Ohio History Journal

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THE ANCESTRY OF THE OHIOAN

THE ANCESTRY OF THE OHIOAN.

 

 

A. M. COURTENAY, D. D.

[The following is a portion of an address delivered in Zanesville by

Rev. Courtenay, who for many years has been an enthusiastic student of

Ohio history, upon which subject he has delivered many admirable ad-

dresses. He has written frequently in prose and in verse for current re-

views, magazines and journals. He wrote for and read at the Ohio Cen-

tennial Celebration the poem entitled "The Ohio Century."-EDITOR.]

At a recent notable assembly in one of Ohio's universities, a

revered bishop paid tribute to the greatness of the state, which

he ascribed to its New England origin. This he did without

qualification, as a compliment, in a confidence as naive and un-

doubting as emphatic. No axiom could be carved in harder o-

line. He evidently believed that the Northwest Territory was

peopled from Connecticut's "Western Reserve;" or if there were

among its settlers a few stragglers from less favored regions, they

were obscure, insignificant, and soon dominated by the persua-

sive Yankee notions

It was not strange speech. Indeed, its tone was familiar to

those who have long been accustomed to hear and read asser-

tions from our Down-East brethren-persistent as the "flood

of years from an exhaustless urn" - to the effect that everything

good and great in our civilization is, like the "pants" advertised

by an enterprising Boston firm, stamped "Plymouth Rock."

None will question the potency of Puritan ideas, or the vigor

and moral value of the Pilgrims. The contribution by New Eng-

land of genius, of virtue, to the growth of the Republic in let-

ters, state-craft, commerce, invention, reform, religion, is a fact

so far beyond dispute that her sons supererogate in constant af-

firmation. We all cheerfully admit that our Yankee brother has

enriched the national life with every good element - except mod-

esty. Yet he had no option on all the virtues and valors. It

would be well to consider a few things, such as the first settle-

ment was in Virginia; the first legislative assembly of white men

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