however, not for the place it occupies in the ongoing argument respecting Civil War personali- ties and causation, but rather for its ex- tended treatment of two particularly sig- nificant topics. Presented is a thoughtful analysis of Douglas' theory of popular sov- ereignty and the Lincoln-Douglas debates. The author discovers intricacies and com- plications in the sovereignty issue that few students before him have considered. The fact that his discussion is beclouded by the unnecessary and confusing rhetorical device of dividing the analysis into a "hard" side

OHIO HISTORY   and a "soft" side should not be allowed to obscure the total accomplishment. Treatment of the Lincoln-Douglas de- bates also is fresh and interesting, though less convincing. The author emphasizes the areas of agreement between the two candidates, rather than their differences. "Style," he asserts, was more important in the debates than issues. He also argues, probably mistakenly and certainly without supportive evidence, that the public was unconcerned about the issues set forth in those debates; the avid following of the course of the debates indicated that the people sought only entertainment. This reviewer argues in rebuttal that there is reason to believe that popular sovereignty was rejected not because the northern elec- torate failed to find the concept titillating, but because it was considered to be morally as well as politically untenable. The book is clearly and effectively writ- ten, though some overwritten passages and mannerisms obtrude: "He was like a dia- mond, this man Douglas: small and hard and rare" (p. 6); "He was not quite genteel, this man Douglas" (p. 142). One wishes too that the author had not made the effort in the first two chapters to engross the reader by draping his historical account with semi-fictional passages concerning a railroad journey Douglas undertook in 1858, a banal narrative device the author happily abandons as soon as he feels he has captured the reader's interest.     MERTON L. DILLON The Ohio State University       The Reinterpretation of American Eco- nomic History. Edited by ROBERT W. FOGEL and STANLEY L. ENGERMAN. (New York: Harper and Row, 1971. xxiv + 494p.; tables, charts, guides, and index. $12.95.)   This work is an anthology of articles which are written using the "cliometric" orienta- tion and should be a very valuable aid to classrooms where this relatively novel ap- proach to the study of economic history is used. In the introductory article describing the

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Book Reviews   current status of the new "cliometric" ap- proach, the editors admit that much of its impact on research and writing in the United States "is due primarily to the nov- elty of its substantive conclusions." They go on to say "the studies of the new eco- nomic historians have substantially altered some of the most well-established proposi- tions of traditional historiography. They have also yielded knowledge that was hith- erto considered unobtainable concerning institutions and processes central to the ex- planation of American economic develop- ment." One of the best examples to support this contention is article twenty-four enti- tled "The Economics of Slavery." It is shown here that slavery, far from being ready to die a natural death because it was uneconomical, was a paying proposition in most parts of the South before the Civil War. Another article that this reviewer per- sonally found to be especially interesting and current was number eight entitled "The Past and the Present Poor" by Eugene Smo- lensky. In it, the author attempts to give social historians a working definition of the term "poor." While the general tone of the articles included in the anthology is generally high, there are some problems with the book. For instance, this reviewer found it to be somewhat lacking in outline or or- ganization that is easy to follow and use. Since the articles are arranged topically rather than chronologically, there is little relevance or continuity from one group to the next, precluding the possibility of form- ing a composite picture based on the data presented. A second minor problem stems from the fact that eight of the thirty-six articles are written by one or both of the editors. Though their preeminence in the field is recognized, this seemed to be a bit too much over exposure. The main problem, however, is that the average historian with his typical non- mathematical background will not be able to profit fully from the book--or even understand it in its entirety--because of the heavy reliance on statistics and statis- tical analysis that is used on a relatively sophisticated level. This is certainly not an insurmountable problem, but it means that

