Ohio History Journal

OHIO AND WESTERN EXPANSION

 

BY PROFESSOR WILLIS ARDEN CHAMBERLIN,

DENISON UNIVERSITY

Wonderful opportunity, matched by daring enter-

prise, - that is the formula to account for the mar-

velous development of the Buckeye State. The growth

of Ohio is the epitome of national expansion.  Its

transformation from the wilderness, in which roamed

savage Redmen and wild beasts prowled, to the present

well-ordered commonwealth, is the epic of American

civilization.

Ohio was the first orderly step in the "winning of

the west."  Though Kentucky and Tennessee were

settled earlier by the adventurous backwoodsmen, that

movement was spontaneous and unorganized. The oc-

cupation of the territory north of the Ohio, however,

was by arrangement of Congress.   Principles of or-

ganization were laid down, which have been followed

in the opening of all subsequent territory. The rise of

Ohio is typical in many respects of the expansion of

the middle west. The same difficulties faced the early

colonists; similar agencies and forces were operative

in all of these young communities. Ohio had the start

of the others in time. It possessed also great natural

advantages in location and varied resources, which have

given it precedence in many ways.  The pioneers of

Ohio solved the problems that confronted them and

devised policies that have served as examples to the

(304)

• 1
 

Ohio and Western Expansion       305

newer states.  So wisely were the foundations of the

young commonwealth laid by the fathers that succeed-

ing generations have needed only to build along the

original lines to rear a worthy structure. The young

state has risen to a star of the first magnitude in the

galaxy of the Union.

Statehood was achieved in 1803, when Ohio was

received into the Union, the first of the group of states

formed from the Northwest Territory. The new com-

monwealth embraced the territory between Lake Erie

and the Ohio river. It was approximately 200 miles

each way and covered an area of 41,000 square miles.

It was a prize wrested successively from the Redmen,

the French and the English. Washington and many

lesser heroes had a part in this conquest.  On their

efforts hung the destiny of the continent.

 

CHARACTER OF THE PIONEERS

It was no accident that the new commonwealth rose

so rapidly in population and prosperity.  Natural and

economic forces, as definite in their effect as physical

laws, account for this achievement.  The foundations

of prosperous growth were laid in the character of the

pioneers.  The founders of the new state were from

the best people of the eastern states. They were robust

in body and equally strong in moral character. Many

Revolutionary heroes were among them.  They were

intelligent, experienced, self-reliant.  Many of them

were well educated and made the beginning of educa-

tion and religious life in the West. Massachusetts sent

the first colony to Marietta, in 1788, under the leader-

ship of Manasseh Cutler.  "No colony in America,"

Vol. XXXI-20.

• 2
 

306     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

said Washington, "was ever settled under such favor-

able auspices.  .  .  .Information, property and

strength will be its characteristics.  I know many of

the settlers personally and there never were men better

calculated to promote the welfare of such a community."

Cincinnati, Dayton, Chillicothe and Cleveland were

founded in the next few years and became centers of

population for people from New Jersey, Virginia, and

Connecticut. Many accessions from the thrifty Scotch-

Irish and the sober Pennsylvania Germans filled up the

eastern part of the state.  Of the Western Reserve,

which was settled by pure New England stock, it was

said by B. A. Hinsdale: "No similar territory west of

the Allegheny Mountains has so impressed the brain

and the conscience of the country."

Added to these moral elements of the pioneers were

material gifts unstinted in amount. In the virgin soil

lay agricultural and mineral wealth of inestimable value,

waiting only for human hands to develop.

 

ADVANTAGEOUS LOCATION

The advantageous location of the Ohio country as

the middle ground between the East and the West was

recognized by statesmen, when western expansion was

first considered.  The Ohio River furnished an easy

avenue of trade with the Southwest, and it was a serious

question whether the trade of this interior territory

would not follow the line of least resistance, instead of

flowing eastward to enrich the Atlantic states. Wash-

ington was one of the first to realize the economic im-

portance of this western region, and he urged repeatedly

the construction of a road by way of the Potomac or

• 3
 

Ohio and Western Expansion       307

James Rivers and thence over the mountains of his

native state to the Ohio, to unite the two sections. "It

has long been my decided opinion," he writes to Gov-

ernor Benjamin Harrison, "that the shortest, easiest,

and least expensive communication with the invaluable

and extensive country back of us would be by one or

both of the rivers of this state."  He urges the political

necessity of applying the "cement of interest to bind all

parts of the Union together by indissoluble bonds."

