Ohio History Journal

Dedication of Ohio's World War Memorial      463

Finally, a State Museum of History here in Ohio must take

advantage of its exceptional opportunity to cooperate with the

regional historical museums in the commonwealth. After all,

your purposes are a common one, namely, to preserve and to teach

the history of Ohio--your task is general; theirs is particular.

The ideal State Museum which I have tried to picture should be

applied to all the local museums. A system of exchange might

be worked out so that articles of general significance would come

here, while those of a local nature and value should be housed

with them. A check list of materials in the possession of all the

museums would facilitate such an interchange. The State Mu-

seum might send loan exhibits about the counties for educational

purposes. An interchange of lectures might be arranged, and

historical pilgrimages planned to the shrines in different parts of

the State. You might lend your expert staff to aid regional bodies

in the reorganization and reclassification of their museums, and

in turn, perhaps profit by their suggestions. In short, if all the

scholarship and all the interest in history in this great common-

wealth could be mobilized into active cooperation, Ohio would

soon win a primacy in the protection and utilization of its past

civilization as it has in so many other worthy fields.

The address of Doctor Flick was heard with the

closest attention. The speaker had his audience with

him from the first word uttered. His address is a con-

tribution of great value to the Society and all interested

in state and local history. Doctor Flick's position at the

head of the division of archives and history of the en-

tire state of New York and the eminence that he has

won in this special field enabled him to speak as one

having authority. His address sets forth the ideals to-

ward which the newer historical societies of the Middle

West may well direct their efforts. It was just what

those to whom it was delivered need at this time.

ADDRESS OF WALLACE H. CATHCART

At the conclusion of Doctor Flick's address, Pro-

fessor Siebert inquired, "Is Mr. Wallace H. Cathcart in

the room?" Mr. Cathcart, the well-known and success-

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464       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications ful Vice-President and director of the Western Reserve Historical Society, came forward and spoke as follows: Ladies and Gentlemen: I was waiting to see if Dr. Siebert recognized me, but he has the same misfortune I have, and is a little near-sighted. It is a real pleasure as an Ohioan to be here this morning;

as an Ohioan, who for some forty years has been interested in the cultivation of the history of the State of Ohio. I think I can rejoice with the same genuine rejoicing that Mr. Galbreath, Dr. Mills and Mr. Johnson, President of the Society, are rejoicing in this wonderful and beautiful addition to the Ohio State Archaeo- logical and Historical Society building. I must state that when Prof. Siebert telephoned me about

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Dedication of Ohio's World War Memorial      465

this meeting he asked me to present the details of what we were

doing over in Cleveland, sketch the history of our Society and

sum up conclusions. I think he knew how well Dr. Flick would

present everything else.

I do not think the members of this Society, or the members

of all the auxiliary societies and kindred organizations in the

State of Ohio will lack for something to do, if they carry out a

small part of what Dr. Flick has so ably suggested this morning.

In 1811, when Cleveland had a small population of some

fifty-five, and eighteen families, there were sixteen men who

formed a Library Association. Among these men were some that

were afterwards outstanding characters of the State of Ohio.

Among them, Dr. David Long, Samuel Williamson, and Mr.

Alfred Kelley, of whom the last-mentioned became so closely

identified with the public works of the state.

This library association commenced to gather books. Among

the first books obtained was a file of the Connecticut Evangelical

Magazine, which is now in our Library. They kept on until

1848, when the Cleveland Library Association was formed, and

they in turn received the collection of books previously accu-

mulated.

In 1867, an amendment was made to the charter of the Cleve-

land Library Association, permitting the formation of a branch

as the Historical Division. The historical works that had been

accumulated since 1811, were turned over' to the Historical

Branch, known as The Western Reserve and Northern Ohio His-

torical Society. In 1892, the society was incorporated under the

name of The Western Reserve Historical Society, to gather ma-

terial pertaining to Ohio and the West, and to quote from the

Charter "The purpose for which said corporation is formed is not

profit, but is to discover, collect and preserve whatever relates to

the history, biography, genealogy and antiquities of Ohio and the

West, and of the people dwelling therein, including the physical

history and condition of that State; to maintain a museum and

library, and to extend knowledge upon the subjects mentioned by

literary meetings, by publication and by other proper means."

