Ohio History Journal

OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL

SOCIETY

 

REVIEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS

 

BY THE EDITOR

 

ANNIVERSARY OF VISIT OF LAFAYETTE TO OHIO

CELEBRATED IN CINCINNATI.

One great city in the United States, at least, appro-

priately celebrated the centenary of Lafayette's visit to

America. The city of Cincinnati, under the leadership

of Mrs. Lowell F. Hobart, Ohio Regent of the D. A. R.,

Mrs. Charles A. Meyers, Regent of the Cincinnati chap-

ter of this organization, Mrs. Thomas Kite, general

chairman of the committee in charge and Mrs. J.

Stanley Orr, her assistant, planned a very successful

celebration of the visit of Lafayette to Cincinnati

where he was received one hundred years before in the

name of the state as well as the Queen City of the West.

On May 19, 1925, just one hundred years after the

visit of Lafayette, a most interesting program was ren-

dered. The newspapers of Cincinnati had prepared the

people for the event by the publication of accounts of

Lafayette's visit and the people came out in great num-

bers to hear read the speech of Governor Morrow who

had welcomed Lafayette in behalf of the state and the

reply of Lafayette.

The interest manifested in this celebration simply

illustrates what might have been duplicated in every

city of the United States that had one hundred years

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Reviews, Notes and Comments             427

ago entertained Lafayette. In the failure to adopt and

carry out generally a program for such celebration of

the anniversary of this remarkable tour the patriotic

societies of America lost a real opportunity.

The following editorial of the Cincinnati Times-Star,

of May 18, reflects the spirit that this celebration re-

vived in the Queen City of the West.

 

WHEN LAFAYETTE CAME TO CINCINNATI

The most romantic figure in American history was not an

American, but a Frenchman, and on Tuesday Cincinnati will

honor his memory with appropriate noonday and evening ex-

ercises. Scion of an ancient and noble family, the Marquis de

Lafavette came to his estates at thirteen, was married at six-

teen, and at twenty flung himself into the cause of American in-

dependence, well in advance of the French court. Instantly

attracted by the spirit and promise of this ardent youth and im-

pressed by his soldierly conduct at Brandywine, Washington

gave him command of a division before he had reached man's

estate. He was intrusted with the defense of Virginia and took

part in the siege of Yorktown that decided the war. Then the

young Frenchman returned to his native land, and sought to

make American ideals of liberty a fact in the early days of its

great revolution; almost he succeeded. It was he that intro-

duced the Declaration of Rights, based on our own Declaration

of Independence. He was put in command of the National

Guard. and then of the army of the Ardennes, which he led in a

succession of victories. But the revolution had entered on bloody

courses and, sick at heart, he quitted his native land. There

was still another chapter. after the Bonaparte era was ended.

Lafayette re-entered public life, was a leader in the revolution

of 1830, and forty years after his first command of the Na-

tional Guard. he commanded it again.

His visit to this country in 1825 was memorable in its demon-

stration of America's gratitude and overflowing good will. On

Tuesday, May 1₉th, he came to Cincinnati on his way north from

Lexington, where he had been the guest of Henry Clay. Cross-

ing the Ohio in an elaborately decorated barge rowed by six

prominent citizens, and escorted through our streets in an open

phaeton drawn by six magnificent horses, he was made the cen-

tral figure of ceremonies which included speeches of welcome by

Governor Morrow and General William Henry Harrison, a re-

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428       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

ception in the Gano orchard and a great ball at the Cincinnati

hotel. On his departure at midnight of the following day. there

was an illumination on both sides of the river with steamboats

flying flags, cannon firing, martial music playing, and vast crowds

thronging the landing--"the most brilliant sight of my life,"

says L'Hommedieu.

In keeping this anniversary Cincinnati celebrates a pictur-

esque hour in its own colorful past and honors one of the chival-

rous spirits of the ages.