"Smooth the road, and make easy the way for them,"-he

says, "and then see what an influx of articles will be

poured upon us; how amazingly our exports will be in-

creased by them, and how amply we shall be compen-

sated for any trouble and expense we may encounter to

effect it."         Washington did not live to see his plan

realized.          But it bore fruit later in influencing Jeffer-

son, when President, to approve the construction of the

Cumberland Road. The two pioneer routes, either by

the Mohawk Valley and Lake Erie, or overland to the

Ohio River, are the basic lines for all the present compli-

cated highways of commerce between the interior and

the seaboard.  Hundreds of millions of dollars have

been expended by public and private enterprise, to

deepen the rivers and harbors, to dig canals and build

railroads.  Ohio has been the beneficiary of these im-

provements.

 

 

OHIO THE CENTER OF AN INLAND EMPIRE

For more than a century the tide of settlement has

swept westward, carrying a constant stream of popula-

tion into the interior states.  This movement has

brought out the natural advantage of Ohio, which has

• 4
 

308     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

long since ceased to be considered the backdoor of the

populous East, but the gateway to the vast inland em-

pire of the West.  More than one-half of the popula-

tion of the United States and Canada lies within a day's

journey of Ohio. With its pivot on Columbus, a needle

500 miles long would cover in its sweep the largest cities

and the most populous states in the Union. Its eastern

tip would rest on New York and Philadelphia. Sweep-

ing northward it would cover Rochester, Buffalo,

Toronto and Detroit, pass Chicago on the west and

touch the Mississippi at St. Louis, Baltimore, Washing-

ton, and Atlanta would be included in its eastern and

southern curve.  Ohio is the center of this imperial

domain lying between the Ocean and the Mississippi.

Into this rich territory Ohio pours the floods of her agri-

cultural, mineral and industrial wealth.  This modern

Ceres laves her crown in the waves of Lake Erie, plants

her footsteps amid the hills of the Ohio, and extends

her bounties on either side, to the crowded cities of the

eastern seaboard and to the far-flung line of the western

horizon.

ACCESS TO MARKETS

But the problem in early years was how to get the

goods to market.  The cost of transportation was pro-

hibitive.  The rise of Ohio as a commercial power

sprang from the development of new means of trans-

portation. The aid of the National Government was

happily gained for this object. The first step in internal

improvement was taken in the construction of the Na-

tional Road from Cumberland, Maryland, to Columbus,

Ohio.  Its effect upon commerce was quickly felt.

Canals and water ways were the next steps. Only a

• 5
 

Ohio and Western Expansion       309

narrow watershed separates the Ohio and Mississippi

systems from the St. Lawrence basin.  Several rivers

flowed on either side and offered practicable channels

for trade. It remained to bridge the moderate height

of land by a series of locks, in order to connect the Lake

with the river and open a passage to the interior. Two

extensive canal systems were projected and gradually

completed:  the Ohio Canal between Cleveland and

Portsmouth, built 1825-32; and the Miami Canal join-

ing Cincinnati and Dayton, and eventually extended to

Toledo.  These canal systems, with their main lines,

branches and connections, comprised more than 900

miles of waterways.  Their influence in stimulating

traffic cannot be overestimated. But long before these

canals were completed the age of steam dawned. The

railroads began to stretch out their iron fingers in all

directions after the nation's commerce.  Gradually the

canal systems languished before their powerful rivals.

The barges rotted at the banks and the lock gates were

constantly open.  Even yet the old channels, choked

with weeds, and the ruins of the old locks, can be seen

in many places.