It was my pleasure to become connected with the society in

1890. In the early days much attention was given to archaeology.

Judge C. C. Baldwin, and his brother, David, of Elyria, also Col.

C. C. Whittlesey, who had made some of the early archaeological

surveys of the State, were all very much interested in that phase

of the work. In a careful study of the situation, I found that the

Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society was taking care

of part of the work more ably than we could expect to do. How-

ever, I felt that for the benefit of those in the immediate neigh-

Vol. XXXV--30.

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466       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

borhood, we should have a collection bearing on the archaeology of

the State that would be fairly representative, and that perhaps our

best efforts should be given to gathering the printed and manu-

script material, bearing on the State's history. So during the last

40 years we have perhaps devoted more effort to that side than

we have to the other. The Library of the Society, by means of

legacies, donations, and by purchases supplemental thereto, has

accumulated a specialized library of rather great importance, if

size alone is considered. We have about 200,000 books and pam-

phlets on American history. This will compare favorably, I think,

with the older and better endowed historical societies of the East.

But numbers, in themselves, give very little idea of the true

strength of any library.

Our collection of source books of history relating to the

Northwest Territory and especially to Ohio is practically com-

plete. In statistical publications of the State and Municipality we

have nearly complete files in the order of publication. Of the

earlier ones of the State of Ohio, published before they were

bound as executive documents, we have really a very fine collec-

tion.

The department of travel, in the Library, is a very important

one. This consists of the published notes of those early adven-

turers who made the perilous trip from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati

or Louisville, by land or water. The accounts of the wonderful

things they saw of man and nature, and the experiences they met

with were eagerly sought in the East and in England and

France. Men were longing for habitation in this marvelous valley

of the River Ohio, a river of such striking beauty that it was

named, "The Beautiful River," in all the languages of the rival

races of men that claimed the region as their own. These books

followed each other rapidly from 1750 to 1825. Their value as

sources of history is very high. They are now very scarce and it

would not be possible to find all of them, or indeed, a few of them,

in many libraries. The Society has practically a complete set of

the original editions of these English and French works.

I was just thinking that if a man started in today to try to

accumulate these books, it would be an impossible task. The

other day I was at Anderson's sale in New York, and I saw a little

pamphlet of about twenty-odd pages, and with part of the pages

torn out, yet it was rapidly bid up to $200. The information that

was contained in it was not worth five dollars, yet any one collect-

ing Ohio material would like to have that book. This only shows

the eagerness with which Ohio material is sought for and the

price that some are willing to pay for it.

The Genealogical Department is one of the outstanding fea-

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Dedication of Ohio's World War Memorial      467

tures of our work. It is used extensively by the Daughters of the

American Revolution, and those who would be Daughters of the

American Revolution; not only by those in Cleveland, but by

many from all over the United States. Correspondents sometimes

send in queries that would take a week to answer, and oftentimes

these come in without even a stamped envelope for the reply.

We have nearly three thousand distinct separate genealogies

of families.

Local and town histories, covering all the Eastern and older

states, with a goodly number for the newer states, altho not nearly

so complete as of the Eastern states, have been carefully sought

for and placed on the shelves of the Library.

Rosters of the several Wars, Pension Rolls and Year Books

of Patriotic Societies also serve as aids to the searchers of family

history.

A library of Ohio imprints holds an important place in our

collection. With the advent of the first printing press in a com-

munity, came the newspaper, also the opportunity of printing

books or pamphlets of a local nature that otherwise, in most cases,

would never have been printed.

What an opportunity is given, by means of these old books,

to study the thought and tendencies of the day; also the literature

that the people were then reading!

Of these special collections of the Society, probably the larg-

est and most outstanding is the William P. Palmer Collection on

the Civil War. I think I can say it is not excelled by any library

outside of Washington. This collection covers not only the State

of Ohio, but the entire country. There are over 40,000 books on

this particular period. On the War of 1812 we have a large num-

ber of volumes. We have manuscript papers of two of the four

Western Brigadier Generals. The papers of the other two we

have never been able to locate.

Some years ago Dr. McLean published a most excellent history

of the Shakers of Ohio in the QUARTERLY of the Ohio State

Archaeological and Historical Society and later a bibliography of

the Shaker publications. As we had only three or four of the 600

or more listed, I felt that with North Union village of the Shakers

almost at our back door, our Society should have a collection a

little more worthy of this wonderful Communistic organization.

