Ohio History Journal

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL OHIO HISTORY

CONFERENCE,

Including the Fifty-third Annual Meeting of the Ohio State

Archaeological and Historical Society, the Eighth Annual Meeting

of the Ohio Academy of History and the Eighth Annual Meeting

of the Columbus Genealogical Society, Held at Columbus, April

6-8, 1939, in Cooperation with Ohio State University, the Ohio

Committee on Medical History and Archives and Local Historical

Societies throughout the State.

 

 

Columbus Genealogical Society Annual Dinner Session,

6:30 P. M., April 6, Athletic Club, Frank A. Livingston,

Presiding

The opening session of the 1939 Ohio History Conference

was held Thursday evening, April 6, at the Athletic Club in

Columbus, Ohio, the occasion being the eighth annual dinner of

the Columbus Genealogical Society. Mr. Frank A. Livingston,

president of the genealogical society, presided at the dinner which

was attended by approximately seventy-five persons.

After welcoming the guests, Mr. Livingston spoke briefly

of the genealogical society, its program, history, and activities.

He was followed by Miss Helen E. Swisher, one of the editors

of the Ohio Genealogical Quarterly, and the person directly in

charge of the arrangements for the dinner. After explaining

the factors contributing to the absence of Louis Bromfield and

Landon C. Bell, originally scheduled as speaker and toastmaster,

respectively, she introduced the persons at the speakers' table:

Harold J. Grimm of the Ohio State University; Harlow Lindley,

secretary, editor, and librarian of the Ohio State Archaeological

and Historical Society; Mrs. Harlow Lindley; Mr. Livingston;

C. R. Swickard, second vice-president of the Columbus Genealog-

ical Society; Mrs. Helen C. Hill Sloan of Marietta; Miss Mary

(95)

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96     OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

A. Stone of Cambridge; and Miss Dorothy V. Martin of the

Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio. Several out-of-

town guests were also made known to the group by Miss Swisher.

Dr. Lindley sketched the inception and growth of the Ohio

History Conference, mentioning the contributions made to this

year's program by the various organizations which now act as

sponsors of this annual series of meetings: the Ohio State Ar-

chaeological and Historical Society; the Ohio Academy of History;

the Columbus Genealogical Society; local historical societies

throughout the state; the Ohio Committee on Medical History

and Archives; and the Ohio State University.

Mr. Livingston introduced Harold J. Grimm, formerly of

Capital University and at present a member of the Department

of History of the Ohio State University, who delivered an address

on "Democracy--the American Way."

Opening with a tribute to our American forebears and a

testimonial to the value of our having a knowledge and apprecia-

tion of their achievements, Professor Grimm asserted that in

emphasizing the importance of the past we must not only cherish

its tangible remains but also must learn from them all we can

of the lives of our predecessors.

Three predominant qualities he found characteristic of our

pioneer ancestors: faith, hope and the spirit of cooperation, all

qualities which played their part in the creation of the democratic

state which is our national heritage. Americans are too prone,

however, to expect their institutions, once established, to run on

forever under their own power. They must realize, and that

right soon, that democracy cannot continue indefinitely on its

own momentum. Threatened without by communism and fascism,

democracy finds its greatest danger within its own borders, in

the apathy and indifference of the citizens who enjoy its benefits.

Americans need not worry about the philosophies of government

of European nations if they will busy themselves sufficiently with

the enthusiastic support of the philosophy of government of their

own nation. Democracy should be on the offensive, and to make

it so Americans have need to adopt a three-fold program of re-

examining, revitalizing, and propagandizing democracy. In speak-

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS         97

ing of the necessity for propaganda, Dr. Grimm stressed the

importance of "missionary" work among American youth. "Their

minds must be educated and their wills motivated," he said. They

face a new frontier, even as did their progenitors; they, too, are

pioneers in new fields, and if they know the task ahead of them

they can--as did their forebears--arm themselves with faith,

and hope, and the cooperative spirit, and by so doing make ade-

quate preparation for the accomplishment of the work which

lies before them.

 

 

Ohio State Archeological and Historical Society Annual Business

Session, 10:00 A. M., April 7, Ohio State Museum,

Arthur C. Johnson, Sr., Presiding

The Business Session of the Fifty-third Annual Meeting of

the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society was called

to order in the Auditorium of the Museum by its President,

Arthur C. Johnson, Sr., at 10:00 A. M. on April 7, 1939.

PRESIDENT JOHNSON: The first item on the program will be

action on the minutes of the last Annual Meeting. This is

strictly a business meeting and I presume that the reading of the

minutes may be dispensed with since they have been published

in their entirety and the publication has been sent to all members.

If there are any corrections or changes in these minutes you will

please make your wishes heard. If not, a motion to approve

them is in order.

Howard R. Goodwin moved that the minutes of the last

Annual Meeting be approved. The motion was seconded by

Albert C. Spetnagel and carried.

PRESIDENT JOHNSON: I think it might be well at this point to

consider nominations to the Board of Trustees. The terms of

Carl V. Weygandt, Carl Wittke and Oscar F. Miller, our treas-

urer, have expired and it will be necessary to elect three trustees.

