Ohio History Journal

Editorialana.                       295

 

 

THE MEMOIRS OF RUFUS PUTNAM.

Compiled and annotated by Miss Rowena Buell, Marietta, Ohio.

Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston and New York.

This is a work of rare historical value, and one which every

student of history, and particularly of Ohio history, will covet and

consult with great satisfaction. It consists mainly of the official papers

and correspondence connected with the life and deeds of General Rufus

Putnam, who was the leader in the little band of pilgrims who came

from New England, and in the later Mayflower sailed down the Ohio

and landed, on that memorable 9th of April, 1788, at the present site

of Marietta. Next to the settlement of Plymouth by the passengers

of the first Mayflower, this second voyage was fraught with greatest

results to American history. The "Adventure," as the Mayflower was

first called, was to the great northwest empire what that little ship,

which landed upon the bleak shores of Cape Cod, in December, 1620,

was to the American colonies of the new-born American republic.

The material comprising this book is historical, and admirably ar-

ranged and edited by Miss Buell. The first part is autobiographical,

giving the family history and descent of Rufus Putnam, beginning with

his first American ancestor, John Putnam, who came to Salem in

1634. The second part covers General Putnam's military and public ser-

vices until 1804. General Putnam was a distinguished participant in the

Revolutionary War, enjoying the personal friendship and esteem of

Washington; he was an engineer of superior attainment and superin-

tended all the defenses of New York in 1776, and aided in construct-

ing the fortifications at West Point. The War of the Revolution over,

he began the second period of his career, perhaps more distinguished,

certainly more romantic and not less courageous, by his services in direct-

ing the first settlement in the Northwest Territory.

Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, and President Perry, of Marietta

College, contribute introductory pages to this volume, which is pub-

lished under the auspices of The Society of Colonial Dames of America

in the State of Ohio.

It is a volume which should be in every Ohio library, and which

will be of value to all students of early American history, and particularly

of the foundation and development of the Northwest Territory and the

state of Ohio. Miss Buell has contributed a most valuable volume to Ohio

literature.

 

THE VANISHED EMPIRE.

"The Vanished Empire," by Waldo H. Dunn; published by The

Robert Clark Co., Cincinnati.

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296        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

This is a little volume just issued from the press, in which the author

recounts "A tale of the Mound Builders." The location of the events

of the story is mainly at Serpent Mound and Marietta, at which latter

place the author locates the capital or abiding place of the king of the

Mound Builders, whom he calls Oko. The story is not intricate, and is

simply and speedily told. It is an imaginative portrayal of the life and

character of the Mound Builders, whose king is Oko, husband of Queen

Gurda. There is a treacherous officer of the court known as Bodo,

who becomes the spy and accomplice of the race under King Inca, who

came from the south, attacked and vanquished the Mound Builders. The

author has, evidently, studied the chief pieces of literature concerning

the Mound Builders. He gives a vivid description of Serpent Mound

and the ceremony of worhsip supposed to have been their custom at

that place, one Gilgo acting as high priest. Mr. Dunn's book is rather

unique, in that it deals almost exclusively with that mysterious race

concerning which we really know very little. His book is calculated

to arouse an interest in the people of that vanished empire and stimulate

the inspection of their remaining works, and the study of such authors

as have dealt with this long-buried race. The book has some illustra-

tions, particularly two excellent ones of Serpent Mound, around which

the story revolves. The book is honored with an introduction by Prof.

J. P. MacLean, the distinguished scholar of American archaeology.

 

 

 

 

ST. MEMIN PORTRAITS.

Dr. William J. Campbell, the wellknown bookseller of Phildelphia,

is writing an elaboratework on St. Memin portraits. It will be in eight

volumes with over eight hundred and thirty engraved portraits, all on

separate pages.

The basis of the book will be the famous "Collection" of 761

proofs, made by the artist himself, which has recently come into Dr. Camp-

bell's possession.

The Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Library of Congress, both of

which have extensive collections, are co-operating with the author, giving

him the free use of any portraits that they possess that are not in his own

collection.

Any of our readers who have information either biographical or

genealogical, about any portrait that St. Memin made, or any information

as to the present location of any original crayons, coppers or engravings,

will confer a favor on the author by communicating with him.

Due credit will be given in the book for all information received.

Dr. Campbell's address is 1218 Walnut street, Philadelphia.

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ZANE'S TRACE.*

 

 

CLEMENT L. MARTZOLFF.

The first road maker in our country was the buffalo. His

successor was the Indian. Instinct told the buffalo where to

make his path. Nature, which is another name for instinct,

prompted the red man in marking his trail. The white man

came and reason told him that the red man and the buffalo

had selected the driest, shortest and most practicable routes of

migration. This is only another way of saying that the geog-

raphy of any country determines its history.

Every institution which we have is the product of the

centuries. History therefore is the finding of the factors. Ohio,

occupying the enviable position she does, in the sisterhood of

Commonwealths must consequently have a remarkable history.

In studying the evolution of our state the author believes

that he has discovered a prime factor of its development in

Zane's Trace.

Behind the historical event stand the actors. In the consid-

eration of the present subject there are two.

On the outskirts of the village of Martin's Ferry, Belmont

County, Ohio, is an old neglected grave-yard situated upon a

terrace overlooking the Ohio River. Within the barbed wire

enclosure is another, surrounded by a substantial brick wall,

capped with stone. An iron gate on one side allows you means

of ingress. The interior of this enclosure is a maze of briers

and brambles. It is the private burial ground of the Zane family.

There are monuments in various stages of decay. Upon a stone

tomb, about three feet in height rest four slabs, on one of

these are the words:

*In the preparation of this article, I wish to acknowledge my grati-

tude to John B. Overmeyer, Somerset, 0.; Chas. W. Hunt, Somerset, 0.;

Judge M. Granger, Zanesville, 0.; Col. Chas. C. Goddard, Zanesville, 0.;

Captain N. W. Evans, Portsmouth, 0.; Mr. Sarchett, Cambridge, 0.;

and Judge Cranmer, Wheeling, W. Va.

( 297 )

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298       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

"In memory of Ebenezer Zane, who died 19th

November, 1812, in the 66th year of his age. He was

the first permanent inhabitant of this part of the

Western World, having first begun to reside here in

the year 1769. He died as he lived, an honest man."

 

In the prosperous city of Zanesville, on a hill overlooking

what is known as the Terrace, is the John McIntire Children's

Home. In a beautiful grove of trees, just as you begin to ascend

the hill, your attention is attracted to a tall iron fence inclosing

a tomb. On the marble slab is the inscription:

 

 

"John McIntire, 1738-1815."

 

1The Zane family originated in Denmark. They certainly

possessed one characteristic of their Danish ancestry - their rov-

ing, adventurous disposition. At an early date a scion of the

family went to England and it is from him that the American

Zanes trace their descent. When William Penn came to America,

he was accompanied by one Zane, who was also a Quaker. In

the new settlement it seems that he was somewhat prominent.

Zane street in Philadelphia was named for him. It is said that

he became obnoxious to his Quaker brethren.   The cause of

this disaffection is not known. It may be that the Quakers were

obnoxious to him. Philadelphia may have become too crowded

for a man of his temperament. He may have longed for the free-

dom of the woods. At any rate he left Quakerdom and settled

on the south branch of the Potomac, near what is now Moorfield.

Hardy County, W. Va. but then known as Berkeley County, Vir-

ginia. Here the Zanes became characteristic woodmen, and pio-

neers. They were hunters, scouts and Indian fighters. They

possessed that stern sense of justice that such conditions of life

can only develop. The social condition of that pioneer day was a

distinct evolution of its own. There was no room for the puny

weakling. It was a case of the "survival of the fittest." There

was no room for sentiment. It was a battle royal for existence.

The weak and sentimental succumbed or went back to the settle-

1Wiseman's Pioneer, Fairfield County.

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Zane's Trace.                  299   ment. The strong remained or pushed further into the interior. There were wild nature, wild beasts and wild men to conquer. Even a Quaker under such conditions could lay aside his sombre gray and from beneath his broad brimmed hat sight along the barrel of his rifle and shoot men. In summing up the character of the Zanes it is enough to say that in this pioneer conflict they not only survived but pushed on toward the setting sun. Ebenezer Zane was born in the Potomac Valley, October 7th, 1747. He had four brothers and one sister. 1 The assertion that Ebenezer Zane together with two brothers, was a captive of the Wyandottes for thirteen years has not sufficient evidence behind it to give it credence. His wife was Elizabeth McCul-

loch. She was a sister of the McCulloch brothers who were no less renowned as frontiersmen than the Zane family. It is said that she was in every way an estimable helpmeet to her husband. It was in 1767 that Ebenezer Zane and his brothers, Silas and Jonathan, began to make preparations for a journey to the west. The following spring with all of the family and property, which included some negro slaves, they set out on the old Cumberland Trail, to what is now Brownsville, Pa. The next year they took up the journey again and at the mouth of the Wheeling Creek See Denny's Journal.

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on the Virginia side of the Ohio, they established their homes

thus becoming the founders of Wheeling in 1770. Their fam-

ilies came the next year. However the town was not regularly

laid out till 1793.

"Zane had chosen one of the strategic points of the Ohio

Valley, though this could hardly have been known to him at

the time. All that he probably cared to know was that he had

found an advantageous spot to trade with the interior of Ohio.

It was where the crowding hills left scant room for a town site,

but when the Ohio was low, it was practically the head of nav-

igation, even for flat and keel boats.  Of course its further

advantage as a point of departure for the east had not then been

discovered, or that other advantage which it presently assumed

as a stopping place for emigrants descending the river."-(From

Abbott's History of Ohio.)

l Zane soon had title to all the land where Wheeling now is,

Wheeling Island in the Ohio River, up the Ohio Valley as far

as Burlington, and up Wheeling Creek on the Ohio side for quite

a distance.

He became the recognized leader of the new settlement.

He possessed the rare elements of leadership.    He knew the

woods, the Indians, and the pioneer. 1 In this he was aided by

his brothers, who carried into execution his plans. In 1806 he

laid out the town of Bridgeport, on the north side of Wheeling

Creek, on the line of the old "Indian Trail." He planted the

first seedling nursery in the upper Ohio Valley, on Wheeling

Island in 1790. He even originated a new species of fruit. "Zane's

Greening" was for many years, a popular apple in eastern Ohio.²

1Among the first to brave the dangers of pioneer life was James

Maxwell, who was obliged to leave his home in Virginia to avoid prose-

cution for a murder of which he was subsequently proven innocent. He

was a cousin of Col. Zane and it was the Zane settlement he attempted

to reach to find security; but such was not the case, as Zane ordered him

to leave at once or he would himself convey him to Berkeley County, Vir-

ginia, where the crime was said to be committed." * * *

Later. "Zane recommended him to Capt. Hamtramck as a scout

for the new fort (Steuben). Zane said his eye was keener and his tread

lighter than those of the most wily savage." - Hunter's Pathfinders, Jeff-

erson County.

2 History of Upper Ohio Valley.

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Zane's Trace.                   301   In the Journal of John Matthews in which he keeps a record of the survey of the Seven Ranges, he frequently men- tions the name of Zane, e. g.,"went to home of Col. Zane for dinner." "Esq. Zane brought us word of an Indian being killed." "Pitched tent near Esq. Zane's store," etc. In 1774 occurred what is known as Dunmore's War-short of duration, but pregnant with mighty results. Wheeling was the original storm center of this conflict. Twenty-six years after-

ward Ebenezer Zane wrote to Hon. John Brown, one of the sena- tors in Congress from   Kentucky, as to the causes of this war. The letter is dated at Wheeling, February 4th, 1800, and is as follows :1 "I was myself, with many others, in the practice of making im- provements on lands upon the Ohio for the purpose of acquiring rights to the same. Being on the Ohio, at the mouth of Sandy Creek, in com- pany with many others, news circulated that the Indians had robbed some of the land jobbers. This news induced the people generally to 1 History of the Upper Ohio Valley.

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302        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

ascend the Ohio. I was among the number. On our arrival at Wheeling,

being informed that there were two Indians with some traders near and

above Wheeling, a proposition was made by the then Captain Michael

Cresap² to waylay and kill the Indians upon the river. This measure I

opposed with much violence alleging that the killing of those Indians

might involve the country in a war. But the opposition party prevailed

and proceeded up the river with Captain Cresap at their head.

In a short time the party returned and also the traders in a canoe, but

there were no Indians in the company. I enquired what had become of

the Indians and was informed by the traders and Cresap's party that they

had fallen overboard. I examined the canoe and saw much fresh blood

and some bullet holes in the canoe. This finally convinced me that the

party had killed the two Indians and thrown them into the river.

"On the afternoon of the day this action happened, a report pre-

vailed that there was a camp or party of Indians on the Ohio below and

near Wheeling.   In consequence of this information Captain Cresap

joined by a number of recruits, proceeded immediately down the Ohio

for the purpose, as was then generally understood, of destroying the

Indians above mentioned.   On the succeeding day Captain Cresap

and his party returned to Wheeling. It was generally reported by the

party that they had killed a number of Indians. Of the truth of this

report I have no doubt as one of Cresap's party was badly wounded

and the party had a fresh scalp and a quantity of property which they

called Indian plunder. At the time of the last mentioned transaction

it was generally reported that the party of Indians down the Ohio were

Logan and his family; but I have reason to believe that this report was

unfounded.

"Within a few days after the transaction above mentioned a party

of Indians were killed at Yellow Creek. But I must do the memory of

Captain Cresap the justice to say that I do not believe that he was pres-

ent at the killing of the Indians at Yellow Creek. But there is not the

least doubt in my mind that the massacre at Yellow Creek was brought

on by the action above stated.

