EARLY DAYS IN OHIO.
FROM LETTERS AND DIARIES OF DR. I. A.
LAPHAM.
Increase Allen Lapham, at the time of
his death regarded as the
most distinguished scholar of his state,
Wisconsin, was for many years
a citizen and state official of Ohio. He
was born in Palmyra, N. Y., in
1811, and while as a boy laborer,
working on the construction of the
Erie Canal, became interested in the
study of nature and her various
phases. The subsequent results of his
studies were embodied in forty-
five different volumes and large and
valuable collections. Mr. Lapham
was a striking example of the
self-educated man. His schooling was
only that of the common rudimentary
character. He did not have to
learn, he intuitively knew. At sixteen
years of age he wrote his first
scientific paper, illustrated by
original plans, geological sections, and a
map published in the American Journal
of Science. This production was
highly commended by Prof. Silliman. Before
he was of age, Mr. Lap-
ham moved to Portsmouth, Ohio, where he
resided several years, and
during which residence, at the age of
twenty-two he was appointed Secre-
tary of the State Board of Canal
Commissioners and became an active
member of the Historical and
Philosophical Society of Ohio.
In 1836, the young man settled in
Milwaukee, then a village in
the Territory of Michigan, with but
twelve hundred inhabitants. Here
he entered upon a career of great mental
activity, in the fields of geology,
geography, topography, mineralogy,
botany, agriculture, education and
archaeology. He held many territorial
and state offices. As a scientist,
he was, perhaps, better known abroad
than at home; at one time it was
said Milwaukee was best known in Europe
as the home of Dr. I. A.
Lapham. In many of the subjects to which he gave his attention he
became a national authority. He was one
of the founders of the Wis-
consin Academy of Science, of the
American Ethnological Society and
of the Wisconsin State Historical
Society, of which for many years
he was president. He was a member of the
leading scientific societies of
this country and Europe. For several
years he was employed in the
study of the prehistoric earthworks of
Wisconsin and was the first to
notice that the mounds of aboriginal
people in that state were, as he
wrote, "gigantic basso-relievos of
men, beasts, birds and reptiles, all
wrought with persevering labor on the
surface of the soil." Knowing
that they would be obliterated in the
progress of settlement and cultiva-
tion, he made a systematic and thorough
survey of these memorials of
a prehistoric race, the results being
published by the Smithsonian Institu-
tion in a quarto volume, with plates and
wood engravings from drawings
43
44 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
made by himself. This work is now one of the standard authorities on the Mound Builders. Had Dr. Lapham done nothing more, it would have made his fame secure. Dr. Lapham died on the 14th of September, 1875. He had just completed a paper on "Oconomowoc, and other small lakes lakes of Wis- consin, considered in reference to their capacity for fish production." This last work of his life, was done for the benefit of the public, though really for friendship, as the paper was prepared for the personal in- formation of Dr. Hoy. When it was finished he rowed out on the lake for a brief rest, which proved a long one, for his lifeless body was found a few hours afterward in his boat.-Editor. Canals were at one time the main thoroughfares and the building of one was an undertaking as important as the building of any railroad today. One of the principal canals terminated on the Ohio River at Portsmouth, it connected a number of important towns, Chilli- |
|
cothe, Circleville, Columbus, Lancas- ter, Newark, Dresden, Zanesville and others. A map, published during the year 1833, shows the southern terminus of this canal with its locks and bridges. The map also shows a plat of Ports- mouth with only Market and Water streets named. An old burying ground, some prehistoric earthworks and Indian mounds are shown along a road running to the northeast, marked "Old Road to Chillicothe." A profile on the lower margin gives much interesting information, the |
highest flood ever known, high and low water in the Ohio and Scioto rivers and the bed of the two rivers. The arrival, departure, numbers and cargoes of the river steamers is noted as well as the number of furnaces and forges in operation within thirty miles of the mouth of the canal and their capacity. The great benefit the canal has been at Ports- mouth is told and much more information of various kinds given, on this old map. |
Early Days in Ohio. 45
This Ohio canal was constructed under
the supervision of
Micajah T. Williams of Cincinnati with
Francis Cleveland resi-
dent engineer at Portsmouth and I. A.