63   Fogel and Engerman and other "cliome- tricians" have a long and difficult task ahead of them to both educate and change the habits of the mass of American histori- ans before a book such as this can have wide acceptance or use by them.     PAUL L. SIMON Xavier University       The Limits of Dissent: Clement L. Vallan- digham and the Civil War. By FRANK L. KLEMENT. (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1970. xii + 351p.; notes, biblio- graphical essay, and index. $10.50.)   The maxim that war is a catalyst for social and political change was not widely appre- ciated in antebellum America. The first months of the Civil War, nevertheless, con- vinced Clement L. Vallandigham that the nation was "in the throes of a revolu- tion . . ." His fight for traditional policies and his antiwar campaign are developed in this biography. Conclusions about the Ohioan are conditioned by the loss of most of his personal papers. Motivational pat- terns in particular were difficult to estab- lish. Widespread research, nonetheless, ena- bled Professor Klement to write a balanced and convincing volume. Although he was relatively obscure in the prewar years, Vallandigham emerges as an articulate conservative. His states' rights views are documented in the course of his first recorded political activity. Later he is seen denigrating the Whig critics of the Mexican War for talking like "traitors." His antiabolition stance was based on racism and a rigid regard for the compromises of 1787. The Harper's Ferry raid, the Day- tonian opined, "was the natural . . . conse- quence of the doctrines proclaimed ... by the apostles of Abolition." Klement stresses the significance of Vallindigham's 1860 Cooper Union address, containing his pledge to avoid coercion in the sectional conflict. The major themes associated with Vallandigham are appraised judiciously. It is apparent from this account that the Ohioan, though a supporter of compro-

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64   mise, did little of import during the se- cession crisis. The famous Constitutional amendment is dismissed as "bizarre" and "unworkable." Klement offers fresh mate- rial on Vallandigham's decision in the spring of 1861 to oppose any coercive mea- sures against the Confederacy. As for the peace offensive, the author concludes that courageous discussion of an alternative to the war policy soon became impractical and, indeed, visionary after the Union victories of mid-1863. Vallandigham's Negrophobia and his dissent from every move made by the Lincoln administration that was favor- able to the blacks are handled in a re- strained manner. Isolated by Ohio Demo- cratic leaders and declining in popularity, "Valiant Val" had the cunning to deliber- ately provoke General Burnside in May 1863. He sensed that civil liberties, always a crucial issue for the Democratic party, would overshadow the peace theme for many voters in the important 1863 election. In this study Vallandigham emerges as a charming intellectual who was inflexible in advancing his convictions; his self-assur- ance had religious dimensions. After a savage congressional exchange, he wrote, "God ... has delivered me out of the hands of my enemies. .. ." In October 1863 he asserted confidently, "posterity will vote for me." The effect of his constant dissent on the war effort is not evaluated. Thousands, including Lincoln, came to believe it was deleterious. Since the courts did not estab- lish any limit on dissent, the President oper- ated within a loose, pragmatic framework. Lincoln, but not Vallandigham, accepted "the principle that the character of every act depended upon the circumstances in which it was committed." A contribution to Civil War literature, this book touches questions that have been very much with our society of late.   RICHARD W. SMITH Ohio Wesleyan University       Indiana to 1816. The Colonial Period. By JOHN D. BARNHART and DOROTHY L. RIKER. (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau

OHIO HISTORY   and Indiana Historical Society, 1971. xvi + 520p.; maps, illustrations, bibliography, in- dex. $7.50.)   The colonial period of Indiana history poses special problems for the historian. In the first place, it is difficult to write of Indiana when no such entity existed. Add- ing to the complexity of the problem, France, Great Britain, and the United States successively controlled the region that was to become Indiana prior to 1816. Also, for more than a century the region was the scene of a clash between Indian and West- ern European civilizations. In part because of complications result- ing from the subject matter and in part by accident, Indiana to 1816 is the product of a venture in cooperative authorship. James H. Kellar, archaeologist for the In- diana Historical Society, wrote the section on "Indiana's Prehistory" while Frances Krauskopf's unpublished dissertation forms the basis of the two chapters devoted to the period of French hegemony. Upon the death in 1967 of Professor John D. Barn- hart, the original author, Miss Dorothy L. Riker, senior editor of the Indiana Histor- ical Bureau, assumed the task of completing the project. Multiple authorship has brought a wide range of expertise to the volume, but it has resulted in a work lacking in continuity, bal- ance, and perspective. More than half the volume is comprised of a general account of the already familiar story of white con- quest and settlement of the Old Northwest, while only about one-third of the narrative is devoted to the statehood movement, the proper focus of the work. The various sec- tions of the book are not effectively integrated within the strict chronological format, and the overall product is of uneven quality. The treatment of the British regime and the Revolutionary War (1763-1783) are as excellent as the handling of the ter- ritorial period is disappointing; the simplis- tic discourse on historical geography adds little to the book and the technically fine anthropological account of Indiana's first citizens seems incongruous (it is possible to write Indian history). The chief problem with the book is that