All the transactions which I have related happened in latter end

of April, 1774; and there can scarcely be a doubt that they were the

cause of the war which immediately followed, commonly called Dun-

more's War.

I am with much esteem, yours etc.,

EBENEZER ZANE."

2"The settlers began to gather at Wheeling, the rush being from all

points, none of them agreeing to accept the protection offered by scouting

parties from Ft. Pitt and return to their plantations. Cresap was elected

leader and on April 21, received a letter from Ft. Pitt confirming the

rumors of impending war. A counsel was held and Cresap's men at once

declared war against the Indians." - Hunter's Pathfinders of Jefferson

County.

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Zane's Trace.                   303

 

Lord Dunmore, the titled governor of the old Dominion, de-

termined to carry the war into the enemy's country. He or-

dered Colonel Angus McDonald to raise a regiment for imme-

diate service.

With a force of four hundred Viriginians McDonald crossed

the mountains to Wheeling, where he built Fort Finncastle, in

honor of Lord Dunmore. On the 2₅th of July, he floated down

the Ohio to Captina Creek and there with Jonathan Zane, as

guide they started for the Indian villages on the Muskingum.

At the mouth of the Wappatonica, near Coshocton, they destroyed

towns and growing crops and the Indians for the time were

subdued.

During this war Col. Ebenezer Zane was made Disbursing

Agent of the Militia at Wheeling and was practically the com-

mandant of Fort Finncastle.

1Two years later when Virginia renounced her allegiance to

the crown and deposed her royal governor, Col. Zane, true patriot,

as he was, changed the name of his fort to that of Fort Henry,

for the first governor of the Commonwealth. There was no regu-

lar militia to defend it. The settlers who were driven within its

walls for protection, composed its only garrison.

Here on the last day of August, 1777, four hundred Indian

warriors, led by that prince of cut-throats, Simon Girty, under

the royal insignia of King George, with the consent and approval

of the "Hair-buying" 1 scoundrel at Detroit, appeared before the

walls and gave the garrison fifteen minutes in which to sur-

render.

Col. Zane replied that before they would surrender or ab-

jure the cause of liberty that every man, woman and child within

the fort would rather perish. There were but twelve men and

boys besides the women, in the fort. Col. Zane gave everybody

work. The women made the bullets and they helped to shoot

them. The siege continued for twenty-three hours until rein-

forcements came and the Indians despaired of reducing the fort.

But all of the houses without the fortification were burned arid

many of the settlers' cattle and hogs were driven away.

1Hunter's Pathfinders.

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The last battle of the American Revolution was fought here

in 1782.

The conflict is described by Col. Zane in a letter sent to

Gen. Irvin by the hands of Mr. Loyd.

 

WHEELING, 14th of September, 1782.

SIR:--On the evening of the 11th instant a body of the enemy

appeared in sight of our garrison. They immediately formed their lines

around the garrison, paraded British colors and demanded the fort to be

surrendered, which was refused. At twelve o'clock at night they rushed

hard upon the pickets, in order to storm but were repulsed. They made

two other attempts to storm before daybreak but to no purpose. About

eight o'clock next morning there came a negro from them to us and

informed us that their force consisted of a British captain and forty

regular soldiers and two hundred and sixty Indians.

The enemy kept up a continual fire the whole day. About ten

o'clock at night they made a fourth attempt to storm to no better pur-

pose than the former.

The enemy continued round the garrison till the morning of the

13th instant when they disappeared. Our loss is none. Daniel Sullivan

who arrived here in the first of the action is wounded in the foot. I be-

lieve they have driven the greatest part of our stock away and might, I

think, be overtaken. I am with due respect,

Your obedient servant,

EBENEZER ZANE.

Addressed, William Irwin, Brigadier General, Commanding at Pitts-

burg."

 

The fort stood at what is now the corner of Main and Elev-

enth streets in Wheeling. The spot is marked by a stone, bear-

ing these words:

"By authority of the State of West Virginia, to commemorate the

siege of Fort Henry, September 11th, 1782, the last battle of the American

Revolution, this tablet is here placed.

S. H. GRAMM,

W. W. JACKSON,

T. M. GARVIN,

G. W. ATKINSON, Governor.                       Committee.

Col. Zane's house stood about sixty yards without the fort.

He himself remained in his own building which was a sort of

 

1History of Upper Ohio Valley.

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Zane's Trace.                        305

 

block house. His three brothers, Silas, Jonathan and Andrew

were within the fort as was also their sister Elizabeth, a young

woman of twenty-three. It was on this occasion that she per-

formed that feat, famous in song and story.

 

"This dauntless pioneer maiden's name

Is inscribed in gold on the scroll of fame.

She was the lassie who knew no fear

When the tomahawk gleamed on the far frontier.

If deeds of daring should win renown,

Let us honor this damsel of Wheeling town,

Who braved the savages with deep disdain,-

Bright-eyed, buxom Elizabeth Zane.

'Tis more than a hundred years ago,

They were close beset by the dusky foe;

They had spent of powder their scanty store,

And who should the gauntlet run for more?

She sprang to the portal and shouted, 'I!

'Tis better a girl than a man should die!

My loss would be but the garrison's gain.

Unbar the gate!' said Elizabeth Zane.

The powder was sixty yards away

Around her the foemen in ambush lay;

As she darted from shelter they gazed with awe

Then wildly shouted, 'A squaw!' 'a squaw!'

She neither swerved to the left or right,

Swift as an antelope's was her flight.

'Quick ! open the door !' she cried amain.

'For a hope forelorn! 'Tis Elizabeth Zane.'

No time had she to waver or wait

Back must she go ere it be too late;

She snatched from the table its cloth in haste

And knotted it deftly around her waist,

Then filled it with powder-never, I ween,

Had powder so lovely a magazine;

Then, scorning the bullets' deadly rain,

Like a startled fawn, fled Elizabeth Zane.

She gained the fort with her precious freight;

Strong hands fastened the oaken gate:

Brave men's eyes were suffused with tears

That had been strangers for many years.

From flint-lock rifles again there sped

20 Vol. XIII.

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'Gainst the skulking red skins a storm of lead.

And the war-whoop sounded that day in vain,

Thanks to the deed of Elizabeth Zane.

Talk not to me of Paul Revere

A man, on horseback, with naught to fear;

Nor of old John Burns with his bell crowned hat-

He'd an army to back him, so what of that?

Here's to the heroine, plump and brown,

Who ran the gauntlet in Wheeling town;

Hers is a record without a stain,-

Beautiful, buxom, Elizabeth Zane."

-John S. Adams in St. Nicholas.

1The heroine of this poem    afterwards lived about two

miles above Wheeling on the Ohio side. She was twice married,

first to Mr. McLaughlin and then to Mr. Clark.   She died in

1847 at St. Clairsville, Belmont County, and is buried in the

Zane burial ground, but no monument marks the spot.²

It is evident that much of Zane's knowledge of the Ohio

country was derived from his brother Jonathan, who it seems

had traveled over a considerable portion of eastern Ohio. In

1785 General Parsons from Massachusetts, afterwards one of

the judges of the territory north of the Ohio, while on an in-

spection tour in the interests of the then proposed Ohio Company,

made a trip up the Muskingum River. At the "Saltlick," Dun-

can's Falls, ten miles below the mouth of the Licking, he met

and conversed with Jonathan Zane about the Ohio Country;

Zane was there making salt.³ Dr. Cutler himself was advised by

Col. Zane to make his proposed settlement on the Muskingum

north of the Licking.

4When Gen. William Crawford led his expedition against

the Sandusky Indians, Jonathan Zane served in the capacity

of scout and guide.  He was invited to a council before the

battle and because of his superior knowledge of Indian prowess

and tactics he advised a retreat. His advice was not acted upon

and the result was fatal to the pioneer army.

1Howe's Historical Collection.

2Wiseman's Pioneers of Fairfield County.

3Hildreth's Pioneer History.

4Wiseman's Pioneers of Fairfield County.

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Zane's Trace.                  307 No better man than Ebenezer Zane could have been found to cut a road through Ohio. His influence in the new settlement, his wealth and his general knowledge of the country made him the logical man to assume the responsibility. His brother Jona-

than was his right hand man in everything he did, and this was a great aid to him in all of his undertakings. The first pioneers to our state settled along the Ohio river. The great interior was still the hunting grounds of the Indian.

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The first decade after the Revolution was not a propitious time

to make settlements too near the frontier border. It was not till

after the decisive victory of Wayne in 1794 that the influx of

settlers began to ascend the streams, to any material extent.

Wheeling was situated where this pioneer army was apt to di-

verge from the established water route.

Knowing the land as well as he did, it was natural that Col.

Zane should advise people to settle upon the Muskingum.

Neither does it take such a great stretch of the imagination to

see how he might conceive the blazing of a trail, and the cutting

of a road to reach these new lands. A road starting from his

town would make it an important factor in the development of

the Ohio country.

There was another thing in his favor. There might be an-

other outbreak of the Indians. Governor St. Clair had officially

reported to Congress concerning the absence of roads and pointed

out their importance in the moving of troops.

Col. Zane had already blazed a trail from Pittsburg to

Wheeling and its value to the new settlers only made him more

sanguine regarding a road connectiong the Ohio with the Ohio

and running through what was then the garden spot of the state.

It was early in 1796 that Ebenezer Zane presented a me-

morial to Congress stating his plans. On Friday, March 25th

of that year.1

"Mr. Brown (Kentucky) presented the memorial of Ebenezer Zane

praying liberty to locate such military bounty lands, lying at the cross-

ings of certain rivers, mentioned in the said memorial as may be neces-

sary to enable to establish ferries and open a road through the territory

Northwest of the Ohio to the state of Kentucky, which memorial was

read.

"Ordered that it be referred to Messrs Brown, Ross and Livermore

to consider and report thereon to the Senate."

Wednesday, April 6th, 1796.

The Committee to which was referred the petition of Ebene-

zer Zane states:

"That the petitioner sets forth that he hath at considerable ex-

pense, explored and in part opened a road, northwest of the river Ohio,

between Wheeling and Limestone, which when completed will greatly

1 History of Congress.

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Zane's Trace.                         309

 

contribute to the accommodation of the public as well as individuals. But

that several rivers intervening, the road proposed cannot be used with

safety until ferries shall be established thereon.

"That the petitioner will engage to have such ferries erected pro-

vided he can obtain a right to the land which is now the property of

the United States. And therefore prays that he may be authorized to

locate and survey-at his own expense-military bounty warrants upon

as much land at Muskingum, Hockhocking and Scioto Rivers as may be

sufficient to support the necessary establishments. And that the same be

granted to him by the United States.

"That they having received satisfactory support of the above state-

ment are of opinion that the proposed road will be of general utility,

that the petitioner merits encouragement and that his petition being

reasonable, ought to be granted.

"The committee therefore submit the following resolution:

"Resolved, That the petition of Ebenezer Zane is reasonable; that

he be authorized to locate warrants granted by the U. S. for military

services upon three tracts of land, not exceeding one mile square each,

at Muskingum, Hock-hocking and Scioto where the proposed road shall

cross those rivers, for the purpose of establishing ferries thereon: and

that leave be given to bring in a bill for that purpose.

"On motion it was agreed that this report be adopted and that the

committee who were appointed on the petition be instructed to bring in

a bill accordingly.

"Mr. Brown from the Committee instructed for the purpose reported

a bill to authorize Ebenezer Zane to locate certain lands in the territory

northwest of the river Ohio, which was read and ordered to a second

reading Thursday, April 7th, 1786.

"The bill to authorize Ebenezer Zane to locate certain lands in the

territory of the United States, northwest of the river Ohio, was con-

sidered:

"Ordered, That the second reading of this bill be the order of the

day Monday next.

(Nothing seems to have been done that day.)

Wednesday, April 13th, 1796.

"The bill to authorize Ebenezer Zane to locate certain lands in

the territory of the United States, northwest of the river Ohio, was read

the second time and referred to the Committee appointed on the 8th

instant, on the bill entitled, 'An act providing for the sale of lands of the

United States in the territory northwest of the river Ohio and above

the mouth of the Kentucky River' to consider and report thereon to the

Senate.

Wednesday, April 27th, 1796.

"Mr. Ross from the committee to whom was referred the bill 'to

authorize Ebenezer Zane to locate certain lands in the territory of the

United States Northwest of the river Ohio' reported amendments thereto

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310        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

which were read and adopted and the bill was ordered to a third read-

ing.

Thursday, April 28th, 1798.

"The bill to authorize Ebenezer Zane to locate certain lands in the

territory northwest of the river Ohio was read the third time and being

further amended was passed.

"An act to authorize Ebenezer Zane to locate certain lands in the

territory of the United States, northwest of the river Ohio.

"Be it enacted, etc. That upon the conditions hereinafter men-

tioned, there shall be granted to Ebenezer Zane three tracts of land, not

exceeding one mile square each, one on the Muskingum River, one on the

Hock-hocking River and one other on the north bank of the Scioto River

and in such situations as shall best promote the utility of a road to be

opened by him on the most eligible route, between Wheeling and Lime-

stone, to be approved by the President of the United States or by such

person as he shall appoint for such purpose.

"Provided such tracts shall not interfere with any existing claim,

location or survey nor include any salt spring, nor the lands on either

side of the Hock-hocking River at the falls thereof.

"Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That upon the said Zane's pro-

curing at his own expense the said tracts to be surveyed in such way

and manner as the President of the United States shall approve and

returning into the Treasury of the United States plats thereof, together

with warrants granted by the United States for Military land bounties

to the amount of the number of acres contained in the said three tracts;

and also producing satisfactory proof by the first day of January next

that the aforesaid road is opened and ferries established upon the rivers

aforesaid, for the accommodation of travelers and giving security that

such ferries shall be maintained during the pleasure of Congress, the

President of the United States shall be and hereby is authorized and

empowered to issue letters patent in the name and under the seal of the

United States, thereby granting and conveying to the said Zane and his

heirs the said tracts of land located and surveyed as aforesaid; which

patents shall be countersigned by the Secretary of State and recorded

in his office.

