Ohio History Journal

The McGuffey Society at the Logan Elm      357

 

3. "Speech of Logan," reading by John R. Horst, of the

McGuffey Society, from McGuffey's Fourth Reader, Edition

of 1853.

4. Singing of Songs from the McGuffey Readers by mem-

bers of the Society.

5. Short talks by residents of vicinity.

6. Picnic dinner, followed by toasts and responses from

the McGuffey readers.

Mr. John F. Carlisle, the president of the McGuffey

Society, in an appropriate address explained the pur-

pose of the organization, and the object of the day's

celebration, after which he introduced Judge E. E.

Corn of Ironton, a member of the Society, to preside

over the program   as given.   The exercises were com-

menced with an historical address by Hon. Daniel J.

Ryan of Columbus, on

 

THE SCIOTO VALLEY

"Mr. Chairman, Members of the McGuffey Society, Ladies and

Gentlemen:

"I want to congratulate the McGuffey Society on its pur-

pose today, and to express my admiration of its vision in pre-

serving for this and coming generations the memory of the

labors and influence of the most eminent of Ohio's educators-

William H. McGuffey. If I were an orderly and obedient orator

I should here proceed to commence my address on 'The Scioto

Valley,' but I am loath to leave the subject of McGuffey and

his work. Do you know why? The men and women here of

the older generation know why; it is because the very name

recalls the tenderest and most charming recollections of our

lives. To us who are living in the afternoon, and who see the

lengthening shadows of the departing day, how full of meaning

are the words 'McGuffey's Readers!' They first came into my

life over fifty years ago, and the impression they made lasts to

this day. You know they were first published in 1836, and for

seventy-five years were in general use in the schools of the

West and South. They were more than a mere part of the

school curriculum. They were an American institution. Their

contents were not simply reading exercises, but they were a

potential incentive to love of country, integrity, industry, tem-

• 1
 

358       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

perance and politeness. Millions of men and women of this

and former generations can ascribe to them lasting lessons in

morals and patriotism. I know I received from their pages my

first appetite for literary study, for they contained the best, the

most attractive and the most permanent examples of the prose

and poetry of American and English literature.

"As my mind recurs to them today they bring up a flood

of youthful memories. Every lesson contained a moral or gave

valuable knowledge. The First Reader told of Peter Pindar

the story teller; of the dogs and monks of St. Bernard; of the

chimney sweep who stole a watch, but returned it and was re-

warded with an education by its owner. In the Second Reader

was the story of the boys who tied the grass to trip the milk-

maid but upset the messenger who was running for a doctor

for their father; there was the story of Washington and his

hatchet, as well as that of the seeds planted by his father so as

to make his name, by which his father proved to him the exist-

ence of God. When we reached the Third Reader we read

the 'Conflagration of the Amphitheater at Rome' by Croly; 'How

Big Was Alexander, Pa?' Woodworth's 'Old Oaken Bucket,'

Scott's 'Bonaparte Crossing the Alps,' and stories about Indians

and bears. Gradually leading the student to a higher class of

literature, the Fourth Reader gave us William Wirt's 'Descrip-

tion of the Blind Preacher'; Phillip's 'Character of Napoleon';

Bacon's 'Essay on Studies'; Nott's 'Sermon on the Death of

Alexander Hamilton'; Irving's 'Alhambra'; Rogers' 'Genevra';

Montgomery's 'Make Way for Liberty', and Addison's 'West-

minster Abbey.' I give these subjects to illustrate the general

character of the readers which advanced in style and excellence

as each grade was reached. Thus through these lessons the

pupils got the masterpieces of English literature and uncon-

sciously were impressed with moral ideals, beautiful language

and an incentive to pursue good living. I firmly believe that,

next to the Bible, no compilation of literature of its time has

had such a beneficent influence on the American youth.

"It was a happy combination of ideas that prompted the

blending of historic events in this celebration.  The great

educator's work is reviewed today; through him every Amer-

ican boy and girl for a full half century became familiar with

Logan and his speech. What is more practically sentimental

than to meet on this spot to freshen our recollections of both?

We are in a region where history was made, where from look-

ing through the misty past we can see the shadowy but heroic

characters of a time long ago. Let me review and tell you what

I mean.