AGRICULTURAL WEALTH

With transportation provided to eastern markets

came the era of agricultural and commercial develop-

ment. Farming was the basic industry and is even yet

the basis of the state's prosperity. In spite of her rela-

tively small area, Ohio stands among the half-dozen

leading states in the value of her farm products. Na-

ture has been very generous with her bounties. Ages

before the advent of man, nature was active in shaping

the surface of this state and in filling the soil with

• 6
 

(310)

• 7
 

Ohio and Western Expansion         311

fertility. The glaciers of the Ice Age, in their ponder-

ous forward movement, smoothed off the rugged fea-

tures. They carried masses of alluvium, which were

deposited by the melting of the ice to form the broad

terraces of rich soil along the streams.               The total land

area of the state is 26,073,600 acres.                 Over seven-

eighths of this area are comprised in farm lands. The

whole number of farms is more than 256,000, and it is

significant of the high class of the rural population, that

more than two-thirds of these farms are owned by the

men who operate them.

Ohio with its limited size does not vie with some of

the western states in the production of wheat, yet it can

be depended upon to yield a large supply of this neces-

sary food. In 1919, when the world looked to America

for food, Ohio farmers turned more than 58,000,000

bushels of wheat into the national granary.  Corn is

the largest crop both in acreage and in yield. The aver-

age crop is around 150,000,000 bushels.  Hay is an-

other staple. Oats and other grains are grown in abun-

dance.   Ohio farms are notable for the variety of

products grown. Even special crops, as tobacco, onions

and sugar beets, flourish in particular localities.

 

HORTICULTURE

"And his black eyes shone through the forest-gleam,

And he plunged young hands into new-turned earth,

And prayed young orchard boughs into birth,

And he ran with the rabbit and slept with the stream.

And so for us he made great medicine

In the days of President Washington."

So sings Vachel Lindsay in his recent epic poem in

praise of "Johnny Appleseed," the first orchardist in

• 8
 

312     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

this section, whose eccentric habit of strewing apple

seeds wherever he went gained for him this sobriquet.

He owned a farm near Ashland, on which he had a

nursery of apple trees. Some of his trees are still bear-

ing fruit, though nearly a hundred years old.  From

present developments he is shown to be not so simple as

his contemporaries thought, but a man with a clear faith

in the future.  His hobby of fruit raising has become

a profitable part of Ohio agriculture.  Many fruit

growers are finding this state an ideal place for their

business.  Some large orchards of apples date back

sixty to seventy years, but it is the recent scientific

methods of spraying and culture that have made them

profitable.  The hillsides of Lawrence County seem

specially favorable for production of apples, but no part

of the state has an exclusive interest.

The northern part along the lake is one of the best

peach and grape growing regions in the country. The

tempering influence of the large body of water on the

climate is just what is needed to protect the sensitive

fruit from the severe cold. The soil also, impregnated

with lime, is peculiarly adapted for this culture. Mile

after mile along the ridges are covered with vineyards,

with their purple clusters, and marked with peach or-

chards.

CATTLE AND SHEEP

Stock raising in all its branches is well represented

in Ohio. The country-side is dotted with grazing cattle,

and flocks of sheep are seen on many hillsides.  The

colonists from New England, who were accustomed to

sheep on their rugged farms back home, brought this

industry into Ohio. Sheep and wool were a large com-

• 9
 

Ohio and Western Expansion        313

modity during two-thirds of the last century. But the

sheep industry has declined in recent years, though Ohio

still raises more sheep and wool than any other state of

her class.

MINERAL WEALTH

"The industrial importance of Ohio is due in great

measure to its natural resources." This is the state-

ment of the government report, which continues: "The

state ranked fourth in 1914 in total value of mineral

products, first in output of clay products, fifth in

quantity and fourth in value of coal, fourth in

quantity and third in value of natural gas, and

seventh in output of petroleum."  These mineral de-

posits are of the most useful kinds and are distributed

throughout all parts of the state. Salt was the first of

these products to be used commercially.  In several

places salt licks were found, which even before the com-

ing of the white men were favorite haunts of the buffalo

and the Redmen. Iron was discovered in paying quan-

tities and many blast furnaces were erected in the early

decades of the last century for the reduction of iron ore.

Limestone is another valuable building product found

in several localities The State Capitol is of limestone

from a quarry near Columbus.    Sandstone underlies

much of the northern part of the state.  The quarries

about Berea are famous for their supplies of building

and paving stones.

