Ohio History Journal

DEDICATION OF THE JAMES E. CAMPBELL ELM

 

On October 20, 1923, very interesting exercises were

held in the State House Grounds at Columbus on the

occasion of the dedication of the James E. Campbell

Elm, a seedling from the famous Logan Elm in Picka-

way County under which the speech or message of the

Indian chief Logan was dictated and sent to Lord Dun-

more who was holding a peace conference with the

Indians at Camp Charlotte seven miles distant, Octo-

ber, 1774.     These    exercises were arranged        by   Mr.

Frank Tallmadge, Chairman of the Logan Elm Com-

mittee of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical

Society. Following is the interesting program, impres-

sively and pleasingly rendered on schedule time:

 

PROGRAM

INVOCATION .........                                    ........................REV. SIDNEY E. SWEET

FOREWORD .........                                           ...........................FRANK TALLMADGE

Chairman, Logan Elm Committee, of the Ohio State

Archaeological and Historical Society, introducing the

CHAIRMAN OF THE EXERCISES ............... C. B. GALBREATH

Secretary and Librarian, Ohio State Archaeological

and Historical Society

PLANTING SONG .................................... TRINITY CHOIR

LED BY PROFESSOR KARL HOENIG

(Tune: "America")

God save these trees we plant,             When they are ripe to fall,

And to all nature grant                                                    Neighbored by trees as tall,

Sunshine and rain.              Shape them for good.

Let not their branched fade,                  Shape them to bench and stool,

Save them from ax and spade,                Shape them to square and rule,

Save them for joy and shade--               Shape them for home and school,

Guarding the plain.            God bless the wood.

Lord of the earth and seas,

Prosper our planted trees,

Save with Thy might.

Save us from indolence,

Waste and improvidence,

And in Thy excellence,

Lead us aright.

(80)

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Dedication of the James E. Campbell Elm                81

 

RECITATION, "Trees" ...................... Poem by JOYCE KILMER

To be spoken by the audience in concert

I think that I shall never see                       A tree that may in summer wear

A poem lovely as a tree.                              A nest of robins in her hair.

A  tree whose hungry mouth is                    Upon whose bosom     snow  has

prest                               lain;

Against the earth's sweet flowing                 Who intimately lives with rain.

breast.                                               Poems are made by fools like

A tree that looks at God all day        me,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray.   But only God can make a tree.

WHAT THE TREES TEACH US

(Fourteen Rhymes for Individual Recitations)

I am taught by the Oak to be rugged and strong

In defense of the right, in defiance of wrong.

I have learned from the Maple, that beauty to win

The love of all hearts, must have sweetness within

The Beech, with its branches wide-spreading and low,

Awakes in my heart hospitality's glow.

The Pine tells of constancy. In its sweet voice,

It whispers of hope till sad mortals rejoice.

The nut-bearing trees teach that 'neath manners gruff

May be found as "sweet kernels" as in their caskets rough.

The Birch, in its wrappings of silvery gray,

Shows that beauty needs not to make gorgeous display.

The Ash, having fibers tenacious and strong,

Teaches me firm resistance, to battle with wrong.

The Aspen tells me with its quivering leaves,

To be gentle to every sad creature that grieves.

The Elm teaches me to be pliant yet true;

Though bowed by rude winds, it still rises anew.

The Lombardy Poplars point upward in praise,

My voice to kind Heaven they teach me to raise.

I am taught generosity, boundless and free,

By showers of fruit from the dear Apple tree.

The Cherry tree blushing with fruit crimson red,

Tells of God's free abundance that all may be fed.

In the beautiful Linden, so fair to the sight,

This truth I discern: It is inwardly white.

The firm-rooted Cedars, like sentries of old,

Show that virtues deep-rooted may also be gold.

Vol. XXXIII--6.                           -- HELEN O. HOYT.

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82         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

DEDICATION OF THE TREE

Chairman--What tree does this seedling spring from?

Reply by Audience--The Logan Elm.

Chairman--How old is the Logan Elm?

Reply by Audience--It is the oldest living thing in Ohio.

It has lived in four centuries.

Chairman--In whose honor is this little tree now planted

and dedicated?

Reply by Audience--James E. Campbell.

PRESENTATION OF THE TREE............ HON. HENRY J. BOOTH

On behalf of the Logan Elm Committee to the State of Ohio

ACCEPTANCE .............................GOVERNOR A. V. DONAHEY

TREE PLANTING SONG .............................TRINITY CHOIR

To be joined by the audience

(Tune: "America")

1 Joy for the sturdy trees,                               3 Select the strong, the fair,

Fanned by each fragrant breeze,                   Plant them with earnest care,

Lovely they stand!                 No toil is vain.

