Ohio History Journal

WILLIAM DAVIS GALLAGHER.

BY W. H. VENABLE.

WILLIAM DAVIS GALLAGHER, poet, editor, and public

official, was born in Philadelphia, August 21, 1808. His

father, Bernard Gallagher, familiarly called " Barney," was

an Irishman, a Roman Catholic, a participant in the rebel-

lion that, in 1803, cost Robert Emmett his life. "Barney"

Gallagher migrated to the United States, landing at the

city of brotherly love, where, by the aid of John Binns,

editor of the " Shamrock," he obtained work. Some time

afterward he became acquainted with Miss Abigail Davis,

of Bridgeport, New Jersey, who had been sent to Phila-

delphia by her widowed mother, to complete, at Quaker

school, an education begun at home. "Abbey" Davis was

the daughter of a Welsh farmer, who, volunteering in the

Revolutionary War, lost his life under Washington at

Valley Forge. The Irish refugee and the Welsh patriot's

daughter were so much attracted to each other that they

joined their lives in wedlock. Four sons, Edward, Francis,

William and John were the issue of this marriage. The

third was a child not eight years old when the father died.

On his death-bed Bernard Gallagher refused to confess to

his ministering priest the secrets of Free Masonry, which

order he had joined, and the church not only refused him

burial in consecrated grounds, but also condemned his

body to be exposed to public derision in front of his own

door; and the execution of this sentence was prevented

by application for police interference. This was in 1814.

Two years after her husband's death, Mrs. Gallagher

and her four sons, joining a small "Jersey Colony,"

removed west, crossing the mountains in a four-horsed

and four-belled wagon of the old time, and floating

down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati in

358

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William Davis Gallagher.         359

a strongly built and well-provided flat-boat of the period.

The boy William amused himself during the whole " river

voyage" by fishing out of the window of the boat. "I

was sorry," said he, "when the boat landed and put an

end to my fun."

The widow and her family located on a farm near Mount

Healthy, now Mount Pleasant, Hamilton county, in the

neighborhood of the Carys. Mrs. Gallagher and the mother

of Alice and Phoebe Cary were near of kin, and the chil-

dren of the two families were, of course, intimate.

Young William was put to work by his mother and his

uncle at the various tasks a country lad is expected to do.

In winter he went to school in a log school house. The

teacher's name was Samuel Woodworth, whose scholars

always addressed him as "Sir" Woodworth, such was the

law of manners and the dignity of the preceptor's office in

those days. Under guidance of "Sir" Woodworth, Master

Gallagher grew familiar with the literary treasures of the

"American Reader," and the "Columbian Orator." The

boy was fond of these books, and still more enamored of

the rosy-cheeked girls of Mount Healthy. Envious rivals

taunted him by calling him " girl-boy," and the jeer caused

fist-fights and bleeding noses. Not even the charms of the

bare-footed maidens at spelling school "worked with such

a spell" on "Billy" (for that was his nickname), as did

the attractions of the woods. What so seductive to the

natural boy as the unfenced forest? What so much cov-

eted as freedom to ramble over the hills and far away?

Gallagher's ruling instinct, in boyhood and manhood,

was admiration of nature-especially love of woodland

scenery. His young feet trod every hill and valley about

Mount Healthy and along Mill creek, whose remembered

banks he long after celebrated as "Mahketewa's Flowery

Marge." Well did he know the wild flowers and native

birds. He plucked spicy grapes, or luscious pawpaws,

in season, and gathered hoards of hickory nuts to crack

by the winter fire. In summer weather, he found hidden

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360    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

springs, and traced wandering brooks from source to mouth.

One day the prepossessing boy, with his cheerful, ruddy

face, was observed by a Mrs. Graham, of Clermont county,

Ohio, who was visiting at Mount Healthy. Mrs. Graham

was so much pleased with "Billy" that she begged his

mother to allow him to return to Clermont county with

her, and live there for a time and do "chores." "Want

my boy?" said the widow mother, with tears of protest.