• 2
 

(359)

• 3
 

360       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

"There is not in all Ohio an area more fraught with his-

toric interest than the Scioto Valley. For centuries it has been

the living place of divers races of men. Our knowledge of its

history goes back to the age of fables, to the dim past of the

Mound Builders, of whose existence we have a blended notion

of fact and fancy. We only know from their remains that they

lived. Our cognate knowledge of them is as unreliable as that

of the inhabitants of Mars. But we do know that this Scioto

Valley was populated by them, and was the seat of their cities,

camping places, fortifications and altars.. Attracted to this val-

ley by its magnificent soil, beautiful scenery, natural resources

both of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, they filled it in great

numbers until driven away or scattered by the more modern

American Indian. There is every reason for the conclusion that

they were of the same race as their successors. Beyond this all

else is conjecture or alluring speculation. They have left be-

hind them, however, a series of remains that are at once gigantic

in their construction and mysterious in their purpose.

"The Scioto Valley is a treasure house of the work of this

unknown people. Commencing at Portsmouth, at the mouth of

the Scioto and on each side of the river north to Columbus,

their works abound in great number, greater, indeed, than in

any other part of Ohio.

"It is not within my province today to enter into a discus-

sion of the details of the archaeological remains of the Scioto

Valley, but I cannot refrain from referring to these works, be-

cause they are a most fascinating feature of this territory.

Whether we examine the mounds at Portsmouth, or at Baum

Village on Paint Creek, or the Gartner Mound, six miles

north of Chillicothe, or any of the other more recent in-

vestigations, we are deeply impressed with the idea that they are

evidences of a former barbaric life, which adds interest to this

valley. Herein is to be found Serpent Mound, the huge earthen

bas-relief representing a serpent resting his curving folds upon

the summit of a bluff that rises one hundred feet above Brush

Creek in Adams County. The late E. O. Randall, who made a

special study of this subject of wonder, and doubtless of wor-

ship, thus describes it:

"'The Serpent, beginning with its tip end starts in a triple coil of the

tail on the most marked elevation of the ridge and extends along down

the lowering crest in beautiful folds, curving gracefully to left and right

and swerving deftly over a depression in the center of his path and wind-

ing in easy and natural convolutions down in the narrowing ledge with

head and neck stretched out serpent-like and pointed to the west; the head

is apparently turned upon its right side with the great mouth wide open,

the extremities of the jaws, the upper or northern one being the longer,

• 4
 

The McGuffey Society at the Logan Elm              361

 

united by a concave bank immediately in front of which is a large oval or

egg-shaped hollow eighty-six feet long and thirty feet wide at its greatest

inside transverse, formed by the artificial embankment from two to three

feet high, and about twenty feet wide at its base. The head of the serpent

across the point of union of the jaws is thirty feet wide, the jaws and con-

necting crescent are five feet high. The entire length of the serpent, fol-

lowing the convolutions, is thirteen hundred and thirty-five feet. Its width

at the largest portion of the body is twenty feet. At the tail the width is

no more than three feet. Here the height is from three to four feet,

which increases towards the center of the body to a height of five or six

feet. Such is the size of the enormous earthen reptile as it has lain, bask-

ing in the suns or shivering in the snows of many centuries.'

"If this were the only remains of the Mound Builders in

the world, today it would make the Scioto Valley famous. Here

truly is a great mystery of that race. We know from ethnolog-

ical researches that man in his early days worshiped the trees,

the sun and the stars; we know, that as he advanced he wor-

shiped animal forms of nature, and we have gathered from

the remains of Egypt and other civilizations that the serpent

was to him always an object of mystery as well as fear. It has

been incorporated into Genesis, and finds a place in the folk

lore of all nations. It is evident that the Mound Builders had

some such religious belief, which they exhibited corporeally in

the great relic in Adams County.

"In the absence of any real knowledge concerning the lives

and existence of the Mound Builders, they do not come within

the scope of the study and investigations common to historians,

but I am referring to this subject because of its connection with

the Scioto Valley. Nor can I let the subject pass without referring

to the work in this valley of the Ohio Archaeological and Histori-

cal Society, of which ex-Governor Campbell is president. For

years the society through its curator, Mr. W. C. Mills, has been

persistent in bringing to light the hidden secrets of the mounds,

the hilltop forts, the lowland enclosures, and the village sites of

the Scioto Valley. The work of his able assistant, Mr. H. C.

Shetrone, has been evidenced by his scholarly writings on this

subject, the last of which 'The Culture Problem in Ohio Arch-

aeology,' published in the American Anthropologist for April-

June, 1920, reflects credit upon his spirit of research, careful

analysis and sound conclusion. The historical section, embrac-

ing the library, editorship of the Society's publications and the

secretarial duties, are in charge of Mr. C. B. Galbreath, former

State Librarian. He is a fitting successor to E. O. Randall,

bringing to his labors the accomplishments of a scholar and a

historian. If you would see the work of this Society, and the

result of the industrious and intelligent labors of its representa-

• 5
 

362       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

tives, you will find them in its building on the University Campus

at Columbus in the form of a well organized museum and library

which, by reason of their comprehensiveness and scientific ar-

rangement should be the pride of our state.