COAL

But the state is especially rich in one of the essen-

tials of modern life, -coal.  Strata of coal lie near

the surface and may be seen cropping out in some places

along the sides of railroad cuts. Geologists tell us that

• 10
 

314     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

ages ago southeastern Ohio was covered with an inland

sea, whose shallow and marshy shores were filled with

dense vegetation. In later ages this luxurious growth

of vegetation was covered with sedimentary rocks and

subjected to great physical and chemical processes,

which gradually transformed it into high grade bitu-

minous coal. In the coal seams are occasionally found

the trunks of trees and even their leaves and spores, car-

bonized into the best of fuel.  Ten thousand square

miles of the state's surface are underlain with coal.

The richest bed is the Pittsburgh seam, which Professor

F. Carney, a geologist, called "the most famous horizon

of coal in the Appalachian region."

Besides providing for local consumption the Ohio

mines are relied upon to supply a large part of the fuel

for the West and Northwest.  The coal shipments to

the upper lakes reach annually immense proportions.

Several lines of railroads cross the state, whose chief

business is the transportation of coal from the mines

to the lake ports. When a coal famine threatened the

Northwest in 1920, the Ohio mines were speeded up to

avert the danger. Some 3000 to 4000 car loads of coal

per day were delivered, were poured a carload at a time

into thecapacious holds of the lake carriers and rushed

to the upper lakes.  Thus the threatened shortage was

avoided.

NATURAL GAS AND PETROLEUM

About thirty-five years ago natural gas was obtained

in sufficient quantities in Ohio for commercial purposes.

Its presence in salt wells and in other places had been

noted much earlier. The first wells were shallow and

yielded only enough gas for domestic use. But when

• 11
 

Ohio and Western Expansion       315

deeper wells were bored, larger "pockets" were pierced,

which released great volumes of gas. It gushed forth

with such violence as frequently to hurl the heavy drills

out of the borings with a roar that could be heard for

miles. Wells flowing from 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 cubic

feet per day were common.   The Clinton sand has

proved to be one of the most productive gas reservoirs

of all the world. It underlies an area extending from

the shore of the lake southward almost to the Ohio

River. The maximum production of gas in Ohio was

reached about ten years ago, when it exceeded 56,000,-

000,000 cubic feet for the year. Several large wells

flowed at first at the rate of 12,000,000 feet or even 15,-

000,000 feet per day, and one drilled in Wayne County

in 1915 poured out the gas at the rate of 22,000,000

cubic feet per day. Gas was consumed with prodigal

wastefulness at first, as if the supply were inexhaustible.

After a few years producers learned better methods of

controlling the flow. New fields were discovered, and a

reliable supply of gas for domestic and industrial pur-

poses has been furnished to many cities during the past

twenty-five years. But experts declare that the supply

is rapidly failing.

Oil is found in abundant supply at many places in

proximity to gas.  Oil producing territory was first

developed in the eastern counties.  But the flow was

small compared to the volume coming from the Lima-

Marion pool more recently discovered. This field ex-

tends in a southwesterly direction from Lake Erie to

Marion, Indiana. The belt is twenty miles in breadth

in some places. The oil is found in the Trenton rock

at a depth varying from 1,000 to 1,500 feet. From the

• 12
 

316     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Ohio field alone over 25,000,000 barrels of oil were pro-

duced in one year.

 

MANUFACTURING IS THE FOREMOST INTEREST

With its wealth of natural resources and its loca-

tion at the center of the most populous section of the

Union, it is not strange that manufacturing has become

the chief industry of the state.  The progress in that

direction is marked by tremendous strides. The state

ranks fourth among the states in the total value of

manufactured products, and third in the number of

wage earners.  The expansion of Ohio's industries in

the last half-decade, 1914-19, is unparalleled.  During

that period the value of manufactures in the state in-

creased 185 per cent, to a total volume of $5,100,299,000.

A further evidence of industrialism is the increasing

proportion of the population gathered in cities and

towns.

Ohio ranks first in several different lines of manu-

facture; especially rubber goods, clay products, stoves,

and the glass industry. It takes second place in several

other of the biggest industries, such as manufacture of

automobiles, and of steel and iron products. Not only

in the bulk of manufactured products, but especially in

the variety, the state is remarkable.  Of the 356

branches of industry in the United States, classified by

the Census, 302 branches were represented in this state.

