Ohio History Journal

OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL

SOCIETY

 

REVIEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS

BY THE EDITOR

 

CATHERINE FAY EWING, ORIGINATOR OF

CHILDREN'S HOMES*

Children's Homes throughout the country have at-

tracted deserved attention as child-saving institutions.

They not only save life; they educate to usefulness.

The Ohio law is simple. It was enacted in 1866, and

in 1871 thirty-seven homes were organized under it.

They were established and conducted by counties and

intrusted to the care of three trustees by the county

commissioners. All neglected or destitute children, not

insane, imbecile, or affected by contagious diseases, are

received into them on proper certificate. The effort is

to make the homes for them all that the word implies.

From these homes they are committed to families. At

first when the children were placed in families the offi-

cers did not follow them with care systematically. Now

they inspect each child annually under an amendment

to the law made in 1889.

These beneficent homes originated with Mrs. Cath-

erine Fay   Ewing.  Mr. Fay, her father, in the early

history of Marietta College, moved with his family

from Westboro, Mass., where Mrs. Ewing was born.

 

* Reprinted from Report of U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1903,

Vol. II, pp. 1309-1310.

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242      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

He came to the neighborhood both to aid the struggling

college and to give his sons the benefit of its advan-

tages.

Miss Catherine Fay became a teacher and after a

time a missionary to the Indian Territory. She says

that in the fall of 1853, while laboring as a missionary

among the Choctaw Indians, a physician called upon

her and asked her to visit a poor family where the

mother, a New England woman of culture and refine-

ment, had died leaving five small children. These little

ones he had committed to his care, and he was trying

to find homes for them, their drunken father having

deserted them. He wished her to adopt a beautiful

little girl two years old, and she longed to do it; but she

was a poor teacher, hundreds of miles from home, and

it seemed impracticable. The little one was taken by

a man and his wife who soon after began to sell whisky

to the Indians. One day there was a drunken fight, and

the child was thrown down the steps of the house and

killed. This affected Miss Fay so deeply that the de-

termination was made in her mind to have a home of

her own where she could care for such orphan and

homeless children.  After this time every effort was

directed to that object; every dollar was laid away with

care for this purpose. She taught two years in Ken-

tucky, and with the money bought 15 acres of land

about 10 miles from Marietta. There was a house of

two small rooms on the land. About this time she re-

ceived two legacies, from an uncle and aunt, and began

at once to build a larger house. Her plan was to adopt

poor children and support them herself.  She went

to the county infirmary and found 26 children associ-

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Reviews, Notes and Comments     243

ated constantly with older people, many of them of the

vilest character.

This was more than she could bear. She wanted

to take them all, but she could not hope to support so

many by her own efforts. She went to the directors of

the infirmary and asked them to let her take them at

one dollar per week. The first few weeks were very hard

ones, and the trustees of the district school refused

to allow the children to attend school because they were

paupers, and they were unwilling to have their own

children associate with them, although after a lawsuit

she obtained permission to send them to school, but the

children were taunted and made unhappy by being

treated as poorhouse children. After the war for the

Union broke out many soldiers' children were added to

the number in her care.  At one time she had 35 of

these, and she felt that they deserved something better

from their country than had been provided, and became

exceedingly desirous that the effort might be entirely

separated in name and in fact from the poorhouse, and

have a distinct appropriation for its use.  In 1864 she

conferred with the commissioners about the expediency

of applying to the legislature to bring this change about.

The bill was presented that year, but failed. In 1865

it was again presented and rejected, but in 1866 it be-

came a law; so the plan which she at first thought of

only as a relief to her own Children's Home became in

the course of Providence the means of planting homes

in different counties of the State.

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244       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

EQUITATION IN AND ABOUT COLUMBUS

Mr. Frank Tallmadge, a life member of the Ohio

State Archaeological and Historical Society, a prominent

citizen of Columbus and the dean of equitation in cen-

tral Ohio, has written a book entitled Horseback Riding

in and around Columbus, 1774-1924. It is neatly printed

and bound, interestingly written and a unique addition

to local history. The "foreword" is written by Henry

M. Neil of Columbus. The book is published by the Co-

lumbus Riding Club.

