Ohio History Journal

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known as Campus Martius and shall hold the same and the property

thereon subject to such use as the General Assembly may direct.

E. J. HOPPLE,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

EARL D. BLOOM,

President of the Senate.

Passed March 21, 1917.

Approved March 29, 1917.

JAMES M. Cox, Governor.

Filed in office of Secretary of State, April 2, 1917.

 

 

STEPHEN D. PEET.

 

IN MEMORIAM.

It was in one of the early months of the year 1875 that Isaac

Smucker, of Newark, and Stephen D. Peet, then resident of Ashtabula,

met at the home of Roeliff Brinkerhoff in Mansfield, for the purpose

of organizing the Ohio Archaeological Association. This triumvirate of

kindred scholarly spirits recognized the great field and opportunity in

Ohio for an organization, the object of which should be the study and

preservation of the remains of the pre-historic race, commonly called

the Mound Builders; a race shrouded in mystery, that populously occu-

pied Ohio before the invasion of the European people; yes, before the

historic Indian, possibly before the red man had existed in the Ohio or

Mississippi Valley. It was the opportune moment for the institution of

such a society, and its immediate intention was the gathering of a

suitable collection of the relics of this vanished empire, and its display

as an "Ohio exhibit" in the National Centennial Exhibit to be held at

Philadelphia in the year 1876. To the purpose of the illustrious trio,

Brinkerhoff, Peet and Smucker, there rallied with sympathy and en-

thusiasm Rutherford B. Hayes, Governor of the state; John H. Klip-

pert, the distinguished state geologist; C. C. Baldwin and Charles Whit-

tlesey, respectively president and secretary of the Western Reserve His-

torical Society, and Professor M. C. Read, a distinguished writer on

Ohio archaeology. General Brinkerhoff was made president of the "Ohio

Archaeological Association," and Professor John T. Short of the Agri-

cultural and Mechanical College, now the Ohio State University, a most

noted scholar and author of "Prehistoric Man in America," was made

secretary. The legislature made an appropriation of $2,500.00 to the

association for the promotion of its exhibit at Philadelphia, which ex-

hibit remarkably fulfilled its mission, ranking only second in extent and

scholarly value to the archaeological display of the Smithsonian Insti-

tute. The Ohio Archaeological Association under the guidance of its

protagonists, continued its work, under adverse circumstances, until

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1883, when upon the untimely death of Professor Short, the secretary

and master spirit, the organization became inactive and so remained for

two years, when in 1885, at instigation of Mr. A. A. Graham, an en-

ergetic and enthusiastic student of archaeology and history, supported

by Governor George Hoadly, the organization was revived and its scope

enlarged under the name of The Ohio State Archaeological and His-

torical Society. The field of history, of Ohio, its study, collection of

data and publication of the same being added to meet the demand of

innumerable students and scholars throughout the state. The relation of

and subsequent career of the Society, to its present and pretentious con-

dition is not the intent of this recital. That will all be found in previous

recent publications of the Quarterly. In all this revival and much of

the progress of the Society, Stephen D. Peet, though no longer a resi-

dent of Ohio, took active and interested part. It is of him and his

almost prodigious achievements in the field of archaeology in Ohio and

other states of the Northwest that we speak.

Dr. Peet passed to the great beyond at Northampton, Massachusetts,

May 24, 1914. He was buried in Beloit, Wisconsin. His demise should

have been suitably noted in the columns of the Ohio State Archaeological

and Historical Quarterly, but for two or three years previous to his

death he had retired from active life and illness compelled him to seek

health amid the scenes of his ancestral New England home.

Stephen Denison Peet was educated for the ministry. His father,

Stephen Peet, was a distinguished clergyman who enjoyed a long and

useful career. This energetic father was the originator and builder of

over thirty churches and the prime promoter of Beloit College, Wis-

consin, and the Chicago Theological Seminary.

Stephen, the son, was born in Euclid, Ohio, December 2, 1831, in

which place his father, at the time, was the pioneer pastor of the Pres-

byterian church. The boy Stephen was given every educational ad-

vantage. He graduated from Beloit College, Wisconsin, 1851, and later

(1890) received the degree of Ph. D. from the same college. In his

college course Stephen gave almost exclusive attention to the classics

and became an enthusiastic adept in Greek, Latin and ancient history.

For two years (1851-3) he was a student at the Yale Divinity School,

New Haven, Conn., completing his theological course at the Andover

(Mass.) Theological Seminary, 1854. It was during the years of his

theological studies that he became interested in the archaeology of the

oriental countries, especially Egypt, Greece, Rome and Babylonia. "In

my mind," he wrote, "these ancient dynasties were ever on the horizon

and loomed up amid the clouds of antiquity." Later this archaeological

bent of mind expended its energies on the American antiquities, es-

pecially of the Northwest Territory. Following his Andover graduation

he spent two or three years as a church missionary, establishing churches

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in rural or village localities in Ohio and the west. In 1854 he married

Katherine Moseley, who shortly thereafter died, and Stephen then mar-

ried Olive Wentworth Cutler of Elkhorn, Wisconsin. One year after

his second marriage he was ordained in the Congregational ministry,

and for near forty years thereafter held pastorates at various localities,

some fifteen in number, mainly in Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio. Several

of these pastorates were respectively in the neighborhood of sites noted

for the earthen works of the prehistoric Mound Builders, and Dr. Peet

had opportunity of studying at first hand the relics of this mysterious

race. In 1878 he founded the American Antiquarian and Oriental Jour-

nal, which was continued under his fostering care as a magazine until

within two or three years of his decease. During most of the period of

its publication it was issued at Chicago, and it became a standard source

of authority and information to a large clientele in the field of oriental

and American archaeology. After serving as editor and manager of the

Antiquarian for thirty-two years Doctor Peet, in 1911, relinquished his

management and editorship to Prof. J. O. Kinnsman. Dr. Peet was a

prolific writer and an indefatigable student. He wrote in a clear style,

and endeavored in a popular manner to develop the relationship of the

later American archaeology to that of the older countries. His writings

in this field besides his magazine articles, not produced in book form,

were issued in eight volumes: "The Mound Builders," "Emblematic

Mounds," "Cliff Ddwellers," "Ruined Cities," "Myths and Symbols,"

"Primitive Art," "Indian Tribes," and "Comparative Mythology."

Many of the theories and opinions set forth in these readable books

are now, in the light of later investigations, set aside or modified. But

Dr. Peet did a great work in spreading the popular knowledge of these

subjects, in bringing them to the notice of thousands of eager students

and in creating an interest in the realms of "forgotten lore." Dr. Peet,

of course, became corresponding or honorary member of many of the

leading scientific and historical societies of America, Great Britain and

even the Orient.

The editor, who pens this sketch, all too brief and inadequate, for

the merits of the subject, never met Dr. Peet personally, but for a score

of years had a delightful corresponding acquaintance with the distin-

guished savant. He took a deep and abiding interest in the welfare and

progress of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, of

which he proudly and deservedly claimed the honor of being one of the

three original founders. His two associates in that memorable work,

and all of the co-laborers mentioned in connection with his efforts,

preceded him many years ago to the other world, and now he too has

entered that mysterioues realm after a long life of fruitful and eventful

usefulness.

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