"Provided always, That the rates of ferriage at such ferries shall

from time to time be ascertained by any two of the judges of the territory

Northwest of the river Ohio, or such other authority as shall be ap-

pointed for that purpose.

Thursday, April 28th, 1796.

"A bill was received from the Senate authorizing Ebenezer Zane

to locate certain lands northwest of the river Ohio which was read and

referred.

May 2d, 1796.

"Mr. Orr, Chairman of the Committee to whom was referred the

bill from the Senate authorizing Ebenezer Zane to locate certain lands

• 16
 

Zane's Trace.                      311   northwest of the river Ohio, reported the bill without amendment. Re- ferred to a committee of the whole. Wednesday, May 11th, 1796. "The bill authorizing Ebenezer Zane to locate certain lands in the Northwestern Territory was read a third time and passed." Approved, May 17th, 1796. If Col. Zane could not have accomplished the work he did without the help of his brother Jonathan, it is equally certain that he would have done much less had he not been assisted by his son-in-law John McIntire, who now appears as a factor in the achievements of Ebenezer Zane.

Born of Scotch parentage in Alexandria, Virginia, 1759, John McIntire came to Wheeling in the capacity of a shoemaker. Possessed of a handsome figure and much native ability and address, he succeeded in winning the affections of Sarah Zane, the second daughter of the Wheeling proprietor. She was at this time but fifteen years of age and over twenty years younger than her gallant admirer. The old adage of "true love running not smooth," was verified in this case to an ultimate certainty. For Col. Zane and his wife opposed the match with great vehe- mence. But the result is the same old story. They were married in spite of parental objection. During the wedding festivities, the father-in-law absented himself, by taking a hunting trip. The lWiseman's Pioneers Fairfield County.

• 17
 

312       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

mother-in-law used her slipper over the shoulders of her daughter

to show her disapproval.

It is said that sometime after the marriage Col. Zane in pass-

ing the cabin of McIntire saw his daughter chopping wood. He

did not hesitate to remind her that if she had stayed at home

she would not have had to do such manual labor. But everything

was righted before long and McIntire became a favorite of Mr.

Zane. Now that he had the contract to cut a road through the

Ohio woods, it was but natural that he should leave the real

work to this son-in-law and his brother Jonathan.

The experience of Jonathan Zane stood him well in hand,

in the laying out of the road. The route determined upon was

the result of his advice.

However Jonathan Zane was not the originator of the route,

in its entirety, for the Indian had gone over practically the same

ground, that the Trace afterward covered. The work of blazing

trees and cutting out small undergrowth and removing fallen

timber began in the summer of 1796.1

2 The party consisted of Jonathan Zane, John McIntire,

John Green, William McCulloch, Ebenezer Ryan and several

others whose names are not known.

John Green had charge of the pack horses, that carried the

tent and provisions. Being also a boot and shoemaker and not

used to handling the ax, he was selected to kill game of which

there was an abundance. He was also the cook and general ser-

vice man of the party. At night a fire was built to keep away

beasts of prey and two men were kept on watch for fear that a

straggling party of Indians might attack them. But there was

no need of this precaution for the spirit of the Ohio Indian had

been broken by Mad Anthony two years before at Fallen Timbers

and the chances for attack were remote.

The route of Zane's trace followed Wheeling Creek for about

seven miles, where it climbed the hill and struck the ridge be-

 

1The marking was done with axes; and as far as can be learned

now, it was never surveyed, or any part of it returned to Congress or the

land office. No report of it was made or can be found in the general

land office.                     CAPT. NELSON W. EVANS.

Portsmouth, Ohio.

Archives of Muskingum Pioneer Society.

• 18
 

Zane's Trace.                    313

 

tween Wheeling Creek and McMahon's Creek. Since the Na-

tional Road from Wheeling to Zanesville is located approximately

upon Zane's Trace, we deem it proper to describe its route in

reference to this road.

1 The "Trace" from St. Clairsville, Belmont County followed

the ridge and crossed Big and Little Still Water Creeks, gradu-

ally climbed along the side of the hill to Morristown. From

Morristown it went north of the National Road and also north

of Henrysburg, passed over the ridge at Fairview, Guernsey

County, crossing the National Road at this place and kept south

of the Pike following Putney Ridge which divides Leatherwood

and Salt Creek tributaries of Will's Creek, till about three miles

east of Washington, which is the oldest town in Guernsey

County.

Following the divide to this town it passed through it, at

an angle to the present street.²

Crossing the National Road here it kept on the north side

for five miles, when it crossed to the south again, about three

miles east of Cambridge and just east of the Crooked Stone

Bridge. For a very short distance it continued south of the

road, but crossed again to the north at Stone Bridge, crossing

Cook's Run. The house standing above the bridge is on the

"Trace," Old Wheeling Road and National Road, but by means

of a "cut" is somewhat elevated. From here it practically fol-

lows the National Road with only a divergence of a few rods

until within one and a half miles east of Cambridge. At this

point it veers to the north of the Pike, and follows the ridge just

north of Wheeling street in Cambridge¹ and just a little north

of Steubenville Avenue of the present city.

It crossed Will's Creek at a point above where the Baltimore

and Ohio Railway Bridge is now situated. Later the crossing

was changed to the east opposite the Marietta Depot. Here a

ferry was maintained and later a rude log bridge was built by

General Biggs who owned the land upon which the city of Cam-

1Sarchett.

2 (See old street back of the present one.)

1The first tavern in Cambridge called the Bridge House Tavern was

situated on the Trace.

• 19
 

314        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

bridge is built.  Persons crossing this bridge were required to

pay toll. The general afterward sold the bridge to Beatty and

Gambier who laid out the city.    In the sale the right to cross

the bridge free from toll was reserved by the seller to himself

and his descendants forever.

From Will's Creek the Trace crossed Crooked Creek Bot-

tom,² then the National Road where the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-

way now interescts it, and then continued north of the Pike till

about five miles west of Cambridge and a little west of Cassel

station, where it strikes the road again. Just before striking the

Pike is the residence of Judge Speer. This is situated on the

"Trace" and here the judge kept a tavern. About a mile west

was another public house known as the Grummond Tavern. Here

the "Trace" again crossed the National Road and continued on

the south side of it till it reached New Concord.

3 It was at first determined to run the "Trace" along the li

of the old "Mingo Indian Trail" from Cambridge. This would

 

2At Crooked Creek, Mr. Sarchett says that the trace went between

two oak trees, so close together that they were almost cut off by wagon

hubs.

3When Ebenezer Zane in 1797 surveyed his road, he passed through

the territory now known as Union township (Muskingum County), and

opened up a highway in the wilderness along which the tide of emigration

passed.

"Old Wheeling Road surveyed by Zane entered Union Township

(Muskingum County), in Township 1, "Military Lands, on S. E. of Sec.

10, and passed in Range Six, now Perry Township in the N. E. 1/4 of

Sec. 16."

"In 1827, the National Road was surveyed. It entered the township

(Union), in S. E. 1/4 of Sec. 1, and passed out on the N. W. 1/4 of Sec. 15.

The Wheeling Road (Zane's Trace), was then abandoned."

"After the Cumberland Road had been established the travel over

Zane's Trace was diverted toward Columbus."

"So they started from the Schaffer Meeting House in a south west

course until they came out by the Evans and Irwin place on the National

Road, then to Mill Run, up Mill Run hill south, then nearly due

west, then down the steep hill, where the machine house now stands,

known as the Cochran Hill. Then they crossed over to Sullivan street

between Dr. Brown's late residence and the German Catholic Church;

down Main street to the foot, crossed the Muskingum, south of Licking

• 20
 

Zane's Trace.                      315

 

have made the crossing of the Muskingum at Duncan's Falls,

ten miles below Zanesville. But the superior water power at

the mouth of the Licking caused Jonathan Zane to leave the

"Trail" when he reached Salt Creek and instead of following

the "Trail" along that creek he made a direct line for the Lick-

ing. He now crossed to the north of the National Road till they

reached the Shaffer Meeting House, three miles east of Zanes-

ville on the Adamsville Road. From here they intended going

down Mill Run near the Indian trail, then cross Mill Run near

the Iron bridge by the old blast furnace, go south to the head of

Layhew's hollow, then southwest to the foot of Market Street in

Zanesville. Finding that the proposed town could not be laid

off to advantage, this idea was abandoned.

¹A survey of December 14th, 1798 of Zanesville Mile Square

shows the line of the "Trace" for a few miles east of Muskin-

gum River. This indicates that it crossed the east line of Sec.

7, Township 12, Range 12 about one-third mile south from N. E.

corner of said section. Ran northwest across sections 7, 1 and 5

and interesected the south line of United States Military Land

just east of Zane's Mile Square, crossed the river within said

Mile Square and ran from the branch of the Licking or Pataskala

Creek at its mouth, S.W. and then south, again southwest cross-

ing Sections 1, 2, 11 and 14 in Township 16, Range 13. It

crossed the south line of Sec. 14 about one-third mile from S. W.

corner of said section.  From   this point to where it reached

 

Island over Chap's Run; then south east of the stone quarry; through

the Springer farm and then south along the Maysville Pike."

"The old Indian Trail³ crossed the (Muskingum) river at the foot

of Market street at the head of the upper falls near where the old dam

was built. Then into West Zanesville over Licking Island into South

Zanesville; up Chap's run; through the Fair Grounds to the Maysville

Pike. This Indian Trail went from Wheeling, through Zanesville to

Chillicothe and the Ohio River. It was a well beaten path, several inches

deep.² I have seen it many times as it went through my father's farm

in Washington Township," (Muskingum County.)

Judge Munson.

Zane's Trace did not follow an Indian Trail at least east of the

Muskingum.                                          HULBERT.

2 Writer in old Zanesville paper.

• 21
 

316        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

the Perry² County line it followed approximately what is now

known as the Maysville Pike, through the towns of White Cot-

tage and Fultonham.

It entered Perry county in Section 22, Madison Township,

crossed the Pike several times, then took an almost westerly

course, leaving Somerset¹ a mile and a half to the south. Upon

striking the waters of Rush Creek they went south along the

ridge east of the Creek until they struck the Pike again just east

of Rushville⁵ in Fairfield County. From here⁶ to Lancaster the

Indian trail leading from  the Muskingum     Valley by the great

Swamp and Standing Rock to the Pickaway Plains was the

general route followed.   The Maysville Pike is nearly on that

path.

In Lancaster it is pretty well established that the "Trace"

followed Wheeling street as far as Columbus street, where it

diverged to the south and crossed the Hocking at Coate's cabin,

where there was a ripple or ford about three hundred yards be-

low the turnpike bridge.

From Lancaster to Chillicothe⁴ with but a few variations,

Zane's trace and the Maysville Pike are identical. The route

is almost directly southwest, passing through the famous Picka-

way Plains.

 

2"A road was cut in 1805 from Putnam to intersect Zane's Trace in

Perry County. It passed diagonally through the township (Newton),

from north-east to southwest." The Indians used the Zane's Trail which

is a little south of this."-Old writer.

1Zane's Trace passed School House No. 14 in Reading township,

Perry County.

5"It (Zane's Trace), passed through the present villages of East

and West Rushville. Edward Murphy kept a hotel near this road a short

distance from West Rushville. Among the many distinguished guests

who partook of the bounties of this hotel at various times were General

Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay. The old hotel, now a rather dilapidated

structure is still standing (1883)."-History Fairfield County.

6"The first road in Pleasant Township (Fairfield County), was the

one leading from Wheeling to Maysville, known as Zane's Trace. It

crossed the southern part of the township."

4"A post-office was established at Chillicothe in 1799. The mail was

brought from the east by Zane's Trace and from the west by Todd's."

• 22
 

Zane's Trace.                       317

 

2 From Chillicothe it followed Paint Creek to the point where

it bends to the northwest, four or five miles southwest of the

city.  Continuing in a southwesterly direction till just after it

crosses Black Run where it intersects Todd's Trace up Morgan's

Fork of Sun Fish Creek.¹ The remainder of the route to Mays-

ville is virtually the same as that over which Todd's army crossed

 

2Dawley's Map of Virginia Military District.

1 In June, 1787, Colonel Robert Todd led a party of mounted men,

about three hundred in number, on an expedition against the Indians

at Old Chillicothe. The expedition originated with Simon Kenton. He

was then at Washington, Kentucky, about three miles back of Maysville.

The Indians were quite troublesome. They would make raids, steal

horses and sometimes murder the settlers. Kenton sent word to Col.

Robert Todd at Lexington, to bring as many men as he could, and he

would bring a number and they would join forces and destroy the In-

dian towns on the north fork of Paint Creek. Kenton commanded a com-

pany and piloted the expedition, but Col. Robert Todd had the command.

The party crossed the Ohio at the mouth of Threemile Creek early

in the morning and followed it to near where Bentonville now stands.

It passed south of the site of West Union, and struck Lick Fork and fol-

lowed it to its mouth, where it camped on the west side of Brush Creek.

The next day the expedition divided and a part, that part under Kenton

went up Brush Creek to the site of Fristoe Bridge, crossed Brush Creek

and went along the route of the present turnpike to Sinking Springs and

thence to Cynthiana, Pike County, where they camped the second night.

