Ohio History Journal

OHIO STATE ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL

SOCIETY.

 

REVIEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS

 

BY THE EDITOR

 

A VISIT FROM BENJAMIN LUNDY

A letter of Ruth Galbreath, wife of Nathan Gal-

breath, dated "New Garden, Ohio, 2nd mo. 3rd, 1833,"

contains among other things a description of a visit

from Benjamin Lundy which may be of interest to

readers of this issue of the QUARTERLY, as it expresses

the regard of Columbiana County Quakers for this re-

former and bears testimony to the fact that he was a

not infrequent visitor in eastern Ohio at this time. The

letter in part is as follows:

"I had the very great gratification of seeing B. Lundy last

fall. He gave us a call and took tea with us, and I must tell

something of the manner of his introduction. I happened to be

alone in the kitchen. * * * I was very much engaged in my

household concerns when I heard a knocking at the front door

with the head of a cane, by which I inferred that it was a man.

So I thought he might knock away until he was tired and then

come down to the kitchen door, but finding he continued to knock

I at length called out, 'Come in,' more than once, but the knock-

ing still continued, and seeing no alternative, I with the implement

I was using ran hastily up and met at the door a little strange

looking man of no very interesting appearance. The first thought

that struck me was that he was a school master, come to be ex-

amined, Nathan having performed the office of examiner since

the institution of district schools. I invited him into the sitting

room, left him and dispatched a messenger for Nathan (for the

man had asked for him) and resumed my work in the kitchen.

When Nathan came, he went up to the room and soon returned

to the head of the stairs and called in an animated tone of voice

desiring me to come up. I dropped my work in an instant, say-

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Reviews, Notes and Comments          495

 

ing to myself, 'Who can it be?' and adjusting as I went my cap

and handkerchief I entered the room; but my astonishment at

hearing the name of Benjamin Lundy may be more easily

imagined than described. The next moment presented him to

my mind as an imposter. I sat down to try if I could be satisfied

by listening to their conversation. I was soon convinced and

perceiving him to be hard of hearing (which accounted for his

knocking after I had said 'Come in') I took my chair and sat

close to him and (call me not enthusiastic) I devoured every

word with the keenest avidity. Indeed I so far forgot my work

in the kitchen that I was obliged to force myself out of the room

to give orders for tea. I mentioned to him something of my

surprise and he related to me an anecdote of a man he saw in

his route who, like me, had heard of him but had not seen him

and said he expected to see a great fellow six feet high. I told

him I was not so much deceived in the height but I expected to

see more breadth of face as well as hat.

"What a powerful thing prejudice is and how this idol's

plainness has been and continues to be worshiped. Had B. L.

appeared amongst us in a straight drab coat and a broad white

hat, I am well pursuaded he would have excited infinitely more

attention and interest than he did, and I cordially confess had

he appeared in the garb I have mentioned and instead of a cane

in one hand and a bundle in the other [had] come riding in a

nice plain carriage or even on a good horse, I should instantly

have seen the necessity, or at least the propriety, of treating him

with attention and respect; and very sure I am he would have

gained more subscribers to his paper among us orthodox

Hicksites. I think it is much to be lamented that the form and

color of our clothing should be considered in our Society of such

vast importance that we cannot believe men or women can be

what they ought to be without this token of sanctity and mark

of a Quaker, forgetting, it would seem, that He whose followers

we profess to be has not said, 'By this shall all men know that

ye are my disciples if ye have drab coats and white hats;' but

'if ye love one another,' and taking another precept from the

same lips, namely, 'Every tree is known by its fruits,' can we

forbear to acknowledge that B. Lundy's claim to the title of

discipleship appears at least as strong as those who would not on

any account vary one tittle in the cut or color of their garments

from what Quakerism has been thought to require.

"B. told us he believed himself as much in his place as any

man would, whatever by the character of the service to which

he was called, and I firmly believed it too, notwithstanding it was

some time, as I have hinted, before I became entirely satisfied

that a man with a lappelled coat, a high crowned hat and large

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496     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

whiskers (and red ones too, mind, how would it look?) could

be devoted to the best of causes, following the Divine Master

in humility of soul. Yet such I believe is the fact. But you will

say, why mention red? She knows he can't change the color.