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Book Reviews   it is anachronistic in terms of conceptuali- zation and execution. No attempt was made to utilize the analytical and methodol- ogical techniques of the social sciences, and the study suffers from an excessively paro- chial perspective. Local affairs are not re- lated to national developments and there is no effective comparison of Indiana's transition from territory to state with the contemporaneous experience of her neigh- bors. Then, too, the authors fail to ask appropriate questions of the material and do not address themselves to current histori- ographical concerns. They are content, for example, to recite the provisions of terri- torial suffrage and tax laws without probing into the background or effect of the en- actments. Socio-economic matters are slighted, the Indian is viewed mainly as a pawn in the imperial struggle, and the real pioneers, settlers both urban and rural, receive scant attention. What emerges, then, is old-fashioned political-military history-- a chronicle of the exploits of frontiersmen, soldiers, and politicians and a catalogue of battles, treaties, and statutes. In short, the book exhibits none of the sophistication of Professor Barnhart's 1953 classic, The Val- ley of Democracy: The Fontier versus the Plantation in the Ohio Valley, 1775-1818. There are refreshingly few errors of fact, although it should be noted that the Iro- quois were not a tribe of the Five Nations (p. 62) and that one cannot explain the introduction of African slavery in French Louisiana on the grounds that Europeans "could not survive as agricultural laborers in the southern climate" (p. 65). And how is it possible to interpret the western Indian war of 1763 as a conspiracy fomented by Pontiac "to strike simultaneously all of the English forts west of the Appalachians" (p. 142) and cite Howard H. Peckham's Pon- tiac and the Indian Uprising as the standard authority when that book explicitly repu- diates such a formulation? Caveats and critiscisms aside, this latest installment of the five-volume history of the Hoosier State published in commemora- tion of the state's sesquecentennial by the Indiana Historical Bureau and the Indiana Historical Society is a scholarly, impres- sively researched, and lucidly presented his-

65   tory of Indiana prior to its admission into the Union. Readers who wish to pursue the subject further will find Miss Riker's unus- ually full bibliography an excellent guide to the available literature. And the publishers are to be commended for offering the vol- ume at a price the general public can afford.     LARRY R. GERLACH University of Utah       At the Headwaters of the Maumee: A His- tory of the Forts of Fort Wayne. By PAUL WOEHRMANN, with an introduction by RICHARD C. KNOPF. (Indianapolis: Indi- ana Historical Society, 1971. xv + 306p.; illustrations, diagrams, bibliography, and index. $3.00.)   At the Headwaters of the Maumee is one of those rare, rich monographs that crops up from time to time. It comes from the Indiana Historical Society, the organization responsible for collecting most of the origi- nal documents on which the book is based pertaining to Fort Wayne. Mr. Woehrmann's book is a detailed and interesting look at the four military posts, two French and two American, that stood on the site of the present Fort Wayne, Indi- ana. These forts, which occupied a strategic position in the Old Northwest, exerted a tremendous impact on the surrounding country and its Indian population between the time of the French and Indian War and 1819 (the date of abandonment). In many respects this work is a history of these military establishments, with most of the emphasis on the American period. But included is much more than military his- tory; in fact many of the more routine mili- tary details are wisely omitted. Most of the content is really about the Indian difficulties facing the United States between the end of the Revolution and the War of 1812. In general outline there is nothing new relative to Tecumseh and the rise of Indian dissatisfaction with the poli- cies of the United States. In the detailed study of this problem, however, we see the most significant contribution of Mr. Woehr-

