Ohio History Journal

OHIO    STATE   ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORI-

CAL SOCIETY.

PROCEEDINGS FOR THE YEAR 1886, WITH ABSTRACTS OF

ADDRESSES AND PAPERS PRESENTED BEFORE

THE SOCIETY.

COLUMBUS, January 13th, 1886.

THE Society was called to order in the Chamber of the

House of Representatives in the State House by Professor

L. D. Brown.   The report of the Secretary showed the

addition of ten members since the last meeting, and several

valuable donations to the library and museum.

The special committee of three to confer with a similar

committee of the State Board of Agriculture concerning a

Centennial Exposition in 1888 reported that such conference

had been held, and that as a result this Society was requested

to appoint three Commissioners to act on the Centennial

Commission. On motion of S. S. Rickly the report was

accepted and the appointment of the Commissioners was

referred to the Executive Committee.

Professor J. P. McLean, of Hamilton, Ohio, then delivered

an address upon "The Mound Builders," illustrated with

stereopticon views.

Owing to the character of the address it is impossible to

give a complete abstract, but the following shows its general

nature:

With reference to the origin of the original or aboriginal

Americans, there is not a single straw to show whence they

came.   Many of the aboriginal tribes undoubtedly sprang

from a common family, but an attempt to give their origin is

but to indulge in speculation. Ohio presents the most speci-

mens from which to study archaeology, there being within

her boundaries about fifteen hundred mounds.  The time

was when the State was partly mountainous, but a leveling

has been effected by a change of climate and other causes.

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292    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

 

He then proceeded to consider the geology of the country

and gave later a description of the more important mounds in

the State-among them Fort Ancient in Warren county,

Fortified Hill in Butler county, a mound in Highland county,

and a stone structure near Bourneville, in Ross county.

Sacred mounds, with one known exception, were composed

of clay, and are peculiar to Southern Ohio. The speaker

then described in detail some fifty views of mounds, ancient

implements, etc., which were projected upon the screen by

the stereopticon.

At the conclusion of the address, the Society, upon motion,

adjourned.

 

FIRST ANNUAL MEETING.

 

COLUMBUS, February 18th, 1886.

THE Society met in the State Library at two o'clock P. M.

Owing to the absence of President Allen G. Thurman, Roe-

liff Brinkerhoff, Second Vice President, occupied the chair.

The report of the Treasurer for the year ending February

19th, 1886, was submitted, and referred to the Executive

Committee.

The annual report of the Secretary was then presented, as

follows:

To the Executive Committee, Ohio State Archaeological and

Historical Society:

GENTLEMEN: The membership for the year just closed is

as follows:

Two hundred and thirty-one Active Members have joined

by the payment of $5.00 each.

Three Active Members have joined by donations.

Four Associate Members have joined by payment of $3.00

each.

One Life Member has been received, making a total of

two hundred and thirty-nine members.

The collections in the Museum may be summarized as

follows:

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Proceedings of the Society.          293

 

The Ohio Commissioners of the New Orleans Exposition

gave the Society twenty large cases, which, at some expense

were prepared for our use, and are now a safe repository for

donations.

They also gave the painted portraits of all Ohio's Gover-

nors down to and including Governor Hoadly; one large

Archaeological and Historical Map of Ohio, and seventeen

smaller maps.

In the cases are now Dr. Hart's collection, some three

thousand specimens, donated in September, 1885; the col-

lection of Ohio State University, and a number of smaller

donations, aggregating in all some five thousand specimens.

A large number of books, papers, pictures, pamphlets,

etc., were received from various sources.

The money value of the museum at the end of the first

year more than equals the amount received in fees, hence the

investment as a financial one, is a decided success.

Large cabinets of Ohio archaeologists are offered the So-

ciety if it will assume the proper care, and place the museum

so that its benefits can be enjoyed by all our people. It is

earnestly desired that every Ohio citizen will encourage this

movement and thus secure for Ohio a State Society and a

State museum worthy the name and the people of Ohio.