Lying between New York and Pennsylvania, the

largest producers of the East, and Illinois the greatest

in the West, and with the best markets of America

within a day's distance, Ohio is at the center of the in-

dustrial and commercial life of the United States. Her

• 13
 

Ohio and Western Expansion       317

constant outgoing streams of materials and manufac-

tured products are currents of power to energize the

vast machinery of American industry.   Ohio is the

dynamo of national commerce and industry.

 

 

WATERWAYS

Ohio owes its phenomenal rise as an industrial

power to its unrivaled waterways.  The Ohio River,

with its course of 436 miles along the southern border,

and Lake Erie on the north provide two avenues of con-

nection with the world.  Hulbert, the historian of the

Ohio River, calls it "a strategic avenue of national ex-

pansion," and "one strategic course of empire to the

heart of the continent."  The story of "the beautiful

river" is full of romantic charm.  Around its banks

were waged the fierce conflicts between the Redmen,

French, English and Americans for the possession of

the heart of the continent. On its placid surface it bore

first the birch bark canoe, sometimes filled with dusky

warriors but more often on peaceful mission bent, skim-

ming light as a feather over its waves. Then came the

flat-boats and keel boats, floating the hopeful colonists

to their new homes, or loaded with corn and bacon for

commercial ventures in Southern markets.    Lastly

echoed the hoarse voice of the steamer among the hills,

symbol of the new age of invention.

The traffic on the Great Lakes developed later, but it

has risen to far greater proportions.  The rapid ex-

pansion of this traffic is due to the building of the Sault

Canal.  "No single accomplishment in a constructive

way has 'meant so much to water-borne commerce as

the building of this canal," is the opinion of one writer.

• 14
 

318     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

The discovery of the unlimited deposits of iron ore in

the Lake Superior region, and the enormous demand

for iron and steel, have been the motive forces in the

growth of lake transportation.  For several years the

shipments of iron ore have exceeded 60,000,000 tons

annually.  Figures give the faintest conception of the

mountains of ore that are yearly dumped upon the docks

of Lake Erie.  Many of the steel boats used in this

trade would make an ocean ship look small. Ore car-

riers 500-600 feet long are common. To accommodate

these leviathans, old harbors have been reconstructed.

New docks have been built, extending into the lake,

protected by breakwaters, walls of cement and steel.

They are provided with the most powerful loading and

unloading machinery in the world.  The hydraulic

elevators lift a car-load of coal every two or three min-

utes and pour its contents into the gaping holds of the

steel freighters.  Correspondingly powerful electric

cranes lift the iron ore in great buckets, convey them to

the dock to the desired position, and dump the ore in

mountainous piles that accumulate for the following

winter. A cargo of 10,000 tons can be unloaded in two

hours. These wonderful machines are so carefully ad-

justed in their mechanism that their operation resembles

the groping of human hands and the lifting of giant

arms perform the labor of ten thousand men.  They

are Ohio-made.

THE STEEL INDUSTRY

Economic forces have destined Ohio for a leading

position in the iron and steel industry.  Her unique

location between the richest iron mines of America and

the vast coal deposits gives to this state a most advan-

• 15
 

Ohio and Western Expansion       319

tageous position for the production of iron and steel.

Eastern Ohio, where the two commodities meet, is

ablaze with furnaces pouring out their molten masses

night and day to gird the continent.

Iron is found in small quantities in Ohio and the

iron business dates from early days.  The first blast

furnace was erected in 1804 near Youngstown, and it

was followed by several others in the next few years.

They used the iron and limestone found in the Mahon-

ing Valley and had a daily output of from two and one-

half to three tons. The discovery of the Lake Superior

mines, however, was the decisive influence in the estab-

lishment of the giant industry of modern times.  The

blast furnaces are the most picturesque feature of the

steel mills. Like huge infernos they shoot their flames

high in the air with a roar like the howls of condemned

spirits, and lighting up the heavens with a baleful glare.

In the rolling mills the rough ingots of steel are heated

to white heat and then are run between great rollers,

which exert enormous pressure upon the steel and re-

duce it to the desired shape, whether it be steel rails,

girders, wire or flat bands.