Dr. McLean had formed the largest collection then known,

consisting of about five hundred books or pamphlets writen by, or

about the Shakers, and perhaps two hundred Ms. items. These

he sold en bloc to the Library of Congress. A smaller collection,

I believe, he gave to your organization.

For a time I felt that the opportunity to collect this material

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468       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

had passed and turned my attention to other things, when an un-

expected gift gave me a start. On visiting some fifteen different

villages of Shakers, scattered from Maine to Kentucky, by the

expenditure of a good deal of time and some little money, I suc-

ceeded in gathering some fifteen hundred printed books and pam-

phlets and about three thousand manuscripts. These were later

turned over to the Society for permanent preservation. We have

always felt that although good books may have been written, cov-

ering the history of a subject, the sources from which they have

been gathered should be preserved for others, who may approach

the same subject from another standpoint. To illustrate, in col-

lecting we had discovered safely housed in the Ministry's private

rooms at Mt. Lebanon, the records of that great spiritualistic

movement, which passed through all the Shaker communities, and

of which most careful records have been compiled. Dr. McLean

stated, and the rank and file of the Shakers believed, that these

records had been destroyed to avoid any use of them in the future,

by those who would not have a full knowledge of this special

movement.

Again in reference to the Zoar Community, Dr. Randall, for-

merly Secretary of your Society and the Editor of your Journal,

published a most comprehensive history of this Communistic So-

ciety. One might well hesitate to write another, but at the same

time, when the opportunity presented itself, we felt it well to

preserve the original sources of this movement and in so doing,

we were able to obtain many letters written to and by Mr. Bime-

ler, the founder, in the early part of the 19th Century, from the

time when this group left the Old Country and with the help of

the Quakers in the East, came and settled on Ohio lands. These

letters, diaries and account books will be valuable to those who

may wish to go farther into the history of these movements, per-

haps from a different point of view.

In citing these two examples we are doing it to urge your

Society to preserve, wherever possible, the original source material

that may pass through your hands.

Of material and books bearing on the Presidents of Ohio,

which ranks second only to Virginia in the number who claim

her as their native state, we have collected all we could obtain.

Another side of history that has not been as carefully culti-

vated as it should be although historians are now urging its im-

portance, is that of church history, and to meet this demand we

have been gathering histories, reports of various church organiza-

tions, church records, etc., wherever it has been possible to obtain

them.

This is also true of the educational work of Ohio, its acad-

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Dedication of Ohio's World War Memorial      469

emies, common schools, and colleges, records of which we have

accumulated. President Hughes of Miami University, on a re-

cent visit to the Library, said that in Miami University history

and material, the collection surpassed that which they had. Ohio

is the state of colleges, and when one attempts to gather the ma-

terial of a half hundred colleges it is no little undertaking. Yet

we feel the beginnings and development of the educational work

in Ohio is and will be of great importance.

We had not gone far in our collecting before we found that

if we were going to get material for a complete history of Ohio,

we had to go to the other states for the beginnings of the history

of the Old Northwest and Ohio. Although out of the limits of

this State, we have brought in a very good collection on the vari-

ous states, such as Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jer-

sey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, etc. One cannot write

Ohio history without having recourse to the history and works of

the Eastern States.

The richest treasures of the Society are its manuscripts.

Most important of these are the records of the Connecticut Land

Company and its instructions to agents and surveyors. Next are

the field books and daily records and sketches made by the sur-

veyors at work on the Reserve. Then the finished manuscript

terial information of the early days and early settlements of the

Reserve. There are also many letters and documents relating to

the Indian troubles on the border and the War of 1812. Some

of these have been published by the Society; others have been

mounted and listed and the lists published, but there are large

deposits of papers, etc., which are still to be examined and pub-

lished when time and means will allow.

Among these I might call attention to the vast correspondence

and papers of General Simon Perkins, Turhand Kirtland, Elisha

Whittlesey, the latter prominent under all the Presidents from

Madison to Lincoln; thousands of manuscripts on the Civil War,

Colonel C. C. Whittlesey papers, papers of Governors Hunting-

ton, Tod, Brown, Trimble; papers of the Ohio Land Company;

manuscripts pertaining to the settlement and history of various

towns all over Ohio, the diaries and papers of early Clevelanders.