 

A BOOK ON THE TRAINING OF HORSES, BY OHIO'S

MASTER HORSE TRAINER

The Horse: Cruiser and the, Rarey Method of Train-

ing Horses, by Sara Lowe Brown, will come this fall

from the press of F. J. Heer & Co. Mrs. Brown, who

is a niece of John S. Rarey, the famous Ohio horse-

trainer of the middle of the last century, has prepared

this book from his diary, letters and other papers, and

is publishing it partly as a memorial to him. It had

been Mr. Rarey's purpose to publish a book of this kind

to propagate his theory that animals are best ruled

by kindness, and to give detailed instruction for the

handling of young and unruly horses. His death pre-

vented the fulfillment of that purpose. Happily, how-

ever, he left the material for the volume. The book

will contain an intimate account of Mr. Rarey's re-

markable career, when he was astonishing Europe and

the United States with his performances, and the full

text of his instructions to trainers, as he himself wrote

it. It will be freely illustrated.

 

AN INTERESTING BOOK BY JOSEPH BUTLER, JR.

Recollections of Men and Events: An Autobiog-

raphy. This is the title of one of the most interest-

ing volumes that has been added to the library of the

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Reviews, Notes and Comments      429

Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society in

recent years. The author is Joseph G. Butler, jr., of

Youngstown, Ohio, who was born near Temperance

Furnace, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, December 21,

1840. In 1841 the family moved to Niles, Ohio, where

the formative years of Mr. Butler's life were spent.

Here he received his education in the common schools.

The course of study was very limited. Among his fel-

low pupils was William McKinley who became Presi-

dent of the United, States. The two became fast friends

in their school days and this attachment continued

through life. The McKinleys and the Butlers were

pioneer manufacturers in northeastern Ohio.

Joseph Butler, jr., was interested in the manufacture

of iron and by the application of industry and intellect-

ual gifts of a high order he has prospered and accumu-

lated a fine fortune. The years of his life-- 1840-1925--

were marked by wondrous development in the Mahon-

ing Valley region which has become one of the great

iron manufacturing centers of the United States. Mr.

Butler was a part of this interesting evolution. When

he writes of the growth of the iron trade he speaks

from actual practical knowledge. His chapter entitled

"Early Experience in Blast Furnace Operations," de-

tails his work in the manufacture of iron in the employ

of Hale and Ayer of Chicago who purchased the

Brown-Bonnell mills in Youngstown. Here Mr. But-

ler represented the firm for two years and then entered

into partnership with Governor Tod and other capi-

talists who were erecting a blast furnace at Girard.

The enterprise did not prove profitable at first. Of it

Mr. Butler says:

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430       Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications

 

Although this proposition involved many trying situations

and yielded little profit, it was the beginning of my association

with the Tod and Stambaugh families which has continued un-

broken for sixty years and has been one of the most satisfactory

experiences of my life. At this time my business associates still

are the sons and grandsons of the men with whom I made my

first start as an ironmaster.

A generous tribute is paid to Governor David Tod of

whom Mr. Butler says in part:

I first saw him at Niles where he came shortly after the Civil

War broke out to urge enlistments in the Union Army. He had

a rich, deep voice and made a most eloquent speech, resulting

in many enlistments. I saw him often from that time, but our

intimate business relations began in 1866, with the formation of

the Girard Iron Company. They ended in 1868, at which time

David Tod passed to the great beyond, full of honors and with

the esteem and admiration of the whole country. *  *  *  He

was a lawyer by profession, but a statesman and business man

by inclination.  Originally he had been a Democrat, having

espoused that cause during Andrew Jackson's campaign and con-

tinued loyal to it until the sharp and bitter division on war is-

sues. His great service to the country during the trying period

of the war is so well known that no reference need be made to

it here. But it may not be generally known that he was offered

the position of Secretary of the Treasury by President Lin-

coln. I think it was in July, 1864, that I was talking with Gov-

ernor Tod in the office of the Brier Hill Iron and Coal Com-

pany, of which he was then president, that the conductor on a

switching engine, who generally brought out telegrams from the

office at Youngstown, came in and handed the Governor a mes-

sage. He opened it and then handed it to me. It was a tele-

gram from President Lincoln announcing his appointment as

Secretary of the Treasury and requesting his acceptance. I

read the message and said, "You will accept, of course." Gov-

ernor Tod replied without hesitation: "No, I shall decline; if

I accept the job it would mean that I would be brought home

in a coffin." Without seeming to give the matter any further

consideration, he then wrote a message declining the honor, and

the switching conductor took it with him for transmission from

Youngstown.