Yet, on reflection, she consented to the proposal, and Wil-

liam went with the lady to Clermont county, where, for

perhaps a year, he worked at "Graham's Mill." After his

return home he resumed farm-work on the place of David

Jessup. The toil was hard, but relief was found in stolen

escapes to the woods; or to Cummins' tan-yard, where

some pet bears were kept; or to Spring Grove, where was

a herd of tame buffaloes. Sometimes he was sent to Irv-

ing's mill, and while waiting for his grist he would sit un-

der a certain tree, which to-day stands within the enclosure

of Spring Grove cemetery, and read one of his few books,

usually the "Columbian Orator."'

The routine of the youth's drudgery was broken by the

thoughtful interest of his oldest brother Edward, who, vis-

iting the Jessup farm, saw that William was working " like

a nigger," as he expressed it, and insisted that the boy

should be put to school. A consultation of mother, brother

and uncle was held, and it was decided that Billy should

go to town and attend the Lancastrian Seminary, he prom-

ising not to waste time by truancy in the woods or along

the alluring shores of the Ohio. The Lancastrian Semi-

nary, conducted by Edmund Harrison, was opened in

March, 1815. George Harrison, one of the sons of the

principal, took a kindly interest in the ingenuous country

boy, and gave him an opportunity, while yet a student in

the school, to learn to "set type," in the office of a small

paper called The Remembrancer, edited by Rev. David

Root, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church. The

paper was printed at a small office in a building up "old

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William Davis Gallagher.          361

post-office alley," west of Main Street, between Third and

Fourth Streets. Here Gallagher received his first lessons

in the printer's art and in proof-reading. The most puz-

zling part of the work was to understand and correct the

poetry, which seemed, to the embryo editor, absurd for the

reason that it was not written in prose. "I wondered,"

said he, referring to this experience after a lapse of sixty

years, "why the stupid contributors didn't put what they

had to say plainly, instead of cutting it up ridiculously, in

short lines, with capitals at one end and rhymes at the

other."

In 1826 Hon. James W. Gazlay started an agricultural

paper called The Western Tiller, and young Gallagher was

employed as general assistant in its management. Not

only did he attend to the mechanical department, but

he also ventured to write, and became so expert with the

pen that, on occasion, Gazlay left him in charge of the

paper, jokingly declaring that "Billy" had superseded

him as editor.

Mr. Gazlay disposed of The Tiller in 1828 to Wm. J.

Ferris, and Gallagher's services were then engaged, for a

time, by Mr. S. J. Brown, proprietor of the Cincinnati

Emporium, a newspaper founded in 1824. Brown was per-

sonally remarkable for his lisping, and he often boasted

that he was "thole editor of the Thinthinnati Emporium."

Gallagher's connection with the Emporium was brief. His

next newspaper experience was with the Commercial Reg-

ister, the first daily in Cincinnati. This journal, edited by

Morgan Neville and published by S. S. Brooks, survived

only six months. While engaged on the Register, Gal-

lagher was requested by his brother Francis to take part in

the joint production of a new literary periodical. With

precipitate zeal the brothers plunged into the enterprise,

and the Western Minerva was born almost as soon as con-

ceived. This new daughter of Jove was named in the

classical style of the time, and after an eastern magazine

then flourishing. The Western Minerva, notwithstanding

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362    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

its divine name, died in about a year, and hardly deserves

an epitaph. In the year 1824 Mr. John P. Foote pub-

lished the Literary Gazette, for which W. D. Gallagher

wrote his first verses. He was then only sixteen, and the

tripping "Lines on Spring," which he sent through the

mail to Mr. Foote, were signed "Julia."

On January 1, 1826, F. Burton began to publish the

Cincinnati Saturday Evening Chronicle, with Benjamin F.

Drake as editor. Mr. Gallagher wrote for the Chronicle,

under the pseudonym " Rhoderick," and his friend, Otway

Curry, contributed to it also, signing his articles "Ab-

dallah."

In the summer of 1828, Gallagher, not yet of age, went

to Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, to visit his brother John, who

attended school there. A violent contest for the governor-

ship was raging between the Whig candidate, David Mer-

riwether, "Old Stone-Hammer," and the fierce Democratic

orator,W. T. Barry, one of Clay's respected forensic rivals.

Gallagher espoused the Whig cause by writing for a party

newspaper conducted at Mt. Sterling by Weston F. Birch.

