Ohio History Journal

172       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VoL. 3

 

 

REMARKS OF R. D. MARSHALL, ESQ.

Your presiding officer has called on me, owing to some de-

lay in the arrival of trains, which has delayed the forming and

moving of the procession, to address you for a few minutes, and

has charged me with being a speaker of some note, and as he

has placed me on trial before you on that charge, I feel pretty

certain that when you have heard me, you will promptly acquit

me of the charge, as it was not my expectation to address the

people here, for I came to see and hear, and not to talk.

This is my first visit to your city, and those of you who

know the place so well, with its beautiful surroundings, no

doubt think that my traveling in this respect has been sadly

neglected.

One hundred years ago! What a change! When the 600

pioneers, or thereabouts, landed here one hundred years ago, if

this city as it is now could have then met their gaze as they

floated down the Ohio river, how different would have been their

feelings from what they were under the circumstamces at that

time? In place of the log cabins, uninhabited, that then met

their gaze on their first visit to this place, I, on my first visit,

look upon a beautiful city of more than 12,000 inhabitants.

We are now, I am told, holding this meeting on the grounds

where stood the log cabins that met the gaze of your ancestors

when they arrived here, but instead of log cabins, you now have

this beautiful park; the Ohio river sweeps on the south side

of it just as it did one hundred years ago, but, on the bosom of

that river now float the magnificent steamers that we see at your

wharfs, instead of an occasional flat-boat; and in place of the

thick forest that then covered these grounds, you now have this

fine park, your level streets, miles in length, built up on either

side with fine business blocks, or beautiful residences. What a

change! But all this had a beginning, and that beginning was

one hundred years ago to-day, and under circumstances that

would have appalled a less heroic people.

Among the pioneers that landed here, most, if not all of

them, knew but little about such hardships, as were to stare

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Remarks of R. D. Marshall, Esq.          173

 

them in the face, and had but little idea how to contend with, or

overcome the same. Again, they had been deceived as well as

defrauded. But, among these, your pioneers, there were heroes

and heroines, there were brave men and brave women, and they

have left their footprints here which we are looking at now, ad-

miring and honoring, for

 

"Lives of great men all remind us,

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us,

Footprints on the sands of time."

 

You men will pardon me, if I should give even more credit

to the women than to the men, for whilst under trying circum-

stances men are frequently so courageous as to make them great,

women under similar circumstances become not only great, but

almost reach sublimity with their greatness.

Said a great thinker, "The greatest and grandest words

known to anyone, are mother, home, and heaven." This is a

sentiment that I fully endorse, and may farther add, the one you

all have, or have had, and it would be better that a mill stone

were tied to your neck, and that you were planted in the bottom

of the Ohio river, than that you should at any time, by any act

or word, bring shame or dishonor upon that name. The second,

every one should strive to have and secure, if he can honorably

do so. And the third, we are assured by Him, who makes no

promise that He can not and will not fulfill, that we can finally

reach if we are worthy of it.

Your respected townsman, Colonel Vance, has requested me

to speak of the Miami Valley, and its early history. Such a task

ought not to be attempted without a preparation commensurate

with the subject. And again it seems to me that there is but

one person that I know of in Ohio, who can do the Miami Val-

ley and its early pioneers justice, and that person is Judge Joseph

Cox, of Cincinnati; he knows its history, and knows it as fully

and correctly as if he had grown up with its every movement

since its first discovery by the white man, and its history,

growth and progress should be written by him, and not by a

novice like myself. It is true that there are some things that I

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174        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.   [VOL. 3

 

know about that great valley. A wag once said of it: "It is

God's country, for if it were otherwise, he never would have

made it so rich, so beautiful and so productive."

Will it be considered too facetious for me at this time to say

that this valley produces larger corn, and a greater abundance

thereof, than did Egypt at the time Joseph garnered it there in

anticipation of the many years of famine; and in its early his-

tory it had its pioneers, its heroes and heroines, and yet at this

day it is not without its noted men. As you are aware, the Gov-

ernor of this great State of Ohio, who is with us to-day, was

born and reared in this valley, and his ancestors lived there long

prior to his birth. And the Lieutenant Governor, who is also

with us, comes from   Logan County; the head-waters of the

river from which the valley takes its name, are located in this

county. To this county my maternal ancestors moved at an

early date, and endured the trials and hardships of pioneer life.

In this county my grandmother, with gun in hand, took com-

mand of the fort and stockade built near the Miami river, about

eight miles west of Bellefontaine, and in which fort were placed

the pioneer women and children of that day, whilst her husband,

with other men along that valley, rushed to the front, after

Hull's surrender; and it is said of her, being surrounded by In-

dians as they were, that her courage, coolness and heroism under

these trying circumstances were so noted, that she was afterward

spoken of as " Heroic Betsy."    But it is not my purpose to

speak of anything that would come so near personal, and I only

refer to this as one of the matters that is spoken of by one of

the pioneer writers of Ohio.

But I notice that the Governor of Ohio, with his staff, and

the Governor of West Virginia, with his staff, are already

mounted, and the band begins to play, and the procession is be-

ginning to move, and you, like myself, will want to witness the

grand display of the moving thousands in this procession.

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