I am not electioneering for those particular trustees, but I think

that none of them have manifested an inclination to desert the

Society. I will ask Professor A. T. Volwiler, of Ohio University,

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98      OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Mrs. George U. Marvin and Miss Grace Bareis, as a Nominating

Committee, to prepare a ticket for the election of the trustees.

In the meantime we will hear the annual report of the director.

I might say that you will find by these reports that the work of

the Society has been going forward normally and I hope that you

will find them satisfactory.

 

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE OHIO STATE MUSEUM

The annual report of a museum director in its last analysis can be

little more than a report of the activities of his staff. After the director

has devised a program and has done what he could to secure funds for its

prosecution, he must of course guide that program and protect the staff

from untoward conditions. Whether the outcome eventually is satisfactory

or not depends almost wholly on the caliber of the staff.

The fact that for the past year we can report gratifying progress,

despite inadequate funds, reflects the ability, energy and loyalty of our

associates. As has been our custom for some years, we refer you to pub-

lished reports in the Society's publications for details of these activities.

Therefore, I shall report only briefly as to the manner in which we have

met the responsibilities with which you have charged us.

The prestige and usefulness of the Society has been enhanced through

increased service to the public, as evidenced by augmented demands for

information and lectures, for the Society's publications and loan collections,

and for cooperation and advice from individuals, schools, historical societies

and numerous other organizations. The Director and heads of departments

have complied freely with the ever-increasing requests for addresses on

archaeology, history, natural history, state memorials and related subjects;

they have attended state and national conventions and conferences in the

interest of the Society, mostly at their own expense; as a result of the

cultivation of public confidence and appreciation, they have added materially

to the Society's archeological, historical and natural history collections;

and, at the present time, they are presenting over Ohio State University's

broadcasting system  a series of eighteen talks under the title, "Ohio--

Your State and Mine."

During the past summer the Museum and Library staffs cooperated

freely with the Northwest Territory Celebration. Floats were constructed

and entered in a number of parades throughout central Ohio. At the

present time we are cooperating also with the Ohio Commission for the

New York World's Fair in devising the display for the Ohio building.

These are but a few of the activities which engage the time of the

entire staff. Referring briefly to departmental activities, we may mention

first those of the Department of Archaeology, Dr. R. G. Morgan, curator:

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                  99

 

Exploration of a prehistoric mound on the land of our trustee, Colonel

George Florence, and Miss Anna Florence, from which much cultural

material pertaining to the so-called Adena culture was obtained; refinishing

of all display cases in the Hall of Ethnology; display case trays refinished

and re-covered; new displays and additional loan collections prepared; and

close cooperation with classes of the Ohio State University majoring in

anthropology. An outstanding achievement of the department has been the

launching of a W.P.A. project, with eight workers, engaged in preparing

a bibliography of American archaeology. While emphasis is placed on Ohio

archaeology, the bibliography will be invaluable to all of North America.

Perhaps the outstanding accomplishment of Dr. W. D. Overman, as

curator of history, has been the revamping of the Industrial Display Hall,

a task which has required a great deal of time and thought. Special ex-

hibits have been installed, a turn-table display case for temporary exhibits

constructed, a large series of human figurines dressed in costumes of the

ages, prepared by students of the Department of Fine Arts of Ohio State

University, has been placed on display, and a vast amount of routine work

cared for. Some idea of the importance of the Department of History

outside of Ohio may be had from the fact that Dr. Overman has been

selected as program  chairman for the 1939 convention of the American

Archivists Society at Annapolis, and as a committee member of the Amer-

ican Historical Association.

The Department of Natural History, Edward S. Thomas, curator, has

enjoyed a busy and prosperous year. An important acquisition was the

gift by the trustees of the Columbus Public Library of a collection of

upward of 600 mounted birds and mammals, a number of which are ex-

ceedingly rare. Included are fine specimens of the extinct passenger pigeon

and the nearly extinct Carolina parrakeet. Aside from the usual depart-

mental routine, work has continued on distribution maps of Ohio mammals,

birds and insects. Many specimens of insects were collected to augment

the Museum displays and for use in the Museum's loan collections; a great

deal of work has been done in cataloging, labeling and rearranging

the displays.

The Division of State Memorials, under the able administration of

Curator Erwin C. Zepp, has made enviable progress. The field staff has

been reorganized, dividing the State into four districts, each under the

direct charge of a highly experienced individual, thus obviating the need,

as under the former plan, of the curator's contacting individual superin-

tendents--a procedure which obviously would be impractical and inefficient.

The former unsatisfactory plan of permitting field representatives to

assume responsibility for local funds has been obviated by administering

all such funds directly through the central office, under direction of the

Society's treasurer. Mr. Zepp also participated actively in the sesqui-

centennial celebration.

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100    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Ross W. Shoemaker, a capable civil engineer with long experience in

park work, has been employed as assistant curator, filling the vacancy

resulting from Mr. Zepp's advancement to the curatorship. Looking to

eventual major planning and improvements of memorial areas, a detailed

inventory of these properties and their appurtenances has been effected.