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66   mann's work. The Indian activities around Fort Wayne can be considered to be a microcosm of all the problems the infant nation faced in attempting to deal with a powerful native population. By going into great detail on the operations of the gov- ernment agents and the civilizing mission- aries at Fort Wayne, the author gives an excellent picture of all the difficulties in- volved in efforts to push the native popula- tion out of the way on one hand and to civilize it on the other. The agents at Fort Wayne, such as William Wells (1802- 1808), were men subject to many influ- ences other than the welfare of the Indians. They quarreled with other government agents, missionaries, Indians, and military officers to such an extent that no unified policy toward the Indians was possible. Particularly noticeable in this respect was the taking of sides by government officials in all disputes--some siding with Harrison, for instance, some with Tecumseh and the Prophet, some thinking the British were a menace, others not, and so on. Under such circumstances, it is understandable why the territory continually faced Indian difficul- ties and why they were never solved. The author also devotes lengthy discus- sion to the land grabbing activities of William Henry Harrison, activities which were largely responsible for Tecumseh's Confederation and the Indian uprising prior to the War of 1812. In this connection much attention is focused on Indian reac- tion to the Jeffersonian policy of land ac- quisition and the Treaty of Fort Wayne in 1809, which gave Tecumseh his most sub- stantial Indian support. Even after this humiliation at the hands of the United States government, it is abundantly evident that neither Tecumseh nor the Prophet were unalterably bent on war, or necessarily allied to the British. If government policy had been more unified and less expansionis- tic, the United States might have avoided much of the Indian hostility and involve- ment with the British in the War of 1812. One suggestion, Mr. Woehrmann some- times declines to add his own opinion of what Harrison, the Prophet, and agent Wells, really were trying to do. By leaving the abundant documentary evidence to

OHIO HISTORY   speak for itself, he leaves certain questions unanswered. His opinion as to where the truth in the matter rests certainly would add to the strength of the work. This is a minor point, however, and a fine book is not marred by its omission.   ROBERT A. TRENNERT Temple University       The First American: A Story of North American Archaeology. By C. W. CERAM. (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1971. xxi + 357p.; illustrations, maps, bibliography, notes, and index. $9.95.)   In 1949 C. W. Ceram, whose real name is Kurt W. Marek, published Gods, Graves and Scholars, a popular account of Middle Eastern archaeology that has been trans- lated into twenty-six languages and has aroused popular interest in archaeological discoveries in that region. The First Ameri- can is a similar survey of North American archaeology. Once again Ceram has looked for "matters of high interest, for the extra- ordinary, and above all for the human fac- tor," and undoubtedly he will accomplish his goal of awakening interest in American archaeological past. Ceram treats mainly the highlights of his subject in this study. He describes the work of scholars such as Alfred B. Kidder, Earl Morris, Emil Haury, Frank Roberts and others, and he also explains the discoveries regarding the domestication of maize, Car- bon 14 dating, and dendrochronology, or tree-ring dating. By emphasizing dramatic discoveries, however, Ceram fails to pre- sent a complete picture of North American archaeology. The bulk of the material deals with the Southwest, while smaller sections deal with mound builders and early man. Work in other areas has been largely ig- nored, and with the exception of the South- west, Ceram fails to provide a chronological framework. In addition, the structure of the book is somewhat confusing. The sec- tion on the Southwest, the first part, begins with both Columbus and the Vikings. The final portion deals with early man, although