The right wing, under Col. Todd crossed the creek at the site of the Iron

Bridge, and went up the old Chillicothe road to Steam Furnace, to

near Cynthiana, where the forces joined. From there they went by way

of Bainbridge to within three miles of Old Chillicothe, where they

camped the third night out. About five miles from Old Chillicothe, the

advance guard met four Indians, two of whom they killed and the re-

maining two they captured. Kenton's company then advanced to recon-

noiter, and sent word back to Col. Todd. Kenton's party surrounded the

Indian camp but attacked before it was light enough. Two Indians were

killed and seven made prisoners. The remainder escaped. Col. Todd

with the force under his immediate command, did not arrive in time to

participate in the attack. The town was burned and all the crops de-

stroyed. The army encamped on the north fork of Paint Creek the night

after the attack and the next day started for their homes. Where they

camped on their return is not known, but they took the route of the left

wing in returning. From the Ohio River to Frankfort in Ross County,

the entire route was a virgin wilderness. The party had to and did cut

out a road for themselves, their horses and pack horses, all the way from

the Ohio River to Frankfort. The route from the Ohio River to Old

• 23
 

318        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

ten years earlier, with the exception from Locust Grove to a

point opposite Sinking Springs, Highland County.³.

Between these two places the "Trace" passed through Sink-

ing Springs, over the Todd War Road, and crossed Brush Creek,

(the route of Christopher Gist, 1750,) at Dunbarton in Adams

County.

It paralleled Brush Creek and one of its southwestern tribu-

taries till it reached the junction of the two streams forming the

Big Three Mile Creek which it followed to the Ohio River oppo-

site Maysville or Limestone.1

 

Chillicothe by the route of the right wing was afterwards called Todd's

Trace. That part of the route taken by the left wing from the mouth of

Lick Fork by the Fristoe Bridge to Cynthiana was called Todd's War

Road, and the name of that route, "Todd's War Road," was given it by

Gen. Simon Kenton. * * * * After Zane's Trace was laid out in

1797, Todd's Trace was forgotten except as used in surveys made be-

tween 1787 and 1797, but the route of Todd's War Road was the one used

by the stages from the time they began to run."-N. W. Evans, Ports-

mouth, Ohio.

3"So far as the Trace went through Adams County, it followed

the general course of Todd's Trace, except between Bentonville and West

Union, where it was located further north and east; and at the crossing

of Brush Creek, it went up by Steam Furnace. The first settlers in it

were John Treber and Andrew Ellison, who located on it in the spring

of 1798 on Lick Fork. These two locations are the earliest known on

the line of the Trace in Adams County. They are supposed to have set-

tled there in order to kill plenty of game.

Zane's Trace was the usual route from Maysville, Kentucky to Chil-

licothe, Ohio, from 1797 until about 1820. When first opened, it only

afforded a passway for persons on horseback and packhorses. The first

man to ever pass over with a team was William Craig, who drove a

wagon and a team of horses through from Maysville to Chillicothe. This

was in 1798, and he had to cut his way through for the whole distance."-

Nelson W. Evans.

"The Maysville and Zanesville turnpike was constructed along the

general route of the old post road over Zane's Trace passing through

Bradyville, Bentonville, West Union, Dunkinsville, Dunbarton, Palestine,

Locust Grove and Sinking Springs."- History Adams County, (Evans).

1"Zane's Trace commenced opposite Maysville, came up through

Adams county to the ridge in Sun Fish township, along which it continued

till it reached Byington; thence down Sun Fish Creek to Big Spring;

thence up Kincaid's Fork to Lunbeck's Hill and along that ridge in an

• 24
 

Zane's Trace.                   319   The "Trace" was not completed within the time specified in the Congressional Act. It could hardly be expected when we consider that it covered a distance of something over two hundred miles. While the road was a mere indicator of direction and it followed the ridges where the undergrowth was scantier, yet

there were many obstacles to overcome and it was not till well into the summer of 1797 that it was finished. It is said that John McIntire met with quite a severe acci- dent on the route between Zanesville and Limestone. While load- ing his gun the stock slipped off a root and the contents went through his right hand crippling it for life.   easterly direction till it passed Mr. Gaull's, in Perry township (Pike county); thence down Paint Valley to Chillicothe or Indian Old Town." - History of lower Scioto Valley.

• 25
 

320       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

²This "Trace" only a bridle path as made by Zane soon be-

gan to be used. At wet crossings saplings known as "corduroys"

were laid. The flood of immigration from tide water poured

through this narrow sluice and gradually widened it. It was for

years the only thoroughfare east or west. It was so constantly

used that at times and places it was worn into ruts so deep that

a horse could have been buried in some of them. Travelers soon

learned to go round these places. It is said that before the road

was accepted Zane was required to drive a wagon over it. We

doubt this and place it along side of the other traditionary state-

ments that grow up around historical events. It has been fur-

ther stated that when he attempted to go over his "Trace" with

the wagon it could not be done.

Pack horses were driven in lines of ten and twelve. They

were tied together so that one driver could handle them all.

Each animal carried about 200 pounds. A large forked limb was

obtained and was cut off just below the fork and then each limb

was cut off about six inches from the crotch and trimmed down to

the required dimensions to accommodate the load to be carried

upon it. Then a flat smooth board was strapped on the horses'

back with a sheep skin pad under it. The art of making pack

saddles became quite a backwoods industry.

As settlements grew up along the line of the Trace improve-

ments were quickly made in the route and in the condition of

the road.

The "Trace" evaded the marshy bottom lands. Neither did

it go around the hills, for digging would have to be done, but it

climbed the hills, often in seemingly inaccessible places. But it

formed the nucleus of the only highway for forty years, along

which passed the trade and commerce of the country.

1The eastern part of this blazed trail as has been intimated

was along the route of an old Indian thoroughfare. Before

Zane had been employed, the white settler and trader had passed

along this bloody path, the scene of many hairbreadth escapes

and thrilling adventures, the memory of which still lingers in

the traditions of the people, because from father to son is told

2Drake's Making of Ohio Valley States.

1 History of Upper Ohio Valley.

• 26
 

Zane's Trace.                    321 again and again, before the fireside, the achievements of the "Heroes of the Forest." "Zane's Trace" might be rightfully considered as the first declaration of the principle of "Internal Improvements."  It is true Ohio was not yet a state. The National Government was still the sole power of authority. Possibly a few years later the project would have been opposed by politicians who read dire calamity in "internal improvements."

The route of the "Trace" determined the location of the home of the pioneer. The settler's cabin soon evolved into the tavern and the tavern soon became the center of a cluster of houses and a town had been born. At the crossing of a stream a ferry might be maintained. The ferryman might also be the proprietor of a public house. A small stock of goods could be kept for sale and there we have the germ of another town.

• 27
 

322        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

The first home within the boundary of Perry Township,

Muskingum County, was by James Brown who came from Water-

ford, Washington County, in 1803, built a cabin and opened

hotel where Zane's Trace crossed Big Salt Creek.²

In 1804 Andrew Crooks opened a wagon road along the

Trace from Zanesville to where it crossed Jonathan's Creek 1 in

Newton Township and opened a public house that for many

years was known as Crooks' Tavern.

In 1804 Thomas Warren following the Trace located in

Section 13, Union Township, Muskingum        County, and opened

his house for the accommodation of the traveling public. This

was the pioneer tavern of the township and was known as the

"Few Tavern."

Caleb Evans the first settler in Pickaway County, came over

the Trace from Kentucky.

The first settlement in Highland County was about half a

mile north of Sinking Springs on Zane's or rather Todd's Trace.4

 

2 "This road, also called Old Wheeling Road, entered this township

on Section 20 and passed out near southwest corner. Along this road first

settlements were made." - Old Writer.

1 Tradition has it that Jonathan's Creek was named after Jonathan

Zane, who at one time was lost, and camped for the night at its mouth.

This is pretty much of a guess.

4 "The earliest tavern" in Adams county was kept by James January

on Zane's Trace in the valley just to the west of where West Union now

stands. In 1798 John Trebar opened a public house on Lick Fork. In

1801 Mr. Wickerham was licensed for "four dollars a year" to keep this

tavern. It was at Palestine, between Locust Grove and Peebles. The

old brick tavern, the first of the kind in the county (Adams) is still

standing."- History of Adams County (Evans).

"Ellis Road was that portion of Zane's Trace which Nathan Ellis

had improved at his own expense from his ferry opposite Limestone, to

John Sheppard's on Ohio Brush Creek, now known as Fristoes."- Id.

"The first public road surveyed and established in Adams County was

the old Post Road over that portion of Zane's Trace from opposite Lime-

stone or Maysville on the Ohio River, to the north line of the county,

near Sinking Springs." - Id.

"Zane's Road was so 'straightened and amended' as to lose its iden-

tity within a few years after the trace was blazed through Adams County.

This accounts for the many conflicting claims as to its original loca-

tion." - Id.

• 28
 

Zane's Trace.                      323

 

The pioneers of Fairfield county came first from Kentucky

and then from Virginia and Pennsylvania by way of the

"Trace." 3

In 1798 a Mr. Graham located upon the site of Cambridge,

Guernsey County. At this time his was the only dwelling be-

tween Wheeling and Zanesville. He kept a tavern and main-

tained a ferry over Will's Creek. After two years he was suc-

ceeded by George Beymer of Somerset, Pennsylvania.

Thomas Sarchett settled at Cambridge in August, 1806. He

came over the Trace and it took him two days to climb the hill

from  Wheeling Creek to the top of the hill at St. Clairsville.

He had three wagons purchased at Baltimore.

St. Clairsville was formerly called Newelsville because Newel

built a tavern here. It took Mr. Sarchett from Tuesday till

Saturday night to go the forty miles from St. Clairsville, to

Cambridge.

The patent transferring the three mile tracts to Ebenezer

Zane was not made by President John Adams until February

₁₄th, 1800. But the survey of the Muskingum tract was made

by the order of Rufus Putnam in October, 1797.

Col. Zane gave this tract to his brother Jonathan and his

son-in-law McIntire for their services in opening 1 the "Trace."

The deed transferring the same was signed by Ebenezer

Zane and Elizabeth Zane, his wife, on the 1₉th of December,

1800, for the consideration of one hundred dollars.

Jonathan Zane and McIntire in turn, leased it to William

McCullough² and Henry Crooks for five years on condition that

 

3 In the spring of 1798 Captain Joseph Hunter, a bold and enter-

prising man, with his family, emigrated from Kentucky and settled on

Zane's Tract, upon the bank of the prairie west of the crossings, and

about one hundred and fifty yards north of the present turnpike road.

This was the commencement of the first settlement in the upper Hocking

Valley."- Sanderson's History of Fairfield County.

1The statement that Col. Zane gave the Muskingum tract to his

brother and son-in-law because "it was hilly," might seem to impute a

selfish motive to Col. Zane. Jonathan Zane and McIntire both knew that

the Zanesville tract was the more valuable, and no doubt Col. Zane knew

it also.

2 In 1798 mail was brought from Marietta to Zanesville to meet

mail on Maysville and Wheeling route. McCulloch could hardly read,

• 29
 

324        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

they move their families and provide a ferry. In the fall of 179₇

they arrived and thus became the first settlers at Zanesville.

The ferry boat at first consisted of canoes lashed together. After

the arrival of McIntire, himself, two years later the flat boat in

which he had moved his household goods from     Wheeling down

the Ohio and up the Muskingum, served in that capacity.

Mrs. McCulloch was a niece of Ebenezer Zane, while her

husband was a nephew of Col. Zane's wife. Her father was the

celebrated Isaac Zane1 while her mother was the daughter of a

chief of the Wyandottes.

On May 7th, 1798, was born to Mr. and Mrs. McCulloch, a

son, who was named Noah Zane McCulloch and who was the

first white (?) child born on the banks of the Muskingum and

Licking Rivers.

In the autumn of 1799, McIntire came to Zanesville.        A

few Virginia families soon joined. At the corner of Market and

Second streets. where the Pennsylvania Depot now stands, he

built a double log cabin with a passage between the parts. It

stood a few rods from the banks of the river within a grove of

maple trees.

 

but he assorted mail for $30 a year. The mail from Limestone and Wheel-

ing met weekly at Zanesville. Daniel Converse was the first man to

carry the mail from  Marietta to Zanesville. Mr. Converse afterward

acted as executor of the McIntire will.

1 Isaac Zane, the youngest of the Zane brothers, was born in 1753.

At the age of nine years he was captured by the Wyandots and lived

with them upon the Sandusky for seventeen years. He was afterwards

released, and in 1785 was guide and hunter to Richard Butler, one of the

Commissioners to treat with the Indians. For this service he was re-

warded by Congress in 1795 with a tract of 1800 acres situated on Mad

river in Logan county. The town of Zanesfield and the township of Zane

serve to preserve his memory.

On June 21st, 1803, he was elected as one of the first trustees in

Jefferson township, Logan county.

He died in 1816, and is buried near Zanesfield.

(Partially adapted from Wiseman's Pioneers of Fairfield County).

NOTE.- An Isaac Zane represented Frederick county, Virginia, in the

Revolutionary conventions of 1775 and 1776.--Mag. Am. History. If

the foregoing story of the capture by Indians is true, evidently there

were two Isaac Zanes.

• 30
 

Zane's Trace.                   325   This humble home became the first hostelry of Zanesville and McIntire's Tavern was known from tide-water to the lakes. McIntire with his own hands cut the logs, shaped saplings into rafters1 split scantling for door and window frames. The win- dow glass was brought from Wheeling. Mrs. McIntire soon joined her husband and brought with her the side-board and "chest of drawers" still to be seen in the McIntire Children's Home. This furniture was made by her brother-in-law John Burkhart, a cabinet maker of Wheeling. Mrs. McIntire was born in Wheeling, February 22nd, 1773. She was a resolute woman, as has been indicated in recounting

her marriage to John McIntire. Standing in her door one day looking over the ford at the head of big falls, she saw two In- dians, one a great tall fellow carrying bow and arrows, the other a squaw, a small woman, carrying a papoose and cooking uten- sils, struggling along with difficulty, against the current as they waded across. The sight made her angry and when the Indian came up and asked for something to eat, she used a stick upon   1 One of these rafters is now a part of the finishing wood in a room of the McIntire Childrens' Home at Zanesville.

