RECOLLECTIONS OF
NEWARK.
ISAAC SMUCKER.
[Mr. Isaac Smucker was born in the
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia,
in 1807 and became a citizen of Newark,
Ohio, in 1825, as he relates in
the article herewith published. He early
became an influential and dis-
tinguished personage in his community.
In 1837-8 he was a member of
the Ohio Legislature and might have held
other offices of greater prom-
inence but he preferred the less
conspicuous life and the opportunity it
gave to indulge in his literary and
historical tastes. He wrote much in
the lines just mentioned and his
writings were accepted by the leading
magazines of the country. He was
especially interested in the archaeology
and history of Ohio and for many years
was a member of the Ohio State
Archaeological & Historical Society.
In 1867 he was the main factor in
the organization of the Licking County
Pioneer, Historical and Antiqua-
rian Society, before the meetings of
which he read many papers and de-
livered many addresses of great interest
and value. The paper here-
with published for the first time was
read by him before that Society in
the year 1868. Mr. Smucker died January
31, 1894.-EDITOR.]
In 1825, which was forty-three years
ago, the writer arrived
at Newark, after a journey across the
Alleghanies, of four
hundred miles, performed on foot, which,
at that time, was the
usual mode of travel with men of very
limited funds. Those of
more means travelled on horseback, while
those most liberally
supplied with cash took to the family
carriage, or to the public
stage.
The then very small village of
Newark was reached at about
nine o'clock at night. It was a very
pleasant starlight or moon-
light night,-just light enough to
indicate to a weary traveller
who had safely crossed the ricketty old
bridge across the North
Fork and reached the western termination
of East Main Street,
and there taken his position just
between the "Cully and Green
House" tavern, deliberately viewing
the situation from this point
of observation, that the "Public
Square" was too extensively
dotted with ponds of large and small
proportions, to render it
altogether a safe operation to venture
forward without a guide.
(240)
Recollections of Newark. 241
Accordingly a dime was invested on a
small lad, on the condition
that he should safely guide the footsore
water-bound traveller
along the winding track among the ponds,
across the square to
the residence of the father of the
belated footman, who at that
time domiciled at the south west corner
of West Main and Fourth
streets! Who was that lad?
The most important event to Newark and
to Licking County
that transpired in the year 1825 was the
celebration of the 4th
of July, at the "Licking
Summit," four miles south of Newark,
on the Ohio Canal. An immense throng
attended to see Gov.
De Witt Clinton of New York throw out
the first shovel full
of earth, in the construction of the
Ohio Canal. Gov. Worthing-
ton and numerous celebrities from this
and other States were
present. The occasion was characterized
by an immense display
of military toggery, such as brass
buttons, cockades, plumes,
sashes, epaulettes, and many other fancy
trappings that profusely
ornamented the outer garments of the
military chieftains present
These highly embellished and
conspicuously present gentlemen
of the "Sword and Pistols"
were one of the features of this
notable day. There was also a great
array of independent mili-
tary companies, called volunteers, who
also appeared in their best
uniforms. Gen. Edward King of
Chillicothe, and Gen. Sander
son, our very highly esteemed pioneer
friend of Lancaster, who,
at more than four-score years of age is
still living, and whose
interesting letter was read at our last
meeting, were among the
most conspicuous military commanders on
that celebrated
occasion. Our late friends and fellow
citizens, Capts. Merideth
Darlington and Willard Warner, the
former of Newark, the lat-
ter of Granville, commanded the local or
home troops on the
occasion. This was in the heroic age of
Ohio--the age of
military glory.
Hon. Thomas Ewing, then in the full
enjoyment of his
great intellectual powers, was the
orator of the day, and, in the
judgment of the great crowd who heard
him, he acquitted him-
self splendidly.
Gov. Clinton threw out the first shovel
of earth, in the con-
struction of the Ohio Canal, on that
interesting occasion. He
Vol. XX-16.