True, but why not cut them off, for surely red looks fiercer than

black."

The portraits of Benjamin Lundy, so far as we have

seen them, represent him with a smooth face. At the

time mentioned by the writer he evidently had cultivated

an ample beard of war-like color.

 

 

THOMAS CORWIN MENDENHALL

Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, whose contribution on

The Coffin of Edwin Coppoc appears in this issue, is

one whose name ranks high among America's eminent

scholars and educators. He was born on a farm in

Columbiana County, Ohio, near the villages of Hanover-

ton and New Garden, October 4, 1841. His parents

were Quakers, who shared the enthusiastic hostility to

slavery that characterized the pioneers of that faith who

settled in eastern Ohio early in the last century. They

lived at the time of his birth near the Coppoc neighbor-

hood and were later deeply stirred, as were their chil-

dren, by the events at Harper's Ferry and Charlestown

following John Brown's invasion of Virginia and the

execution of Edwin Coppoc. With this antecedent in-

heritance and environment, it is readily understood with

what enthusiasm Dr. Mendenhall, when a young teacher

in the Salem High School, entered into the celebration

of General Lee's surrender and how naturally the

Coppoc coffin with the effigy of the general suggested

itself to him as an appropriate memento to be borne at

the head of the procession.

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Reviews, Notes and Comments       497

Dr. Mendenhall was educated in the public schools,

was one of the members of the first faculty of the Ohio

State University, was called to the Imperial University

of Japan where he occupied the chair of physics from

1878-1881; returned to Ohio State University where he

taught three years, after which he was successively pro-

fessor of the U. S. Signal Corps, President of Rose

Polytechnic Institute, Superintendent of the U. S. Coast

and Geodetic Survey and President of Worcester Poly-

technic Institute. From 1901-1912 he was in Europe.

Degress have been conferred upon him by a number of

colleges and universities in America and he has been

decorated with the Order of the Sacred Treasure of

Japan and honored with a gold medal from the National

Educational Society of Japan. He is at present a trustee

of the Ohio State University, where he celebrated his

eightieth birthday this month.  He is author of a

Century of Electricity. His home is in Ravenna, Ohio.

 

 

BARCLAY COPPOC AND THE JACKSON COUNTY,

MISSOURI, TRAGEDY

Rev. John J. Lutz, a native of Wayne County, Ohio

and later a citizen of Kansas, wrote for the Kansas

Historical Society an article on "Quantrill and the

Morgan Walker Tragedy" (Kansas Historical Collec-

tions, Vol. 8, pages 324-331) in which he says that

Richard J. Hinton is in error in regard to the participa-

tion of Barclay Coppoc in this affair. The three young

men who were killed through the perfidy of Quantrill

were Charles Ball, Chalkley T. Lipsey and Edwin S.

Morrison. Charles Ball was born in Salem, Ohio, in

the year 1837. He was first cousin of Edwin and Bar-

Vol. XXX--32*

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498     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

clay Coppoc. His relationship to the Coppocs may have

led Hinton into an error which has been repeated by

many subsequent writers. Barclay Coppoc, however,

was in Kansas about this time and was closely asso-

ciated with those who were aiding negroes to escape

from Missouri. Whether he actually had any part in

this particular raid is a question.

Chaulkley T. Lipsey was born at Mount Pleasant,

Ohio, in 1838. Ball came from Springdale, Iowa, to

Kansas. All three of the young men who lost their lives

were Quakers.

 

LEVI COPPOC AT ANTIOCH COLLEGE

It has frequently been reported in the public press

that Edwin Coppoc, who was with John Brown at

Harper's Ferry, was at one time a student at Antioch

College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. A letter recently ad-

dressed to the librarian of the college, Emily Turner,

brought the following reply:

"We do not find in any of our catalogs the name of Edwin

Coppoc. The name of Levi Coppoc appears as a student in

1853-1854. Springdale, Iowa, was given as his address. James

Coppock, of West Milton, Ohio, was a student in 1855-1856."