Mr. Butler prospered in his manufacturing enter-

prises and finally became a man of wealth. He records

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Reviews, Notes and Comments        431

the opinion that "in addition to providing for his de-

scendants, every man of wealth owes something to the

community in which he has lived, as well as to his

country and society at large. Recognition of this obli-

gation was the motive for two enterprises" -- the Na-

tional McKinley Birthplace Memorial and the Butler

Art Institute.

The McKinley Memorial through Mr. Butler's ini-

tiative and generous contribution of money finally took

form and is now the mecca of visitors to Niles, the

birthplace of William  McKinley.   It was dedicated

October 5, 1917. To the endowment fund of this me-

morial alone Mr. Butler made an initial subscription of

$100,000. The McKinley Memorial at Niles is one of

the most beautiful structures of its kind in the United

States.

Mr. Butler has for many years been interested in

art. As a result of this interest and his desire to estab-

lish in his home city an institution that should con-

tinually foster and encourage a similar interest among

the rising generation, Mr. Butler has had erected in the

city of Youngstown an institution known as the Butler

Art Institute. Of this purpose Mr. Butler says:

In erecting this building and organizing the Butler Art In-

stitute. I have sought to provide for the people of this city

an opportunity to enjoy the best work of American artists and

my hope is that it will tend to create a wider knowledge and

love of art in this community.

In the chapter entitled "Some Interesting People I

have Known," Mr. Butler names and records his im-

pression of the following: Lloyd George, Sir Lowthian

Bell, Theodore Roosevelt, Samuel J. Tilden, James A.

Garfield, Woodrow Wilson, Charles E. Hughes, Uncle

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432      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Joe Cannon, Joseph Benson Foraker, John Sherman,

Chauncey M. Depew, Philander C. Knox, Frank O.

Lowden, Andrew W. Mellon, John H. Clarke, Theo-

dore E. Burton, Thomas A. Scott, Charles G. Dawes,

Chase S. Osborn, Irvin Cobb, Harry M. Stevens,

Frank B. Willis, General Winfield Scott, H. C. Mc-

Eldowney, J. Massey Rhind and John W  Gates. As-

suredly this is a lengthy list of notables. But elsewhere

in the book are the names of others as noteworthy whom

Mr. Butler has personally known. A number of these

are included in the chapter "Some of My Personal Busi-

ness Friendships" in which occur sketches of Judge

Elbert H. Gary, Charles M. Schwab, Henry Clay Frick,

Andrew Carnegie and others.

In the chapter on "Politics and Some Political

Friends" occur interesting sketches of Warren G.

Harding, William McKinley, William H. Taft, Mark

Hanna, Myron T. Herrick and Calvin Coolidge.

Mr. Butler has traveled much. In August and Sep-

tember of 1916, as a member of the American Indus-

trial Commission to France, he visited that republic

while it was in the midst of the World War. "In

many ways," says Mr. Butler "this journey was one of

the most interesting episodes in my life and presents

scenes so different from the peaceful experiences to

which I have always been accustomed and which are

herein described that it seems quite necessary to com-

plete the story."

The Industrial Commission to France, as Mr. Butler

explains, was organized under the auspices of the

American Manufacturers' Export Association, and its

purpose was in the interest of trade with France. One

is tempted to quote this chapter in full. It is intensely

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Reviews, Notes and Comments      433 interesting from the opening sentence to the conclusion. No synopsis can do it justice. The volume, covering a period of eighty-five years in the history of our country and presenting his own career and the opinions of men and events as viewed by this eminent and successful citizen of Ohio, is a distinct contribution to state and local history with interesting excursions into wider fields. Mr. Butler is the author of other books which we are pleased to know are on the shelves of the library of our society.

Vol. XXXIV -- 28.

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