242 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
had been the projector of the Erie
Canal, and had employed his
great talents and influence to put the
Empire State on the high-
way to prosperity and wealth by
procuring the adoption of a
liberal "Internal Improvement
Policy." This same policy,
sensible and statesmanlike, he urged
upon Ohio, and in conse-
quence thereof he became very popular
among its friends here;
hence the position of honor assigned
him. The President of our
Society, Hon. William Stanbery, was
elected to the Senate of
Ohio, and there ably advocated our Canal
policy. Gov. Worth-
ington and most of the influential
Statesmen of Ohio held the
same views.
The next most important event of 1825,
was the abortive
attempt to hang a fellow by the name of
Peter Dimond, a
miner at Mary Ann furnace, who had been
convicted of the
murder of Mitchell, a fellow-ore-digger.
This man, while intoxi-
cated and in a fit of passion, struck
Mitchell (with whom he was
quarreling), a blow with a gun-barrel
across the head, from the
effects of which he died. The absence of
deliberation and pre-
meditation made it a crime of a lower
grade than murder in the
first degree, and he should have been
convicted of the second
grade of homicide. Hon. Thomas Ewing and Wm. Stanbery de-
fended him with great zeal and ability,
but he was nevertheless
found guilty and sentenced to be hung.
The gallows was erected
- the grave dug - the coffin made - so
was the shroud and the
culprit put inside of it -the crowd
collected from far and near
- the military were marshaled in large
numbers to prevent the
escape or rescue of Peter, and to give eclat
to the interesting
occasion. The sermon was preached--the
doctors were on
hand to determine when Dimond's pulse
ceased its beatings, by
reason of the strangling process - and
in short all things were
ready to swing the culprit into
eternity, when lo! and behold a
dashing horseman, came rushing along,
crying at the top of his
voice that he had a message from the
governor of the State of
Ohio. This proved to be Isaac Cool, who
knew well how to act
such a part with a flourish. The commander of the troops
cleared the track for him, when he, with
due regard to style,
passed the document with the great seal
of the State of Ohio at-
tached to the sheriff, which proved to
be a respite or suspension
Recollections of Newark. 243
of the sentence. This respite resulted
at last in a commutation
of it to ten years' service for the hero
of the day, in the Peni-
tentiary. This respite arrangement of
our good old Governor
was one that Peter promptly acceded to,
much to the disgust of a
well-sold and greatly befooled crowd, who had, at some
expense,
and to the neglect of their business and
crops, at a very busy
season of the year, gathered here in
great force, from this and
all the adjoining counties, to witness
the death-agonies of a
fellow being on the gallows, and they
could not brook the idea
of a disappointment! This is true only of the more brutal or
rabble class of the spectators-the
better portion were thrilled
with joy at the manner of its
termination. Farce just then was
more to their taste than tragedy. This
performance came off
between Locust and Church Streets and
between Third and
Fifth Streets. The gallows stood about
midway between Church
and Locust Streets, on Fourth, or a
little east of it. This was
the nearest the writer ever came to
seeing a man "done for"
finally on the scaffold. He offers in
mitigation the force of the
temptation, by the fact of the erection
of the gallows within a
few rods of his residence; and he may
also be permitted to plead
his youth in extenuation of the
indiscretion, he being still "in his
teens."
Dimond's counsel, after the death
penalty had been pro-
nounced, prepared and laid before Gov.
Morrow, the facts in
the case, who saw at once that he had
been illegally and unjustly
convicted and sentenced; he thereupon
decided to give him the
proper punishment for his offence, which
was one of great
enormity, though not the highest crime,
nor the crime of which
he was found guilty. As he had committed
a great crime the
good Governor thought it best to give
him ten years in the
State's prison, and in addition to put
him through the pangs of
anticipated throttling, and to keep the terrors of an ignominious
death hanging over him to the last
moment; but to stop short
of the reality of a death strangling!
The horse-racing of 1825 was also an
event of no small
magnitude, in the estimation of many.