"The reason the Mound Builders have been thought a

mysterious race is owing to the fact that we have no access to

known facts concerning their existence, and this is due to the

reason that they occupied this territory before the advent of the

white man, and that therefore there were no witnesses to record

the facts and history of their existence. Therefore, the history

of the Scioto Valley commences with our knowledge of the In-

dian occupation.

"From time immemorial- that is, so far as the white man's

knowledge goes - the Scioto Valley was the favored ground of

the Shawnee Indians. They were famed for their bravery and

numbers, and occupied for perhaps centuries the land along the

Scioto river in their populous towns. Thus located between the

Miami tribes settled on the rivers of that name, and the Dela-

wares on the rivers of Eastern Ohio, they held sway over a

little empire of their own. At first their Long House, or capitol,

was situated on the west bank of the Scioto river at its con-

fluence with the Ohio, but they were driven by floods to locate

this council house directly opposite, in Kentucky. The Shawnees

were of Algonquin stock; the Iroquois called them Satanas; the

French called them Chaouanons; they were known to the Eng-

lish as Shawanos and Shawnees. They were ferocious, and in

the sixteen hundreds they were scattered all over the country.

When John Smith landed on the banks of the James, he was

met by the Shawnees; when LaSalle came into this country in

1669 they were on the upper Ohio. About 1680 the Five Nations

drove them to the Scioto Valley, and in this elysium of natural

bliss they wrested from bounteous nature all that the forest and

chase could yield. The very beauty and richness of the land

made them guard it with such jealous spirit that when Nathaniel

Massie entered it, it was a great and expansive territory of

danger and death to the white man. They were a restless crowd,

averse to the pursuits of agriculture and given entirely to war

and the chase. They were courageous, powerful and faithless.

They had a great idea of their own importance, and in their

egotism they gave themselves a prominence not only over other

tribes but also over the whites. Listen to what a Shawnee chief

said at a treaty convention held at Ft. Wayne in 1803:

"'The Master of Life,' said he, 'who was himself an Indian, made

the Shawnees before any other of the human race; and they sprang from

his brain; he gave them all the knowledge he himself possessed, and placed

• 6
 

The McGuffey Society at the Logan Elm        363

 

them upon the great island, and all the other red people are descended

from the Shawnees. After he made the Shawnees he made the French

and English out of his breast, the Dutch out of his feet, and the Amer-

icans out of his hands. All these inferior races of men he made white

and placed them beyond the stinking lake.'

"The historian must concede that the estimate which the

Shawnees placed upon themselves was, in a large measure,

justified by the bold part they played in the Scioto Valley. Corn-

stalk, the chief leader of the Dunmore War, was a Shawnee.

He fought heroically at Point Pleasant and made a masterly

retreat to the Pickaway Plains to conclude a Treaty of Peace

near where we are now assembled. Logan, the hero of today,

was a Shawnee, and chief of the subordinate tribe of Mingoes.

Blue Jacket was another Shawnee warrior of dignity and

bravery, and was present at the Treaty of Greenville in 1795.

"When Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, both

Shawnees, commenced their hostile operations against the United

States, Black Hoof resisted all their conspiracies until finally

he was swept into the mighty conflict. The High Horn, gen-

erally known as Captain Logan, not the Mingo chief, was also

a Shawnee chief, who was always friendly with the whites, and

in the War of 1812 rendered substantial assistance to the Amer-

icans. The name of the Shawnees will be forever perpetuated

by the two greatest characters of that tribe, Tecumseh and the

Prophet. The latter led the Indians of the Northwest with great

ferocity against the Americans, only to be defeated by General

William Henry Harrison at Tippecanoe. His brother, Tecumseh,

likewise led his people against the Americans in the War of

1812 at the Battle of the Thames, where he met his death.

"This was the formidable inhabitant of the Scioto Valley

when the white man first penetrated its beautiful territory. The

men who first came to the Scioto Valley were a wandering set,

representing nothing but themselves, and few in number. They

were traders, they came to deal with the Indians, and were only

tolerated because they had something to arouse or allay either

the Indian appetite or curiosity. These traders, the lawless set,

came partly from Virginia, but mainly from Pennsylvania. In a

letter dated May 21, 1753, Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia,

wrote to Governor Hamilton of Pennsylvania: 'They appear to

me to be in general a set of abandoned wretches.' Hamilton's

idea of the traders was the same, for he replied to this letter

by saying: 'I concur with you in opinion that they are a very

licentious people.' Some of these traders located at the mouth

of the Scioto at what was known as Lower Shawneetown.