Lapham assistant.
Letters and diaries written by the
assistant engineer have
been preserved and give interesting
glimpses of the cities and
towns in the olden time.
January 1st, 1831, it is stated
"The first number of the
Portsmouth Courier appeared today."
February 10th.- "About six inches
of snow fell last night."
The Courier of Feb. 4th
contained a short article of mine
on silk culture and a story, "The
Exile," by Miss Elizabeth
Dupee, for which I gave her the
subject."
Feb. 22d.--"Washington Ball at
McCoy's."
Jan. 9, 1832.-"A meeting held to
organize a Lyceum. About
thirty members. Ten or twelve will
deliver lectures. I am to
lecture on botany."
Feb. 12. -Ohio river 65 feet deep,
still rising, still raining.
Feb. 14. - River higher than ever before
known. Several
frame houses floated down. Many small houses and stables
upset.
Feb. 15. - Went to a party in a skiff.
Fell overboard, skiff
struck a post under water. Water in most
of the houses. One
to one and a half feet deep in the
tavern. Six or eight feet
deep on Front street. Ten feet higher
than the flood of 1828.
March 7. - Twenty-one years old today!
Lapham's work at Portsmouth lasted a
little more than three
years, closing the 15th of March, 1833.
He left Portsmouth for Cincinnati on the
Atlanta. This
steamboat not only carried passengers
and freight but towed
the fat boats loaded with stone for
locks at Cincinnati.
On the 29th of April Lapham
left Cincinnati for Columbus,
having received the appointment of
Secretary to the Board of
Canal Commissioners. The salary was only
$400.00, but he ac-
cepted the position with the
understanding that all his time
should not be taken. This route was by
steamboat to Ports-
mouth thence by stage to Columbus. He
began his new duties
on the 4th of May, 1833, boarding at
Noble's National Hotel.
On the sixth he wrote to his brother:
"You have heard
46
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
without doubt the circumstances of the
accident to the Guyan-
dotte, which ran foul of a snag and sank
the day I left you.
It will only be necessary, therefore, to
observe that I was not
scared out of more than one year's
growth! My baggage was
not wet [except the box of minerals], it
having been deposited
in the 'Social Hall,' which is on the
second deck. By climbing
one of the posts, I succeeded in keeping
above water myself. We
remained on board until the steamboat
'Rambler' took us off
the wreck and landed us in Portsmouth.
"Columbus appears to be very
pleasant, it is improving rap-
idly, much business is being done. I
think I shall like it very
much. I have ascertained that I can get
good board for $1.75
per week, which will be $39 per year
less than I paid at Ports-
mouth. May 29th Lapham was
boarding with Mr. Medberry,
the penitentiary engineer, and had
arranged with the state treas-
urer, Henry Brown, to sleep in his
office and guard the public
funds and do some work for him for
$100.00 per year."
In a letter of June 25th,
1833, he tells his brother of his
new arrangements and the precaution
taken to guard the treas-
ures of the state. "I am writing on
a small desk in a little office
whose door, window, and shutters are
faced with thick sheet
iron. I have locked, barred and bolted
the whole and therefore
think myself secure. At the head of my
bed is a loaded pistol
ready for use in case of necessity. The
treasurer's office is in
the same building with the canal
commissioner's office.
"Perhaps, as I am in a new business
it will interest you to
give an account of the manner in which I
spend my time. First,
then, four o'clock a. m. fast asleep,
secured as aforesaid. Five
o'clock I get up, wash my face and hands
and prepare for
breakfast; I open the doors and windows
to admit some light
into my dungeon and I immediately
discover the wisdom of
Providence in creating twilight for,
when I first open the door
the sudden glare of light is quite
painful to my eyes. At half
past five I take my breakfast, but, in
order to do so, I must
walk up High street to the National
Road, down that, towards
the bridge, one square to Front street,
up that street three
squares to Mr. Medberry's, in all about
one-third of a mile.