The race-course was
bounded on the North by the southern
portion of the town; on
the South by the South Fork; on the East
by Fourth Street;
244 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
and on the West by the Raccoon. An
immense crowd of people
of all colors, sexes, and condition had
collected. They came from
adjacent counties, and also from remote
parts of the State, as
well as from our own county. One main
race for sweep-stakes,
was run by three horses, named
"Ground Hog, Red Fox, and
Prairie Mule." The first-named was
a large grey horse, owned
in Muskingum, I believe, and was the
winner. The "Red Fox"
was a small sorrel horse, and came in
second best; and the
"Prairie Mule," owned, I
think, in Lancaster, was a small brown
animal of nearly the same speed of the
"Red Fox." The race
was a mile, or perhaps more, to be
repeated. Many other races
were also run, generally for a short
distance only and for small
stakes. The accompaniments were a large
consumption of
whiskey and similar fluids -an
overloading of many stomachs
with Bentley's ginger-cakes- a
considerable number of fisti-
cuffs- much excitement, quarreling and
profanity - extensive
thimble-rigging and sweatcloth gambling-
pocket-picking and
stealing-grandmother's and other tricks
played off on the very
green ones; and various other grovelling
and villainous prac-
tices that were intensely disgusting.
The writer's youth and verdancy, and a
prurient but hitherto
ungratified curiosity, are all the
extenuating circumstances he
has to offer for putting himself in a
position to witness, in this
single instance, some of the evils and
demoralizations growing
out of and accompanying horse-racing.
The writer does not
propose any exposition of the Justinian
code, nor of the code
Napoleon, nor of more modern and better
understood codes, in
their bearings, if they have any, upon
horse-racing; neither does
he contemplate a homily founded on the
Mosaic and Christian
codes, upon the subject, but he submits
the single remark that
his very limited horse-racing experience
led him to the convic-
tion that the law of conscience,
indelibly written by an unerring
hand, forbids it as a practice that
works out much more evil
than good -a practice not
demanded by utility, nor justified by
morality.
The races of 1825 were the first I
attended-and they were
the last, too. Forty-three years is a
long time between horse-
races- but not too long.
Recollections of Newark. 245
In a few days after my arrival here in
1825 I attended a
camp meeting held in Franklin Township,
not far from the large
Stone Mound, some eight miles from
Newark. The meeting
was held in a pleasant and somewhat
romantic locality-near
the western termination of the Flint
Ridge. The weather was
delightful - the preaching was good, and
the surroundings and
incidents of the meeting had a flavor of
freshness and novelty
about them that rendered the occasion
one decidedly enjoyable.
A slender, tall, erect, long-visaged,
grave old man, with elongated
hair that had passed into the last stage
of the silver-grey hue,
occupied himself conspicuously as the
chief singer of the occasion
-the venerable leader in the musical
department of the devo-
tional exercises. His name was Siglar, I
understood, and he
sung with spirit, energy, and much power
of voice. The great
congregation joined him, and they made
the welkin ring
sonorously, while singing those fine old
Methodist Camp Meet-
ing hymns. The multitudes gathered for
worship from all the
regions round about in those ancient
groves, were greatly moved,
yes, were thrilled by the
inspiring notes of the melodious min-
strelsy. The reverberations of those
sacred songs, as sung by
a thousand voices, in the spirited,
natural, unartistic style of our
primitive settlers in those "grand
old woods," gave zest to the
enjoyment of the interesting occasion,
and the scenes and inci-
dents thereof are numbered among the
memories to be cherished
in the hereafter!
Rev. Zerah H. Coston was the only
preacher present whose
name I now remember. I had heard him
preach a sermon a
short time before, in front of the old
jail, for the benefit of
Peter Dimond, then under sentence of
death. I think, however,
that Judge Fidlar, whom I had heard
perform a similar service
for Dimond, was also present, though I
am not certain. This
was my first appearance at a Methodist
Camp Meeting, but not
my last. I attended one held near Chatham, nearly forty years
ago, where I heard Rev. L. L. Hamline
preach his celebrated
sermon from the text, "Ye are my
witnesses saith the Lord." I
heard him preach it once before, and
it was worth repeating.
Few men had a more attractive style of
pulpit oratory than he.
I also attended one on the Flint Ridge,
more than thirty-five
246
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications.
years ago, conducted by our well-known
pioneer veteran, the
Rev. C. Springer; and another a few
years later held near Eliza-
bethtown, under the same management, at
both of which we had
interesting preaching. My last Camp
Meeting experience was
near Frazeysburg, during the last
summer, where I heard two
very able sermons delivered by Revs.