While meditating editorials, laudatory of " Old Stone-

Hammer," the sojourning knight of the goose-quill re-

ceived intelligence that his brother Francis was lying ill

at Natchez. William bought a horse and rode from Mount

Sterling to Louisville; thence, by steamboat, he completed

the journey to Natchez. The horse-back trip through

Kentucky was crowded with incident. One evening the

traveler came to the gate of a large house, which a black

servant told him belonged to General James Taylor. The

General was not at home, but his wife, a stately lady, very

hospitably invited the young stranger to dismount and rest

awhile under he_r roof. The black slave put the horse in

the stable, and the bashful rider followed the courteous

southern matron into the big house, and was there treated

to a glass of "Metheglin," mixed by her own fair hands.

Pursuing his further adventures, the romantic "Rhod-

erick," arrived at Ashland and announced himself as a

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William Davis Gallagher.          363

"Young Whig from Ohio," who desired to pay his respects

to Henry Clay. The distinguished " Harry of the West"

came out and cordially greeted the pilgrim, and asked him

to stay all night, but the honor was gracefully declined.

Passing through Louisville he saw, where now the finest

part of the city is built, a swampy wildernes, populous with

beaver. The open-eyed traveler observed everything, and

wrote from Mississippi a series of descriptive letters for the

Chronicle. These were read by many, and their author was

talked about as a smart young fellow, worthy to be encour-

aged. One of the first to recognize his talents and speak

in his praise was the educator, Milo G. Williams. Galla-

gher returned to Cincinnati to find himself quite a local

lion. Doubtless, the people thought still better of him

when it was known he had saved a few dollars by self-

denial, and that he was desirous of securing for his mother

a home of her own. He bought a ground lot of Nicholas

Longworth, the eccentric pioneer millionaire, but had not

the means to build a house. " See here, Billy," suggested

Mr. Longworth, "I want you to build a house for your

mother; now, can you raise money enough to buy the

lumber? Get the lumber, and I will build the house, and

you may pay me when you are able." The offer was ac-

cepted; the house was built, and paid for in easy pay-

ments. The house was situated on the north side of

Fourth street, between "Western Row," now Central

avenue, and John street, and overlooked the sloping plain

that lay between the bluff on which it stood and the Ohio

river, and the mouth of Mill creek; and took in, most pic-

turesquely and charmingly, what is now the town plot of

Covington, and the beautiful hills of Ludlow, one of which

was crowned with the celebrated Carneal House, or

"Egyptian Hall."

We have seen that Gallagher was an enthusiastic Whig

and a worshipper of Clay. It is not strange that, in 1830,

he was persuaded by some of the prominent Whigs of Green

county to cast his fortunes on the hazard of a "tooth-and

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364    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

toe-nails " campaign newspaper, at Xenia, Ohio. Even the

mother's new house was sold to provide an outfit for a small

printing office, and, in a short time, the Backwoodsman

was issued, a sheet devoted generally to hurrahing for Clay

and specially to using up Jimmy Gardner, editor of the Jack-

son organ of Xenia. Gallagher was elated to see his first

leader copied in the National Journal, and to learn that Clay

himself had read it with approval. In the course of the

campaign a banquet was given to the Ashland hero, at Yel-

low Springs, Ohio, on which occasion the modest editor of

the Backwoodsman was surprised and abashed on finding

that the committee of arrangements had trapped him into

a seat just opposite the great statesman, who, it appears,

requested to have an opportunity of talking with"that bright

young man from Xenia who writes so well."

All this was pleasant enough; but the Backwoodsman

despite its cleverness, was doomed to fail with the failing

political fortunes of its idol. The man who " would rather

be right than be President" was not chosen President, and

consequently Gallagher's labor of love was lost, and with it

all his money and much of his self-confidence.

One of the pleasant incidents of Gallagher's life at Xenia

took place in the office of the Backwoodsman in the sum-

mer of 1830. One day a gentleman called and asked to see

the editor. The printer's devil ran up stairs where Galla-

gher was at work, and gave the message: "A man down

there wants to see you; he says his name is Prentice." He

of the Backwoodsman, in a flurry, would brush up and

wash his inky hands before presenting himself to the late

editor of the New England Review, but George shouts from

below, "Never mind black fingers! " and the next minute

the two young journalists meet and join hands. Prentice

was on his way to Lexington to prepare his "Life of

Clay."