Following is the editorial estimate of the book in

the Ohio State Journal of April 1, 1925:

 

 

HORSEBACK RIDING

No other man is better fitted to compile and write the history

of horseback riding in Columbus than Frank Tallmadge, whose

volume will come from the publishers in a few days. From

his early boyhood he has been an enthusiastic lover of the horse

and for more than a half century he has owned and ridden saddle

horses over the highways and along the byways of the city and

county. He has known and ridden with all the lovers of horses

in Columbus in that long period of time. He never was more

enthusiastic over that form of exercise and sport than he is today

and to his outdoor life in the saddle he attributes much of the

good health that he has enjoyed.

He has made his book complete, certain to interest the lovers

of the saddle horse, and equally certain to interest many others

because most people love to read a story of horses, or stories in

which the horse has a real part. The story covers horseback

riding from the time the first settlers reached the present site

of Columbus, riding their horses along the Indian trails in the

wild country. Months of patient work has been done in going

through all the histories of the early days to secure the material

for the book. The story is told in an entertaining way, names of

many early and present-day people are used and their part in

the outdoor exercise is given, bits of personal experience and

incidents that give historical value and personal interest to the

story. The book was made possible through the generosity of

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Reviews, Notes and Comments       245

 

the Columbus Riding Club, a group of men and women who love

horses and know the joy of a long ride or a quick gallop.

Horseback riding is done by fewer people than in the (lays

prior to the coming of the auto, but in and about the cities all

over the land there are riding clubs and enthusiastic members.

These people know the joy of association with a fine saddle

horse and do not propose to deny themselves that pleasure. It

is no easy or simple task to become a good rider. Courage and

persistence are required and an understanding of horses is nec-

essary, but there is a physical advantage and mental pleasure

that is large reward for all that is given in mastering the task.

The volume by Mr. Tallmadge will interest those who care for

a good story well told.

 

Professor Homer C. Hockett, of the Ohio State Uni-

versity faculty, and Professor Arthur M. Schlesinger,

formerly of Ohio State but now a member of the teach-

ing force at Harvard, have written a two volume work

entitled Political and Social History of the United States

which will be issued by the Macmillan Company in the

near future.

Dr. Hockett is author of the first volume which

deals with American history from the time of the dis-

covery by Columbus to 1828. The second volume, by

Professor Schlesinger, covers the period from    1829 to

date.

In the preliminary announcement the statement is

made that "major emphasis in the work has been placed

on political factors, although the social, economic and

cultural phases are given due consideration. In contrast

with earlier books, American history from       Colonial

times is treated as part of the stream of world events

and not as separate matter."

We hope in a future issue to publish a review of

this important work.

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246       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

There has recently come to the library of the Society

a copy of a very interesting one volume history of the

United States entitled The Nation's History by Arthur

R. Leonard, head of the department of history in the

High School of Commerce, and Bertha E. Jacobs of the

North High School of Columbus, Ohio. The introduc-

tory sentences of the preface explain the purpose of the

work:

A seventh and eighth grade text book in American history,

to be valuable, needs to meet two fundamental requirements.

First it must present the subject honestly. To do this it must

show our history as a part of world history, with a continuity of

cause and effect that will explain how the past created the

present. Secondly, such a text must be a tangible and reliable

help in the study hour.  Many pupils waste time during that

period because they have neither a definite study plan nor a way

to measure their accomplishment.  The Nation's History is an

attempt to satisfy these two demands.

The book is amply illustrated, and while intended as

a text for the schools will be found a valuable and usable

manual for the shelves of the public or private library,

especially for the person who wishes to make brief ref-

erence to important events in our history.   The work

closes with carefully written biographical sketches of

the prominent actors in the history of our Republic.

 

The city of Akron will celebrate its centennial anni-

versary the week beginning July 19, 1925. The growth

of Akron in all that makes a progressive and prosperous

city has been substantial and phenomenal--especially

in recent years.  We hope to publish in the October

QUARTERLY an extended account of the celebration.

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