A. A. GRAHAM,

Secretary.

On motion of W. P. Cutler the following gentlemen, whose

terms of office had just expired, were re-elected Trustees for

three years, viz:

A. W. JONES, Youngstown,       HYLAS SABINE, Richwood,

H. A. THOMPSON, Westerville, I. W. ANDREWS, Marietta,

J. S. ROBINSON, Kenton.

On motion of W. P. Cutler a committee of five was ap-

pointed to formulate a plan for a Centennial Memorial at

Marietta, commemorative of the first settlement of Ohio.

The Chair appointed as such committee, Wm. P. Cutler,

Marietta; Charles Townsend, Athens; Dr. N. S. Townshend,

Columbus; J. S. Peaslee, Cincinnati; A. W. Jones, Youngs-

town.

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294   Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

 

On motion of Professor G. Frederick Wright, of Oberlin, a

committee of five was appointed to consider and present to

the proper committee of the General Assembly the claims

of the ancient earthworks and mounds of the State for pro-

tection. The committee was appointed as follows: Professor

G. F. Wright, Oberlin; Dr. I. W. Andrews, Marietta; W.

C. Turner, Columbus; R. Brinkerhoff, Mansfield; Judge M.

F. Force, Cincinnati.

A motion of Professor B. A. Hinsdale, of Cleveland, was

carried, that "the committee be instructed to do all that it

can within its means to inform the people of the State upon

the subject of the preservation of our earthworks, with a view

to create popular interest therein."

Upon the suggestion of the Secretary that changes in some

parts of the By-Laws seemed advisable, the Chair appointed

Dr. I. W. Andrews of Marietta, Dr. H. A. Thompson of

Westerville, and Alexis Cope of Columbus, a committee to

examine the same and report to the society.

A communication was then presented, tendering the use

of the Senate Chamber, after four o'clock, to the Society,

for the delivery of the memorial address on the late Henry

B. Curtis, of Mt. Vernon, first Vice President of the Society.

On motion the invitation was accepted with the thanks of

the Society, after which the Society adjourned to the Senate

Chamber, where Hon. A. R. McIntyre, of Mt. Vernon, de-

livered the Memorial Address on the late Henry B. Curtis.

[This address was printed in the QUARTERLY for June, 1887,

page 47.]

 

EVENING SESSION.

FEBRUARY 18th, 1886.

THE Society met in the Senate Chamber, at 7:45 o'clock,

in public session. The first paper was read by Professor

G. F. Wright, of Oberlin, on "The Relation of the Glacial

Period to Archaeology in Ohio."

[This paper was printed in the QUARTERLY for September,

1887, page 174.]

At the conclusion of this paper, Professor W. H. Venable,

of Cincinnati, was introduced, who read a paper entitled

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Proceedings of the Society.         295

 

"Early Modes of Travel from the East to the Mississippi

Valley." The following is an abstract:

 

 

ABSTRACT OF PROFESSOR VENABLE'S PAPER.

 

Our girls and boys know from their school histories how

and when the British lion came to Virginia and New England;

how, having devoured the Dutch colony as his prey, he

pounced upon and finally swallowed his formidable rival, New

France. My purpose is not to retell the old story of wars

and conquests, but to trace, briefly, some routes and modes

of early westward travel, and more particularly to portray

the procession of migration as it moved into the Valley of

the Ohio.

After the French and Indian war (1763), English settlers

began to occupy lands along the Great Lakes and the chain

of lakes in Northern New York. They made way, also,

through passes in the Appalachians and around the southern

ranges, like water seeking the easiest channel, and came to

rest in the valleys of the Cumberland, Tennessee and Ohio.

Once fairly started, so rapidly did the current of migration

flow westward that by the year 1790 Kentucky had a popula-

tion of 73,000, which, in 1800, had increased to 220,000.

