Ohio History Journal

OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL

SOCIETY

 

REVIEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS

BY THE EDITOR

 

SARGENT GENEALOGY

Epes Sargent of Gloucester and His Descendants,

by Emma Worcester Sargent and Charles Sprague Sar-

gent. Houghton Mifflin Company, publishers, Boston

and New York, 1923.

One of the most valuable and finely wrought books

that has been added to the library of the Society is the

sumptuous volume entitled Epes Sargent of Gloucester

and His Descendants arranged by Emma Worcester

Sargent with biographical notes by Charles Sprague

Sargent. It is published by Houghton Mifflin Company

on paper of a superior quality. Steel engravings of

exquisite workmanship, some of them from paintings

by famous artists, abound in this work.

One is impressed in looking through the volume by

the wonderful contribution that this famous family has

made to American history. Prominent members of the

family have filled places of trust and honor since the

days of Epes Sargent, who was born in Gloucester, July

12, 1690, and died in Salem, Massachusetts, December

6, 1762. His descendants have been administrators,

soldiers, artists, historians, scientists, poets, ministers,

doctors, lawyers and contributors to almost every de-

partment of literature. A bibliography of their writ-

(318)

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Reviews, Notes and Comments       319

ings covers sixty-eight closely printed quarto pages of

the volume and constitutes a most interesting and valu-

able feature.

Ohioans of course will be especially interested in the

biographical sketch of Winthrop Sargent IV, who was

Secretary of the Northwest Territory from 1788 to

1798, a full decade. In this evolutionary period of the

Ohio Country from a wilderness almost to the period

of qualification for statehood Colonel Sargent was

an important and commanding figure. In the fre-

quent absence of Governor St. Clair he was acting gov-

ernor of the Territory. A graduate of Harvard and a

soldier of the Revolution with an excellent military rec-

ord, he had been interested in the western country even

before the enactment of the Ordinance of 1787 by the

Continental Congress. He was actively interested in

the adoption of the Ordinance and was very properly

chosen the first Secretary of the Territory. We need

not dwell upon the character of that extended service.

It is somewhat fully presented in this issue of the QUAR-

TERLY. Winthrop Sargent has not yet received in our

state history the attention that he deserves. This has

not been the fault of those who have written the history.

Until very recently the details for a satisfactory presen-

tation of even a brief biography have not been available.

Fortunately the work here briefly reviewed now makes

possible such a sketch of his life and presents interest-

ing materials relating to his kindred and descendants.

He had two children, William Fitz Winthrop who

was graduated from Harvard and died unmarried Oc-

tober 22, 1822, in the twenty-third year of his age.

George Washington, his second son, had six children.

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320      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications Their descendants are found in a number of different states.

Professor Charles Sprague Sargent is spoken of as the "most eminent of living dendrologists," while Professor William Lyon Phelps pays the following tribute to John Singer Sargent: Sargent belongs among the great painters of all time, his pictures revealing the mysterious but unmistakable stamp of genius. In fact, everything he does shows this quality which makes his painting the envy of competitors and the pride and glory of American art. He has no successful living rival, but is a class by himself. So true is this that if I were asked to name the greatest living American I should unhesitatingly name John Singer Sargent. Charles Sprague Sargent, who contributed the bi- ographical sketches, now lives in Brookline, Massachu-

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Reviews, Notes and Comments          321

setts. He has a national and international reputation

for his contributions to botany and horticulture. From

1888 to 1897 he was editor of Garden and Forest. He

has contributed extensively to publications of the Smith-

sonian Institution and is author of numerous mono-

graphs.

Winthrop Sargent VII is complimented on page 91

of the volume as follows:

Winthrop Sargent, of the seventh generation, the eleventh

of that name, will always be remembered with gratitude by the

descendants of Epes Sargent, for it is largely to his imagination,

industry and generosity that they are indebted for this genealogy

and for the preservation as a family memorial of the house built

in Gloucester by another Winthrop Sargent for his daughter

Judith. Mr. Sargent has printed for private circulation an

account of Paul Dudley Sargent and of the "Early New England

Sargents." Mr. and Mrs. Sargent live at Haverford, Pennsyl-

vania, and in summer at Bass Rocks, Gloucester.

We are under special obligations to Mr. Sargent for

copies of the publications referred to as well as for the

special interest that he has manifested in our work by

becoming a life member of the Ohio State Archaeolog-

ical and Historical Society.