There I meet mine host and landlady and,
also, Mr. and Mrs.
Early Days in Ohio. 47
Mills. You will observe there is no
danger of my getting the
gout while I have to go so far for my
meals."
On July 14th the entry in the
diary is the simple announce-
ment of "a death from
cholera." July 23d. "Two fatal cases
of cholera at our house." A letter
of July 26th gives some
idea of the panic caused by that
dreadful disease.
Tuesday morning, the 23d, I met all the
family at break-
fast, as usual, all well. Tuesday
evening went to tea and found
both Mrs. Mills and Mrs. West dead with
the cholera. Since
then there have been three or four
deaths a day and cases un-
numbered.
I have not yet been able to drive away
that dread and
fear, which you may readily suppose got
fast hold of me. I
awake every morning after an unquiet,
dreamy sleep and am
perfectly astonished to find myself
alive and free from the
cholera. Then the idea of being in a
strange place, where it is
probable (from the panic which
universally prevails) that I
should receive but scant attention if I
should be attacked does
not tend to compose my mind. Also the
idea that I am every
night locked up where no one could get
to me even were they
so disposed does not help the matter.
For these reasons I have determined to
make my intended
visit home at this time and the stage
which brings this to you,
will also convey me as far as
Springfield.
Some of the people are
"panic-struck," refusing to go into
a house where there has been a death or
admit into their own
houses any one who has taken care of the
sick. Some of our
family went into a neighbor's house and
every one left the room
asking them to leave the house.
The next letter, dated August 15th,
gives some account of
the trip to West Liberty, the home of
his parents.
If you received my last letter you are
aware that I have
been home. On Saturday, July 27th,
at four o'clock in the
morning, I left here in the stage for
Springfield and arrived
without the least accident, at half past
eleven. About a dozen
gentlemen from the Springs [I need not
describe the animal to
you] dined with us. They gave me a good
idea of society at
Yellow Springs, so good, indeed, that I
abandoned entirely the
48 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
intention I had of going down there the
next day. This deter-
mination was confirmed when I found a
spring of chalybeate
water at Springfield, exactly like that
of the celebrated watering
place.
The cholera is quite bad with us now.
Mr. Horton How-
ard, his daughter and two of his
grand-children [H. D. Little's
children] have fallen victims to it.
COLUMBUS, Oct. 6, 1833.
DEAR BROTHER:
Madison county is among the largest and
most wealthy in the state,
but there is no printing office in it,
consequently it will be an excellent
opening for Brother Pazzi. He has just
returned from there and is
convinced from his own observations that
he can make enough in one
year to pay for an office there. He
wishes to get established in time
to secure the public printing which is
to be done this month and will be
worth $100.00 to him.
A later letter shows this project was
carried out.
"It was not without a good deal of
hesitation and many previous
inquiries that we concluded to embark in
the enterprise of establishing
a paper in London, Madison County, and
we are happy to hear that it
meets your approval. We intend to take
father by surprise by sending
him the first number of the Madison
Patriot. Pazzi wishes you to send
him an article for his paper
occasionally."
LONDON, OHIO, 17th November, 1833.
To I. A. Lapham.
DEAR BROTHER: Yours of the 10th by mail
received yesterday.
Six days from Columbus is rather
rascally but we can't help it.
I am in want of an article which will
explain the use and advantage
to be derived from a Lyceum.
I have prepared an article myself but
have so little knowledge on
the subject that I am in fear of
committing a blunder at which my con-
temporaries would laugh. You have had
some experience and can no
doubt write so as to be understood.
Yours with esteem,
PAZZI LAPHAM.
CANAL COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE,
COLUMBUS, SUNDAY, Jan. 19, 1834.