They filed into the Valley of the Ohio, traveling through

Cumberland Gap and along the famous route marked out by

the original pioneers-the old Wilderness Road.  Tramp,

tramp, tramp, moved men, women and children over the

mountains from Carolina and the Old Dominion, to establish

a new dominion by dispersing the buffalo, the catamount and

the beaver.

The first roads in the primeval wilderness were developed

on the principle of "natural selection," being the chosen

ground of wild deer or bison. Western hunters often called

such rudimentary paths streets or buffalo roads. Mann Butler

is my authority for recording that in pursuing these buffalo

roads through the western canebrakes "the growth of cane

was so tall and springy as often to lift both horse and rider off

the ground in passing over the strong, elastic stocks." The

next phase in evolution after these brute-made tracks was the

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296    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

 

Indian trail. Now the civilized axe began its sharp warfare.

The trees were "blazed," girdled or hewn down, and the

Indian trail became the white man's trace.

What the canoe was to the voyager on river, and lake, the

pack-horse was to him who transported merchandise by land.

The pack-saddle of yore was the express car of the backwoods,

carrying passenger, freight and mails. Pack-horses were often

driven in lines of ten and twelve. Each horse was tied to the

tail of the one going before, so that one driver could manage

the whole line. John Filson rode on horseback from his old

home in Pennsylvania to Lexington, Ky. It was no uncom-

mon thing for men to take such long equestrian journeys.

'Twas the day of centaurs-man and horse grew together.

Water courses are nature's routes of travel; man finds them

ready made for his use. The Mississippi, like a great main

street of the continent, was traveled and settlements were

made on its banks long before the interior was explored on

either side.

The speaker gave interesting details of a journey made in

1792 by boat from Pittsburg to St. Genevieve, on the Missis-

sippi, by H. M. Brackenridge. He also gave a graphic ac-

count of a tour made by Rev. Thaddeus Mason Harris from

Boston to Marietta. In the year 1807 Mr. Christian Shultz

made an "inland voyage" from New York City to the West

and South, by way of the lakes. Visiting Niagara Falls, he

found the margin of the river on the American side so ob-

structed by trees and bushes that it was difficult to get a view

of the cataract, and he resorted to the expedient of climbing

a large oak. Shultz was surprised that no public house had

yet been established, but he was told that Judge P. contem-

plated the erection of a " genteel tavern for the accommoda-

tion of the curious."

Crossing Lake Erie to Presque Isle, Shultz went on horse-

back over a portage of fourteen miles to Fort Le Boeuf.

The road was indescribably bad. For a great part of the

way the mire was so deep that it came up to the rider's

knees as he sat in the saddle. It took from sunrise to dark

of an August day to flounder fourteen miles. Floating down

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Proceedings of the Society.        297

 

the Ohio to its mouth, speculating on the prospect of future

traffic between the East and the West, he concluded that

New York could never send any goods to the mouth of the

Ohio in less than sixty days, nor at a lower rate than six dol-

lars a hundred pounds. Herman Blennerhassett, about the

same time, wrote to the Ohio Gazette, "It will forever remain

impracticable to perform a return voyage against the current

of our great rivers."

For a good many years after the advent of the steamboat

the greater part of the produce of the upper country was

transported down stream on flatboats. But the fittest survive

and the unfit degenerate and perish. The helmsman of the

keelboat and barge was destined to give place to the pilot in

his quaint wheel-house, and the dancing, drinking poleman

was superseded by the modern deck-hand or "roustabout,"

with his leathern mittens and cotton-hook.

The speaker closed his address with a quotation from a

speech made by the famous orator Thomas Corwin, in favor

of a bill making appropriations for the continuance of the

Old Cumberland Road through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

At the conclusion of this paper the meeting adjourned until

Friday morning, February 19th.

 

FRIDAY, February 19th, 1886.

THE Society met at 10 o'clock in the State Library, Dr. H.

A. Thompson in the chair.

On motion of E. O. Randall, of Columbus, a committee

of five was appointed to nominate members of the Board of

Trustees to be elected by the Society in addition to those

elected yesterday. As such committee the chair appointed

E. O. Randall, William P. Cutler, B. A. Hinsdale, W. S.

Goodenough and D. H. Gard.