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Book Reviews   it concludes with a chapter on Ishi, the California Indian who was found in 1911 and who turned out to be the sole survivor of a tribe that had a stone age culture. Despite these criticisms, the book does have merits and can be read with benefit by those who want an introduction to the highlights of North American archaeology. Ceram has read widely and has wisely drawn upon the advice and assistance of a series of professionals including Emil Haury, H. Marie Wormington, Frederick Dockstader, and Edward B. Danson. Until a more thorough but equally readable ac- count comes along, this one will have to do.   RICHARD N. ELLIS University of New Mexico       Methodist Trail Blazer: Philip Gatch, 1751- 1834; His Life in Maryland, Virginia and Ohio. By ELIZABETH CONNOR. (Cincinnati: Creative Publishers, Inc., 1970. xii + 244p.; illustrations, maps and in- dex. $7.00.)   This study of Philip Gatch, one of the first American-born Methodists to be licensed to preach, was written by his great-great granddaughter Elizabeth Connor and is ob- viously a labor of love. Before publication the manuscript was awarded the Jesse Lee Prize of the Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church for the best book-length manuscript in the field of American Methodist history. Reared in a "serious" Church of England home near Baltimore, Maryland, Philip Gatch was converted to Methodism in 1772 at the age of twenty-one. He was licensed to preach in November the next year at the Deer Creek Quarterly Meeting by Thomas Rankin, the General Assistant, and by Francis Asbury, later Bishop. As- bury had much influence over the young preacher, and the two became close per- sonal friends as well as co-workers in the church. Gatch traveled the New Jersey, Mary- land, and Virginia circuits for five years, enduring frequent illnesses and severe

67   persecution in addition to the usual hard- ships of the itinerary. In 1778 he married Elizabeth Smith of Manakin Town, Vir- ginia, whose father, Thomas Smith, was a prominent Methodist layman, and whose brother James Smith is well known for his accounts of early travels in the old North- west. After marriage Gatch's career as an itinerant was terminated, but he continued to serve faithfully and very acceptably as a local preacher throughout his lifetime. The last five chapters of the book are of especial interest to Ohio readers. Being opposed to slavery and having manumitted their own slaves, Philip Gatch and James Smith left Virginia, each with a family of eight children, and settled in the Ohio country. Gatch bought a farm adjoining that of Francis McCormick, the founder of Methodism in Ohio. The two men became staunch friends and worked together to advance Methodism on the frontier. Many other prominent Methodist leaders enter into the account, notably John Kobler, Henry Smith, William McKendree, and John Collins. Philip Gatch was an important figure in the secular history of Ohio as well as in its religious history; Edward Tiffin, later Ohio's first governor, was one of his first contacts in the state. He served as surveyor, land agent, justice of the peace, and associate judge of the court of common pleas of Cler- mont County. His character gave him a "pre-eminence over the other county judges," according to Justice John McLean of the United States Supreme Court, who prepared Philip Gatch's memoirs for publi- cation in 1854. He was also a member of the constitutional convention of 1802 which drew up Ohio's first constitution, serving on important committees with such notables as Rufus Putnam, Nathaniel Massie, and Thomas Worthington. Incidentally, Worth- ington was not (according to his biographer Alfred B. Sears), a member of the Metho- dist Church and hence could not have been an ordained preacher of that denomination as stated on page 202. The book is well printed and attractively bound. The notes are happily at the bottom of the pages, but there is some irregularity in the form of the citations. Also, the index

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68   is limited to personal names, and the first name is not supplied in several entries, [Samuel] Heighway, for example. The long list of page numbers without modifications under the entry for Philip Gatch is not very useful. But these are minor matters. More important, the study is thoroughly researched and written in an interesting style. The author has succeeded admirably in putting her subject in historical context. Light is thrown on the problem faced by the early preachers during the Revolutionary War when they were required to swear an oath of allegiance to the colonial govern- ments. The sensitive question of Methodist preachers administering the sacraments, the slavery issue as faced by the Methodists, and the growth of Methodism in a frontier state are also considered in depth. In this work, Elizabeth Connor has made a genuine contribution to the history of American Methodism. S. WINIFRED SMITH The Ohio Historical Society       Printed Textiles: English and American Cottons and Linens, 1700-1850. By FLORENCE M. MONTGOMERY. (New York: Viking Press, 1970. 379p.; frontispiece, color plates, illustrations, bibliography, and index. $16.95.)   Florence M. Montgomery has presented us with a work so lively and orderly that it will please both the casual reader and the student. Her discussion of the history of textile printing in England through the es- tablishment of the textile printing industry in America includes explanations of the various dying methods, the use of mordants, and the processes and characteristics of the different printing techniques. The source of many of the designs is noted and likened to concurrent wallpaper patterns. The chapters cover block-printing, china- blue and blue-resist, copperplate printed and roller-printed textiles, American plate and roller-printed textiles, applique and patchwork quilts. There is also a section on the furnishings of the eighteenth and early nineteenth century home. At a time when