Howard R. Goodwin, registrar, has added many desirable specimens

to the mineral collection and is preparing a display of fluorescent minerals

to be exhibited shortly.

Mr. Goodwin reports some ninety accessions to the Museum collec-

tions for the year. These range all the way from an old auto license

plate and a wooden nickel to a bequest of the late Elizabeth U. Sullivant

of a unique mahogany cabinet of gems made in Franklinton for the noted

Joseph Sullivant. Among the many additional important gifts are a bass

viol made in Ashtabula County in the early 1800's; a graphophone and

records, of 1886; a fine archaeological collection from a member of the

Society, Mr. B. C. Kelsey; and several fine prehistoric pottery vessels

from the Southwest by Mr. Albert C. Spetnagel. Mr. Goodwin, in addition

to his routine duties, has made numerous pen drawings for the Lithic

Laboratory, and has revamped the storage collections of the Museum.

Starling L. Eaton, superintendent of maintenance, has not only kept

the building and grounds in excellent condition but has effected all minor

repairs without recourse to outside help. I believe there is no building of

comparable size that is so well kept with so small a maintenance staff as

we have. Aside from his maintenance duties Mr. Eaton assumes responsi-

bility for all stores and supplies and makes himself invaluable in many ways.

Fully 10,000 pupils of the Columbus public schools have come to the

Museum with their teachers since September of last year for instruction.

Miss Olive Clevenger, teacher assigned by the Columbus school board

for this particular purpose, offers these classes instruction in various sub-

jects, using the Museum collections as visual aids. The popularity of this

service indicates that it may be extended to high school pupils with addi-

tional teacher service.

Grover C. Koons, staff photographer, continues to hold his place in

our estimation, as the best museum photographer extant. Winnie N. Waite,

in addition to her duties as secretary to the Director, has charge of the

Museum's Loan Collections for Ohio public schools, and has developed

this service to a high degree. Irene C. Stahl, financial secretary, has been

most efficient and tireless in a position which is extremely demanding

and arduous. Gertrude Bell, as telephone operator and information clerk,

as well as James S. Waite, cabinet-maker, also are deserving of favor-

able mention.

This report would not be complete without some comment on the

Lithic Laboratory for the Eastern United States. You will recall that

this new activity of the Museum was launched at the beginning of 1938,

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                 101

 

for the purpose of recapturing the lost arts of prehistoric man in the

utilization of flint and other lithic materials, and for the establishment of

a laboratory of actual materials to be used for purposes of comparison.

This project, it will be recalled, was financed by Messrs. Arthur C.

Johnson and H. Preston Wolfe, pending other sources of support. The

Director had hoped that the Lithic Laboratory might become a permanent

activity of the Museum, through State appropriation. However, because

of a tendency to economize on the part of the present administration, there

is no prospect for the present of funds from this quarter. In the mean-

time, our original sponsors continue to finance the Laboratory, in the hope

that funds may be forthcoming from some other source.

The accomplishments of the Lithic Laboratory for the fifteen months

of its existence are entirely satisfactory. The uninitiated can have little

conception of the vast amount of detail, mostly unspectacular, which has

attended the undertaking, before the ultimate objectives can be realized.

Up to date an exhaustive world-wide bibliography has been compiled, a

library has been inaugurated, samples of lithic materials have been secured

from several states and from France and England, and a large amount of

basic experimentation has been carried through.

In a paper entitled "Some Unfinished Business in Cultural Anthro-

pology" read before the Ohio Valley Sociological Society, Dr. John P.

Gillin, noted anthropologist and writer, has this to say regarding the project:

"Part of the unfinished business in archaeology is to advance scien-

tific interpretation of results so that other scholars may grasp the human,

cultural problems so far as possible of the societies whose remains are

excavated. One significant attempt along this line is being made by the

Lithic Laboratory for the Eastern United States at the Ohio State Mu-

seum.... [Director] Shetrone and his associates have set out to investigate

thoroughly the muscular skills involved in manufacture, sources of supply,

uses and distribution of stone implements. When they have carried their

program through we should have for the first time a clear appreciation of

the lithic industries which have engaged the major part of man's industrial

activity during ninety-nine per cent of his existence upon the earth. The

Lithic Laboratory operates on the theory that stone artifacts are not merely

given data in themselves, but that each artifact represents a human and

cultural problem which some individual, conditioned by his group culture,

solved."

H. C. SHETRONE, Director.

 

List of Accessions

Accessions to the archaeological and historical collections of the Society

herewith listed, have been acknowledged and recorded, and placed on exhibi-

tion or stored, as seemed most desirable. All are gifts unless otherwise

noted.