A paper was then read by Dr. F. O. Hart, of West Unity,

Ohio, on "Modern Customs of Savage Origin." Following

is a brief sketch of the paper:

The time-honored customs of past ages are being contin-

ually resurrected, and we find traces of them throughout all

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298   Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

 

the vocations of the present day. How widely distributed is

the use of the sacred numbers, three, four and seven. We

find it in the early worship of the gods who represented the

four cardinal points; we find it in the primitive geography;

we find it in the rude savage architecture. Many of our cus-

toms of courtship and marriage are of savage origin. Polyg-

amy was and is common among many savage tribes. Our

fashions of dress are, many of them, but resurrections; our

love for jewelry and our modern styles of hair-dressing are

nearly all derived from savage origin. The out-of-door sports

of to day are but survivals of modifications of ancient and

savage recreations. Our knowledge of and love for tobacco

comes from the Indians of America. Much of the supersti-

tious belief, prevalent even to-day among the ignorant, in the

potency of certain herbs or charms to cure or prevent disease

is borrowed from the savage.

The practice of employing criminals in the building of

public works is derived from remote ages. Government of

some sort has existed among even the most savage nations.

Secret fraternities were not unknown among them. Nowhere

were religious ceremonies and rites more carefully observed.

In short, with a knowledge of the rise and fall of nations,

the causes of their prosperity and adversity, added to our

knowledge of the uses of steam, electricity, the printing press,

and our institutions of learning, if we would carefully search

the records of the past and reject all the savage customs that

degenerate mankind and have been the downfall of all nations

past, the dawning of the golden age would be in the near

future.

This paper was followed by one on "Art and Artists in

Columbus," by F. C. Sessions, of Columbus.

[This excellent paper has been printed in the Ohio State

Journal, February 20, 1886, and in the Magazine of Western

History, Vol. iv, No. 3, (July, 1886), p. 316, where it is

included in an extended article on Art and Artists in Ohio.]

At its conclusion the Society took a recess, to meet at Ohio

State University at 2:30 P. M.

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Proceedings of the Society.          299

 

At 2:30 the members of the Society re-assembled in the

chapel at Ohio State University, Dr. H. A. Thompson in

the chair.

The committee to consider changes in the By-Laws re-

ported several amendments. The report was adopted, and

the amendments incorporated in the By-Laws.

The committee on preservation of Ohio Earthworks made

a partial report, which was accepted, and on motion the

committee was continued as a standing committee.

The committee on the Centennial Memorial at Marietta,

presented the following report:

"The committee to whom was referred the subject of a

Centennial Monument, to be erected at Marietta, take leave

to report the following recommendation:

"1. They recommend that this Society accept the gen-

eral supervision and oversight of an effort to procure the

necessary means to accomplish that object.

"2. That a memorial be presented to the Legislature of

Ohio asking for their co-operation and assistance.

"3. That a correspondence be opened by the Society,

with the different State Historical Societies, that may feel an

interest in the erection of a Centennial Monument at Marietta,

with a view to securing their co-operation in that enterprise.

"WM. P. CUTLER,

Chairman."

The report was adopted and the committee continued as a

standing committee.

The Committee on Nominations nominated F. C. Sessions,

of Columbus, for Trustee for two years, in place of H. B.

Curtis, deceased, and Chas. J. Wetmore, of Columbus, for

Trustee for one year, in place of T. Ewing Miller, resigned.

The report was adopted, and the elections made as recom-

mended.

The Society then adjourned to meet in the evening in the

Senate Chamber.

FEBRUARY 19th, 1887.

THE Society reassembled in the Senate Chamber, James

S. Robinson of Kenton, presiding. A paper on "Pyramids

and Buried Cities in the Land of the Montezumas," by Mrs.