 

SIDELIGHTS ON THE LAST DAYS OF GENERAL

U. S. GRANT

There has recently been added to the library of the

Society a very interesting volume entitled Life of Al-

phonso Taft, by Lewis Alexander Leonard. In one of

the chapters near the conclusion of the work there is an

account of the relation of Judge Taft to General Grant

and his consideration for the distinguished warrior in

his last illness at Mount McGregor. Mr. Charles P.

Taft, son of Judge Taft, "in obedience to the wishes of

Vol. XXXIII--21.

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322     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications his father as well as in accordance with his own de- sires" sent the well known newspaper man, Mr. Frank Gessner to see General Grant when he was confined to Mount McGregor near Saratoga Springs in his last ill- ness and to inquire whether Judge Taft could be of any service. At this time visitors were rarely permitted to see the distinguished patient. When Mr. Gessner made it known, however, that he came with a message from Judge Taft and his son he was at once admitted to the presence of Mrs. Grant. From her he learned that everything possible had already been done to make the General comfortable and facilitate his work in conclud- ing his Memoirs. A little later Mr. Gessner interviewed General Grant, who at once inquired about Judge Taft and "Charlie." He then had a number of questions to ask about his old home town in Clermont County, Ohio. General Grant could not speak but used a pen and paper to carry on his part of the interview. Here is a fac-simile of a portion of what he said:

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Reviews, Notes and Comments           323

The question, "Are any of the Griffiths there yet?"

Mr. Gessner answered in the affirmative. The General

then humorously observes, "The town of Batavia must

now be very much dried up with all the facilities the

people have to get away. I used to take much delight

in visiting there and through Clermont." And then he

added, with a touch of pathos, "But I have made my

last visit."

In this connection the author makes some statements

that will be news to many readers of the QUARTERLY

in regard to the kinship and social relations of the fam-

ilies of General Grant and Jefferson Davis. Here are

two paragraphs:

Some eight years later, Mrs. U. S. Grant and Mrs. Jeffer-

son Davis were living at the old New York Hotel. They were

close friends and had apartments on the same floor. A caller

on Mrs. Davis being told of Mrs. Grant's residence in the house,

related the incident of Mr. Gessner's visit to General Grant at

Mt. McGregor. Mrs. Davis insisted on her friend seeing the

visitor and soon Mrs. Grant appeared. The widow of the grand

old warrior and statesman recounted with interest and pathos

incidents of the last days at Mt. McGregor, and said the General

was much pleased with the visit from Mr. Taft's emissary. He

was always very fond of Judge Taft and all the family.

* * *

It is a fact not generally known that General Grant and

Jefferson Davis were cousins, the relationship coming through

the Simpson family, to which their mothers belonged.

 

 

CELEBRATION OF CENTENARY OF LAFAYETTE'S

VISIT TO AMERICA

The McGuffey Society of Columbus, Ohio, which

has taken the initiative in a number of worthy literary

and historic enterprises, at its annual banquet on the eve-

ning of March 25 adopted a resolution inviting atten-

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324     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

tion to the fact that Lafayette made his famous tour

through America almost one hundred years ago and ex-

pressed the hope that there would be a general observ-

ance of the one hundredth anniversary of this remark-

able visit, which Thomas Smith Grimke characterized

in the McGuffey readers as "the most singular and

memorable pageant in the annals of time."

Lafayette landed in New York on August 15, 1824.

His was more than a triumphal progress through Amer-

ica. He visited all the states including Ohio. He spent

more than a year in America and finally departed for

France September 7, 1825.   Assuredly every state

should recognize in some formal way the centenary of

the tour of the "nation's guest."

In the QUARTERLY for July, 1920, will be found an

extended contribution giving details of "Lafayette's

Visit to Ohio Valley States."

 

 

SCENIC AND HISTORIC OHIO

Scenic and Historic Ohio with a map of the state

"showing location of scenic and historic features" is a

publication compiled by Professor P. H. Elwood, Jr.,

recently of the Ohio State University, with the assis-

tance of H. L. Hedrick. It is published by the Agricul-

tural College Extension Service of the Ohio State Uni-

versity and the Ohio Archaeological and Historical So-

ciety. The map was prepared by co-operation of these

two agencies. Under the different counties of the state,

alphabetically arranged, are named the places of scenic

and historic interest. A complete alphabetical index

facilitates the prompt location of each. The map indi-

cates the condition of the highways and enables one to

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Reviews, Notes and Comments      325

determine the accessibility of points which he wishes to

visit. This work is now passing through the press and

by the time this issue of the QUARTERLY reaches sub-

scribers it will doubtless be available for distribution.