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102     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Department of History

Item                        Donor            Address

Badge, Union Veteran Legion, 1861-

1865                                                    Norbert Tople                    Columbus

Silk apron of 1875                                  Mrs. Lilian Fisher               Columbus

Auto license plates, 1915                         J. G. May                            Columbus

Infant's dress of 1866                              Mrs. Edna Williams            Columbus

Fish spears                                               Division of Conservation Ohio

Graphophone, horn and records               Mrs. Robert I. Miles   Columbus

Medical manikin, 1853                            Mrs. Warner P. Simpson Columbus

Invitation to cotillon party, 1850           John Dolle                          Columbus

Rocker, ladder back                                  James Waite                       Columbus

Spike from Commodore Perry's

flagship, Niagara                W. P. Huntington       Columbus

List of members of Ohio Constitu-

tional Convention, 1850                      Mrs. R. A. Walkley*           Lancaster

Tiles from church in Holland                   Brig. J. P. Gourlay               Columbus

Stemmed glass                                          Dr. Means                           Columbus

Antique spectacles                                    F. W. Fuller                        Columbus

Autograph of Garibaldi                             Ray D. Cuneo                     Columbus

Fragment of Shenandoah                        Walter D. Tallman             Columbus

Crimping iron, 1870                                Miss Jennie C. Mussel-

man                                Sidney

Broad axe and tailor's "goose"     J. R. Horst                                       Columbus

Photographs of membership certifi-

cates, old Cincinnati fire companies     William  Polosky                Cincinnati

Foreign coins                                           Ned Barnes                         Lakewood

Table, curio cabinet, curio table,

minerals, shells                                     Sullivant Estate /     Columbus

Watch of Civil War period                       Dr. Frank W. Gardner Columbus

Certificate of Military Service                  Mrs. Eugenia N. Mor-

rell                                  St. Louis

Badge, "Covered Wagon"                         M. B. Binning                     Columbus

Carpenter's planes                                    Prof. Charles Foulk             Columbus

Miniature log cabin                                   Dr. C. C. Ross                     Columbus

Election  ballots, 1861, Jefferson                                                        N a s h u a,

Davis for President, and others Frank A. Dearborn                          N. H.

Medal                              Tercentennial Committee New Haven,

Conn.

German cap ornament                              Paul McCullogh                  Columbus

Bass viol                                                   Mrs. Jessie Bill Clark           St. Paul,

Minn.

 

* Asterisk indicates loan.

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                 103

 

Item                        Donor         Address

Badge                                                       Maj. H. S. Bryan                 Columbus

Book, shirt and waistcoat                         H. P. Knapp                       Delaware

Saddle bags and marriage certificate Miss Dorothy Reed                      Columbus

Coffee grinder, cherry stoner, and

apple parer                                           R. E. Kinnear                     Columbus

Civil War sword                                       Mrs. R. W. Porter              Lewisburg,

Pa.

Tickets to World's Columbian Ex-

position, Chicago, 1893          Fred W. Hart           Columbus

"Wooden nickels," N. W. Territory

Celebration                      R. F. Fletcher         Portsmouth,

Photo of J. J. Cramer, soldier of

Civil War                                             Mrs. W. W. Cramer            Globe, Ariz.

Tintypes                                                  0. C. Cooper                       Coalton

Speech on Digestion, by Dr. Mahala

P. Seuter                        Rev. Henry J. Simpson Flint, Mich.

Civil War papers of John McCurdy                                                    Moundsville,

Sawhill                                                 R. S. Virtue*                       W. Va.

Civil War relics                                        Mrs. Kathryn Wesler          Columbus

Coach mailbag                                          J. M. Menhorn, Jr.              Akron

Sword cane                                               T. B. Hayes                        Columbus

Maul and wedge, for splitting rails Dr. C. C. Ross                                Columbus

Quilt of 1813                                           Miss Lois Robinson            Sidney

Antique basket                                         W. J. Davidson                   Columbus

Mixing bowl, china                                  Mrs. Dora Gibson

Davidson                         Columbus

Diary and Biography of R. L. Sharp  William  H. Sharp                      Columbus

Furniture and portrait of J. H. Mrs. Grace J. Clark Indianapolis,

Giddings                           Estate                 Ind.

Chart of interurban cars and routes Miss Harriet E. Wilson West Jeffer-

in Ohio                                                                                           son

Sample of flax                                         A. F. Scott                          Youngstown

Daguerreotypes and early photos             Mrs. J. S. Harrell                 Columbus

Chair of Mrs. William McKinley             Columbus   Women' s

Club                 Columbus

Address of Ohio State Journal Car-

riers, 1842                      C. E. Harker           Dover

Wooden roller, basket, and musical

instrument                       Mrs. E. W. Boxley      Columbus

Picture of Jonathan Farrar

Report of stock sale, London, O.,  Dr. Kirby Farrar Est. London

1853

* Asterisk indicates loan.

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104     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Item                        Donor      Address

Early pottery                     W. P. Bauer   Zanesville

Photo of William McKinley, auto-

graphed                                                 Charles H. Sloan                 Columbus

Surgical instruments Dr. Arthur Thomas  Minerva

Souvenir of G. A. R. Encampment,                                                     Ft. Collins,

Columbus, 1888                  H. B. Deane          Colo.