Levi Coppoc was an elder brother of Edwin Coppoc,

as already stated on another page of this issue of the

QUARTERLY. As West Milton, now Milton, was set-

tled by Quakers, it is probable that James Coppock was

also related to Edwin.

 

 

THE BRYAN-HAYES CORRESPONDENCE

The October number of the Southwestern Historical

Quarterly contains the first installment of the cor-

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Reviews, Notes and Comments       499

respondence between Rutherford Birchard Hayes and

his college classmate and intimate friend, Guy Morrison

Bryan. The two were members of the same college club

at Kenyon. After graduation Mr. Bryan returned to

Texas. Of opposite political views and identified in

sympathy with their respective sections, their warm per-

sonal friendship extended over many years and their

correspondence was unbroken except through the period

of the Civil War, when they were serving in opposing

armies in support of their convictions. Soon after the

close of the war the correspondence was renewed.

When Hayes became President he invited Colonel Bryan

to Washington where he entertained him for three

weeks and counseled with him in regard to southern

conditions and needs.

The civil and military record of Hayes is well known.

His friend, Bryan, entered the Confederate army as a

private and rose to the rank of colonel. After the war

he served four terms in the Legislature of Texas- one

term as speaker.

Portions of the correspondence will appear in each

issue of the Southwestern Historical Quarterly until

publication is complete, which, we learn from the editor,

will be about three years hence. The first contribution

covers twenty pages.

 

 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL WORK IN OHIO

Within the past year many complimentary notices

have been published of the work in archaeology con-

ducted by our Society under the direction of Dr. William

C. Mills. The Wisconsin Magazine of History for June

quotes approvingly and at length from a letter of Dr.

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500     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

Mills and declares that "friends of the movement in this

state (Wisconsin) for the preservation of our historic

sites should gain encouragement from this record of

achievement by our elder neighbor."

Under date of November 17, 1920, Mr. Clark

Wissler, Chairman of the Division of Anthropology and

Psychology of the National Research Council writes,

"There is a general movement on now for the develop-

ment of state archaeological surveys in the middle west

similar to what has been done in Ohio. You will see by

the enclosed that the National Research Council has

taken the initiative in this matter and that we are point-

ing to Ohio as the one beautiful example."

Much favorable comment has resulted from the

publication of the Archaeological Atlas by our Society.

In a circular letter issued by the National Research

Council we find the following suggestion relative to an

intensive study of the prehistoric population of the

Mississippi Valley:

 

"The initial approach to this problem is an archaeological

survey of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri, with

a view to determining the different types of the remains of the

prehistoric population, together with their distribution, so that

it may be possible to publish an archaeological atlas for each state,

comparable with that issued for the State of Ohio."

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF OHIO NEWSPAPERS

The American Antiquarian Society is publishing in

parts a Bibliography of American Newspapers from

1690 to 1820. Part XI appeared in the Proceedings of

that Society for April, 1919. It is a bibliography of

Ohio newspapers for the period from the issue of the

Centinal of the Northwestern Territory, November 9,

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Reviews, Notes and Comments        501

1793, to the close of the year 1820. It covers forty-nine

pages and gives all the issues of the various newspapers

that have thus far been traced within the period named.

It is a most valuable contribution and will be of special

interest to those engaged in research work in Ohio his-

tory for references to dates earlier than 1821.

 

 

In the June number of the Indiana Magazine of

History was published the first contribution of an in-

teresting series of articles on "The Savage Allies of the

Northwest," by Elmore Barce. Much of this is of

special interest to readers of Ohio history as it contains

descriptions of St. Clair's defeat, the battle of Fallen

Timbers and other stirring events of border warfare

prior to the War of 1812.

 

 

William A. Harrison, 196 East State St., Columbus,

Ohio, presented to the library of the Society 184 bound

volumes. Mr. Almer Hegler presented the library 115

bound and 42 unbound volumes including a number of

old almanacs.

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