 

 

THE MYTHOLOGY OF ALL RACES--LATIN-

AMERICAN

The Mythology of all Races, Vol. XI--Latin-

American. By Hartley Burr Alexander: Boston, Mar-

shall Jones Company.

A valuable addition recently made to the library of

the Society is Vol. XI of The Mythology of all Races.

This volume is devoted to the primitive races of Latin-

America and includes chapters devoted to the Antilles,

Mexico, Yucatan, Central America, The Andean North,

The Andean South, The Tropical Forests: The Orinoco

and Guiana, the Tropical Forests: The Amazon and

Brazil and The Pampas to the Land of Fire. It con-

cludes with supplemental and explanatory notes and an

extended and carefully prepared bibliography.  The

author of this attractive volume is Dr. Hartley Burr

Alexander, Professor of Philosophy in the University

of Nebraska.

In his introduction to the volume the author ex-

plains "the obvious incongruity of the term 'Latin-Amer-

ican' to designate the native Indian myths of Mexico

and of Central and South America." He finds no other

convenient geographical designation to embrace the por-

tions of America "which fell to Spanish and Portuguese

conquerors" and has used the convenient term Latin-

American as the only one that applies to the regions

within the scope of the work.

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326       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

The author explains his method of apportioning the

subject matter of the volume as follows:

The practical problem of handling and apportioning the

subject-matter is similar to that presented in the case of North

America, and rather more difficult. In the first place, it were

idle to undertake the mere narration of stories and superstitions

without some delineation of the conditions of the life and cul-

ture of those who make them; frequently, the whole relevance

of the tale is to the manner of life. In the next place, the

feasible mode of apportionment, by regional divisions, is made

difficult not only by the vastness of some of the regions, but

even more so by the unevenness of culture, and hence of the

range of ideas. If the lines were drawn on the scale of Old

World studies, Mexico (Nahua and Maya) and Peru would

each deserve a volume; and the proportionately slight attention

which they receive in the present work is due partly to the

need of giving reasonable space to other regions, partly to the

fact that the myths of these fallen empires are already repre-

sented by an accessible literature. Still a third problem has to

do with the order in which the matters should be presented.

From the point of view of native affinities, the logical step

from the Antilles is to the Orinoco and Guiana region (that is,

from Chapter I to Chaper VIII). But since, in beginning with

the Antilles, one is really following the course of discovery --

seeing, as it were, with Spanish eyes--the natural continua-

tion is on to Mexico and Peru, and thence to the more slowly

uncovered regions of central South America. This procedure,

also, follows a certain bibliographical trend: the relative im-

portance of Spanish authors is much less for the latter chapters

of the book, and the sources of material, in general, are of later

origin.

Considerable space in the introduction is given to

the methods of interpretation, followed by paragraphs

devoted to a consideration of the meaning of mythology

and our interest in it. The first of these interests, he

tells us, "is the desire of the Christian missionary to

discover in the native mind those points of approach

and elements of community which will best enable him

to spread the faith in Christendom." A second interest

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Reviews, Notes and Comments           327

is "the aesthetic and imaginative" which seeks to do

for the myths and legends of these primitive people

what literature and art have done for classical myth-

ology; or perhaps it would be better to say that this

interest seeks for literature and art new forms of ex-

pression in the myths and legends of the Americas that

lie south of us. A third interest pointed out is that

of the anthropologists "by whom the domain is today

most cultivated." "Here," the author tells us, "the foun-

dation is scientific curiosity and the modes are those of

the natural and historical sciences. * * * It should

be added that each of the interests which have been

named shares in or leads to that final interest which

is most appropriate to all, namely, a common concern

for human welfare."

The author writes interestingly of the value of this

continent as a field for such a survey. On this topic he

says:

Finally, it is perhaps worth observing that America affords

a field of truly unique profit for all of these interests. The

long isolation of its inhabitants from the balance of mankind,

the variety of the forms and levels of their native achievement,

the intrinsic value to humanity at large of what they did achieve,

both in material and ideal modes, all unite to give to the races

of the New Hemisphere an almost other-world distinction from

the Old World peoples from whose midst (in some remote day)

they doubtless sprang.

Too much cannot be said in praise of the attractive

form in which this work is issued. The type is large

and clear. The paper is of excellent quality and the

illustrations, which are numerous, are the most satis-

factory that we have seen in any work of similar scope.