• 31
 

326       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

him and said, "Begone, you lazy dog." With an "Ugh" he went

away. Then she gave the squaw and child a hearty meal.

It was a fortunate day for the bachelor John McIntire when

he married Sarah Zane. Her will power and her high ideals

served as a balance wheel to her husband. As a hostess her

fame was widely known and her hospitality was dealt with a

lavish hand. In 1802 Louis Philippe, the French exile, lodged

in this humble inn, where he was much impressed with "mine

host and hostess." When he became King of France he often

recurred to this event and inquired of an American traveler con-

cerning Mr. and Mrs. McIntire.²

She was charitable in every sense of the word. Having no

children of her own, she, during her life, adopted no less than

twelve into her family. These she provided for and educated.

Among them was Amelia, the illegitimate child of her husband.

After the death of Mr. McIntire she married in 1816, Rev.

David Young, a Methodist minister. She died in 1854, thirty-

nine years after her first husband. From her private resources

she built the Second street and South street Methodist churches

in Zanesville. Her portrait hangs beside that of her husband

in the McIntire Children's Home.

A short time before her death she gave to her faithful colored

servant, Silas Johnson, the McIntire family Bible.

Zanesville was formally laid out by Jonathan Zane and John

McIntire, April 28th, 1802. The town as laid out then extended

from North street east to Seventh street.

McIntire established a ferry where the "Y" bridge now

stands. He made a mistake in exacting a tariff from immi-

grants and fishermen, who passed along the stream, but upon

discovering his error he abandoned it. But on January 23, 1802,

2 Lewis Cass, referring to this incident in his book, says: "At Zanes-

ville the party found the comfortable cabin of Mr. McIntire, whose name

has been preserved in the King's memory and whose home was a favorite

place of rest and refreshment for all travelers, who at this early period

were compelled to traverse that part of the country. And if these pages

should chance to meet the eyes of any of those, who, like the writer, have

passed many a pleasant hour under the roof of this uneducated but truly

worthy and respectable man, he trusts they will unite in this tribute to

his memory." - Wiseman's Pioneers of Fairfield County.

• 32
 

Zane's Trace.                   327

 

the Second Territorial Legislature authorized Jonathan Zane, et

al., to erect a toll bridge where the "Y" bridge now is.

In the first Constitutional Convention, he was a delegate and

signed the organic laws for Ohio's statehood. From this time

till his death he was the leading citizen of Zanesville. As a

public benefactor that city has yet just cause not to forget.

In the will of John McIntire, dated March 18, 1815, pro-

vision is made that in the event of his daughter leaving no heirs,

that his estate after the death of his wife shall be "for the use

and support of a poor school which they are to establish in the

town of Zanesville for the use of poor children in said town."

In 1855 the public schools of Zanesville had become so well

established that there were no longer poor children, education-

ally speaking, in it. The present John McIntire Children's

Home is now the beneficiary of the will. The estate, which has

been judiciously administered, was worth on May 15, 1902,

$282,347.25.

1The Zanesville Athaeneum, the only public library in that

city, receives a large share of its revenue from the McIntire estate.

The John McIntire Sewing School is also supported by the

same means.

The John McIntire Children's Home is the best monument

its founder could have. Situated on a beautiful hill overlooking

the city, which he founded, this refuge for poor children is a

living testimony of the beneficence of the man who sleeps be-

neath its shadow.

In the making of Ohio, John McIntire occupied no mediocre

position and we doubt if any other pioneer in the state has suc-

ceeded in continuing his good offices so long after his de-

parture. Much of the McIntire furniture is in the Children's

Home. The old sideboard and chest of drawers of antique pat-

tern, are of especial interest. A sampler made by the daughter,

Amelia McIntire, and showing her handiwork, is also there. The

pictures of John McIntire and wife hang on the walls of the re-

ception room.

1 On June 1, 1904, the Zanesville Athaeneum was transferred to the

Board of Education.

• 33
 

328      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   John and Noah Zane laid out Lancaster in 1799 and com- menced the sale of lots. They had the power of attorney and made the deeds. Ebenezer Zane himself was never in Lan- caster. Before Lancaster was laid out, travelers who passed along Zane's Trace called the spot "the place where they crossed the Hockhocking near the Standing Stone." In 1799 a postoffice was established. The mail was car- ried once a week each way. Samuel Coates, Sr., was postmaster. General Sanderson, the Fairfield County historian, then a lad,

was post-boy between Chillicothe and Zanesville. There were not half a dozen cabins on the whole route. Maple street, Lancaster, is on the east line of the original Zane section. The north line is now the alley just north of the German Lutheran Church. The south line is now a part of the south line of the Mithoff farm. The west line starts at a point in the south line near the sugar-grove on the Mithoff farm, returning thence north.   "Article of agreement made and entered into by and between Eben- ezer Zane, of Ohio County, Va., and the purchasers of lots in the town

• 34
 

Zane's Trace.                       329

 

of Lancaster, county of Fairfield, territory northwest of the Ohio River,

now for sale in lots, on the east side of the Hockhocking River, by Eben-

ezer Zane.

Section 1. The lots to be numbered in squares beginning with the

northwest corner of the town, and then alternating from north to south,

and from south to north, agreeable to the general draft of the town.

Section 2. One-fourth of the purchase money will be required two

weeks from the date of this article. The residue of three-fourths will be

required on or before 14th of November, 1802. To be approved by secured

notes bearing lawful interest from the 14th day of November, 1800.

Section 3. Square No. 16, including five lots in the southeast cor-

ner of the town, was thereafter to be held in trust, for the use of a grave-

yard, erection of a school house, a house of worship, and such other build-

ings as may be found necessary. All of which are to be under the direc-

tion of the trustees for the time being. Also four lots at the intersection

of the two main streets running east and west and north and south, known

by appellation of the Center Square, are given for the purpose of erecting

public buildings not heretofore specified.

Section 4. Possession will be given immediately to purchasers com-

plying with Section 2 of this Article. When fully complied with the said

Ebenezer Zane and his heirs, bind themselves to make a deed to the pur-

chasers, their heirs and assigns. If the terms be not fully complied with

the lots shall be considered forfeited and returned again to the original

holder.

Section 5. For the convenience of the town, one-fourth part of an

acre, lying west of lot No. 2 in the square No. 3, including two springs,

will be, and are hereby given for the use of its inhabitants, as the trus-

tees of the town may think proper.

Section 6. In consideration of the advantages that arise from the

early settlements of mechanics in the town, and the encouragement of those

who may first settle, lot No. 3 in 20th square; lot No. 6 in 15th square;

lot No. 6 in 12th square, will be given to the first blacksmith, the first

carpenter and the first tanner, all of whom are to settle and continue in

the town pursuing their respective trades for the term of four years, at

which time the aforesaid Zane binds himself to make them a deed.

In testimony of all and singular, the premises, the said Ebenezer

Zane by his attorneys, Noah and John Zane, hath hereunto set his hand

and affixed his seal, this 14th day of November, A. D. 1800.

EBENEZER ZANE.

The Chillicothe tract was located on the east side of the

river, because the lands on the west of the Scioto had already

been appropriated in the Virginia Military Grant. Ebenezer Zane

deeded this tract to Humphrey Fullerton     In 1839, when Caleb

• 35
 

330       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   Atwater wrote the first history of Ohio, Fullerton's widow was yet in possession of the land. A traveler over Zane's Trace leaves us this description of it: "We started back to Pennsylvania on horseback, as there was no getting up the river that day. * * * There was one house (Treiber's) at Lick Branch five miles from where West Union now is. * * * The next house was where Sinking Springs or Middletown now is. The next was at Chillicothe, which was just then commenced.   We encamped one night on Massie's

Run, say two or three miles from Paint creek, where the Trace crossed the stream. From Chillicothe to Lancaster, the Trace then went through Pickaway Plains. * * * There was a cabin three or four miles below the plains and another at their eastern edge, and one or two more between that and Lancaster. *   *    * Here we stayed the third night. From Lancaster we went the next day to Zanesville, passing several small beginnings. I recol- lect no improvement between Zanesville and Wheeling except one

• 36
 

Zane's Trace.                   331 at the mouth of Indian Wheeling Creek opposite Wheeling." -American Pioneer. This in brief is the history of the famous "Zane's Trace." The rough trail with its blazed trees has passed away. Only here and there can we with certainty locate its ancient course. But it was a factor in the making and the "winning of the west," and every city and town along its narrow route is a product of this first Ohio roadway. But back of it all stands the heroic pioneer and "Hero of the Forest," Ebenezer Zane.

• 37
 

THE FIRST NEWSPAPER OF THE NORTHWEST

TERRITORY.

 

 

THE EDITOR AND HIS WIFE.

 

 

C. B. GALBREATH.

The first newspaper published northwest of the Ohio River

was edited by William Maxwell, a Revolutionary soldier. After

the recognition of our national independence, he set out for

the great west to seek fortune in the new field that called many

worthy, brave and adventurous spirits. He crossed the Alle-

ghanies, proceeded to Pittsburg, came down the Ohio, and took

up his abode in the little village of Cincinnati, then numbering

about two hundred souls.

Having determined before starting west to enter upon a

journalistic career in the new country, he had his outfit trans-

ported over the mountains on pack horses and shipped down from

Pittsburg on a packet boat. It consisted of a Ramage press,

much like the one used by Dr. Franklin, and a few cases of type.

A man could have moved the materials at a single load in a

wheelbarrow.

Mr. Maxwell proceeded at once to set up his office in a

log cabin at the corner of Front and Sycamore streets. The

coming of the press had been announced and a list of subscribers

had been secured. Now the work of arranging copy, setting

type, and getting ready for the first issue became the soul-ab-

sorbing occupation of the editor and his faithful helpmate. It

is needless to say that the work in progress at the office of the

printer was of more than ordinary interest to the inhabitants

of the little community. After many delays the natal day arrives.

"The printer daubs his buck-skin roll in the ink and then daubs

it on the face of the type. The lever creaks, and lo, born to the

light of day" is The Sentinel of the North-Western Territory,

(332)

• 38
 

(333)

• 39
 

334       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

November 9, 1793. Momentous event! From this humble be-

ginning what an evolution the century has wrought!

While practically nothing has been written about the editor,

much has been printed in regard to The Sentinel of the North-

Western Territory. About the only good thing that has been

said of it is found in a favorable comment by a historian, on the

happy choice of name. As Cincinnati, then on the western fron-

tier of civilization, was the gateway to the rich territory beyond,

it was deemed especially appropriate that a "centinel" should stand

guard at this outpost. The same writer speaks of the early issues

as containing "few advertisements, no editorials, and no local

items." Another writer says that "it had no editorial articles,

no local news, reviews, or poetry," and even so careful a writer

as William T. Coggeshall, an Ohio man, a journalist by profes-

sion, and one of the best librarians that the state ever had, in

his "Origin and Progress of Printing, with Some Facts About

Newspapers in Europe and America," published in 1854, states

that the issues of The Centinel were "irregular," that they con-

tained nothing "but meager details of foreign news, not more

than half a dozen advertisements, no editorials, no local news,

no opinions on country, state, or national questions, no lessons

from history, no poetry, no wit, no sentiment." In commenting

on the mechanical make-up of this paper he says that there were

no rules between the columns. These statements are so sweep-

ing and have been so widely and frequently copied that some-

thing tangible must be offered to warrant a dissenting opinion.

We appeal to the paper itself-to The Centinel of the North-

Western Territory-a copy of which Mr. Coggeshall and those

who have quoted his statements certainly never saw.

To begin with, the paper was not issued irregularly. As

stated, the first number appeared Saturday, November 9, 1793,

and every subsequent Saturday, for a year at least, it was deliv-

ered to subscribers. A rapid but somewhat careful examination

of the files does not bring to light the omission of a single issue

within the entire period of its publication. A facsimile of part

of the first page of the first issue, herewith submitted, shows very

clearly that the paper had rules between the columns. And what

is true of this is also true of every subsequent issue.

• 40
 

The First Newspaper of the Northwest Territory.         335

 

The Centinel was indeed a "brief chronicler of the times."

It was a four page, three column sheet, in small quarto form, the

type of each page occupying a space eight and one-half by ten

and one-fourth inches. The columns were lengthened three and

one-half inches, July 12, 1794. The motto at the masthead,

"Open to all parties-but influenced by none," one generous

critic assures us has never been violated by its successors in

the states formed from    the Northwest Territory.      Whatever

may be true of the "successors," it is safe to say, after a thorough

examination of the files of The Centinel, that its editor, through

the three years of its life, did not deviate from the motto. Oppos-

ing interests were presented through their local champions, but

he maintained a sphinx-like silence. In the printing of communi-

cations he was discreet and just. At the head of the first page

of the first issue is the editor's salutatory. He says in part:

 

The Printer of the Centinel of the North-Western Territory, to the

Public :¹

"Having arrived at Cincinnati, he has applied himself to that which

has been the principal object of his removal to this country, the Publi-

cation of a News-Paper.

"This country is in its infancy, and the inhabitants are daily ex-

posed to an enemy who, not content with taking away the lives of men

in the field, have swept away whole families, and burnt their habitations.

