Ohio History Journal

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THE

The collection of manuscripts, letters, books and other

items of literary and historical interest listed in this

catalog was presented to the Ohio State Archaeological

and Historical Society, in memory of Dolores Cameron

Venable, by her husband, Emerson Venable, and her

daughter, Evelyn Venable.

THE

DOLORES CAMERON VENABLE

MEMORIAL COLLECTION

Correspondence (Boxes 2-16):

Letters from William Henry Venable1 to Coates Kinney2 and

from Coates Kinney to William Henry Venable. 238 letters cover-

ing the period, September 6, 1865, to January 8, 1904.

Letters from William Henry Venable to Addison Peale

Russell3 and from Addison Peale Russell to William Henry

Venable. 276 letters covering the period, February 9, 1875, to

April 10, 1912.

1 William Henry Venable was born April 29, 1886, in a log house on a farm

near Waynesville, Ohio. He began his teaching career at Sugar Grove Ohio, and

became principal of Jennings Academy at Vernon, Indiana, in 1860. He was mar-

ried to Mary Ann Vater of Indianapolis. Beginning in 1862 he taught natural sci-

ence in Chickering Institute, Cincinnati, for twenty-five years. In 1889 he became

head of the department of English in Hughes High School, Cincinnati, and in 1896

head of the department of English at Walnut Hills High School. His influence in

the development of the educational system of Cincinnati was great. His School His-

tory of the United States (1872) was used widely. Let Him First Be a Man is a

collection of essays expressing Venable's educational philosophy. Among his best

known poems are "June on the Miami," "My Catbird," "The Founders of, Ohio,"

and "The Teacher's Dream." The poems of William Henry Venable were edited by

his son, Emerson Venable, and published in 1925. William Henry Venable died

July 6, 1920.

2 Coates Kinney was born November 24, 1826, at Kinney's Corners, Yates

County, New York. In 1840 he moved with his family to Springboro, Warren

County, Ohio. He taught school and began the study of law at Lebanon. In 1849

he wrote "Rain on the Roof." He married Hannah Kelly of Waynesville, Ohio, on

July 17, 1851. She lived only eight years after their marriage. He was a frequent

contributor to the press and for a time was associated with Charles S. Abbott and

William T. Coggeshall in the editorship of The Genius of the West. His first book,

Keeuka and Other Poems, was Issued as a private edition in 1855. He held a com-

mission as Major and Paymaster during the Civil War. In the spring of 1862 he

married Mary C. Allen of Xenia, Ohio, who bore him three daughters. He was a

delegate to the Republican National Convention of 1868 and was elected to the

Ohio Senate and served for one term beginning in 1881. Two volumes of poems in

addition to Keeuka were published by Coates Kinney: Lyrics of the Ideal and Real

in 1887, and Mists of Fire: A Trilogy and Some Eclogs in 1899. He died in Cin-

cinnati on January 24, 1904.

3 Addison Peale Russell was born September 8, 1826, in Wilmington, Ohio. He

was apprenticed to the printing trade at fifteen and later became an editor and pub-

lisher. A Republican, he was elected to the Ohio legislature in 1855, served as secre-

tary of state for Ohio from 1857 to 1861, and spent six years in New York as finan-

cial agent for Ohio. He was the author of Half Tints (1867), Library Notes (1879),

Thomas Corwin (1882), Characteristics (1884), A Club of One (1887), In a Club

Corner (1880), and Sub-Coelum (1893). He was never married. He died July 24,

1912.

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