Ohio auto license plates, 1907 to

1939, incl.                     C. A. Swoyer          Columbus

Department of Archaeology

Broken slate and flint pieces, vari-

ous localities                                         H. R. McPherson       Columbus

Material from Flint Ridge                         R. G. Morgan &     R. (Field

Goslin                    Work)

Replicas of clay figurines from Tur-                                                    Peabody

ner Mounds                      Dr. C. C. Willoughby                               Museum,

Harvard

University

Material from the Florence Mound, R. G. Morgan &     R. Exploration

Fox, O.                           Goslin                directed by

R. G.

Morgan,

1938

Archaeological specimens                         W. E. Gibbs                         Columbus

Copper chisel, Ecuador                             Rev. Harry Rimmer            Duluth,

Minn.

Hematite cone                     Darius Mathias        Rockbridge

Department of Mineralogy

Specimens of polished agate                     A. C. Spetnagel                   Chillicothe

Topaz crystal                                           Elmon McDaniels               Columbus

Specimens of Albite and Microcline Miss Polly S. Robinson Ohio State

University

Quartz geodes                                           Arthur R. Harper                Columbus

Hematite geode                                        James Samuels                     Altoona, Pa.

Olivine and Augite                                   Percy D. Steele                   Honolulu,

H. I.

Lithic Laboratory Materials

From            Furnished by                Address

California                 E. N. Johnson                     Concord, Calif.

Indre & Loire,         Dr. Nels C. Nelson   American Museum of Natural

France                                                             History, N. Y.

Indiana          R. G. Morgan & H. H. (Field Work)

Ellis

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS              105

 

From            Furnished by               Address

Indiana                    G. A. Black           Indiana Historical Society

Illinois                     U. S. National Mu- Washington, D. C.

seum

Illinois                     Frank C. Baker                   Urbana

Kentucky                 Robert Bell                         Marion

Kentucky                 William J. Webb                 University of Kentucky,

Lexington

Kentucky                 H. H. Ellis           (Field Work)

Michigan                 S. E. Sanderson & S. Detroit, Mich.

S. Sanderson

Michigan                 H. H. Ellis                          (Field Work)

Minnesota               Dr. A. E. Jenks                   University of Minnesota,

Minneapolis

Ohio                        Philip Kientz                      Columbus

Ohio, Florida &       Dr. W. V. Sprague               Chauncey

Kentucky

Ohio                        Prof. Wilber Stout              Dept. Geology, O. S. U.

Ohio                        Willis Magrath                   Alliance

Ohio                        H. R. Goodwin                    Columbus

Ohio                        H. R. Goodwin & R. G. (Field Work)

Morgan

Ohio            R. G. Morgan & H. H. (Field Work)

Ellis

Rhode Island &  Maurice Robbins       Attleboro, Mass.

Massachusetts

Tennessee                Robert Goslin                     Columbus

Virginia                    John Wetzel                       Grand Rapids, Mich.

West Virginia           H. H. Ellis                          (Field Work)

Wisconsin                Milwaukee Public Mu- Milwaukee, Wis.

seum

 

PRESIDENT JOHNSON: I think that this report, given in a quiet

manner without detail, conveys to you practically no conception of

the measure of intensive work that has been done in this cultural

institution. As we go on working out the problems which are

presented year after year, they seem to become more and more

unspectacular. There has been a constant endeavor, of course,

to reach out and convey to the state of Ohio in particular and to

the public in general the benefits of all of this labor, looking

toward definite conclusions and specific results. That is the story

of scientific endeavor. Director Shetrone, of course, has given

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106    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

you a picture of the duties, efforts and results obtained by mem-

bers of the staff. I know of no organization of this size that accom-

plishes as much with so little an outlay of money as the staff

of this institution. I am particularly appreciative to Director

Shetrone and to all of the members of the staff for the fine results

that have been obtained, for the interest that they have shown

and the intensive labor which they have performed. I think this

has been most effective in the growth of the organization and

I am very happy about it.

Although not all of the efforts of the Society are along his-

torical lines, history, after all, is the fundamental thing and I

believe there is no one among us who has so clear a conception

of the function and duty of the Society as has our secretary,

Dr. Harlow Lindley. It is due to his efforts that our organiza-

tion has broadened out by cooperating with the Columbus Gen-

ealogical Society, the Ohio Academy of History, the Ohio Com-

mittee on Medical History and Archives and the Ohio State

University. I think by combining these kindred spirits the meet-

ings of these organizations will bring results far more useful to

the state of Ohio as well as of more benefit to our historical

society. Will the secretary read his report with such comment

as he sees fit to make?

 

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE OHIO STATE

ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

To THE TRUSTEES AND MEMBERS OF THE OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND

HISTORICAL SOCIETY:

The Secretary herewith presents to the Board of Trustees of the

Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and to the members of

the Society as a whole his sixth annual report for the year ending March

31, 1939, it being the annual report for the fifty-third year of the Society.

This report is divided into three parts corresponding to the duties

assigned to the Secretary.

I. Secretarial Duties.

Since the annual meeting held April 1, 1938, there have been three

meetings of the Board of Trustees and two meetings of the Executive

Committee of the Board of Trustees, the actions taken by the latter having

been regularly approved by the trustees as a whole.