We are well aware that the want of regular and certain trade down the

Mississippi, deprives this country in great measure, of money at the

present time. These are discouragements, nevertheless I am  led to

believe that the people of this country are disposed to promote science,

and have the fullest assurance that the Press, from its known utility,

will receive proper encouragement. And on my part am content with

small gains, at the present, flattering myself that from attention to busi-

ness, I shall preserve the good wishes of those who have already counte-

nanced me in this undertaking, and secure the friendship of subsequent

population.

"It is to be hoped that the CENTINEL will prove of great utility to

the people of this Country, not only to inform them of what is going on

on the east of the Atlantic in arms, and in arts of peace - but what more

particularly concerns us, the different transactions of the states in the

Union, and especially of our own Territory, at so great a distance from

the seat of the general government. It is a particular grievance, that the

people have not been acquainted with the proceedings of the legislature

Capitalization and punctuation of original are followed.

• 41
 

336        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

of the Union, in which they are as much interested, as any part of the

United States. It is expected that the CENTINEL will in a great measure

remedy this misfortune.

*      *     *      *     *

"The EDITOR therefore rests his success on the merits of the publica-

tion. * * * I hope therefore, all men of public spirit will consider the

undertaking as a proper object of attention, and not consult merely their

own personal interests, but the interest of the public and the coming time."

Following this is a short story from Sterne; news from

London, dated July 15th; from Portland, Maine, August 25th;

from New York, September 4th; from Philadelphia, September

4th; from Fredericksburg, Va., October 3d. There are also

items of local news under date of September 9th, 1793. They

read in part as follows:

"Many reports having been circulated with respect to the attack made

by the savages upon a convoy of provisions, some little time ago, between

Fort St. Clair and Fort Jefferson, the following is an authentic account

of that affair.

"Lieut. Lowrie, of the second, and Ensign Boyd, of the first sub-

legions, with a command of about ninety non-commissioned officers and

privates, having under their convoy twenty wagons loaded with grain

and commissary stores, were attacked between daylight and sunrise, seven

miles advanced of Fort St. Clair, on the morning of the 17th ult. These

two gallant young gentlemen, with thirteen non-commissioned officers

and privates, bravely fell in action. * * * The Indians killed or car-

ried off about seventy horses." * * *

"In the twilight of Saturday evening, the 19th ult., a party of about

forty or fifty Indians made an attack upon White's Station, ten miles

north of this place. * * * One of the men and two of the children

were killed. * * *

"The army are preparing to go into winter quarters on the south-west

branch of the Miami, six miles in advance of Fort Jefferson. The ground

of encampment is already laid off in the form of a rhombus, three hundred

yards long, on a commanding situation." * * *

Here is local matter, of interest not only at the time, but

for all time.   Of personal items, the visits of friends, social

events, and the like, there is a dearth, but these matters did not

figure prominently in the everyday life of a people engaged in

the work of subduing the wilderness.

In the early issues, as the critic states, there were few ad-

vertisements, but later they were comparatively numerous.        In

• 42
 

The First Newspaper of the Northwest Territory.   337   the first number the editor uses the advertising column to extri- cate himself from a dilemma. He was so deeply interested in getting out his first paper that he lost a memorandum contain- ing a partial list of his subscribers. The notice is so quaint and original that we reproduce it:

This reveals business method that would not pass muster to-day. There is no evidence, however, that the notice did not meet the exigencies of the occasion. The advertisements cover a wide range. There were re- wards for the return of lost property, stray cattle, deserters from the army and runaway apprentices. There were announce- ments of the sale of dry goods, houses and lands. One patron wishes to tell the public that he is prepared to do "blacksmith- ing and whitesmithing." The railroad time table does not appear, but in its place is a full column setting forth the advantages of rapid transit by packet boats, which made the voyage "from Cin- cinnati to Pittsburg and return in four weeks." The pioneer school master made known the fact that he was ready "to teach the young idea how to shoot," with a gentle re- minder that he reserved the right to enforce moderate discipline. 22 Vol. XIII.

• 43
 

338        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

As a primitive educational "ad." it is not without interest. Here

it is:

"THE SUBSCRIBER

INTENDS to open School on Wednesday the 16th inst. in the house lately

in possession of John Paul nearly opposite to Dr. M'Clures, in Sycamore

sereet, where he proposes to educate youth in reading, writing, arithmetic,

book keeping, Geometry, trigonometry, mensuration of surfaces and sol-

ids, dialing, guaging, surveying, navigation and algebra. No more than

thirty scholars will be admitted, and the terms of admittance may be

known by applying to the Public's very humble Servt.

STUART RICKY.

CINCINNATI, Dec. 4, 1795.

N. B.-None need apply but such as allow of moderate correction

to be used in said school when necessity requires it."

 

Those were strenuous times. Ample proof of that fact is

found in the lengthy "Public Notice" to the effect that within

a certain specified time and designated territory, including Cin-

cinnati and vicinity, $168 would be paid for "every scalp, having

the right ear appendant, for the first ten Indians who shall be

killed within the time and limits aforesaid."

But we are told that there were "no opinions on country,

state or national questions."   If this refers to the editor, the

statement is true; but it was far from   being true of the paper.

The very first issue contains an article signed "Manlius" on the

subject of unequal taxation under the territorial government. It

includes a sharp criticism of the legislature, which then con-

sisted of Governor St. Clair and the judges of the territory.

In speaking of the law imposing special taxes on merchants

and tavern keepers, the writer says:

 

"It cannot be supposed that the legislature are disposed to make this

law perpetual, and yet no limitation is in the act; it appears to have been

calculated merely to save the landed interests from paying taxes; and

this is not astonishing, when one of the greatest land holders in the gov-

ernment was, and still is, one of the legislature. Human nature is the

same in all countries, and self interest is never taken away by any office;

man is man, and he will do what conduces to his private emoluments,

whether he be peasant, judge or king. If taxes are necessary under this

government * * * the people ought to be taxed in proportion to their

property."

• 44
 

The First Newspaper of the Northwest Territory.         339

 

In subsequent issues the territorial and national governments

were criticised and defended, and the opening up of the Missis-

sippi to free navigation was advocated with vigor. No favor

was shown and even the "Father of his country" did not escape

the pungent pens of some of the Jeffersonian correspondents.

This pioneer journal reflects the deep interest in matters political,

which has ever characterized the states carved out of the North-

west Territory.

But we are told that the editor gave no space to "poetry,

wit or sentiment."   This is a serious charge that is hardly sus-

tained by reference to the paper. The first issue contains the

following "anecdote":

"Milton was asked by a friend, whether he would instruct his daugh-

ters in the different languages. To which he replied, 'No, sir; one tongue

is sufficient for a woman.'"

 

This, of course, is a little ancient, but doubtless we all

should have enjoyed and appreciated it one hundred years ago.

No. 2 has the following in the anecdote column:

"Col. Bond, who had been one of King Charles the First's judges,

died a day or two before Cromwell, and it was strongly reported that

the protector was dead. 'No,' said a gentleman who knew better, 'he has

only given bond to the devil for his future appearance.' "

 

This may not be wit, but it prepared the way for some of

the "pungent paragraphs" of modern times.

In the first issue of The Centinel occurs the following:

"Why should our wishes miss their aim?

Why does our love of wealth and fame,

With jarring pursuits clash?

My friends, 'tis strange, self-love that rules

The bulk of men, should make them fools,

Their pockets drain of cash.

The mystic cause I did explore,

My neighbors' failings counted o'er.

And blamed their want of thought.

My occupation I despised,

New schemes and calling straight devised.

And found them all but naught.

• 45
 

340        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

To Cincinnati shaped my course,

With stick in hand, without a horse,

'Twas galling to my mind!

Till on the banks of Ohio's flood,

I near a chinky cabbin stood,

For selling grog designed.

Behind his bar the cheerful host,

Had sat him down, his books to post,

First took a morning dram;

Thrice the blotted leaf he turned,

The want of money still he mourned,

The license fees did damn.

The profits of a barrel told,

If paid for, but as soon as sold,

Would count him full ten pounds;

But swallowed by five hundred throats,

One-half not worth so many groats

'Twould scarcely be ten crowns.

 

 

Happy the grog man near the fort

When soldiers with their money sport,

And give it for a song.

But Oh, the cruel late campaign

Has called away this jolly train,

I hope they'll not stay long.

Thus sagely spoke the man of grog,

My rapturous soul was quite agog,

While he tipped off a glass;

Sure then I cried could I but know,

When times again would turn out so

Light should my hours pass.

Pray H    y K, pray tell me when

Those jovial souls will come again,

With three months' pay, or two;

Swift as the streams of Ohio glide

I'd roll a keg to the fort side

And keep a tavern too."

The feet here are somewhat lame. Imagery is lacking.

This is hardly poetry. With our modern vocabulary we should

call it "the army canteen." It shows that some things do not

• 46
 

The First Newspaper of the Northwest Territory.         341

change much, after all, with the flight of time. In close prox-

imity to this effusion is an appeal in rhyme to the local bards

to awake and "court the smiles of Apollo." And the bards in

time responded. When Col. Robert Elliot,¹ contractor for army

supplies, was killed by Indians near Fort Hamilton, October 6,

1794, a friend wrote a tribute of some length from which we

quote the following:²

 

"In star hung chambers of the empyreal sky,

The winged ghosts in vast assembly join;

O'er time involving shades with sun veils fly,

To illumine Elliot to his newborn clime.

Swift from his pictured hope of earthly bliss,

From golden store and honour's luring wreath;

Fate cast him o'er that silent dread abyss,

Which circles time and forms the vale of death.

The ambushed savage, stained with sacred blood,

And taught to murder by his ruthless sire;

With fell deceit beneath the shadowy wood,

Emblaz'd his path with death enkindled fire.

*      *     *     *      *

There on the hill where savage spectres throng,

He lay forlorn beneath the pall of night;

The moping owl performed his funeral song,

While pity sickened at the dismal sight.

'Til generous mourners by their tender aid,

'Mid hazy wilds where devious travelers roam,

Through midnight gloom the bleeding corpse conveyed,

With guardian pirty to its wonted dome.

*      *     *     *      *

Blest be thy fate, my dear departed friend,

May sweet repose her slumbers o'er thee spread;

May heavenly vigils o'er thy grave roof bend,

To guard thy peace within the clay-bound bed.

Cheerless the hall where once glad mirth inspired

Each welcome guest around the social board,

Where all that liberal honour e'er required,

Was seen approaching on thy cheery word.

* * * * *

1For brief biography and detailed account of Col. Robert Elliot's

death, see History of Butler County, Ohio.

2This poem is signed "by a friend."

• 47
 

342        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

Envy ne'er breaks the folded gates of death,

Revenge is madness o'er a fallen foe,

But sorrowing love may pass that frozen heath,

Where time's encumbered stream must cease to flow.

The brightest star that's crossed death's sable field,

That ever blazed around his shadowy throne,

The noblest trophy that e'er man could wield,

Is honest virtue-an imperial sun.

 

Those who bewail thy sad untimely fall,

Must know that fortune, power and hopes are vain;

That they, like thee, must hear the lordly call,

And lie entombed among the legions slain.

The cot of penury, the golden court,

The humble statue and the pride deckt bust,

Will soon become death's ravaging resort,

Who chemic-like turns kingdoms into dust.

*      *     *     *      *

Death on his mighty, fleet-bound, bleachen steed!

Without an offspring or a guardian sire,

Pays court to all with unmolested speed,

To gather spoils for nature's funeral fire.

Heir to a crown, no monarch ever knew,

With coat of arms no herald ever caught,

No painter e'er his wondrous portrait drew,

Since he ne'er sat to have the picture wrought.

He is a traveler on life's slippery shore,

To meet the beings of a doubtful day,

He is the porter to unbar that door,

Which hides the grandeur of the immortal way.

His valley seems a solemn, nightly pass,

Which spreads its by-paths to this thicket world,

But when illumined by hope's colouring glass,

It shows a drawing room with scenery furled.

Cease, then, each mournful sigh, dispel the gloom,

Which hovers o'er the shadowy realms of death,

One mighty change will burst the slumbering tomb,

And crown the weeds of woe with joyful wreath.

Like Elliot dead! we pass this changed state,

Our power, our fortune and our hope must yield,

To death the victor of Almighy fate,

Who stalks forever on his spoil-deckt field."

• 48
 

The First Newspaper of the Northwest Territory.   343

 

This breathes the solemn grandeur of the new world.

Through it the spirit of the wilderness speaks of the mysterious

trinity-life, death, eternity. True, it reveals a writer under

the spell of Gray's Elegy, but there are stanzas that have dis-

tinctive merit and reflect credit upon this unknown bard. The

effusion has a genuine western flavor and stands as our first

published "view of death," with occasional lines foreshadowing

the Thanatopsis.

In the summer of 1796, William Maxwell, who had been

appointed post-master of Cincinnati, sold The Centinel of the

North-Western Territory, to Edmund Freeman, who changed the

name to Freeman's Journal. It was issued here till about 1800.

when it suspended publication and followed the Territorial

Government to Chillicothe, where Mr. Coggeshall tells us that

Mr. Freeman purchased the Gazette. Here Mr. Coggeshall is

again in error. Freeman's Journal was published for a time in

Chillicothe, where the editor died.  In The Scioto Gazette of Oc-

tober 19th, 1801, appears a notice of S. Freeman, administrator,

relative to the death of Edmund Freeman, late of Chillicothe,

printer, deceased. Nathaniel Willis, editor of The Scioto Ga-

zette, purchased the outfit of Freeman's Journal in October,

1801. It was therefore merged into The Scioto Gazette, which

continues under that name to the present day.

Having described somewhat at length this early newspaper,

it is fitting that more be said of the editor and his wife. Of

the latter we shall speak first, because our information in re-

gard to her remarkable career is more complete and definite.

Nancy Robins was a typical pioneer heroine. She was born

in Virginia, August 6th, 1760. Her parents settled at Grave's

Creek, about twelve miles from the present site of Wheeling, W.