The song birds o'er them trill,                     Plant in a fitter place,

They shade each tinkling rill,                      Where, like a lovely face,

They crown each swelling hill,                     Let in some sweeter grace,

Lowly or grand.                    Change may prove gain.

2 Plant them by stream and way,                    4 God will His blessing send,

Plant where the children play                      All things on Him depend,

And toilers rest;                  His loving care

In every verdant vale,                                 Clings to each leaf and flower

On every sunny swale --                              Like ivy to its tower.

Whether to grow or fail,                             His presence and His power

God knows best.                    Are everywhere.

-- S. F. SMITH.

BENEDICTION

In calling the assemblage to order Mr. Frank Tall-

madge spoke as follows:

There have been three forces that have called us together

today in the dedication of this little tree: our love of history,

our love of nature and the love we bear for one man, the first

citizen of this State.   I bespeak your interest in the program

and ask that all join in the songs to the well known tune of

America.

Mr. E. F. Wood, Treasurer of the Ohio State Archaeological

and Historical Society, has kindly consented to act as Chairman

in the place of our Secretary, Mr. C. B. Galbreath, who is

detained at home on account of a severe cold.

After the introductory and dedicatory exercises the

chairman introduced Hon. Henry J. Booth, who in

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Dedication of the James E. Campbell Elm       83

behalf of the Logan Elm       Committee presented the

Campbell Logan Elm to the State in the following ad-

dress:

Mr. Chairman and Fellow Citizens: As I take it, the pri-

mary purpose of planting here today a scion of the most cele-

brated of all historic trees west of the Allegheny Mountains, to

bear the name of our most distinguished citizen, is to establish a

precedent which will promote a more active interest in the

public parks of the State, and more especially to lead to the

restoration of this park to the condition contemplated by those

who dedicated it to public use.

Let us hope that our exercises here today will be considered

also as a protest against the neglect which has resulted in starv-

ing to death nearly all of the trees of larger growth which were

planted here nearly a hundred years ago.

Let us hope also that this occasion will be accepted as a

meritorious appeal to our state officials to commence at once the

work of reparation for the results of past indifference and

neglect.

For many years this was a well shaded lawn.  It so re-

mained until after Governor Campbell left the office in which

he served the public with such signal ability.  Of the many

majestic elms which then surrounded the capital building but

few remained when Governor Donahey succeeded to that high

office. Therefore we may absolve both of them from responsi-

bility for the deplorable conditions which now exist.  One of

the causes directly contributing to the death and removal of

nearly all of the larger trees which were originally planted here

was their location too close to the streets.  Other preventable

causes constitute another story, which cannot now be told for

lack of time.

Passing now from the consideration of what has occurred

in the past, let me attempt to justify a statement concerning the

condition of these grounds made a year or two ago at a meeting

of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, but

now made for the first time in public, by this quotation from

the Mormon Bible:

"Blessed is he that bloweth his own horn, for whoso-

ever bloweth not his own horn, his horn shall not be blown."

Therefore, I take the liberty of saying to you now, as I said to

the members of that Society at that time, the condition of

this park is a disgrace to the State of Ohio. Nearly all of the

larger trees, the dead and the dying, have been removed. Every-

where about us appear the vacant spaces where once they stood.

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84        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

Others should be planted to supersede them, but in locations

more wisely chosen.  This should be considered not only a

public duty, but also a personal pleasure. We commence that

work today.

In rapid succession we hope others will be planted bearing

the names of other distinguished citizens.  They will doubtless

represent various suitable varieties, including perhaps the elm,

the oak, the hickory, the buckeye, and other varieties, both large

and small.  And in order to develop and perpetuate their

growth, we must feed and water every tree according to its needs.

For food and water are as vitally necessary to the life and well-

being of every tree as they are to every human being and to

every animal of the field and forest.

Nature takes care of her trees in their natural habitat, but

when man deprives them of such surroundings, he must supply

their food and drink. In the care of state parks, that duty rests

directly upon the state.

To promulgate that idea, representatives of The Ohio

Archaeological and Historical Society now tender to the state,

through Governor Donahey, a seedling of the Logan Elm, a tree

which became historic one hundred and forty-nine years ago,

and, with proper care, may yet add to its present age another

hundred years.

As this little tree was selected and brought here by Mr.

Frank Tallmadge, now and for many years past chairman of

the Committee which is entrusted with the care of the parent

tree, there can be no doubt as to the lineage and identity of the

seedling.  He knows the Logan Elm as well as he knows his

Catechism. It is as dear to him as the apple of his eye.

In closing permit me to add that no other name in Ohio,

so appropriate as his, could be selected for a place on this tree

as that of James E. Campbell.  We hope that the tree now

planted will serve its cherished purpose during all the years

which may be allotted to it by a beneficent Providence.  The

man whose name it bears will be known and honored as long as

American history is read -- time without end.