By far the most important event of Mr. Gallagher's life

at Xenia was his marriage to Miss Emma Adamson, a

daughter of Captain Adamson, of Boston.

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William Davis Gallagher.          365

Some brilliant worldly expectations had been built on

the assumption that Clay would be President; and when

the campaign ended in disappointment, the newly wedded

pair knew not which way to look for a living. Just about

this dark time it came into the mind of John H. Wood, a

Cincinnati book-seller, to start a literary paper in connec-

tion with his business, and he invited Gallagher to take

editorial charge of it at a guaranteed salary. the offer

was accepted gladly, and, turning over the care of the

fast-expiring Backwoodsman to Francis, William  took

stage with his pretty wife and hastened to Cincinnati, and

presently began his first important literary labor, the man-

agement of the Cincinnati Mirror. This was the fourth

literary periodical published west of the Alleghany

mountains. Its prototype, the New York Mirror, was a

well established and influential journal. The new paper,

a quarto, excellently printed on good paper, and of at-

tractive appearance, was issued semi-monthly. The first

two volumes were edited by Gallagher solely. At the be-

ginning of the third year Gallagher formed a partnership

with Thomas H. Shreve, and the two became proprietors

of the publication. It was enlarged and issued weekly un-

der the name Cincinnati Mirror and Western Gazette of Lit-

erature. In April, 1835, the Chronicle, then owned by Rev.

James H. Perkins, was merged in the Mirror, and Perkins

shared the editorship of the periodical. The concern

was sold October, 1835, to James B. Marshall, who united

with it a publication called the Buckeye, and named it

the Buckeye and Cincinnati Mirror. Within three months

Marshall sold out to Flash and Ryder, book-sellers on

Third Street, who engaged Gallagher and Shreve to

resume control of the once more plain Cincinnati Mirror.

All now went on smoothly until Gallagher offended Mr.

Ryder by refusing to print matter endorsing Tom Paine's

irreligious views. A quarrel followed, and both Gallagher

and Shreve resigned. They were succeeded by J. Reese

Fry, who, though he had fair editorial ability,could not

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366    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

prevent the Mirror from sinking to final extinction within

two months.

The Mirror never paid its way, though it had an ex-

tensive circulation in the Mississippi valley. Its contents

embraced original and selected tales, essays, poetry, bio-

graphical and historical sketches, reviews of and extracts

from new books, and a compendium of the news of the

day. Nearly all the leading western writers contributed to

it. Among these were Timothy Flint, J. A. McClung, John

B. Dillon, Harvy D. Little, Morgan Neville, Benjamin

Drake, Mrs. Julia Dumont and Mrs. Lee Hentz. From

the east, Mr. Whittier contributed at least one poem-

"Lines on a Portrait."

When, in 1832, Mr. Gallagher held this literary " Mirror"

up to nature and art on the banks of the Ohio, Bryant was

but thirty-eight years old, Longfellow and Whittier but

twenty-five, Poe twenty-one, and Howells lacked five years

of being born. The backwoods editor's comments on co-

temporary literature read curiously in the light of present

reputations. Encouraging mention is made of a fifty-dollar

prize story, "A New England Sketch, by Miss Beecher, of

this city." The reviewer says the story "is written with

great sprightliness, humor and pathos," and that "none

but an intelligent and observant lady could possibly have

written it." In a notice of "Mogg Megone," Whittier is

discriminatingly heralded as a " man whom his countrymen

will yet delight to honor. Some of his early writings are

among the happiest juvenile productions with which we

are acquainted." The complacent editor mentions "Outre

Mer" favorably, saying that it was written by Professor

Longfellow, " who is very well known to American read-

ers," and that "it is for sale at Josiah Drake's bookstore

on Main street."

Mr. Gallagher wrote much for the Mirror in prose

and verse, and his editorials, sketches and poems were

widely copied.  One of his pieces, a carefully finished

short essay, entitled "The Unbeliever," was credited to

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William Davis Gallagher.          367

Dr. Chalmers, and appeared in a school reader with that

classic divine's name attached.