DEAR BROTHER: It is a busy time here
now. My principal duties are
recording the proceedings of the board
copying their reports and assist-
Early Days in Ohio. 49
ing in settling with the county
treasurers, who bring in their collections
to the state treasury in January of each
year.
I have become a member of the Historical
and Philosophical So-
ciety of Ohio and have been appointed a
cabinet officer; [not a 'kitchen
cabinet'*]
The members of the society are to send
me their collections of
minerals, rocks, etc., and they are to
be arranged in this office, for the
present.
A bill has been reported to the
legislature re-organizing the board
of canal commissioners and making them,
agreeably to a suggestion of
the governor a "Board of Public
Works."
What think you of Pazzi's paper? I am of
the opinion he is con-
ducting it very well indeed.
He says the people of Madison county are
mostly of the party called
"Van Buren" and, from what he
said, I fear he may be induced to take
sides with that party. Now I can
conceive of no greater calamity which
could befall his establishment than
this. You know it would be against
his honest convictions and, I think, if
he can not sustain his paper there
without joining a party that puts
self-interest above the interest of the
country, he had better, by all means,
abandon the project entirely.
The editor of the Ohio State Journal has
made him an offer which
I shall move he accepts in preference to
being a Jackson-Van Buren-office-
hunting-editor.
His only motive for joining that party
would be self-interest of
course, and for a man to be compelled to
speak and write things which
he does not believe to be for the best
interest of the country would de-
stroy all honorable, even honest
sentiment which he may have before
entertained.
On the 18th of May, Lapham wrote to his brother, "our
town has become a city and the new city
council unanimously
appointed me city surveyor."
And January 30th, 1835 he wrote asking
his brother to
exert his "imagination a little and
see me in the canal commis-
sioner's office sitting at a small desk
appropriated to the use
of the secretary of the board, placed at
a point south, forty de-
grees west, distance six feet from the
center of the fireplace,
directly before me you may imagine you
see a large case of
drawers, and shelves, closed with glass
doors endorsed 'Cabinet
of the Historical and Philosophical
Society of Ohio.' containing
*Francis P. Blair and Amos Kendall were
so called by the Whig
party. They were Jackson's advisers and
would go in the back door to
see him. See Wheeler's Noted Names of
Fiction.
Vol. XVIII-4.
50 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
petrified 'rams' horns' and 'calves'
horns" honeycomb and many
other curious stones, minerals, rocks,
shells of all kinds, ores,
dried plants, bugs, butterflies, etc.,
etc. Imagine further that
you see Mr. Byron Kilbourn standing at a
high desk writing a
long report, relating to the books,
accounts and vouchers of the
auditor and the treasurer of the state,
for the last three years;
observe the dark frown on his face and
you will be able to antici-
pate something of the nature of his
composition; perhaps it
relates to some wolf scalp vouchers
which are missing; or, per-
haps to the $10,000 of 3 per cent money
drawn from the United
States Treasury, without authority and
paid into the state
treasury when it suited the convenience
of the one who drew it;
or, perhaps it may relate to the $504.00
paid to a certain printer
for work which could have been done by
others for half that sum.
"At any rate, Mr. Kilbourn is
writing at the high desk. Ex-
ert your imagination further and see on
my left Col. Jones
reading a newspaper or writing a letter
and Mr. Forrer writing
a letter to the honorable committee on
canals. Mr. R. writing
a chapter on the effects of the July
rains and floods for the
annual report and Judge Tappan studying
some abstract ques-
tion of law or politics or, possibly
reading 'The Globe'. If he
opens his mouth it will be the wish,
perhaps that Judge McLain
would resign his present office and
become candidate for the
presidency of the United States and
promise to vote for him.
Imagine all this, I say, and further
that the fire is so hot as to
render my back uncomfortable, while the
air which enters
through the crack of the windows and
partitions renders me
uncomfortably cold, and you will perhaps
have no difficulty
in imagining the reason why I wrote 1834 for 1835 in my last
letter."