Va., where she grew up to young womanhood. Here her father

was killed and scalped by the Indians. With her mother and a

few neighbors she made an almost miraculous escape1 to Ft.

Henry, where the whites were closely besieged by the savages.²

1An Indian caught her dress and was about to strike her down

when hunters came to her rescue.

2September 1, 1777. See Lossing's Pictorial Field Book of the Rev-

olution, Vol. II, 291-283; Hildreth's Early Settlers of Ohio; Otis's De-

fense of Fort Henry; Hunter's Pathfinders of Jefferson County, in Ohio

Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, Vol. VI, 131-133.

• 49
 

344       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. Every reader of pioneer history is familiar with the story of the conduct of the sister of Ebenezer Zane on that occasion. The defenders of the fort having exhausted their supply of powder, it became necessary to send some one to a house about sixty yards distant to bring ammunition to continue the defense. The brave women in the fort insisted that none of the men should

be sacrificed in the undertaking, as the loss of one of the garrison would greatly endanger the safety of all. Miss Elizabeth Zane and Miss Nancy Robins both volunteered to go, but as the latter was molding bullets, a work in which she was skilled, it was decided that Miss Zane should make the hazardous trip. With fleet step she ran the gauntlet, and amid a storm of arrows and bullets, bore the powder into the fort. The garrison held

• 50
 

The First Newspaper of the Northwest Territory.    345

 

out till reinforcements arrived and compelled the savages to

raise the siege.

Afterward Miss Robins and her mother lived with the

Zane family.¹ Miss Nancy went to Cincinnati and there met

William Maxwell, whom she subsequently married. She aided

him in all his work, helped to print the newspaper, and with

her own hands, in 1796, bound the Maxwell Code,² the first

book printed within the limits of the Northwest Territory. In

1799, she accompanied her husband to Dayton, Ohio, which was

then a military post. Here she remained until Mr. Maxwell,

assisted by some discharged soldiers employed for that purpose,

cut a road through to Upper Alpha. This road afterwards be-

came a part of the Dayton and Xenia Pike. Mrs. Maxwell was

the first white woman to travel over it.

To the new log cabin in the wilderness she came with her

husband and two children, William and Eliza. Here the little

family grew until there were eight children. After the death of

her husband she married John White, whom she survived many

years. Of the second union six children were born, one of

whom, Mrs. Elizabeth Webster, of Dayton, Ohio, is still living

at the age of eighty-three years.

In her old age, Mrs. (Maxwell) White moved with relatives

and friends to Sidell, Illinois, where she died November ₉th,

1868,3 at the age of one hundred and eight years, three months

and six days. Amiability and cheerfulness were native to her.

Through life she was blessed with good health. To its last

hour she retained full possession of her faculties. She was the

mother of fourteen children, whose descendants are now living

in many states. A modest monument, fittingly inscribed, marks

her last resting place.

1Later Mrs. Robins became the second wife of Ebenezer Zane.

2The "Code," bound in pioneer style, was sewed with wax ends,

tipped with bristles.

3Just seventy-five years after the publication of the first issue of

The Centinel of the North-Western Territory.

4Of the first union were born William, Elias, Rachel, John, Ludlow,

Nancy, George, Eliza; of the second, Margaret, Lemuel, Catherine, Eva-

line, Elizabeth, Anne.

• 51
 

346       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   Of the early life of William Maxwell little is known. His father, whose name was also William, came from Scotland. Ac- cording to statements of some of his descendants, the son was born in New York, about the year 1755. He had evidently re- ceived a fair education for the times. It is not known where he learned the printer's trade. In his salutatory, published in the initial number of The Centinel, he states that he same to the western country to establish a newspaper. It is therefore fair to presume that he had learned something about his trade before leaving the East. His granddaughter is authority for the state- ment that he came west in 1788. This date is not supported by documentary evidence and it is probable that he came later. After his arrival in Cincinnati, as already stated, he married Nancy Robins who survived him more than half a century.

Mr. Maxwell was the first local public printer of the North- west Territory. In 1796 he published the Maxwell Code. He was second postmaster of Cincinnati, having been appointed to that position the year previous, as the following notice in The Centinel of September 6th, 1795, explains: "W. Maxwell is appointed Post-Master at this place in lieu of A. M. Dunn, Esq., deceased. Gentlemen, and others, wishing to send letters by the Post, may leave them at the Printing-Office; where the Post-Office is now kept." In 1799, he moved to land on the Little Miami, in what is now Beaver Creek Township, Greene County, Ohio. It was then a part of Hamilton County. He was elected to the House of Representatives of the First General Assembly of Ohio, which convened in Chillicothe, March 1st, 1803. The Journal of the House shows that he was an active member and that he served on important committees with associates some of whom after- ward attained prominence in the history of the state. Among these were Kirker and Worthington.

• 52
 

The First Newspaper of the Northwest Territory.  347   He favored the law providing for the erection of Greene County and was elected one of its associate judges by the Legis- lature on April 6th, 1803. On the 10th of the following month, at the house of Owen Davis, on Beaver Creek, he aided in organ- izing the first court held in the county. The building was a log structure of the pioneer type. He resigned the office of associate judge December 7th, 1803, was chosen sheriff of Greene County and served till 1807. He took an active interest in organizing the state militia and, in 1805, held the rank of major. He was a man of thrift and fairly prosperous. On his large tract of land, he devoted himself chiefly to the industry of cattle raising.

William Maxwell's last days were spent on his farm. Here where his furrow broke the "stubborn glebe," where the forest bowed beneath his sturdy stroke, this modest, brave old pioneer in 1809 sank to rest. Cadmus sailing into Greece on a mission that enlightened the world, is doubtless a myth. But William Maxwell, soldier, pioneer, and printer, bending over the types and losing his subscription list in a soul-absorbing effort to bring forth The Centinel of the North-Western Territory, William Maxwell, laboring by blazing knot and tallow dip over his "code," William Maxwell bearing letters into the western wilderness, is

• 53
 

348      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   a reality! From this humble beginning, what a marvel the cen- tury has wrought. Books and papers everywhere. Great jour- nals, reeling off daily issues aggregating not hundreds or thou- sands, but millions of copies. Vast hives of literary industry, where the roll of cylinder and the click of linotype echo without interruption the whole year round! And he who touched the magic spring that opened up the way for this wondrous and beneficent miracle, sleeps alone on the quiet farm his last long sleep. His grave is at the edge of the forest, on an eminence that commands a fine view of the valley of the Little Miami.

Around are green meadows, waving orchards, the fragrance of flowers, and the melody of birds. A plain slab, hewn from the native rock, without a line or a letter, marks his last resting place. The patrons of the press, the lovers of books, and those who manifest a patriotic pride in the intellectual development and ascendency of the prosperous realm now embraced within the original limits of the Northwest Territory, have a duty to per- form. They should unite in raising over the dust of William Maxwell a plain shaft, appropriately inscribed, that would be to the modest worth of this pioneer editor and maker of books a fitting memorial. Ohio should lead in rendering appropriate

• 54
 

The First Newspaper of the Northwest Territory.  349   tribute to him who in "the long ago," appealed for the press, and asked the pioneer fathers "not to consult merely their own personal interest, but the interest of the public and the coming time." ACKNOWLEDGMENT. The writer of the foregoing article makes grateful ac- knowledgment to Miss Etta G. McElwain, Librarian of the Xenia Public Library, and Miss Electra C. Doren, of the Dayton Public Library, for valuable information relative to the descend- ants of William Maxwell; to the Misses Mary and Rebecca Maxwell, granddaughters of William Maxwell, for assistance in collecting material; to Mrs. Jennie Sharf, granddaughter of Elizabeth Webster and great-granddaughter of Mrs. (Maxwell) White for additional data and the loan of the rare photograph from which the cut is made for this sketch; to Dr. C. E. Rice for the loan of an early Ohio manuscript from which the facsimile of the signature of William Maxwell was made.

• 55
 

0. K.

 

 

J. WARREN KEIFER.

The above is the most used form of expression in the Com-

mercial world, and is used in the United States oftener, perhaps,

in conversation, than any other purely arbitrary expression in the

English language.

It has no classic origin or derivation; it has no linguistic,

Greek or Latin, root: it cannot be claimed for it even the dig-

nity of an American slang birth: nor is it an abbreviation of an

established expression or form of words properly found in any

language. Its universally accepted meaning is well understood,

yet not until recently has any dictionary or lexicon given it a

place, or undertaken to tell its significance. It is used to attest the

accuracy, genuineness, or approval of whatever it is placed upon.

It is not usually used in composition, or in connection with other

words, or phrases. Its meaning is so ample and complete that it

defies misunderstanding, and requires no qualifying words to

explain or amplify it. It is used, literally, around the world.

Not only the business men in banks, mercantile houses, private

business offices, insurance companies, etc., in America, use 0. K.

to avouch the correctness of statements, accounts, bills of all

kinds, etc., but the American and English legations, consuls, etc.

in all countries where they are found, especially in all parts of

the world in which ships enter and depart, use the same 0. K.

to express their approval of all official business documents or

papers. In all the principal and subordinate departments of our

government, 0. K. is now in more or less common use by offi-

cials and clerks to attest their approval, satisfaction or the ac-

curacy of whatever they favorably pass judgment upon. Its use

extends to wherever the English language is used, but

more particularly in connection with trade and commerce.  It

has no synonym; nor no substitute; it stands unique, and alone,

(35O)

• 56
 

O. K.                       351

 

for its use. Its meaning is -All Correct. Its origin came from

the mis-spelling of the two words- all correct.

The origin of the expression - if it may be so called - was

in the exciting Harrison political campaign of 1840.

According to the then custom of organizing and attending

political meetings, Whig and Democratic, the people went in pro-

cessions, sometimes for long distances, to the appointed places

where they were to be harangued by the orators. Great rivalry

existed between parties to hold the largest meeting at a given

place, and to have the greater numbers in the processions, the

most persons on the same wagon drawn by the most horses, and

the most flags, and banners, on which were usually mottoes sup-

posed to be the most expressive and catchy, especially in the mat-

ter of attracting the populace and expressing the sentiment of the

people.

A notable Whig convention was held at Urbana, Champaign

County, Ohio, September 1₅th, 1840, which General William

Henry Harrison, the candidate for President, addressed (it is said

for two hours) and at which Hon. Moses B. Corwin (cousin of

Thomas Corwin) of Urbana presided. In the grove of John A.

Ward (father of the now famous sculptor, John Q. A. Ward of

New York City) twelve tables were set, each 300 feet long, from

which the people were fed barbecued oxen, sheep, etc., with cider

(the popular beverage of that campaign) and all in abundance.

Addresses were made during the day and evening by Ex-Gov-

ernor Metcalf of Kentucky, (in a buckskin hunting shirt, it is

said), Arthur Elliott, a Mr. Chambers, of Louisiana, and Richard

Douglas, of Chillicothe.

An enthusiastic Whig farmer from    Jackson Township,

Champaign County, rigged up a wagon, drawn by many

horses, with a platform thereon to accommodate his neighbor-

farmers, to join a procession and to attend this convention. A

banner was suspended over the platform on which Was rudely

printed the inscription: THE PEOPLE IS OLL KORRECT.

According to the recollections of some, who pretend to re-

member, the inscription was: THE FARMERS IS OLL KOR-

RECT.

• 57
 

352      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

The material part, however, is the last two words, and their

mis-spelling.

Democratic newspapers seized on the bad spelling of this in-

scription and displayed it as an evidence of the ignorance of the

Whigs and the supporters of General Harrison. Samuel Medary

of Columbus, Ohio, famous then for his zeal in publishing cam-

paign-democratic literature, and in assaults on the Whigs, made

much use in his paper of this farmer's illiteracy. Democratic

orators carried this banner-motto around on hand bills and ex-

hibited it to their shouting hearers, much to the disgust and cha-

grin of the Whigs.

One Daniel Leffel, a typical early-time tavern-keeper, an

unusually, even for that time, enthusiastic Whig and supporter

of Harrison, the proprietor of the Sugar Grove tavern, located

just west of Springfield, Ohio, on the National Road, thought it

best to ward off the odium heaped on his party by the rustic

farmers illiteracy by accepting the situation and making the most

of it. So, before the campaign ended, he caused the letters O. K.

to be painted immediately over a front door of his Sugar Grove

tavern, in large capital letters, and thence forth gave it out, that

they meant that his tavern was "Oll Korrect."

This is, with little doubt, the first place these two letters-

O. K. - were used with the artificial meaning they now so uni-

versally possess. From this use, with this meaning, at first lit-

tle by little locally, matters were O. K.-ed, until now millions use

the expression without doubt as to its meaning, or question as to

the propriety of its use, or without inquiry or knowledge of its

origin.

Dan Leffel built better than he knew - so the Jackson

Township farmer. 0. K. has come to stay.

Whatever of local differences there may be as to the details

of the farmer's banner-inscription, or as to the great Urbana-

Harrison convention, there is a concurrence as to the mis-spelling

of the words -all correct, and that they were, on the banner,

spelled "Oll Korrect."

The Sugar Grove House (thus inscribed) was used as a way-

side tavern - a stopping place for movers using the National

Road as a throat to pass to the great west -some "cheer" was

• 58
 

O. K.                       353   dispensed there to local and other patrons - stories of gambling, etc., etc., have been told as a part of the entertainment furnished - for about forty years, and only ceased when the mover and cattle-driver ceased to move, or drive, by ordinary road, as in the good old times.   Dan Leffel is dead, and some question whether his life and character were such as to secure for him an 0. K. for the better world. However, this may be, his use of the letters 0. K. will go on so long as the English language is written.