While editor of the Mirror, Gallagher made his debut

as a speaker, by delivering before the "Lyceum," an

"Eulogium on the Life and Character of William Wirt."

The old Enon Church, where the "Lyceum" met, was

crowded, and the orator, when he rose to speak, was so

frightened that he could not at first open his mouth, but

the reassuring smile of the president, Doctor Daniel Drake,

restored his self-command, and the address was pronounced

satisfactorily.

The "Lyceum" was a society for popular edification,

conducted under the auspices of the Ohio Mechanics'

Institute. Before it, Calvin E. Stowe delivered a course of

lectures on the "History of Letters," and Judge James

Hall read an address on the " Importance of Establishing

a First-Class Library in Cincinnati."

The old Enon Church, on Walnut street, was also the

meeting place of a club called the " Franklin Society," the

members of which, we are told, "met week after week,

with much benefit to all concerned." "Many a cold and

cheerless evening," wrote the editor of the Western Quar-

terly, "have we seen half a dozen enthusiastic youths gath-

ered about and shivering over the stove in the corner of

the large apartment, while the President, wrapped in dig-

nity and a large cloak, sat chattering his teeth, apart from

the group, and member after member stepped aside and

made speeches, many of which were distinguished by

brilliancy and true eloquence."

A more popular debating society was the "Inquisition,"

mentioned in Channing's "Memoir of James H. Perkins."

The "Inquisition" was attended by the beauty and fashion

of Cincinnati. Mr. Gallagher shone with the young gentry

who read polite essays at Dr. Drake's parlors, and shivered

with the talented plebeians of the Franklin society. He

was also the very soul of a u ique private junto numbering

but eight members, and named the Tags, or the T. A. G.

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368    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

S., these cabalistic letters being the initials of the four who

originated the conclave, namely, Frederic William Thomas,

Samuel York Atlee, William Davis Gallagher and Thomas

Henry Shreve.

Still another very interesting club may be referred to

here, though it arose somewhat later than those mentioned.

It was called the "Forty-Twos," from the circumstance

that, at its founding, all of its members were over forty-

one years of age and under forty-three. The "Forty-

Twos" met in the law office of Salmon P. Chase, on Third

street, (the office in which Don Piatt says the Republican

party was born.) Among its members, besides Chase and

Gallagher, were Samuel Eels, Jordan A. Pugh, and Charles

L. Telford. The club was larger than that of the " Tags,"

and had more of a social nature, but it did a great deal in

the way of developing a literary taste in Cincinnati.

It was before the appearance of the Mirror that W. D.

Gallagher won his first laurels for poetical achievement.

Some verses of his called " The Wreck of the Hornet," pub-

lished anonymously, went the rounds of the American

press, and were ascribed to the pen of Bryant. The suc-

cess of this fugitive piece gave its author confidence to

produce others, and he was soon recognized as the leading

imaginative writer of the West.

In the spring of 1835 he published a little book of thirty-

six pages, entitled " Erato No. I.," dedicated to Timothy

Flint. The naming of his collection after a lyric muse

was suggested, probably, by the example of Percival, who

a dozen years before, had put forth " Clio No. I." and " Clio

No. II." Gallagher's maiden venture was received with

favor; and, in August, 1835, "Erato No. II." was issued,

and this was followed, two years later, by " Erato No. III."

A long and laudatory review of these three booklets ap-

peared in the Southern Literary  Messenger for July,

1838. The reviewer says: " It is to be regretted that, in

justice to the poet, these volumes were not published in

one of the Atlantic cities, inasmuch as it would have

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William Davis Gallagher.          369

extended the reputation of the author, and given currency

to his works, which a Western press can not secure to

them. The Atlantic side of the Alleghanies is sufficiently

controlled by that kind of prejudice in relation to ultra-

montane literature, that led one, some two thousand years

ago, to say, 'Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?'

These prejudices should not be neglected or despised by

Western writers. The names of Messrs. Harper & Broth-

ers, or Carey, Lea & Blanchard, on the title page of

many a book has often proved a better endorsement to the

public than the author's.  How natural it is to condemn

a book unread that has the imprint of a country town.