Again on the 8th of March Lapham wrote
to his brother in
regard to public matters; he said in
part: "The legislature has
ordered surveys of turnpike roads from
Cincinnati to Ports-
mouth; from the Miami canal through
Greenville in Darke county
to Richmond, Indiana: from Mad river,
near Liberty to the Mi-
ami canal, and from Columbus through the
Scioto and King's
Creek valleys to Mad river, besides many
others 'too numerous to
Early Days in Ohio. 51
mention'. It has also ordered an
examination into the whole
business and conduct of the canal
commissioners and the com-
missioners of the canal fund."
COLUMBUS, O., July 7, 1835.
DEAR BROTHER: I wish you would have the goodness to examine
some of the wooden conduits in
Cincinnati, especially the manner in
which the logs are joined together and
send me a plan of the same in
your next letter. The usual manner of
running one log into the other
is, in my judgment, very objectionable
and, as I understand that at
Cincinnati they do the business
differently, I should like to know
something more definite about their
plan.
I have to superintend the laying of
about a mile of such logs
for the city of Columbus and also the
putting in of five cisterns large
enough to hold six thousand gallons
each, in consequence of an appoint-
ment I received a few weeks since as
street commissioner and city fire
engineer." Your brother,
I. A. LAPHAM.
Evidently a request was made for
information in regard
to the work of the Legislature of Ohio -
for on the twelfth day
of the new year, 1836, Lapham wrote:
"I must beg to be excused
from answering your query 'what are the
legislators doing?'
You are no doubt aware that you include
one hundred and eight
persons in this question and to describe
with accuracy what each
one is doing would be a truly Herculean
task.
A bill has been reported, and has made
some progress to-
wards becoming a law, authorizing the
extension of the Miami
canal and, if the bill does pass the Mad
river feeder will be made
and, if in the opinion of the Board of
Canal Commissioners it is
expedient, the said feeder will be made
navigable.
As to the probability of the
reorganization of the Board of
Canal Commissioners, all is uncertain,
it is a difficult question.
There is a great probability that the
present legislature will
authorize the borrowing of money to
complete the Miami canal.
The idea suggested by Mr. Forrer that it
can be done without
creating any additional tax on the 'dear
people,' appears to take
very well with the Democrats.
Your allusion to my being at the head of
navigation must
have reference to the present state of
our roads and the num-
erous conventions being held in this
city at present, for, the
52
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
depth of the mud is such that traveling
through it may well be
compared to a species of navigation and,
I know no other reason
why Columbus should be considered the
head of this kind of
navigation, than the fact that delegates
to the conventions are
all traveling to this point.
The great Democratic convention [which
was compared to
a meeting of the people rather than of
representatives], ad-
journed on Saturday. Today we have a
Temperance convention
and tomorrow a "Convention of
Professional Teachers."
I have been endeavoring to induce the
legislature to comply
with the suggestion in the governor's
message, in relation to a
geological survey of the state and have
written the greater part
of a report which was submitted to the
House of Representatives
by Mr. Creed, also an essay which is
appended to it.
I wish you would be so kind as to draw a
small plan of
the new fangled wooden aqueduct over
Mill creek about which
Mr. Forrer brags so much in the canal
report this year."
That Lapham was able to report some of
the doings of the
legislators is proved by a letter dated
February 18th, 1836, ad-
dressed to his brother who was, at that
time, superintending en-
gineer of the Miami canal. He says, in
part: "In compliance
with your request of the 8th of January
in regard to the doings
of the legislators in relation to the
organization of a new (Jack-
son) board of public works: the
extension of the Miami canal
north of Dayton and authorizing the
construction of the Mad
river feeder, I have the honor to submit
the following report:
"So far as the Honorable, the House
of Representatives is
concerned, these matters have all been
acted upon and passed;
the more tardy senators have laid them
on the table for further
consideration. The House has now before
it divers and sundry
other matters of vital importance to the
credit and interest of
the state, such as a bill to repeal the
charter of a Life Insurance
and Trust Company, whereby it will be
made known that our
laws are stable and held to be sacred by
the legislature and the
credit of the state will be improved in
the money market. They
have also a bill before them making it
an offense against the
laws to pass or receive any piece of
paper purporting to be a
note for one, two or three dollars on
any bank, whereby the
Early Days in Ohio. 53
citizens of the state will have the
convenience of using silver
instead of paper money, if they choose,
and, also, the power and
authority [for it can not be otherwise]
of disregarding one of
the laws of the land.