 

 

THE MARVEL OF RUBBER

Second only to iron and steel in its usefulness in

daily life comes rubber.  It enters into a thousand

necessaries of human beings. It has made possible the

tremendous expansion of industry in recent decades, not

only by its direct contributions to transportation, but

also by numberless indirect means.

That rubber can be transformed from a black, sticky,

shapeless mass into elastic bands, flexible clothing, hard

• 16
 

320     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

and resilient tires, buoyant airships, and into a sub-

stance capable of polish like steel,- these transforma-

tions are the miracles of every-day life.  The use of

rubber in a general way sprang from a fortunate acci-

dent, by which the process of vulcanization was dis-

covered.   By this process the crude material is

hardened, so that it is no longer sensitive to heat and

cold. The phenomenal rise of the rubber industry be-

longs to the last fifty years. By another fortunate cir-

cumstance the infant industry was located at Akron,

when the pioneer factory was brought there through

the enterprise of a far-seeing citizen of that city. The

beginning was modest, but out of it has developed the

second largest industry of the United States. Akron,

"the rubber city," has risen from a town of 10,000 peo-

ple to one of the chief cities of the state, with a popula-

tion exceeding 200,000.

 

 

RUBBER TIRES

Rubber has revolutionized transportation by its use

for tires on vehicles. Thirty years ago rubber tires for

bicycles and carriages constituted the chief use of this

material. Then the invention of pneumatic tires led the

way to the manufacture of automobile tires. Without

the inflated tire, the automobile would never have been

practical for rapid locomotion. Conversely, the unpar-

alleled increase in the number of motor vehicles ac-

counts for the marvelous strides of the rubber business.

The pioneer plant of fifty years ago has grown perhaps

a hundredfold, while many similar plants have been or-

ganized in Akron and adjacent cities. Some of these

plants have capacity for turning out more than 30,000

• 17
 

Ohio and Western Expansion        321

tires a day. It is estimated that Akron supplies sixty-

five per cent of all tires. Naturally Ohio has first place

in the rubber industry.

Although tires comprise the bulk of the rubber man-

ufacturing, there is almost endless variety of other

articles. One plant lists 30,000 different articles which

it produces.

RUBBER HELPED WIN THE WAR

There was no single material, aside from the actual

weapons and munitions of warfare, that was so indis-

pensable in the war as rubber.  In this particular one

thinks first of the millions of tires on automobiles,

trucks, ambulances and airplanes. Then came rubber

garments and rubber footwear for the soldiers.  The

rubber gas masks were absolutely indispensable and

were a triumph of inventive genius in combating a new

danger.  Of almost equal importance were the tele-

phones and telegraphs, in which rubber was used for

insulating and in the instruments.

The demand for observation balloons, airships and

dirigibles produced a new industry in rubber manufac-

ture.  One of the secrets of the war is that Akron

plants produced over 900 balloons and dirigibles during

the war. This city has the only complete plants in the

country for the manufacture and testing of lighter-

than-air craft.

If to all these necessaries, directly connected with

the fighting, we add the multitude of surgical appliances,

in which rubber is an essential part, and which were

vitally important in the care of the wounded, it is not

too much to say, that rubber was an essential element

in winning the war.

Vol. XXXI-21.

• 18
 

322     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

 

OTHER MANUFACTURES

Ohio is closely identified with the manufacturing of

automobiles.  The first automobiles produced for sale

were made in a Cleveland factory. The state has kept

pace with the rising industry and is the second largest

producer of automobiles in the country.  It is also a

large producer of automobile parts, which is a distinct

and prominent branch of manufacturing.

Dayton is known the world round as the home of

the National Cash Register.  Here has been built up

a great enterprise, whose product is an almost indis-

pensable aid to business.  The plant where the cash

registers are made is no less remarkable than the ma-

chine, almost human in its performances.  Other in-

struments of measurement and calculation are made at

Dayton.

The center of the manufacture of clay products is

located at East Liverpool.  Many plants are located

in and around this city, turning out large quantities of

useful and  decorative pottery  ware.  Porcelain,

crockery, and ornamental articles of various kinds give

this city a wide reputation. Other extensive potteries,

whose products are well known, are situated at Zanes-

ville and Cincinnati.