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                 107

 

In accordance with the former provision of the Constitution of the

Society concerning the time for the Annual Meeting, which was in process

of amendment at the time of our last meeting, a regular meeting of the

Society was held on April 26, 1938. The only object of this meeting was

to ratify officially the annual reports presented at the meeting held on

April 1, 1938, and to ratify the action taken at that time in electing as

trustees, George W. Rightmire, Harold T. Clark, and Webb C. Hayes, II.

Official approval was given to the amendments which were reported on

and approved at the April 1, 1938, meeting.

A special meeting of the Board of Trustees was held June 20, 1938,

at the request of the Executive Committee. There was a report and dis-

cussion concerning the status of W. P. A. projects sponsored by the Society

for the year. The trustees also heard a report made by the curator of

State Memorials, Mr. Zepp, concerning the status of the Mt. Pleasant

Friends Meetinghouse project at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio. The trustees recom-

mended a resolution that the Board would give favorable attention to the

matter of making this site a State Memorial if and when the local com-

munity should carry out the plans proposed. These plans were officially

approved a few weeks later by the Ohio Yearly Meeting of Friends. At

this meeting the Board approved the appointment of K. William McKinley

as Assistant Librarian, in charge of Manuscripts and Archives. Approval

was also given to the purchase of the Jay Cooke papers, secured from a

dealer in Sandusky, Ohio.

Because of the fact that the June 20, 1938, meeting was so near the

time of the regular July meeting of the Board, it was decided to dis-

pense with the regular July meeting.

At the regular October, 1938, meeting which was held at the Mound-

Builders' Country Club House at the Octagon State Memorial, the trustees

approved the report of Mr. Zepp relative to the Mt. Pleasant memorial

project, and approved the proposition that if and when the property was

fully restored and put into good condition the Ohio State Archaeological

and Historical Society would assume responsibility for it so long as the

Board should deem   it practicable.  The Secretary outlined the history

of the newspaper index project in Ohio, which would be sponsored by

this Society, and the general proposition was given approval. After the

transaction of miscellaneous business, Mr. M. Ray Allison, who repre-

sented the Governor at the meeting, was invited to speak and he stated

that the work of the Society was appreciated by State officials and that

its problems were recognized. In adjourning, the trustees expressed their

appreciation of the invitation of Mr. Spencer, a member of the Board of

Trustees, and the Board of the Mound-Builders' Country Club for the

courtesies extended to the Board, including the delicious dinner served.

At the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees held at the Museum,

January 27, 1939, the Board gave consideration to the Society's budget for

• 13
 

1O8    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

the biennium of 1939-40, which had been prepared in accordance with the

action of the Board and which had been approved by the Executive Com-

mittee of the Board of Trustees at a meeting held December 17, 1938. The

possibility of adopting a plan for establishing a system of admission fees

in State Memorials, similar to that in other states, was discussed by the

Board, and approval was given to such a proposition. It was recom-

mended that steps be taken to secure favorable action from State officials.

General approval was given to plans for the Ohio History Conference

to be held in Columbus, April 6-8, in connection with the program of the

Annual Meeting of the Society.

During the year the Secretary has officially represented the Society

at the annual meetings of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association and

the American Historical Association. He has assisted in the organization

of three new local historical societies in the State and has addressed a

number of professional and popular meetings. He also has had the general

responsibility of promoting the preparation of the History of Ohio, a project

provided by the Ohio General Assembly in 1937.

The total membership as of April 1, 1939, was 734 as compared with

749 one year ago. While there has been a gain of eight in annual mem-

bers there has been a loss of twenty in life membership.

The members are classified as follows: One patron, 395 life mem-

bers, four sustaining members, nine contributing members, one junior mem-

ber, and 324 annual members. Each member received both Museum Echoes

and the QUARTERLY regularly. In addition to this number there are ninety-

two annual subscriptions, 230 exchanges, 235 sent to approved Ohio public

libraries, forty-seven to Ohio college and university libraries, thirteen

complimentary and 310 additional persons receive Museum Echoes alone.

The terms of Oscar F. Miller, Carl V. Weygandt and Carl Wittke,

as trustees elected by the Society's members, expire this year.

II. Editorial Duties.

In addition to the editing of the QUARTERLY and Museum Echoes,

the Society has been able to issue three volumes of the Collections series

bringing this series up to ten volumes in spite of the fact that the Society

has had no regular State appropriation available for this purpose. These

are: Chief Justice Taft, by Allen E. Ragan; The Genesis of Western

Culture: the Upper Ohio Valley, 1800-1825, by James M. Miller; and His-

tory of the Iron and Steel Industry in Scioto County, Ohio, by Frank

H. Rowe.

Third editions of Norris Schneider's Campus Martius State Memorial

Museum handbook and H. C. Shetrone's Primer of Ohio Archaeology have

been issued, and in July, 1938, a Handbook and List of Members of the

Society was published. In this connection the Editor wishes to acknowl-

• 14
 

OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                109

 

edge the excellent service rendered by Clarence L. Weaver, assistant editor,

and Lois R. Hiestand, editorial assistant.