OHIO HISTORY   interest in restoration of old and historic houses is increasing, this subject is espe- cially welcome. Pertinent and often amus- ing contemporary quotes and illustrations are liberally scattered throughout the text. The American colonies were Great Brit- ain's chief export market for manufactured goods prior to the Revolution. When one realizes that until 1782 restrictions were still in effect on importing from England any of the machinery needed for textile printing, it is easy to see why in 1800 nearly four million yards of English printed linen and cotton were used by Americans. Not listed in this book, but of interest to Ohioans, is an 1805 Indian trade goods in- ventory in the collection of The Ohio His- torical Society. It was written by John Johnston, assistant factor at the Ft. Wayne Indian Agency. Johnston was soon to be- come the Indian Agent for Ohio. Included in the list of trade items are these probable English imports (in yards): furniture cot- ton, 198; callico, 782; callico wide, 781/2; chintz, 138; light chintz, 589; chocolate chintz, 170; blue and pink chintz, 137 1/2; striped cotton, 275. The photographs accompanying the text of Printed Textiles are part of the collection of the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum where Mrs. Montgomery was as- sistant curator of textiles for many years.     JEAN L. HUTSLAR The Ohio Historical Society       Yankee Quaker Confederate General: The Curious Career of Bushrod Rust Johnson. By CHARLES M. CUMMINGS. (Cranbury, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1971. 417p.; illustrations, maps, bibliogra- phy, and index. $15.00.)   In the comic strip, "Little Abner," there is a character who is followed around by a black cloud whose life is one disaster after another. Misfortune is his constant fate. If Al Capp had wished to model his cartoon figure after anyone, he might well have chosen Bushrod Rust Johnson. Here was a real-life figure who did not have a visible

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Book Reviews   cloud, but suffered continuing re- verses nonetheless. Johnson was born into a Quaker, later abolitionist, family in Ohio. Nonetheless, he became a West Point cadet and even fought on the side of the Confederacy. He ranked high in his West Point class, but was later overshadowed by his more glam- orous contemporaries like W. T. Sherman and George Henry Thomas. He was rele- gated to a post of commissary officer during the Mexican War and was caught in a clumsy attempt at corruption. The case went as high as President Polk, and in the end Johnson was forced to resign from the Army. Filled with uncertainty, Johnson moved to a military academy which, after several relocations, came under his ownership and that of Richard Owen, the son of the fa- mous reformer, Robert Owen. The two men, who never really agreed, managed to make a living off the school until the Civil War ended its existence. During these years, Johnson was also married, became the father of a retarded son, and saw his wife die. When the war came, Johnson cast his lot with the Confederacy, not for any grandiose reason but because he wanted to protect his investments in Nashville. The possible resurrection of the Mexican War scandal if he tried to reenter the Union Army was another factor in his decision to wear the grey. Johnson's Civil War career had a few glorious moments, notably when he led the Confederate drive which almost broke through at Chickamauga. Mainly, however, it consisted of more failures and disappoint- ments. After the surrender of Fort Donel- son, he simply left his troops and walked away from his Union captors. Despite the fact he was one of only two Confederate generals present, no one missed him! At Petersburg, he made a poor showing under Lee's eyes and at a later battle ran from attacking Union forces. This so angered the usually calm Lee that he publicly rebuked Johnson and sent him home. After the war, Johnson again tried his hand at a military academy, saw the school fail and lived his last years on a dilapidated farm in Illinois.

