FRANKLINTON AT THE TIME OF THE DEATH
OF LUCAS SULLIVANT*
BY ANDREW DENNY RODGERS, III
Dedication ceremonies of the monument
erected to
Lucas Sullivant and the pioneers of
Franklin County
in the Franklinton Cemetery
Our mood this afternoon is one of
retrospect. This
afternoon we lift away the gray mists
of more than a
century to move among the valiant,
pioneer spirits of
the borough of Franklinton.
Today this is Franklinton and the time
is the ninth
day of August in the year 1823. Upward
from the
western hill, the dark of evening is
suffusing asomber
sun-setting with shadows. Over the
borough, a sultry
blue haze is cast. The vast and
surrounding wilderness
is still and motionless. And the low
river Scioto lan-
guishes by the pioneer settlement--this
evening, stirless
and inert.
The burghers have begun their journeys
homeward--
over paths through greenjointed
stretches of oak and
hickory and maple and beech, to crude
shacks hewn
from the forests--over coarse, mud
streets of the bor-
ough to hardy, weather-beaten cabins--a
few, to sub-
stantial brick dwellings.
* An address at the dedication
ceremonies of the monument erected
to Lucas Sullivant and the pioneers of
Franklin County in the Franklinton
Cemetery, October 4, 1931.
(167)
168 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications An awareness of loss is drawn on their sturdy, stolid faces. But an hour before, they gathered in this same cemetery; but an hour before, they witnessed at this very place, the return of the physical remains of Lucas Sullivant to the earth. Franklinton has lost a person--a person with body nurtured by soil and forest; with spirit for the common |
|
weal; with mind of an individual; and with soul, adven- turous yet stable. To them, he has presented their first church and school house; he has supervised the construction of their court-house and other buildings; he has served in public capacities; and his mills and lands have provided labor for many. |
Franklinton at Time of Death of Lucas
Sullivant 169
Across the river on the "High
Bank" is the eleven-
year-old borough of Columbus. To it
also he has been
a person of value. His bridge, the
first built within
the compass of a hundred miles,
conjoins the two settle-
ments. He has founded their first
banking institution.
He has invested in its land. And he has
been instru-
mental in establishing Columbus as the
capital of the
State.
This night, the "brethren" of
the professions will
gather at a tavern and over sinewy
brandy, take account
of his life.
For--Lucas Sullivant, born a Virginian,
had, when
but eighteen years of age, abandoned
the care of a
tobacco plantation for the life of a
surveyor in "the
West," or what is now known as
Kentucky--a land
"watered by magnificent streams,
garbed in luxurious
herbage, splendidly timbered, abounding
in all sorts of
game" and rolling with blue
"extensive plains."
The wealth that he had accumulated
there had not
held him. With the opening of the
wilderness to the
north of the river Ohio, the desire to
achieve the origi-
nal, had leapt from the depth of his
blood. He had
gathered together twenty men and
"In silence then they took the way
Beneath the forest's solitude.
It was a vast and antique wood,
Thro' which they took their way;
And the grey shades of evening
O'er that green wilderness did fling
Still deeper solitude . . . . . ."
To the "deep, lawny dell" of
Darby Creek, they had
come and begun surveying the land of
this county as
170 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
far east as the Scioto river--with it
all suffering priva-
tions and hardships, severe and many,
but of them have
come a wealth of lore and tradition.
The rich, glacial drift soil opposite
the fork of the
rivers Scioto and Olentangy, had moved
his imagina-
tion. Straightway he returned to
Kentucky, sought out
those who purported to own the land,
purchased several
thousand acres, and within a decade,
returned to found
thereon a town--not a "paper
town" where the wealthy
owner would remain in the East, as many
Ohio towns
were founded, nor where the burghers
would be his
tenants, but one which would remain a
trading-post for
the Wyandot and Mingo Indians; for
settlers who would
own their homes; for extensive,
agricultural pursuits of
his own; and possibly, as a site for
the capital of the
future state.
So, at the handle of a fan-shaped
expanse of flat
land on a bed of blue gray and grey
brown limestone, a
"large town" had been platted.
Lots, it is said, had
been sold for the staggering figure of
fifty cents, but
encountering difficulty at this price,
some lots on what
is now Gift street, were given away.
The four lots at
the center (now Broad and Sandusky
streets) had been
dedicated for public buildings only . .
. . "a statehouse
or courthouse and as a commons."
And for the ver-
satile, inventive, politic and human
Benjamin Franklin,
the borough and one of its main streets
had been named.
Thus, the founding of Franklinton, the
initial bor-
ough of Columbus.
For over a quarter of a century, Lucas
Sullivant
here lived--built the first brick home
of the borough--
married Sarah Starling, a Kentucky girl
of royal Eng-
Franklinton at Time of Death of Lucas
Sullivant 171
lish lineage, who through her
generosity and kindliness
in Franklinton, was called "Lady
Bountiful"--had three
sons: William, who had inherited his
love of nature and
was destined to be recognized at home
and abroad as
the greatest bryologist of his time;
Michael, who had
inherited his love of the soil and in
Illinois was to own
"the largest and most enterprising
farm in the United
States"; and Joseph, who had
inherited his love of litera-
ture and learning and "more than
any one person, was
to be a factor in the broad development
of the Ohio State
University and public schools of
Columbus."