 

III. The Library.

During the year 2712 volumes have been added to the Society's

Library, of which number 634 volumes were purchased, 718 volumes were

received on exchange account, and 1360 were gifts. The outstanding pur-

chases of the year were:

A Journal of a Missionary Tour through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana,

Illinois, Iowa, Wiskonsin and Michigan, by Rev. James L. Scott, pub-

lished in 1843.

An Explanation of the Map which Delineates that Part of the Federal

Lands, Comprehended between Pennsylvania West Line, the Rivers Ohio

and Sioto, and Lake Erie; Confirmed to the United States by Sundry Tribes

of Indians, in the Treaties of 1784 and 1786, and Now Ready for Settlement,

published in 1788.

William Allen Collection, about 125 volumes.

Collection of James Imprints, Cincinnati, aggregating about 150

volumes.

Special mention should be made of the following gifts:

McGuffey Collection, now cataloged, about 140 volumes.

National Society of Founders and Patriots of America, vols. 1-24,

presented by the Columbus Chapter.

Josephine Klippart Library, about 100 volumes.

Ellis Lovejoy Collection, about 200 volumes.

Columbus Audubon Society presented three very interesting volumes

on bird life.

Fifteen volumes were added on the basis of reviews in our periodicals:

Pioneering in Agriculture, T. C. and Mary M. Atkeson.

Advancing the Ohio Frontier, Frazer E. Wilson.

And Then the Storm, Sister M. Monica.

Tombs, Travel and Trouble, Lawrence Griswold.

Oliver Pollock, J. A. James.

American Frontier, Elisabeth Peck.

Mocco, S. M. Barrett.

Geronimo's Story of His Life, S. M. Barrett.

A Guidebook to Historic Places in Western Pennsylvania.

An Illustrated Handbook of Art History, Frank J. Roos, Jr.

Michigan Waterfowl Management, M. D. Pirnie.

The Old Northwest, A. L. Kohlmeier.

Chief Justice Waite, B. R. Trimble.

The Life of John McLean, F. P. Weisenburger.

Wooster of the Middle West, Lucy L. Notestein.

Fifteen volumes have been added to the Medical Alcove initiated by

• 15
 

110    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

the Ohio Committee on Medical History and Archives and about thirty-

five genealogical books have been placed on the shelves. A large number

of Quaker items have been added during the year to this reference section

of the Library. These have been added at no cost to the Society.

Three hundred periodicals have been regularly received, fifty of them

being by subscription, 205 by exchange and forty-five by gift.

The demands of the Reference Department constantly increase as the

Library grows, is better known and becomes more and more a research

center for scholars, genealogists, writers and research people. In addition

to these the burden on the Library staff has been much heavier, due to

the research involved in various W. P. A. projects.

The Cataloging Department, supervised by Clarence L. Weaver, has

had W. P. A. assistance which includes three typists, one assistant cataloger

and an assistant librarian; and the following work has been accomplished

beyond the regular routine program of the department:

Completing the analytical cataloging of the following sets (begun in

previous years):

American Historical Association Annual Reports.

Smithsonian Institution Annual Reports.

U. S. Bureau of American Ethnology Annual Reports.

U. S. Museum Annual Reports.

U. S. Museum Proceedings.

Wisconsin State Historical Society Collections.

Completing the analytical cataloging of the following sets (begun this

past year):

Indiana History Bulletin.

Indiana Historical Commission Bulletin.

Indiana Magazine of History.

The Ohio Magazine.

American Antiquarian Society Proceedings, New Series.

Recataloging and reclassification has proceeded in Class 200, the entire

Atlas section has been reorganized and recataloged, and various long sets

of periodicals in other classes have been revised. New accessions have

been cataloged in as great a quantity as time would permit, though this

part of the work is much in arrears, due in part to the work of analyzing

and revising previously outlined, but also due to lack of a much needed,

full-time technical assistant.

The above work represents a total of 3,031 books cataloged, revised,

recataloged, for which 26,500 cards were made, including cards furnished

the Union Catalog at the Ohio State Library, with which we are co-

operating.

The Manuscript Division has been moved to larger quarters on the

fourth deck of the Library Stack Room. Here the work of cleaning,

repairing, classifying and arranging has progressed to the point where it

• 16
 

OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                 III

 

will soon be possible to say that this portion of the work of the division

is up to date. When the final step, the preparation of a useful catalog

to the whole collection, is completed, the division will be in a position

to present its services to scholars over the country. Many have used it

already, but the fact that no one knew just what was in it has seriously

handicapped its service. During the year the Dolores Cameron Venable

Memorial Collection was completed. This enabled workers in the division

to classify the collection, prepare a calendar of the letters in the collection

and a catalog to be published in the QUARTERLY. All of the large collec-

tions of letters are now filed in chronological order. The following col-

lections have been received by the Manuscript Division since April, 1938:

Micro-film copies of the diaries of Governor Thomas Worthington,

covering the period 1801 through March, 1813.    Photographed in the

Library of Congress.

Micro-film copy of a complete file of the Philanthropist published

1817-1818 at Mount Pleasant, Ohio, the first American anti-slavery periodical.