The House (shown above) a few years ago, with the pictur- esque land around it, passed to the ownership of the Ohio State Masonic Home.    The stately buildings of this Home, where practical, fraternal charity is now dispensed, overtowered the old tavern. It was spared until 1901, then torn down to further clear and beautify the Masonic Home grounds. The originally in- scribed letters "0. K." remained above the door about sixty 23 Vol. XIII.

• 59
 

354      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   years and until the brick upon which they were painted were re- moved and scattered by the destroyer. Atttempts have been made to otherwise account for the origin of 0. K. as so generally used, on suppositions, and theories, and probabilities, but only the foregoing has any real founda- tion. O. K. is found in the Century Dictionary where it is said: "The origin is obscure; usually said to have been originally used by Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the U. S., as an abbre- viation of All Correct spelled (whether through ignorance or hu- morously) Oll Korrect: but this is doubtless an invention." Another speculation there refers the use to "Old Keokuk," an Indian Chief, who is said to have signed treaties with the initials, "O. K." These suggestions as to a definition are all inventions, born of a desire to find a plausible origin for the much used expression.

• 60
 

MARCUS A. HANNA.     CHARLES DICK. [Address delivered by United States Senator Pick in the Ohio House of Representatives at the Memorial Services held April 20, 1904, in honor of Senator Hanna.] Marcus A. Hanna was born September 24, 1837, in New Lisbon, Columbiana County, Ohio, and died in Washington,

February 5, 1904, in the discharge of his duties as Senator from his native State. Standing in the presence of this splendid representation of the citizen- ship of Ohio; impressed with the deep significance of this occasion, I am also reminded of the importance of events that go to make up the history of our commonwealth, and the character of the people who have maintained her standing in the front rank of the States which constitute our glorious and im- perishable Union.  In the light of these recollections, crowned with gar-

lands of achievement and duty well performed, stand the towering personalities of those sterling types of American manhood whose accomplishments during the last century have made the history of Ohio identical with that of the nation itself. It is by no accident that Ohio has furnished so many distin- guished sons to the nation, including presidents, statesmen, mili- tary chieftains, lawyers, educators, authors, artists, inventors, scientists and captains of industry. The case is found largely in the circumstances of her birth and development, and in the character of her early settlers. (355)

• 61
 

356       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

If, as has been said, God sifted the whole world to find men

worthy the high calling of founding a new nation, as truly may

it be said that all the original States of the Federal Union con-

tributed to the making of Ohio, the first State of the nineteenth

century, the first new State formed out of national territory.

Here converged nearly all the early lines of continental travel.

Here came the Puritan and the Cavalier, the Scotch-Irish, and

those of pure Teutonic and Gallic blood; Lutheran, Presbyter-

ian, Catholic and Quaker. Connecticut bounded the State on

the north, and Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia on the

south. New York, Pennsylvania and other States furnished

generous contributions to her population.

Of the new States which preceded her into the Union after

the Revolution, Vermont was the offspring of New York and

New Hampshire, Kentucky of Virginia, and Tennessee of North

Carolina. Ohio was the first State to which the entire Union

contributed, the first national territory raised to statehood. All

of the original States gave from their best citizenship to build up

the first State carved out of the Northwest Territory. Massa-

chusetts founded the first settlement at Marietta, Connecticut

peopled the Western Reserve, a New Jersey colony laid the be-

ginnings of Cincinnati, much of the best blood of the States was

filtered through New York from New England, Pennsylvania

was a liberal contributor, and Virginia reserved a large tract to

which came many of her Revolutionary soldiers and their de-

scendants. The abolition of slavery drew to Ohio some of the

best blood of the far South. Here, therefore, came all nationali-

ties and all creeds, and they found not tolerance merely but equal-

ity in the sight of the law. The early use of federal troops to

repress Indian uprisings in the State accustomed her citizens to

the exercise of national authority. This Indian warfare held

captive in Ohio for a time the determined rush of Western mi-

gration. Thus time was given these diverse elements to coalesce

into one harmonious whole, and to form a type of stalwart, in-

tensely patriotic Americans.

Ohio is the neck of the hour-glass through which passed

nearly all the streams of early migrations following the star of

e mpire. All early railroads joining the East and the West

• 62
 

Marcus A. Hanna.                   357

 

crossed her boundaries and her territory. These circumstances

also wielded a powerful and beneficent influence on the new com-

monwealth. We were debtors to all the States east of the Alle-

ghanies, a debt Ohio has fully paid by sending out a million of

her own sons in all directions. They have proved worthy of her,

and have given her added fame in all quarters of our country.

Pioneers are the sturdiest, the most enterprising and most

daring. By such people was Ohio settled. Of such stock and

under such surroundings was Senator Hanna born. He was a

type of that mixture of elements so characteristic of his State.

In him commingled many diverse strains of ancestry.

His ancestors were pioneers. They were among the more

hardy and venturesome spirits of the older settlements who fol-

lowed the frontier as it receded westward. In his family is to

be found Scotch-Irish, Cavalier and Puritan, Presbyterian and

Quaker stock. While his parents were residents of Ohio, they

traced their descent to Virginia and Connecticut. He thus com-

bined the best blood of North and South. His entire life, how-

ever, belonged to his native State. His public school training,

his brief college days, his years in business and in the public

service were spent in Ohio or in full view of the people of his

native State. He was in every sense a true son of Ohio, and

ranks with the noblest of the glorious company who have been

proud to call her Mother.

It was not Mr. Hanna's fortune to be born in poverty, nor

did affluence in early years hinder his growth and development.

He belonged to the great middle class of fairly well-to-do Ameri-

cans, who are richest perhaps in their descent from long lines

of sturdy, intelligent, God-fearing ancestors.

The father was a country physician, who left a good prac-

tice in eastern Ohio and moved farther west, to Cleveland, then

a town of fair promise, and engaged in merchandising because

of the wider field it offered for achieving success. In his father's

store the future Senator received his first training in business.

The beginnings were small but prosperous. He spent a year in

the Western Reserve College, with what benefit to himself he de-

clared he never felt certain, though he doubtless builded more

wisely than he knew. He served a brief enlistment in the Union

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358       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

armies. The years which immediately followed were years of

commercial upbuilding and expansion. His training was in the

problems which confront the man of large affairs.

Thus he spent nearly a lifetime in business and with scarcely

a thought for other matters. By his hard common sense he won

the confidence of his associates and was a leader among them.

He had the tremendous personal force of an aggressive mental-

ity. He was as stalwart in mind as he was in body. His

strength lay largely in the directness of his methods. He was a

masterful man, possessing at all times definite aims in life. He

saw with a clear eye, and was able by force of intellect and char-

acter to make other men think as he did. He was a man who ac-

complished results, a leader who led. His business methods were

conservative. He was never a speculator, except as all business

is a venture. He was constructive, but not a promoter.

He developed great executive ability and built up large busi-

ness enterprises which survive him. He selected his lieutenants,

apportioned the work, directed in a general way without burden-

ing his mind with details, and looked with confidence for results.

He did not have the patience for infinite detail, but the greater

power of conceiving and executing great undertakings. His suc-

cess was the result of long years of preparation. He commanded

success because he deserved it.

He was a man of great heart and a most liberal benefactor.

Growing wealth developed in him the kindlier and more humane

side. He gave freely and cheerfully, but modestly and without

parade. His charity was discriminating.

He will be most missed by the numerous charities in his

home city to which he was a generous contributor. Churches

and hospitals without regard to creed enjoyed his aid, and to the

practical Christianity of the Salvation Army he was more than

generous.

His relations with large bodies of working men as employer

sometimes led to differences which promised to result in the

clash of industrial strife. The militant spirit was always strong

within him and the prospect of a contest usually inviting, but he

soon saw the great economic waste in strikes and lockouts. He

discovered they were unnecessary. By frank and honest deal-

• 64
 

Marcus A. Hanna.                   359

 

ings with each other, by mutual understandings, by fair conces-

sions honorably lived up to, he dwelt on terms of harmony with

his employes. He trusted them and they trusted him and by

neither was that confidence betrayed. He was devoted and loyal

to the interests of those who worked for him and that devotion

and that loyalty were nobly repaid. He learned that labor could

be trusted, that its engagements were sacredly observed. In one

of his late public speeches before a large body of working men,

many of them his own laborers, he declared that if he had ever

injured anyone in his employ he would resign his seat in the Sen-

ate. That statement to this day has gone unchallenged. He

stood in the way of business consolidations which would have

added to his wealth for fear they would injure men who had

grown gray in his service. In times of great business depres-

sion and industrial unrest the men who worked for him stood

by their posts, because they knew Mr. Hanna was always fair

and generous with them and was paying as fair wages as the

business justified.

The social instincts were strong in Mr. Hanna. He de-

lighted in the company of his friends, in entertaining them around

his own table. Their number was legion and they represented

all the varied interests of human life. In the social circle he

was most affable and genial, a most companionable man. In all

the relations of home life he was most lovable. He was always

interested in public matters and enjoyed the friendship of many

public men long before he became a figure in national politics.

He was a friend of Sherman and took an active interest in his

campaigns. He was a friend of Garfield and gave him generous

assistance. The political relation, however, which most beautified

his life was his devotion to McKinley. Their friendship was of

long standing and the tie between them strengthened with the

years. Each was great enough to recognize the greatness of the

other. Both were masterful men, both were leaders, but their

processes and their methods were entirely different. Hanna was

the strong, forceful elder brother, but he yielded to and was

influenced largely by the gentle strength and tactful guidance or

the other. The blow of McKinley's death fell on him with

crushing force.

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360       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

Mr. Hanna spent a full complement of years in business

pursuits. He was the architect of his own fortune and achieved

success because he earned it. At a time when most men who

have engaged in manufacturing or commerce think to retire he

entered upon his real life work. It was in the years devoted to

business, however, that his talent developed, his great executive

capacity.

His daily life was wholesome and clean, his pleasures were

simple, his tastes natural. He was a most useful man to his

community, but his mettle was yet untried. At three score years

it remained to be demonstrated that Mr. Hanna was a born

leader of men, a political general of great skill, an orator and

statesman of high rank.

With the shrewdness and insight born of long experience

and success in business and his intimate acquaintance with condi-

tions in the commercial world, he foresaw the possible promotion

of McKinley and seized the opportune time to push his can-

didacy for the Presidency.  With the same far-seeing vision

which marked his judgment in business affairs, he predicted

the elevation of his chosen leader. Politics became for a time

the passion of his life; his devotion was unselfish and un-

wavering. He laid his plans far in advance and organized his

forces with consummate skill. No detail was too minute to be

overlooked. He won a signal victory against political leaders

tried on many hard-fought battlefields. The victory he won in

the preconvention campaign of 1896 was so complete that it

obscured the magnitude of the struggle. Success was so over-

whelming that one was tempted to forget there had been a

struggle. No man who participated therein, however, could

make that mistake.

A political campaign followed which alarmed the country

and made business interests anxious. More money was offered

him for the purpose of waging the contest than could be used.

The statement of his expenditures, however, could safely have

been disclosed to the whole world.

That campaign was essentially a campaign of education. His

motto was, "Thousands for education and organization, not one

dollar for corruption."  He brought into politics the straight-

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Marcus A. Hanna.                  361

 

forward, open methods of the upright, God-fearing American

business man. If this was an innovation in American politics,

it was to the great advantage of politics and the country. He

believed that a political campaign should be managed like any

other reputable business undertaking. He was honest, sincere

and frank and won the confidence of the country. He was loyal

to the interests of the party workers who helped him win vic-

tories and their devotion to him was unfaltering. If he mar-

ried business to politics it was because he brought to politics

the same honesty, directness, and straightforwardness essential

to business success. This country need never fear commercial-

ism in politics as long as commercialism stands for Senator

Hanna's methods and practices. Business men had been in poli-

tics before, but the advent of this business man with his frank,

open methods came as a surprise and something of a shock to

many party workers. He was a captain of industry who com-

manded his lieutenants. He was accustomed to say to this man,

"Go," and he went; to another man, "Come," and he came.

He managed campaigns the same way, and the innova-

tion was not at first entirely acceptable. The ways of political

managers had been looked upon as devious and secret; their

comings and goings subterranean and nocturnal. He brought

daylight into dark places, conducted his first national campaign as

he planned and carried on industrial undertakings. The stock-

holders always had access to the books. This is a commercial

era, and if he brought business methods into politics, who will

say it has not been to the great advantage of politics?

In the national campaign of 1896 he came under the fierce

glare of public opinion, and was immediately seized upon as a

fitting target for unmeasured abuse and vilification. He was un-

known to the general public, which is only too eager to believe

evil of any public man. The cartoonist and the paragrapher

exhausted their resources in holding him up to public contempt

These poisoned arrows could not pierce his armor. No man

enjoys abuse, and Mr. Hanna suffered because he was not under-

stood; but he went his way serene, calm, cheerful, and undis-

turbed. Kindlier feelings and a more generous appreciation suc-

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362      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

ceeded to distrust and malignity. Vituperation and abuse re-

coiled from him. He outlived all calumny, and it was his good

fortune to live to see the shafts of malice blunted and turned

back on his assailers. For eight years a strong searchlight of

infinite inquiry was focused upon him, but nothing mean or

small was ever disclosed. The honesty of his life and the purity

of his motives were admitted even by those who differed with

him politically. His life was an open book, every page as clean

as the first.

The only political office Mr. Hanna ever held, except mem-

bership in the school board of the city of his adoption, was a

seat in the United States Senate. President McKinley offered

Mr. Hanna a place in his cabinet; this he declined. He was

appointed by Governor Bushnell to fill the vacancy caused by

Senator Sherman's appointment as Secretary of State, and was

endorsed by the state convention of his party for election to the

seat. He was still serving his first full term and had been