Ohio History Journal

Executive Mansion.                 271

 

such recommendation into effect had been taken or attempted by

the general assembly.

On February 16, 1917 a resolution was adopted authorizing

the appointment of a committee to "investigate the cost of pur-

chasing a residence already erected and also the cost of pur-

chasing a site and causing a proper residence to be erected there-

on" in Columbus "to be used as a home for future governors of

the state". (107 0. L. 760.)

On March 30, 1917 the governor approved an act authoriz-

ing an Executive Mansion Board and appropriating one hundred

and twenty-five thousand dollars to purchase a site and erect there-

on "a building for use as a home for the future governors of the

state".

Under the provisions of this act a site was purchased. It

later appeared desirable to acquire a different site with a building

already erected. Accordingly on February 26, 1919 the gov-

ernor approved an act amending the act of March 30, 1917 and

authorizing the board

"To purchase a dwelling in the city of Columbus, with the

grounds pertaining thereto, for use as a home for the governors

of this state; to purchase other grounds adjacent to such dwell-

ing; to remove any of the buildings thereon; to alter or repair

said dwelling; to further improve and embellish said grounds;

to fully furnish and equip said dwelling for residence purposes;

to make expenditures for any other purposes which the Board

shall find necessary or proper in furtherance of the end in view;

and to exchange the present site intended for an Executive Man-

sion (heretofore purchased by said Board) in part payment for

the dwelling above stated".

On the Executive Mansion Board were appointed three

former governors of Ohio: James E. Campbell, Chairman;

Myron T. Herrick and Judson Harmon. The building and

spacious grounds have been acquired within the original appro-

priation.

 

A BUCKEYE TREE FOR THE LAWN OF THE EXECUTIVE

MANSION.

When the property for the Governor's mansion was acquired

by the state it was promptly fitted and equipped for occupancy.

Rare furniture was purchased, some of it of early date and

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Executive Mansion.                 278

historical association. The grounds were put in order and the

landscape gardener gave the lawn the final artistic setting.

One matter was overlooked, however. In the spacious yard

of the mansion for the buckeye Governor there was no buckeye

tree. Attention was drawn to this by Ireland of the Columbus

Dispatch in the "Passing Show".

This notice caught the eye of young Jack Price, son of At-

torney General and Mrs. John G. Price, and he at once recalled

that he had in possession just what was needed to make the man-

sion and grounds a strictly Ohio institution. He had a young

buckeye tree which he presented to Governor Cox. This tree

has a history. It grew from a buckeye seed planted at the

Joseph Royer homestead on East South St., Massillon, Ohio,

where Jack's mother, who was Miss Salome C. Royer, was born.

The buckeye, when but a small bush, was removed from Massil-

lon to the Price home at 1356 Neil Ave., Columbus, in the year

1915, where it had grown to a tree about ten feet in height when

it was transplanted on the lawn of the Governor's mansion on

May 20, 1920.

The planting of this young buckeye tree was widely noted

through the press of the state. The Massillon Independent

of May 22, 1920, contains the following editorial under the cap-

tion "Made in Massillon, Shade for the Governor's Lawn":

"A 14-year old grandson of Massillon Thursday strengthened

Massillon's claim to a place in the hall of fame.

"Master Jack Price, son of John Price, attorney general of

Ohio, and Mrs. Salome Royer Price, the latter a native daughter

of Massillon, Thursday went out with Governor Cox on the lawn

of the governor's mansion at Columbus and there planted a

buckeye tree, the only one of its kind within the confines of the

official property, and a tree which, as a tiny sprig, first saw the

light of day in the lot of the former residence of Mrs. Price, in

East South street, Massillon.

"The simple ceremony, in which the governor and Master

Jack were the chief participants, followed the discovery of the

fact that the lawn of the governor's mansion bore not a single

buckeye, the beautiful tree which has given the state its familiar

name. Master Jack remembered the little tree which he had

tenderly transported from Massillon and then a flourishing oc-

Vol. XXIX-18

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274      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

cupant of his own back yard. He offered it to the governor,

and the governor not only accepted, but agreed to help plant it.

So Thursday the ceremony was performed and henceforth a

Massillon-made shade producer will assist in keeping cool the

establishment of the governor in summer, and by winter enhance

the beauty of an otherwise barren landscape.

"But aside from the scenic effects created by the presence

of the Massillon buckeye on the governor's lawn, there will be

those who will claim for it other virtues. Many years ago peo-

ple were wont to carry in their pockets buckeyes to keep

away illness and evil spirits. The secret of this mysterious power

of the horse chestnut over the enemies of the human body and

mind was never explained. It was claimed to exist and that

was all that was necessary. Many who did not believe in the

efficacy of the buckeye carried one just to be on the safe side and

give the alleged protector the benefit of the doubt.

"Those early believers and their latter-day followers very

likely will feel much safer now that a buckeye tree is flourishing

on the lawn of the official mansion of the chief executive of the

state of Ohio, for they will argue that, if a single buckeye is

capable of preserving the health of the mind and body of an in-

dividual, a whole tree surely will do as much for a governor.

"What power for good the buckeye possesses in political life

will be seen at San Francisco next month."

The Canton Repository of May 20, 1920, contains a news

item from which the following is an extract:

"'Jack' Price, 14, son of Attorney General John G. Price,

formerly of Canton, presented to Governor Cox today a young

buckeye tree which was grown from a Buckeye planted ten years

ago on the homestead of the young man's mother, formerly Miss

Salome C. Royer, of Massillon. Young Price took the tree to

Columbus, transplanted it at his home on Neil Ave. and has care-

fully nurtured it for several years.

"When attention was called to the fact in a Columbus news-

paper last week that there were no buckeye trees in the yard at

the governor's mansion, Jack Price decided to offer the tree to

the governor. The gift was accepted and the governor personally

assisted young Price today in planting the tree."

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