Clothing manufacturing has grown rapidly in Ohio

during recent years and bids fair to become one of the

leading lines of production.

Even a hasty review of the many lines of Ohio man-

ufacture would exceed the bounds of this article.

• 19
 

(323)

• 20
 

324     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

 

NATIONAL LEADERSHIP

After all, the material features are but the frame of

the picture.  The brightest page of Ohio history is the

people themselves.  In the wonderful prosperity of the

state they are the chief asset. Their distinction brings

the state into national prominence.  Without reference

to the present administration, in which the predomi-

nance of Ohio men awakens almost the envy of sister

states, Western men in general and Ohio men in many

instances have been the controlling forces in national

affairs.  With its glace forward, not backward, the

West is the parent of reform, the champion of progress.

 

SPIRITUAL FORCES

The explanation of this distinction is found in the

spiritual forces which have determined the character

of these people.  Descendants of the best American

stock, reared in moral principles, they have a splendid

endowment of virtue and intelligence. They look upon

the Ordinance of 1787 as the Magna Charta of their

civil liberty. It established the principles that are now

accepted everywhere in the Union as fundamental, but

which were first applied on a large scale to the North-

west Territory.  The Ordinance proclaimed religious

toleration, prohibited human slavery, encouraged reli-

gion and education, and declared the complete union of

the state with the National Government.  These are

the ideals of political and moral life that Ohio people

cherish as dearly as life.

As is fitting for the first state organized as a ward

of the Federal Government, Ohio, like all of those of

the Central West, has been most loyal to the Govern-

• 21
 

Ohio and Western Expansion          325

ment in the stress of war. Her people have been quick

to respond to the Nation's call both for men and for

money and all comprehended under the term "sinews

of war."  This is Roosevelt's comment on this fact:

"The mighty and populous commonwealths that lie north of

the Ohio and in the valley of the upper Mississippi are in a

peculiar sense the children of the National Government, and it is

no mere accident that has made them in return the special

guardians and protectors of that Government, for they form the

heart of the Nation."

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Probably no single force has been so influential in

moulding Ohio's history as the system of free public

schools. Fostered at first by the National Government,

carried on later by the state itself, education has been

a passion with these people, which neither the hardships

of pioneer homes nor the press of sterner duties could

extinguish.

No other enterprise enjoys such a degree of popular

confidence as the public schools.  Each year they re-

ceive millions of dollars for current expenses, and the

value of permanent school property runs into the hun-

dreds of millions.  A million pupils are enrolled this

year in Ohio schools, and nearly 35,000 teachers are

engaged in instructing this army. But more significant

than these figures is the improvement in the personnel

of the teachers and in the character and numbers of

scholars entering the higher grades.  The new school

code, adopted 1914, raises the standards required of

teachers.  Intending teachers are encouraged to take

a large amount of professional study, which is accepted

in place of an examination.

• 22
 

326     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

 

TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS

A progressive movement is seen in the centralized

township schools, that are taking the place of the small

rural schools. "The most outstanding feature of edu-

cational progress in the state in the last ten years," says

George M. Morris, State Superintendent of Rural

Schools, "is without any doubt the consolidation and

centralization of the rural township schools.  Largely

as an effect of this movement the attendance of the high

schools has increased about fifty per cent, and the sani-

tary and health conditions of the homes and schools are

improved." There are now about a thousand consoli-

dated or centralized schools. Many of them are models

both in equipment and in methods of instruction.  In

them educational advantages equal to those in city

schools are available to country children. The propor-

tion of pupils entering the high schools has been largely

increased and about twelve and one-half per cent of

high school graduates continue their courses in colleges.

 

OHIO THE MOTHER OF COLLEGES

The state is famous as the home of many colleges.

The first one was founded in 1804, one year after

statehood was achieved, on the grant of two sections of

land, at Athens. It was the child of the New England

colony.  It is still flourishing as Ohio University.

Many private colleges were founded during the next

half century, representing all the leading religious de-

nominations.         There are several state and municipal

institutions.           Forty colleges in different parts of the

state testify to the people's interest in higher education.