Philips of Zanesville and
Felton of Columbus. I confess to a
partiality, by way of variety,
for the old style camp meeting
oratory--to a strong liking to
the pulpit in the Wilderness, as
we had it in "days of auld lang
syne."
I close my recollections of 1825 by a
brief reference to the
election of that year. When I arrived in
Newark a vigorous
contest was going on for a seat in the
State Legislature between
Bradley Buckingham and Stephen C. Smith.
The Newark-Advo-
cate, edited by the late Benjamin Briggs, Esq., then the only
paper printed in Licking county, was
full of spirited communica-
tions on this subject, pro and con.
Henry Shurtz was fighting
Mr. Buckingham vigorously, charging him
in the Advocate with
getting some advantage of him in a
whiskey trade. Be it re-
membered here that whiskey was at that
time an article of ex-
tensive trade and commerce--indeed it
came very near being
a legal tender in payment of debts.
Mr. Buckingham was a prosperous, wealthy
merchant of
Newark, and known to almost everybody in
the county. He
came to Newark at an early day, and had
kept himself in com-
munication with the people constantly by
his extensive business
operations, and to a limited extent, as
a public officer. He was
of good reputation and excellent
character, and was withal a
gentleman of rather pleasant, popular
manners.
Mr. Smith was a more recent settler in
Licking. He came
originally from New Jersey to Marietta
in 1806 and from there
in the year 1809 to Muskingum county,
where he was several
times honored with elections to the
Legislature and to the Asso-
ciate Judgeship of their Court of Common
Pleas. He had more-
over been actively patriotic during the
war of 1812, having ren-
dered efficient services as adjutant of
the regiment commanded
by the late Lewis Cass. He came to
Licking county in 1818 and
was a member of the Legislature in 1824.
He was a man of
Recollections of Newark. 247
liberal mental endowments and extensive reading and informa- tion. He had one of the best libraries in our county, and we had few men of more extensive intelligence on a great variety of subjects, as I afterwards ascertained on becoming well acquainted with him. He was a man without reproach and lived and died an honest man. Mr. Buckingham was the successful candidate, but by a very small majority, ten votes, I think. The next year they were again competitors, when Mr. Smith was successful by a meagre majority. Messrs. Buckingham and Smith retired upon their legislative careers -the former in 1826 and the latter in 1827-neither of them again holding any public office. |
|
RECOLLECTIONS OF
NEWARK.
ISAAC SMUCKER.
[Mr. Isaac Smucker was born in the
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia,
in 1807 and became a citizen of Newark,
Ohio, in 1825, as he relates in
the article herewith published. He early
became an influential and dis-
tinguished personage in his community.
In 1837-8 he was a member of
the Ohio Legislature and might have held
other offices of greater prom-
inence but he preferred the less
conspicuous life and the opportunity it
gave to indulge in his literary and
historical tastes. He wrote much in
the lines just mentioned and his
writings were accepted by the leading
magazines of the country. He was
especially interested in the archaeology
and history of Ohio and for many years
was a member of the Ohio State
Archaeological & Historical Society.
In 1867 he was the main factor in
the organization of the Licking County
Pioneer, Historical and Antiqua-
rian Society, before the meetings of
which he read many papers and de-
livered many addresses of great interest
and value. The paper here-
with published for the first time was
read by him before that Society in
the year 1868. Mr. Smucker died January
31, 1894.-EDITOR.]
In 1825, which was forty-three years
ago, the writer arrived
at Newark, after a journey across the
Alleghanies, of four
hundred miles, performed on foot, which,
at that time, was the
usual mode of travel with men of very
limited funds. Those of
more means travelled on horseback, while
those most liberally
supplied with cash took to the family
carriage, or to the public
stage.
The then very small village of
Newark was reached at about
nine o'clock at night. It was a very
pleasant starlight or moon-
light night,-just light enough to
indicate to a weary traveller
who had safely crossed the ricketty old
bridge across the North
Fork and reached the western termination
of East Main Street,
and there taken his position just
between the "Cully and Green
House" tavern, deliberately viewing
the situation from this point
of observation, that the "Public
Square" was too extensively
dotted with ponds of large and small
proportions, to render it
altogether a safe operation to venture
forward without a guide.
(240)