Of special interest to those in this Central-Southeastern part of

the State are those of John Kerr. These papers cover the entire

beginnings of Columbus and the opening of the Northwest Lands

in Ohio which are north of the Indian treaty line and west of the

Reserve; they also have a great deal to do with the early settle-

ments around Chillicothe. The C. W. Butterfield manuscripts

turned over by the daughter of Mr. Butterfield are important;

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470       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

some of these have been published, others revised for new editions

and some have never been published.

One of our strongest collections is that of Newspapers. We

have some 8,000 volumes, among these the files of Cleveland pa-

pers from 1818. The Western Reserve papers started in 1812,

and we have practically complete files of the various counties in

the Reserve.

Of the Confederate newspapers issued during the Civil War,

there are some 24,000 separate issues.

The earliest American papers, such as the Boston News-

Letter, which started in 1794, and the New York Gazette, the first

of the New York papers, the first of the Rhode Island papers, also

the first of Pennsylvania, as well as of Virginia, have been pro-

vided by means of expensive photostat copies. It would be im-

possible for any library to get anything like a full file of these

early papers, and it can be done only through the kindness of those

owning them in permitting photostat copies to be made.

All of our newspapers have been carefully collated, imper-

fections noted, and made ready for research: There are many in-

teresting historical items contained in these early publications.

Our collection of historical maps and atlases is notably fine.

The nucleus of this collection was the large collection formed by

our late President C. C. Baldwin. I thought for a long time we

would lose these as the Library of Congress was very anxious to

obtain them, but the family of Judge Baldwin later presented

them to the Society. These maps cover the entire range of his-

tory from the 16th century to the present day.

They consist of:

The classic maps in original examples of the work of the

great cartographers of Amsterdam, London and Paris. They are

classified to show the development of knowledge of the Great

Lakes and the Ohio River, as based upon the return of voyagers

to the Royal Geographical Societies of France and England.

Maps designed by the explorers themselves and published in

their works; with few exceptions these are originals, but we have

also almost a complete line of reprints.

Maps issued to illustrate standard books of travel and his-

tory. These cover the period of opening of the Great West.

War maps of the Revolution and the border wars.

Maps for the tourist and emigrant of the pioneer period.

Colonial maps based on first surveys and political develop-

ments of Ohio.

Wall maps and atlases of the various counties and cities of

the Western Reserve.

Among the outstanding manuscript maps of the State of

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Dedication of Ohio's World War Memorial       471

Ohio, we might mention the first map of the Ohio Land Company,

showing the location of Marietta, Rufus Putnam's map of the

Military Lands, the John Kerr map of the Northwest Section of

the State, the maps of Duncan McArthur and Nathaniel Massie

of the Virginia Lands. We have several hundred manuscript

maps of the various towns of the Reserve and other parts of the

State. In the Civil War Collection we have a good many, both

printed and manuscript. Among the latter are those used by

General Hancock, General Braxton Bragg and others.

The publications of the Society first consisted of tracts

printed in simple newspaper form. In other words the newspaper

set them up and ran them as news items and from the type, sep-

arates were printed for the Society, although of late years we have

not been able to use the newspapers in this connection. The Tracts

now number 107.

The Journals of Trent, Heath and Brule, all pertaining to

Ohio, were issued indirectly through our Society and from ma-

terial we have gathered and preserved.

The Museum of the Society.

For the last two years we have had conducted an educational

survey in Cleveland, and we have surveyed and resurveyed, until

I don't know just what to say about this phase of our work. We

have a large collection of archaeological specimens and pioneer

relics, but I am afraid, as Dr. Flick says, and as Dr. Parker, who

spoke so strongly at the last meeting of the American Museum

Association, said, they have been thrown together in a more or less

hodgepodge way, on account of lack of space, and that is one of

the reasons why I rejoice with you in this beautiful building,

where space seems ample and your material can be shown and

grouped to its best advantage and for its widest educational ser-

vice. We have plans for a new building, in which we have ar-

ranged to carry out the work on very similar lines to those of

which Dr. Flick has so, ably spoken.

Now, just a word in closing. I have brought these things to

your notice, not with an egotistic thought, but with the idea that

you are interested in history as we are and that you like to know

where and what sources of the history of our great State of Ohio

can be found in Cleveland. I think we have done fairly well in

Cleveland, and it has been done entirely without help of taxation

in any way, and only by private means.