Albeit, the tavern candles are
flickering. The breth-
ren's sippings of brandy have almost
emptied the bottle.
Lucas Sullivant has departed their
midst. As they take
their leave, their resolves are not to
mourn his loss but
to furrow more deeply for the future of
Franklinton.
But Franklinton has seen its best days.
It has pros-
pered during the war of 1812. It has
attained a popu-
lation of 300 persons. It has held the
county offices.
And considerable wealth has been
garnered from its
black bottom soil.
Nevertheless, the few roads to
Chillicothe, Mt. Ver-
non and Wheeling, and the wilderness
paths, are nearly
impassable. The mails are brought once
a week on
horseback if not prevented by high
water. Travel is
by river, still the highway of the
pioneer. The price of
food is high.* Goods are imported
principally from
Philadelphia in wagons. There is not in
the county a
chair for every two inhabitants nor a
knife and fork
for every four. Disease has several
times threatened
the entire community. Wild animals
prohibit going
* Products from the farm and forest were
low in price. [ED.]
172 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
into the forests for pleasure. The
Indian peril is always
present despite the fact that Tarhe,
the "Crane," the
chief sachem of the Wyandot tribe, has
met with Gen-
eral William Henry Harrison and
professed in the name
of friendly tribes, the "most
indissoluble attachment to
the American government." And
there is the borough
of Columbus across the river which has
increased its
population to over 2,000 persons.
Soon the county offices will go to
Columbus. The
first newspaper of the locality has
chosen Columbus
rather than Franklinton. The federal
government has
erected its two buildings on the State
Capitol grounds
in Columbus. The first banking
institution has selected
Columbus. As will the new Neil hotel
and the stage
coach line. Columbus land will soon be
valued as high
as $1,800 for a lot.
Franklinton will hold out valiantly
until after the
advent to Columbus of the railroads and
the telegraph
systems, when the borough of Columbus
will have in-
corporated, a new capitol building will
have been built
and its population have passed the
eighteen thousand
mark. But the Franklinton burghers will
see that their
independence is vainglory and will
permit annexation
to the capital city. In the history of
our country is there
an instance of a more splendid struggle
for self-deter-
mination?
. . . Like as the wind upon the field
Bows every herb, and all must yield,
So we beneath Time's passing breath
Bow each in turn--why tears for birth
and death?
Thus, the beginnings of modern
Columbus!
Thus the seed and thus the stem of a
city which
time may make beautiful--a city
covering 39 square
Franklinton at Time of Death of Lucas Sullivant 173 miles, having a population of over 340,000 persons, with a payroll of over 148 millions of dollars, a property valuation of over 700 millions of dollars and products aggregating in value over 169 millions of dollars--a city |
|
having fifteen divisions of five trunk railroads, a ter- minal of a transcontinental air system, a transconti- nental highway--a city, not built upon contiguous min- eral resources, nor a mountain pass, nor a water way, but upon a reliable foundation of steady commercial development. |
174 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications Did Lucas Sullivant and the pioneers of Franklinton visualize such a city as the compensation for their labors? Did they believe that some day we would stand in this cemetery and commend this monument to the skies ? The grey mists of the century roll back and again we pavilion the present. We have passed an hour here --an hour of commendation and emulation of the build- ers of the city. It is one matter to build; it is another to build beautifully. Today we have been pioneering in the beautification of an historic place of the city. It is a worthy undertaking. For far beyond the day when we may stand here, this spire will rise athwart the ele- ments, in majesty and solitude--a towering symbol of their work--and our work: " . . . . . . for the depth Of what use is language" . . . . . . . . . "Be still while the music rises above us; the deep enchantment Towers, like a forest of singing leaves and birds Built for an instant, by the hearts' troubled beating Beyond all power of words." |
|
FRANKLINTON AT THE TIME OF THE DEATH
OF LUCAS SULLIVANT*
BY ANDREW DENNY RODGERS, III
Dedication ceremonies of the monument
erected to
Lucas Sullivant and the pioneers of
Franklin County
in the Franklinton Cemetery
Our mood this afternoon is one of
retrospect. This
afternoon we lift away the gray mists
of more than a
century to move among the valiant,
pioneer spirits of
the borough of Franklinton.
Today this is Franklinton and the time
is the ninth
day of August in the year 1823. Upward
from the
western hill, the dark of evening is
suffusing asomber
sun-setting with shadows. Over the
borough, a sultry
blue haze is cast. The vast and
surrounding wilderness
is still and motionless. And the low
river Scioto lan-
guishes by the pioneer settlement--this
evening, stirless
and inert.
The burghers have begun their journeys
homeward--
over paths through greenjointed
stretches of oak and
hickory and maple and beech, to crude
shacks hewn
from the forests--over coarse, mud
streets of the bor-
ough to hardy, weather-beaten cabins--a
few, to sub-
stantial brick dwellings.
* An address at the dedication
ceremonies of the monument erected
to Lucas Sullivant and the pioneers of
Franklin County in the Franklinton
Cemetery, October 4, 1931.
(167)