There is the same kind of faith extended to an unknown

book as to an unknown bank note; if it bears city names,

and is of a city bank, it is received with confidence, and if

it is a country bill it is taken with hesitation and suspi-

cion." The alleged Eastern prejudice to Western literary

outputs was met by Gallagher with obstinate provincial

pride and defiance. To him the building up of Western

literature was a duty which he exalted to the rank of

patriotism and religion. He advocated the fostering of

home genius with a fervor like that which protectionists

manifested in discussing domestic industries. Instead of

seeking Eastern publishers, Gallagher did not even com-

ply with their voluntary requests to handle his books,

though this was owing, in part, to his careless disposition.

Under date of March, 1881, he wrote to a friend: " I have

been solicited repeatedly by Eastern publishers; never

but twice, that I remember, by Western publishers." In

the same letter, alluding to the volumes he wrote, and

magazines he edited, he says: "I do not possess a copy

of any one of them."

Returning to the ambitious and sentimental period of

Gallagher's career, we find that he was admired for his

handsome looks. One of his cotemporaries wrote: "He

has a manly figure, tall and Well proportioned, with a

lofty and somewhat haughty carriage. His complexion is

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370    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

very fair and ruddy; his face exhibits a remarkably youth-

ful appearance, as if but nineteen and not twenty-eight

years had passed over his head. In conversation, he is

animated and energetic, evincing the man of quick sensi-

bility, the bold thinker, the acute critic and severe satirist.

His eyes are lively and of a piercing blue. His forehead

is fair and open, denoting intellectual strength, with soft-

ened outlines, and is the index of the graceful character of

his mind." The allusion in this description to Gallagher's

"haughty carriage," recalls the fact that the boys in the

printing office used to call himWilliam"Dignity"Gallagher.

Neither his handsome person, nor his versatile talents

brought much hard cash. Deprived of the salary which

he had received as editor of the meager Mirror, the

poet found himself in the unpoetical condition of a man

with a wife to support on no income whatever. He wrote

to Otway Curry: "I must do something to raise a little

money, for I am almost too badly clad to appear in the

street." Grasping at an invisible straw, he issued a pro-

spectus for a weekly paper, The Cincinnati Spectator and

Family News-Letter, but the name was all of the paper

that ever appeared.  However, in June, 1836, Messrs.

Smith and Day projected a Western Literary Journal and

Monthly Review, and Gallagher was called to edit it.

Mark the western tone and confident air of this passage

from  the opening number: "Let us, who are in the

enjoyment of a triune youthfulness, being young as a

people, young in years, and young as a literary commu-

nity, endeavor to approach the Fathers of English Poetry.

Let us discard the affectation of parlor prettiness, wax-

work niceties and milliner-like conceits. Let us turn our

lady-pegasus out to pasture, and mount coursers of speed

and mettle. Let us give over our pacing and ambling,

and dash off with a free rein." To these imperative appeals

the readers of the Journal were probably insensible; at

any rate they did not pay liberally for such exhortation,

and the starving editor's starving periodical gave up the

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William Davis Gallagher.           371

ghost, aged one year. The lively ghost flew to Louisville

and was there re-embodied, being merged in the Western

Monthly Magazine, which Judge Hall sold to James B.

Marshall in 1836. The combined publication forming the

Western Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal was to be

issued simultaneously from Cincinnati and Louisville.

Gallagher was employed to edit it, and he entered upon

this new labor with unflagging zeal. The Western Acade-

mician, (think of a Western Academician in 1837,) says of

this new venture:   "It is replete with good articles."

Notwithstanding its exuberance of merit, the journal

expired with the issue of the fifth number, perhaps being

too good to live, and William D. Gallagher was left once

more a man without a periodical. But now a star of hope

appeared in the north. John M. Gallagher, the poet's

youngest brother, had become manager of the Ohio State

Journal, at Columbus, Ohio, and he invited William to

assist him. Such an opportunity was not to be slighted,

and we may imagine the strong Whig, who had begun his

journalistic labors as editor of the Clay newspaper at

Xenia, now using the language of Leigh Hunt:

I yield, I yield.-Once more I turn to you,

Harsh politics! and once more bid adieu

To the soft dreaming of the Muses' bowers."