Others were at Old Chillicothe, not the present town, but where

• 7
 

364      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

subsequently Westfall was located, in what used to be known

as Darby Plains. It is proper to say, however, that there were

among this class some men of high character, who did much to

promote peace between the white men and the Indians, as well

as to give us a great amount of information concerning their

conditions of life. Among these may be mentioned Christopher

Gist, William Trent and George Crogan.

"Thus in the middle of the seventeenth century we find the

Scioto Valley in control of the Shawnee Indians, and a few

traders here and there located among them. Then came the

struggle between English and French as to sovereignty over the

great western country; to determine which should rule--the

Gaul or Saxon. These traders, worthless as they were, were

the innocent cause of the settlement of this question. They were

all English, and their presence soon came to the knowledge of

the French at Quebec. France claimed the territory in which

the English traders were planting the seeds of discontent among

the Indians, and who were, in an innocent way, representing

English sovereignty. At this time the Marquis de La Galis-

soniere ruled over Canada. He thought something must be done

to assert France's sovereignty, to drive back the intruders and

to protect French rights in the valley of Ohio. Therefore in

the summer of 1749 the Governor sent Celeron de Bienville to

take possession of the territory of the Ohio in the name of his

king. He did this in a distinctly dramatic and Latin way.

Traveling from Canada to the head of the Ohio, he proceeded

down the Ohio river and stopped at the mouth of each of the

rivers emptying into it; at all of these places, with the exception

of the Scioto, he distributed gifts among the Indians, buried

a leaden plate asserting the sovereignty of Louis XV, King of

France, and then proceeded to the next river mouth. He did

this at the mouth of Wheeling Creek and also at the Muskingum,

and at the mouth of the Great Kanawha. On the 22nd of

August he approached the mouth of the Scioto, which they called

St. Yotock or Sinyoto. Here they found a large Shawnee town

and met with resistance. When they came near the mouth of

the Scioto, the Indians swarmed to the shore. 'They fired,' says

Celeron; 'there were a thousand shots; for the English gave

them powder for nothing.' He was reluctantly received by the

Indians, who, he learned, had secretly planned to destroy him

and his followers. He notified them that he knew of the plot

and was ready to give battle. His stern attitude overawed them,

and they resorted to diplomacy and apologetic words which

scarcely concealed their hostile designs. There was, therefore,

one spot in his long meanderings that manifested a disposition

• 8
 

The McGuffey Society at the Logan Elm       365

 

to refuse acknowledgment of the French king, and that was the

entrance to the Scioto Valley.

"The action of the French attracted the attention of the

English, and in September, 1750, Christopher Gist was sent out

into this territory 'to search out and discover lands.' Gist has

left behind a journal, very thorough and intelligent. He arrived

at the mouth of the Scioto river on Tuesday, January 29, 1751,

and here is what he says concerning this place: 'The land

about the mouth of the Sciodoe creek is rich, but broken; fine

bottoms up the river and creek. The Shanonah Town is situated

upon both sides of tht river Ohio just below the mouth of the

Sciodoe creek, and contains about three hundred men. There

are about 40 houses on the south side of the river and about

100 on the north side, with a kind of state house of about ninety

feet long, with sides covered with bark, in which they hold their

councils.' Gist was very successful in dealing with the Indians.

He remained here until the 12th of February, thoroughly ob-

served their lives, and gives in his journal interesting details

concerning their customs and habits. He says that notwithstand-

ing the Celeron expedition had ordered all traders to depart,

they were still there and English control was asserted with that

success which subsequent history records.

"For nearly half a century after this the Scioto valley re-

mained the happy hunting grounds of the Shawnees. The visits

of the white man were infrequent, and it was not until the

creation of the American Republic that it really became open to

settlement. For many years it was a part of the great domain

reserved by Virginia for the use and settlement of her loyal

sons that served in the War for Independence. Chillicothe, the

town that we know today, was the point that attracted emigra-

tion from Virginia. The influx of settlers commenced as soon

as the town was laid out, and even before the winter of 1796

it had a tavern and stores and shops and mechanics. The in-

fluence of civilized life soon began to prevail, and within a few

years it was a substantial town in full operation with a popula-

tion of one thousand. In the spring of 1798 there came to

Chillicothe from Berkeley County, Virginia, one whose life and

actions influenced the history of Ohio in a greater degree than

that of any other man. This was Edward Tiffin. He brought

with him  a flattering letter fom  George Washington, dated

January 4, 1798, and addressed to Governor St. Clair. From

his entrance into the valley there dates a new and potent in-

fluence in the history of Ohio. It would take too long to recite

it here. The conversion of a wilderness into a garden; the in-

vasion of the Virginians; the overthrow of the great Arthur St.