In the unavoidable absence of Governor A. V.

Donahey from the city, his Secretary, Mr. J. A. Meck-

stroth, accepted for the State the James E. Campbell

Elm in the following appreciative and appropriate ad-

dress:

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:  I wish Governor

Donahey might be here today. Had he not been called to Wash-

ington I am sure he would be present.

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Dedication of the James E. Campbell Elm      85

 

This is the kind of ceremony the Governor would enjoy.

He is a lover of the pioneer and Indian history of Ohio.  He

can find more arrow-heads and other Indian relics on an acre

of soil than any man I've ever known. I have heard the Gov-

ernor talk about the Logan Elm.  He visits the tree at every

opportunity.  He is a lover of trees in general.  I have heard

him say trees are like people.  Every tree in a forest can be

likened to some person of your acquaintance, he says.  Trees

range from seedlings to maturity, from youth to old age. You

can pick out the individual trees that had the best opportunity

in life -- those that had health, food, water and proper ventila-

tion and those that were not so fortunate. You find trees whose

broken limbs signify they met with an accident. And so on in-

definitely -- just as in the human race.

I am sure we all have a high appreciation for the good

work of Mr. Tallmadge, who has made the Logan Elm his

hobby. If you haven't seen this tree in recent years you should

go and see how Mr. Tallmadge is feeding it and how it has

developed and improved.  If Mr. Tallmadge were to live as

long as the Logan Elm will yet live, under the kind of care he

is giving it, he will live another century and maybe two. After

the recent death of the Washington Elm, the Logan Elm now

is probably the most famous tree in the country.

I need not express the admiration we all have for grand

old Governor Campbell, in whose honor a seedling of the

Logan Elm is planted here today.  And so, for the reasons I

have given, I know the Governor would have liked to be here

to accept for the State this seedling of the oldest tree in Ohio

in honor of the oldest living former Governor of the State.

And I also know if the Governor were here he would propose

that next year the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society

plant another seedling in the State House yard in honor of the

Logan Elm's guardian angel, Mr. Tallmadge.

And now, not being an orator like Mr. Booth, who made the

presentation speech, or even like old Chief Logan, I don't know

what else to say except that it is a great pleasure for me to

accept this little tree in behalf of the State.  I hope it may

live and grow big and sturdy and thereby perpetuate the tradi-

tions of its parent and the memory of Governor Campbell. I

hope other seedlings of the same tree may be planted.  The

time will come when the Logan Elm, Governor Campbell, Mr.

Tallmadge and all of us will be dead and gone, but through such

thoughtful functions as this today the traditions of our pioneer

history and the memory of distinguished citizens may be carried

to future citizens of Ohio by future generations of the Logan

Elm.

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86         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

Governor Campbell, the recipient of the special

honor of this occasion, was present and in a very happy

address expressed his appreciation in this living testi-

monial of the regard in which he is held. With the

singing of the "tree planting song" by the Trinity Choir

and benediction the delightful and impressive program

of the afternoon was concluded.

PETER NAVARRE DAY.

On Saturday afternoon, October 6, 1923, Peter Na-

varre Day was appropriately celebrated in Toledo by

the dedication of the Peter Navarre Memorial in St.

Mary's Cemetery under the auspices of the United

States Daughters of 1812. Following is the program

of the exercises:

Music ...............................................Fred   Lower's  Band

Singing........................................."Star Spangled Banner"

Led by Mrs. Nelson A. Galbraith

Custodian of the Flag

Invocation  .............................Rev. Patrick O'Brien

Address ...............................Hon. Mayor Bernard F. Brough

Master of Ceremonies

Presentation of Cemetery Plot to the Peter Navarre Chapter, N. S.

U. S. Daughters of 1812 ......By the Rev. Francis Hiermann, S. J.

Pastor of St. Mary's Church

Acceptance by the Regent..........................Mrs. Kent Hamilton

Music  ................... .......... ..............  Lower's  Band

Unveiling of Memorial.......By the Chapter and Hon. Regents for Life

Mrs. Helen Wolcott Dimick, State President

Mrs. George B. Orwig, Hon. Organizing Regent

Led by the Chaplain and Ex-Regent, Mrs. Robert C. Bowlus

Assisted by Girl Scouts

Address -- "Peter Navarre".........................Hon. George Sheets

Singing                ...................... "America"

Led by Mrs. Nelson A. Galbraith

Peter Navarre was born in Detroit in 1785. He

died in East Toledo, March 20, 1874, in his eighty-ninth

year. He rendered distinguished services in the War

of 1812, acting as a scout for General William Henry

Harrison.

At the dedication of the Memorial our Society was

represented by Mr. W. J. Sherman of Toledo.

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