In our individual zeal for our good Mother State, Ohio, per-

haps one or another feels disappointed, as is perfectly natural,

when this or that item has been obtained by some one else, but

this should be only a passing feeling, for think how much better

it is to have it preserved and made accessible than to have it in-

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472       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

accessible, or irretrievably lost. I do not feel that way when an

item belonging to the State's history comes into, one of our larger

Ohio institutions, but I do regret seeing things go out of the state

that would be of greater importance here in Ohio.

I very often have a chance to point with personal pride to the

Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society. I am interested in it

and have been for years. Colonel Hayes has talked over the

Hayes Memorial at Spiegel Grove and its work a number of times

with me. I have urged him, instead of trying to form another

collection of Ohio books, which would to a large extent simply

duplicate the collections in Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland, to

render to Ohio a service which to me seems of greater value, that

of gathering from the French, English and Canadian Archives

the manuscript records of this territory which may be found there,

and publish them. To what greater service can he put the funds

he has so generously given or with what greater memorial can he

honor his father, who was so deeply interested in Ohio history

and gathering of its sources?

I have been anxious to see some action by the Legislature for

the preservation of the real history of Ohio, as contained in the

State archives. I think it would make anyone here sick to go into

the basement of the State House as I have many times, and see

the records and files of this state, manuscripts of the period of the

Civil War, scattered over the floor, where anyone going into the

room would walk on them. Go into the Governor's office and try

to find papers of the previous governors that have been in office.

If the State Historical Society could in some way get hold of those

records and safeguard them, I think it would be one of the great-

est advance steps they could take.

Iowa is a much younger state than ours, but her archives

are well preserved, and are being published. I would like to see a

man like Mr. Galbreath doing the same work in Ohio that Prof.

Stambaugh is doing in Iowa. There is not a better man that I

know of to put in charge of these valuable archives and make

them accessible by publication, than your worthy Secretary, Mr.

Galbreath.

I stand shoulder to shoulder with everyone here, willing to

do all I can to preserve the history of Ohio in Ohio for the world

at large.

I thank you.

Under the energetic administration of Mr. Cathcart,

the fine collection in the library of the Western Reserve

Historical Society has been greatly increased, the addi-

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Dedication of Ohio's World War Memorial       473

tions in manuscripts, newspaper files and local history

being especially notable.

ADDRESS OF CHARLES T. GREVE

At the conclusion of Mr. Cathcart's address, which

was liberally applauded, Professor Siebert introduced

Mr. Charles T. Greve, Secretary of the Historical and

Philosophical Society of Ohio and well-known author,

who spoke as follows:

Mr. Chairman and Our Hosts: The Ohio State Archaeolog-

ical and Historical Society and fellow guests, representatives of

sister historical societies and libraries:

I come from the South bringing to you the greetings of

an elder sister, -- an elder sister born and bred in your midst

almost a century ago -- who departing seventy-seven years since

from the scenes of her youth, now returns to share in the reveren-

tial tribute to Ohio's sons, many the sons of the city of her home

by the beautiful river, and to add her felicitations upon the occa-

sion of this opening of new opportunities for cultivating the field

of Ohio history, -- the greetings and congratulations of the His-

torical and Philosophical Society of Ohio.

On behalf of that Society, afflicted as you, with a super-

abundance of name, betraying perhaps a common origin, -- a

family trait, -- I wish to extend thanks for your cordial reception

and appreciation of the warmth of your welcome to our home-

coming after so many years, -- an occasion of more than usual

significance to us who were here before you and who claim your

capital city as our own, -- our common mother consenting to share

with us her pride in her younger offspring.

Ninety-five years ago, on February 11, 1831, a charter was

issued to Benjamin Tappan, of Steubenville, S. P. Hildreth of

Marietta, Alfred Kelley of Columbus, James McBride of Butler

County, Ebenezer Lane of Huron and some twenty others, to or-

ganize The Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio. Among

the charter members for the city of Cincinnati were Nicholas

Longworth, John P. Foote and Timothy Flint. To anyone

familiar with the history of our state, the names of these empire

builders must awaken a thrill of enthusiasm, and the fact that men

of such standing should be sufficiently interested to take part in

such an organization should be a source of inspiration. The So-

ciety whose greetings I bear was organized on December 31, 1831,

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