In respect to her care for the helpless and dependent

• 23
 

Ohio and Western Expansion        327

classes, Ohio is making a generous record. Her benevo-

lent and correctional institutions are twenty in number,

placed under the Department of Public Welfare. The

annual reports of these institutions will convince any-

one that the state is making strenuous efforts for the

care of the dependent classes.

The state is increasing its oversight of vital condi-

tions by the cooperation of state and local authorities.

Recent legislation provides for district health officers

and public nurses.  A bureau of vital statistics is in

operation.  The health of school children is carefully

looked after.  Standards of health are being estab-

lished and the people are being educated to care more

scientifically for the physical welfare of themselves

and their families.

 

HOME ENVIRONMENT

The best indication of the people's welfare is to be

found in their domestic arrangements. What are their

standards of living? Are their homes furnished with

conveniences and with labor-saving devices? In short,

what is their home environment?  In this respect the

people of Ohio have reason for great satisfaction, for

their surroundings have improved in proportion to their

material prosperity.  The outstanding fact in this re-

gard is, that Ohio is a state of free holders.  No less

than two-thirds of its farms are owned by those who

work them.   The proportion of property owners in

towns and cities would doubtless be equally remarkable.

Cleveland is proud of the fact that thirty-five percent

of her citizens own their homes. Recent reports credit

Columbus with a slightly larger per cent of home

owners.

• 24
 

328     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

As to household conveniences, they are the rule now

in cities and towns.  Sanitary fixtures, electricity and

gas for lighting and heating, telephones and machinery

for household work are common in these homes. But

the dwellers in the country have been especially bene-

fited by these modern inventions, through which the

isolation of country life has been overcome.  Over

sixty-two per cent of country homes in Ohio have tele-

phones.  One in six of these rural homes has water

piped into it, and one in seven is lighted with gas or

electricity.  Rural mail delivery reaches practically

every farm in the state once a day.

The intelligence and prosperity of the rural commu-

nities are reflected by the equipment of machinery and

appliances. Automobiles, trucks and tractors are rap-

idly supplementing horse power on Ohio farms. There

are over 128,000 automobiles and 10,000 tractors on

these farms.

IMPROVED ROADS

Perhaps no improvement in the last ten years is of

greater economic value than the improved roads. Great

activity is shown in this direction.  Federal, state and

local authorities cooperate in the movement.  The old

National Road, which was in a ruinous condition, was

one of the first highways to receive attention.  It has

been graded and paved the whole breadth of the state

and is one of the beautiful highways of the country.

The so-called primary system of highways will be

nearly completed this season.  It includes seven main

thoroughfares, three east and west, three north and

south, and a diagonal highway from Cleveland via

Columbus to Cincinnati. 4500 miles of improved high-

• 25
 

(329)

• 26
 

330     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

ways are already constructed and soon all parts of the

state will be connected with rain-proof roads.

 

THE LEAVEN OF EXPANSION

No mention has thus far been made of the number

of people composing the population of this state.  It is

not surprising, from the foregoing facts, that the popu-

lation has increased one-fifth in ten years and numbers

five and three-fourths millions.  But the amount of

population is of secondary interest.  What is of pri-

mary importance is, that this army of five and three-

fourths millions be animated with common purposes and

inspired with noble principles. This is the work of all of

those subtle forces, of which some of the most obvious

have been pointed out, in the preceding pages, forever

playing upon the plastic material of human nature. The

influence of these forces is seen, not only within the

bounds of this one state, but throughout the newer

West, where the same spirit that actuates Ohio has been

the leaven of expansion.

• 27
 

Ohio and Western Expansion                    331 RESOURCES OF OHIO To show in accurate and concise form the present resources of Ohio, tabular statements of the agricultural, mineral, and manufacturing prod- ucts are here presented. The statistics have been compiled from the latest official reports, of which advance sheets have been furnished to the writer. The sources indicated supply more detailed information. AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES Statistics of the leading crops for 1921 are presented in Table No. 1. As the year 1921 was a poor year for farming, the crops show a decrease in every instance in comparison with the preceding year. To show more nearly the average yield, the figures for the year 1920 are also given.*

• 28
 

332      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

• 29
 

Ohio and Western Expansion            333

• 30
 

334      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

• 31
 

Ohio and Western Expansion            335

• 32
 

336      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

• 33