Gallagher removed with his family to Columbus, and

entered upon editorial duties, also writing political letters

from  the Capital for the Cincinnati Gazette under the

signature of "Probus." But his connection with the

State Journal was of short duration. Standing by his

convictions with his usual stubbornness he opposed, edi-

torially, the publication of the laws in the German lan-

guage and the teaching of any foreign language in the

public schools. Finding that his views were unpopular

and injurious to the business interests of the paper, he

chose to resign rather than suppress his honest opinions.

Before withdrawing from the Journal he projected

what proved to be his most important enterprise in litera-

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372    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

ture, a magazine named " The Hesperian." This was a

monthly miscellany of general literature. The first num-

ber came out in May, 1838. Otway Curry assisted in edit-

ing the first volume. Two volumes were published at

Columbus,-the third and last at Cincinnati. The senior

editor, in his opening "Budget," confesses that his past

ten years' exertions in behalf of literature "have been

fruitless to himself of everything but experience," yet he

finds courage to make one more attempt, "because he

loves the pursuit,-because he thinks he can be useful in

it,-because he is convinced there is, throughout the whole

West, a great demand and a growing necessity for labor in

it,-and because he believes that under present auspices

it can be made to yield at least a quid pro quo."

The Hesperian was jealously Western, as its name

sufficiently suggests, but it was by no means narrow, shal-

low, or provincial. Its watchwords were Freedom, Edu-

cation, Manhood, Fair Play. The contents were wide-

ranging-geographical, historical, biographical, political,

poetical, agricultural, theological, romantic and fictitious.

Among its contributors, were the Drakes, Shreve, Perkins,

Neville, Prentice, W.G. Simms, S. P. Hildreth, C. P. Cranch,

I. A. Jewett, A. Kinmont, R. Dale Owen, Jas. W. Ward, Mrs.

Sigourney, Mrs. Lee Hentz, Amelia B. Welby, and many

others worthy to hold a permanent place in literature.

Gallagher himself wrote copiously and very ably for the

Hesperian. In its pages appeared his most ambitious

story, "The Dutchman's Daughter," which, though crude

and ill-sustained as a whole, has descriptive passages that

would grace the pen of Irving.

The Hesperian was transferred from Columbus to

Cincinnati in April, 1839. The editor procured a room

In the third story of a brick house on Third street, east of

Main - a room ten by twelve, with a door and a single

window. "And in this small place," writes he gaily to

his wife, " Emma dear," on May Day, " the renowned edi-

tor of the Hesperian is to read, write, eat, drink, go to

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William Davis Gallagher.          373

bed, get up, and entertain his friends." To Curry he wrote,

lugubriously quoting Mother Goose, "I have so many

children I don't know what to do." Again to Mrs. Galla-

gher on May 15, "I enclose you three dollars, all the

money I have, and I hope it will last you till I can get

and furnish you some more." This period was the pro-

verbial darkest hour just before daybreak. The " Probus"

letters had made a favorable impression on Charles Ham-

mond, the chief editor of the Cincinnati Gazette, and

induced him to offer Gallagher an important position as

his assistant. Hammond was at that time the most influ-

ential journalist in the country. He was an intimate

adviser of Clay, and had been called, by Webster, the

"greatest genius that ever wielded the political pen."

Thomas Ewing had said of Hammond that he used a lan-

guage as pure as that of Addison. It was no light honor

to be called and chosen by so eminent a man. With the

honor came also a liberal salary. "Emma" and the "so

many children" were now well provided for. The Hes-

perian was discontinued and the duties of the new career

were begun in the latter part of 1839, to be continued, with

little interruption, for ten years. Mr. Gallagher at first

attended mainly to the literary department of the paper,

but after the death of Mr. Hammond in 1840, he did much

political writing. He became more and more interested

in State and national questions, and took an active part

in party management. For many years he was Secretary

of the Whig Committee for the First Congressional Dis-

trict of Ohio. In 1842 he was nominated candidate for

the State legislature, but declined to run.

The love of literature continued to hold sway over him.