Some of these are in colors and all of them are inter-

esting and attractive.  This volume fully sustains the

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328       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

high character and mechanical execution of its pred-

ecessors in the series which is generally recognized as the

monumental work on the The Mythology of All Races.

 

 

JOSH BILLINGS ONCE LIVED IN NORWALK, OHIO

The special edition of the Sandusky Register pub-

lished December 21, 1922, abounds in interesting history

of Sandusky, Erie County and adjacent territory. One

contribution proves clearly that the noted humorist,

Henry Wheeler Shaw, known as "Josh Billings," lived

for a time in Norwalk, Ohio. He was not, however, a

native of this state. We quote briefly:

 

In 1863, Henry W. Shaw commenced writing short essays

in phonetic character style, signing "Josh Billings," the first

being "On the Mule" for which he received $1.50, and from

that time onward until his death continued to write and lec-

ture, until his writings were known and appreciated as those

of one of the happiest and most pleasing humorists in the

country. As a young man of leisure about town, he was always

full of wit and ready at repartee. At one time he commenced

studying law with Boalt and Worcester, prominent lawyers of

Norwalk, but after a few weeks he did not appear at the office,

and Mr. Boalt meeting him on the street one day said to him,

"Henry, I haven't seen you at the office lately."  "No," said

Henry, "I think the office has moved away, I haven't been able

to find it," and that was the last of his studying law.

Henry Wheeler Shaw was born at Lanesborough, Mass.,

in 1818 where he spent his early youth. For a short time he

attended school at Hamilton College, but went west without

completing his course, and remained for twenty-two years, fol-

lowing the most varied occupations, working on farms, on steam-

boats, and finally in Norwalk becoming an auctioneer. He later

returned to the east, settled in Poughkeepsie, New York, and

in this period did the writing which made him famous. He con-

tributed to the Century magazine and published his Farmer's

Allminax and wrote for various newspapers. He died in 1885.

The Huron County records show that Henry W. Shaw

bought the house on Whittelsey Street, Norwalk, which is still

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Reviews, Notes and Comments             329

shown as the Josh Billings house, on August 8, 1845, from John

Tift, jr., for $1100 and resold it to John Tift on January 3,

1848, for $1050.

That Josh Billings had always dreamed of buying back the

old place in Norwalk is attested by a correspondence, covering

a long number of years, between the humorist and W. J. Alley,

of Norwalk, a lifelong friend of Billings. The daughter of

Mr. Alley who is still living in Norwalk, remembers as a little

girl when her father moved to the residence on Monroe Street

just around the corner from Whittelsey Street in November,

1857, that Shaw was in correspondence with Alley about the

possibility of buying back the old place if it should ever come

up for sale.

Reference is made to Shaw's pranks and practical

jokes. We are told that--

On one occasion he played special havoc with the Mill-

wright denomination who were preaching the doctrine of per-

sonal ascension. One Sunday morning he fired up an old boiler

which was on the opposite side of the street from the meeting

house and he arranged it so that it would blow up during the

process of the meeting. The explosion was complete at the de-

sired time and caused great commotion. The faithful believed

that their time had come and they would soon be mounting

heavenward.

This bit of reminiscence by an aged resident of

Norwalk may not be strictly historic. The "Millwright"

denomination, of course, was the Millerite Adventists

who in 1843 were expecting the second coming of Christ

and the end of the former terrestrial order of things.

 

 

DR. AUSTIN SCOTT

The New Jersey Historical Society of October, 1922,

chronicles the death of Dr. Austin Scott, formerly Presi-

dent of Rutgers College, who was born near Toledo,

Ohio, August 10, 1848, and who died at Granville Cen-

ter, Massachusetts, August 15, 1922.

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330     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Dr. Scott was graduated from Yale in 1869. He

studied at Berlin and Leipsic for three years and re-

ceived his Ph. D. degree from the latter University in

1873. In 1891 he received the degree of LL. D. from

Princeton University. He was instructor in German

in the University of Michigan, 1873-1875. From 1875-

1882 he was associate in history at Johns Hopkins Uni-

versity. He assisted George Bancroft in gathering

material and otherwise helped in the preparation of the

"History of the United States" and the "History of the

Constitution." In 1882 he was called to Rutgers Col-

lege where he taught political economy and constitu-

tional law. In 1890 he was chosen President of the

college and served in this position until 1906 when at

his own request his resignation was received and he con-

tinued to teach with great success in the college.

He was the father of seven children. "His eldest

son is assistant professor of history at the University

of Rochester and the second son is professor of law in

the Harvard Law School."

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