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300    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

 

Fannie B. Ward, of Ravenna, Ohio, was read by the Secre-

tary. [The paper, or an extended abstract of it, will appear

in the QUARTERLY.--EDITORIAL COMMITTEE].

At the conclusion of the paper, brief addresses were made

by Hon. G. G. Washburn of Lorain county, Professor H.

H. Howe, and Dr. I. W. Andrews of Marietta.

The Society then adjourned.

 

ACTION OF THE TRUSTEES.

The Trustees of the Society, at a meeting held in the

President's Room at Ohio State University on Friday, Feb-

ruary 19th, elected for the ensuing year, the following

 

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY.

President-Allen G. Thurman, Columbus.

First Vice President--F. C. Sessions, Columbus.

Second Vice President-R Brinkerhoff, Mansfield.

Secretary and Librarian-A. A. Graham, Columbus.

Treasurer-H. T. Chittenden, Columbus.

The following standing committees were also elected:

Executive Committee-F. C. Sessions, J. S. Robinson, N.

S. Townshend, H. A. Thompson and C. J. Wetmore.

Finance Committee--J. S. Robinson, W. E. Moore and H.

T. Chittenden.

Library Committee-C. J. Wetmore, S. C. Derby, R. W.

Stevenson and N. S. Townshend.

The question of publishing an annual volume of the pro-

ceedings of the Society was discussed, and on motion was

referred to the Library Committee, with power to act.

 

 

COLUMBUS, March 26th, 1886.

THE Society met in Senate chamber in the State House.

In the absence of President Thurman, Dr. William E. Moore,

of the Board of Trustees, presided.

The report of the Secretary showed the addition of eighteen

new members since the previous meeting.

The Secretary reported the death of General John H. Dev-

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Proceedings of the Society.          301

 

ereux, a member of the Society, and stated that Judge Stev-

enson Burke would prepare a memorial sketch to be presented

at the April meeting of the Society.

The Chairman then introduced Captain Alfred E. Lee, who

read a paper upon "The History of Bi-Metallism."  [This

paper has since been printed in the "Political Science Quar-

terly."]

On motion of S. S. Rickly, a vote of thanks was extended

to the author of the paper, after which the Society adjourned.

 

 

COLUMBUS, April 30th, 1886.

THE Society met in the Senate chamber, and was called to

order by Dr. William E. Moore. In the absence of the Sec-

retary, E. O. Randall acted as Secretary pro tem.

The monthly report of the Secretary showed eleven new

members since the last meeting.

Judge Stevenson Burke having telegraphed that he could

not be present to deliver the memorial address upon General

J. H. Devereux, only routine business was transacted.

Professor F. W. Putnam, of Cambridge, Mass., and Gen-

eral John Nicholson, of Philadelphia, Pa., were elected hon-

orary members of the Society, after which the Society ad-

journed until autumn.

 

 

COLUMBUS, November 19th, 1886.

THE Society met in the City Hall. In the absence of

President Thurman, Dr. H. A. Thompson, of the Executive

Committee, presided.

The Secretary's report showed a gratifying increase in the

membership of the Society, and several donations to the

museum and library.

E. O. Randall, of Columbus, then read a paper upon "Blen-

nerhassett." [This paper was printed in the QUARTERLY for

September, 1887, page 127.]

At its conclusion the Society, on motion, adjourned.

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302    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

 

COLUMBUS, December 20th, 1886.

THE Society met in the Christian Church, F. C. Sessions,

First Vice President, in the chair.

The Secretary reported that four corresponding members

and eighteen active members had been received since the last

meeting; and that donations had been made to the library.

Professor B. A. Hinsdale, of Cleveland, was then intro-

duced, who delivered an address upon "The First Circum-

navigation of the Earth."  [A very full abstract of this

address was printed in the QUARTERLY for September, 1887,

page 164.]

At the conclusion of the paper the Society, upon motion,

adjourned.

A. A. GRAHAM,

Secretary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ERRATUM-Page 228, third line, for 1773 read 1763.

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