69   Johnson had truly a "curious career," not the stuff of which great biographies are usu- ally made. Dr. Cummings has written an interesting book, but not an important one. Certainly it is refreshing to read about a Civil War soldier who is not portrayed as a superman, and certainly failure as well as success should be chronicled. But unfortun- ately the reader never really gets to know Bushrod Johnson. He left no body of let- ters, no diary, nothing of a personal nature. Consequently, his feelings during all the disasters is unknown except when the author makes a guess and too often does so without documentary justification. Perhaps more information could have been uncovered in the correspondence of contemporaries such as W. T. Sherman, James G. Blaine, James K. Polk, Robert E. Lee, or in a more sys- tematic survey of local newspapers. The book reads well in parts when it is not bogged down in genealogical or military detail. The descriptive sections on the Mexi- can War are particularly good. However, Cummings leaves too many questions un- answered; and Bushrod Johnson, an un- known in life, will probably remain so despite this book.   JOHN F. MARSZALEK, JR. Gannon College, Erie, Pa.       Ancestors. By WILLIAM MAXWELL. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1971. 311p.; family charts as endpapers. $6.95.)   Novelist William Maxwell's first non-fiction book is neither a genealogical handbook nor a definitive family history, as the title and endpapers might suggest. It is a running story of his forebears--of four generations in the United States--and their probable historical backgrounds. It is also a sensitive and appealing account of his own youth and of the relatives who helped shape his life while he was growing up in Lincoln, Illinois. Maxwell's Scottish great, great, great grandfather, Henry(1), came to Virginia from Ireland around 1741. Succeeding gen- erations took the family name to Pennsyl- vania, Ohio, and Illinois where they joined

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70   other family lines from Kentucky. Henry's son Robert(2), according to Thomas R. Crawford's reminiscences, first arrived with his brother in what was to be- come eastern Ohio (Harrison County) as an Indian scout from Fort Thomas in 1793. He liked the new territory so well that he returned with his wife and settled near Uhrichsville where his son Robert(3) was born. Like most Scotch-Irish, Robert(2) was a staunch Presbyterian and served the Cadiz church as an elder for twenty years. Robert(3), a marble engraver in Uhrichs- ville, later in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, died in 1854. Because his widow, Jemima Keepers Maxwell, was unable to keep her family of five small children together, one son, Robert Creighton Maxwell(4), the author's grandfather, lived until he was seventeen with a Tuscarawas County farmer. He then struck out on his own, walking alone the six hundred miles of the Old National Road to Illinois where he found hospitality in the home of Charles Turley near Williamsville. He became a local teacher, married Margaret Turley, and founded the family which, by the author's time, was centered in Lincoln, Illinois. The Turleys were devout adherents of the Christian Church, the founding of which Maxwell relates with interesting and ex- tended detail. Margaret Turley, the author's grandmother, was indeed a direct descen- dant of Rev. Stephen England, an early preacher in this faith. The first family accounts gathered by a

OHIO HISTORY   cousin Maxwell Fuller were influenced somewhat by a romantic picture of Maxwell Castle (Caerlaverock) in Scotland that used to hang in their Aunt Mabel's sittingroom. Touched by the same picture, the author has used documentable, but sparce data, in his reconstruction of likely settings for his people. He puts into relief their varying and frequently conflicting personalities by uti- lizing his insights as a novelist. Traced in the book are not only the Max- wells, Turleys, and Englands, but also the contributory lines of Edies, Blinns, and Youtseys. The author's mother was Blos- som Blinn, her grandfather, John Youtsey. Tradition reports that shortly after 1800 Youtsey bought a flatboat in Pennsylvania, loaded it with whiskey and molasses, and floated down the Ohio to Cincinnati. He took along as passenger one Nicholas Long- worth, aged nineteen. Longworth went on to Cincinnati while Youtsey settled in Ken- tucky. Family legend has it that John was offered "the land where Cincinnati now stands in exchange for his whiskey and molasses and turned it down on the grounds that it was a hog wallow." Instead, he went up the Licking River and raised straw- berries." Ancestors is of value because it is a well- told genealogical story and typifies the kind of ancestral re-creation possible for most families who settled early in the Midwest.   HAZEL HUSTON PRICE Westerville, Ohio

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