"The bill to organize the Board of
Public Works transfers
all powers and duties of the canal
commissioners to that board;
fixes the salary of the acting
commissioner at $1,000 per annum,
$267.50 less than those officers now
receive; provides for two
acting and four advising commissioners
and declares that so
soon as the aforesaid board shall be
appointed the powers and
duties of the canal commissioners shall
cease and determine."
A resolution was passed by the General
Assembly of the
state of Ohio, appointing Samuel F.
Hildreth of Marietta, John
Locke and John Riddell of Cincinnati and
I. A. Lapham of Co-
lumbus a committee to report to the next
legislature, the best
method of obtaining a complete
geological survey of the state
and an estimate of its probable cost.
This resolution was signed
by Wm. Medill, speaker pro tem of the
House of Representa-
tives, and E. Vance, speaker of the
Senate.
The duties of Lapham under this
appointment were cut
short by his determination to make the
newly founded city of
Milwaukee in the Territory of Michigan
his home. Four days
after his arrival the Territory of
Wisconsin was organized.
EARLY DAYS IN OHIO.
FROM LETTERS AND DIARIES OF DR. I. A.
LAPHAM.
Increase Allen Lapham, at the time of
his death regarded as the
most distinguished scholar of his state,
Wisconsin, was for many years
a citizen and state official of Ohio. He
was born in Palmyra, N. Y., in
1811, and while as a boy laborer,
working on the construction of the
Erie Canal, became interested in the
study of nature and her various
phases. The subsequent results of his
studies were embodied in forty-
five different volumes and large and
valuable collections. Mr. Lapham
was a striking example of the
self-educated man. His schooling was
only that of the common rudimentary
character. He did not have to
learn, he intuitively knew. At sixteen
years of age he wrote his first
scientific paper, illustrated by
original plans, geological sections, and a
map published in the American Journal
of Science. This production was
highly commended by Prof. Silliman. Before
he was of age, Mr. Lap-
ham moved to Portsmouth, Ohio, where he
resided several years, and
during which residence, at the age of
twenty-two he was appointed Secre-
tary of the State Board of Canal
Commissioners and became an active
member of the Historical and
Philosophical Society of Ohio.
In 1836, the young man settled in
Milwaukee, then a village in
the Territory of Michigan, with but
twelve hundred inhabitants. Here
he entered upon a career of great mental
activity, in the fields of geology,
geography, topography, mineralogy,
botany, agriculture, education and
archaeology. He held many territorial
and state offices. As a scientist,
he was, perhaps, better known abroad
than at home; at one time it was
said Milwaukee was best known in Europe
as the home of Dr. I. A.
Lapham. In many of the subjects to which he gave his attention he
became a national authority. He was one
of the founders of the Wis-
consin Academy of Science, of the
American Ethnological Society and
of the Wisconsin State Historical
Society, of which for many years
he was president. He was a member of the
leading scientific societies of
this country and Europe. For several
years he was employed in the
study of the prehistoric earthworks of
Wisconsin and was the first to
notice that the mounds of aboriginal
people in that state were, as he
wrote, "gigantic basso-relievos of
men, beasts, birds and reptiles, all
wrought with persevering labor on the
surface of the soil." Knowing
that they would be obliterated in the
progress of settlement and cultiva-
tion, he made a systematic and thorough
survey of these memorials of
a prehistoric race, the results being
published by the Smithsonian Institu-
tion in a quarto volume, with plates and
wood engravings from drawings
43