In 1840 he planned a literary undertaking of praiseworthy

character and generous scope, as may be gathered from

the following letter to Otway Curry:

[To Otway Curry, Esq., Marysville, Union County, Ohio.]

CINCINNATI, Nov. 7, 1840.

MY DEAR CURRY-I thank you for your original contribu-

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374    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

tion to the Poetical Volume, and shall insert it as the second

selection from you, "The Goings Forth of God" being

the first. It was not my original design to have admitted

anything not before published, but Jones thought he could

do better than he had yet done, and Shreve ditto; and,

while I held their requests for the privilege of inserting

an original, under advisement, along came your voluntary.

This, as there was no impropriety in deviating from the

first plan thus made, decided me. Perkins, I think, will

have an original likewise; and, in the forewritten verses,¹

you have one of my own. I do not wish it known, how-

ever, that the volume contains anything specially pre-

pared for it.

I had not room in my last letter to detail to you the

whole of my design. The volume of "Selections from

the Poetical Literature of the West" is but the first

feature of it. My intention is to follow this up in regular

order by three other volumes, of "Selections from the

Polite Literature of the West," " Selections from the Pulpit

Literature of the West," and " Selections from the Polit-

ical Literature of the West." Don't wipe those old specs

of yours so hard, now. I've been looking over the level

prairies of these intellectual regions, and I find in them

materials enough for all I have contemplated. The truth

is, Curry, this Transmontane world is a most glorious one,

and I can't help trying to do something for its literary

character, engage in whatsoever else I may, and starve, as

I fear I must at this. I suppose these several volumes

will come out at intervals of from five to six months, till

the whole shall have been published.

About your "Veiled Prophet," I feel some anxiety.

Burton's new theater, I understand, has been open for a

number of weeks, yet I hear nothing either of Jemmy

Thorn or from him. The first one of our citizens whom I

find starting for Philadelphia I shall get to call upon Bur-

ton and make personal inquiry, &c., with reference to it.

About that Congress of lunatics which you suggest:

Perkins thinks well of it, Shreve thinks well of it, Curry

thinks well of it and Gallagher thinks well of it; and each

of these distinguished men, doubtless,will willingly meet,

lunatic ise and go home again. What further than this,

while the matter is so entirely a new suggestion, can I

 

1 A poem entitled "Little Children," enclosed in the letter to Curry.

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William Davis Gallagher.         375

say ? Give us your plan, and if it be as good and feasible

as I presume it is, you will find us readily and actively

seconding your motion.

And now, my dear fellow, a word in your ear confiden-

tially. I am very busy now-a-days, and should not there-

fore have replied to your last so promptly but that I want

very much to be "astonished jist." So crack your whip,

and let us know what that " something" is, about which

you prate so bigly.  Thine as ever,

W. D. GALLAGHER.

P. S.-Write me down, if you please, richer since day

before yesterday, by another child, and poorer by what it

will cost to keep it. This makes the fifth, all alive and

kicking, and able to eat mush with the children of any

Clodhopper in the land."

That Gallagher's inclinations kept pulling him towards

literature for some years after he became a political editor,

is evident from a breezy letter written to Curry in August,

1844:

"DEAR CURRY-Upon accurate calculation, the time

of the rising of the new literary comet of the West has

been determined. You and other benighted people in

your region may look for a luminous streak in the Heavens

at 9 h. 1O m. 11 sec. October 1, 1844. After this announce-

ment, my dear fellow, can you remain idle ? I hope not,

for the sake of the new experiment, the credit of your

name, and the honor of your friend, who pledged to

Messrs. Judson and Hine an article from your pen for the

first number, and probably one for the second, and another

for the third. The work is to be gotten out in the hand-

somest style, and you will have the pleasure of appearing

in good company. Lay aside your political pen, there-

fore, shut up your law books, mount Pegasus, or some

comely prose nag, and away to the free fields! What do

you say? Shall I have something from you to hand over

by the 6th to 10th prox.? Don't make it later, for the

first copy is now in hand, and they want to be out early.

Think of the olden time-your first love-wipe your

specks - stick in a Havana- hum a madrigal - and dash

into the thing pell-mell. Let me hear from you at once."

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