• 9
 

366       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Clair; the struggle for statehood; the victory of the people over

the political aristocracy; the framing of a constitution for a

people without their consent; were all events that form a back-

ground of a picture that has no parallel in American history,

and all these scenes were enacted in the Scioto Valley. The only

weapons were tongues and pens, but they were directed by men

who for brains and bravery were worthy of every honor and

respect that the people of Ohio can bestow upon them.

"A study of the history of the Scioto Valley from a political

standpoint forces one to the conclusion that the men who settled

it, and who were active in its affairs for half a century after,

exercised more influence upon Ohio than any other class of

immigrants in her history. I am fully aware of the intelligent

influence of the settlers of the Western Reserve, and desire to

give full credit to the patriotic pioneers of Marietta, but all

these men were passive settlers. They seemed to give their whole

attention to developing themselves and their own localities. But

the Virginians who came into the Scioto Valley in 1798 and the

years following, brought with them the principles of Jeffer-

sonian democracy which they were not content to conserve for

their own practice and advantage, but they insisted upon giving

these principles to the people at large. Marietta was naturally

conservative, and opposed to statehood. The Western Reserve

did the same thing. Indeed, they went so far as to claim, even

after Ohio was erected into a territory that their loyalty was not

to Ohio but to Connecticut, and many of their leaders insisted

that they should have a representative in the Connecticut Gen-

eral Court, and not in the Territorial General Assembly. That

Ohio took her place in the sisterhood of the states is due to the

influence and the power of the Virginians of the Scioto Valley;

that the common school system of Ohio was established is due

to the fertile brain and untiring efforts of Caleb Atwater, of

Circleville, who struggled for years to secure from the General

Assembly of Ohio the legislation necessary to establish our pres-

ent school system.

"I close as I began, with the statement that there is not in

all Ohio a territory more fraught with historic interest than this

valley. If we want to study its romance and mystery, we have

but to turn to the era of the Mound Builders; if we would know

its thrilling past we can find it in the history of the Shawnees;

or where can a lesson be found that appeals more to one's sense

of the great tragedies of history than the conflict between

France and Great Britain for this territory; and the climax of

human endeavor is reached when we think of the struggle and

• 10
 

The McGuffey Society at the Logan Elm              367

 

accomplishments of the Americans who came here, and out of

a wilderness carved a commonwealth!"

Following this came the illuminative and interesting

address by former Governor James E. Campbell, Presi-

dent of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical

Society, entitled:

 

LOGAN AND THE LOGAN ELM

"Ladies and Gentlemen:

"Logan, whose Indian name was Tah-gah-jute, was the

chief of the small tribe of Indians known as the Mingos.* In

his early life, before he succumbed to the excessive use of the

fire-water of the palefaces, he was unusually handsome and

attractive. He stood well over six feet; had a dignified bearing,

a benign countenance and a fine disposition; and was especially

noted for his friendly relations with white people. In April,

1774, a party of white men, headed by Michael Cresap, started

out with the avowed intention of attacking Logan and his family.

On the way, however, Cresap, who felt that Logan was not

guilty of the offense for which they were about to punish him,

persuaded his command to return to their homes. A few days

* Robert Thackleton in his Book of Philadelphia says in regard to

"Stenton," the old colonial house just below Wayne Junction and its owner

James Logan:

"Stenton, a mansion put up about 1728 by James Logan, a scholar, a

philosopher, a man of affairs, the secretary of William Penn, and after-

wards personal representative of Penn himself and the Penn family, and

Chief Justice of the Colony. A very important man indeed was Logan,

and liked and trusted by all who knew him. He was a friend of Franklin."

Here follows a description of the house. He continues:

"A great chief came eastward from the Ohio country, Wingohocking,

and he visited here the powerful Logan, Secretary of the Colony and

known to be a friend of the Indians; and Logan and he, in Indian fashion,

exchanged names, that of Logan being given to the stripling son of Wingo-

hocking, and the name of Wingohocking being given to a little stream

near Stenton, with the idea that, as Logan expressed it, 'Long after we

have passed away it shall still flow and bear thy name.' The name is still

known in Germantown as that of the little stream and that of a railroad

station; and as to the stripling, henceforth known as Logan, he rose to

great fame in the region of the Ohio, as both statesman and warrior, and

a speech which he delivered at a council has been rated by no less an

authority than Thomas Jefferson, as among the great speeches of the

world."

[This note was received from Mrs. 0. D. Dryer. - ED.]

• 11