Minutes of the Medical Society of the 13th District of Ohio, Lan-

caster, Ohio, 1824 to 1832. Presented by Dr. George F. Beery, Lancaster.

Letters, receipts, and justice of the peace Dockets of William Todd

Backus added to the Woodbridge-Gallaher Collections--dated 1706-1807.

Reports of boats and cargoes entering the Port of New Orleans from

points on the Ohio River, 1831 to 1846. Fifteen reports.

Photostat of a plan of the battle-grounds at "St. Clair's Defeat,"

made by Ensign Bedinger, now in the possession of James Swearingen,

Circleville. Also photostats of other Swearingen family documents.

A Journal of a trip from Reading, Connecticut, to Chillicothe, Ohio,

in 1804, made by Judge Joseph N. Couch. Presented by Mrs. T. G.

Tyler, of Perry.

Commissary Orders, dated 1795-1796, at Greenville in the Northwest

Territory. 275 pieces showing rations to the Indians gathered for the

famous Greenville Treaty.

The Diary of Robert Sharp of Fairfield County, beginning in 1852,

containing a description of an early trip to California. Gift of William

H. Sharp of Columbus.

Business records of the J. H. and F. A. Sells Company of Columbus,

Ohio, dealers in harness and leather goods.

Letters exchanged by James E. Campbell and James M. Cox. Thirty-

five letters covering the period 1915-1919.

The Jay Cooke Collection. About 2200 pieces--Correspondence of

Jay Cooke, Sr., Jay Cooke, Jr., Mrs. McMeans, Mrs. Mary DeVictor, and

John Pittenger. Concerning life at Gibraltar Island and Cooke's western

land transactions.

Records of the Grove City Presbyterian Church beginning in 1856.

Presented by the Rev. Herrick L. Todd of Galloway.

• 17
 

112    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Miscellaneous letters, documents, and account books presented by

Ralph George, Columbus; Mary Schooley Ivey; Dr. Laura W. Forward,

Urbana; Howard T. Bryan, Delaware; K. C. Egbert, Columbus; F. T.

Jonah, St. Louis, Mo.; George Mong, Kansas City, Mo.; Frank O. Dear-

born, Nashua, N. H.; Rev. H. J. Simpson, Flint, Mich.; John E. Jones,

Jackson; C. H. Cory, Jr., St. Petersburg, Fla.; Hewson L. Peeke, San-

dusky; Mrs. Louise Abbott, Columbus; Julia A. Bailey; Mrs. J. Ernest

Carman, Columbus.

The State Archives occupying 1438 cubic feet in the Museum build-

ing, have been consolidated and moved to the fourth deck of the Stack

Room of the Library. All have been roughly listed for the Historical

Records Survey and the work of classifying and arranging the Executive

Records is well under way. The Governors' Letters have been placed in

chronological order from 1803-1870 and are partially in order from 1871

to 1922. All of the Executive Records are now stored flat, either in port-

folio cases or volumes.

In order to make this important section of the Library of as much

value as possible, K. William McKinley was assigned the responsibility

of personally supervising the collection and Dr. William D. Overman con-

tinues in a consulting capacity as State archivist in connection with his

duties as curator of history in the Museum.

In the past year the Newspaper Department has been able to finish

the installation of a chronological and alphabetical card index and the title

histories for all the Ohio papers. In addition to this work, a temporary

bindery set up in the division has been able to repair and rebind over 1600

volumes.

The department is undertaking to revamp somewhat the filing of the

card index for cuts and to institute a better system for filing the cuts.

This is a rather slow and laborious job inasmuch as many of the cuts

cannot be identified, but we hope in time to be able properly to catalog

each one.

Probably the most important work that the department has under-

taken in the past year has been the sponsorship of a state-wide newspaper

film-index project. The purpose of the project is to make a selective

index of all the State and local news and opinion and advertising in seven

Ohio newspapers, viz.: the Ohio State Journal, the Akron Beacon Journal,

the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Youngstown Vindicator, the Dayton Journal,

the Cincinnati Enquirer, and the Toledo Blade. The work was started in

September and will continue for at least two years. The Society is the

official sponsor and has as co-sponsors, newspapers, libraries, and city and

county governments. The project is costing $1,228,000 for one year. The

sponsors and co-sponsors are contributing $89,000 of this amount.

In addition to the indexing, the Society is officially supervising the

micro-filming of all the newspapers that are to be indexed. At the present

• 18
 

OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                 113

 

time the Ohio State Journal is in the process of being filmed and it is

contemplated that the work will be completed in Columbus about the second

week in April. This will have involved the filming of approximately

330,000 pages of the Journal, covering a period of 128 years, on 35mm.

acetate panchromatic high fidelity film. The purpose of the filming is to

help solve the storage problem, save deterioration of the files (United

States Bureau of Standards tells us that this film will last anywhere from

200 to 1000 years), and to make reproduction of the files possible so that

other libraries and institutions may have part, or all, of any of the seven

different newspapers. When the project is finished, the Society will own

permanently one positive film of each file which, in turn, will be made

available for inter-library loan. The second positive will remain in the

Public Library of each city and the negative will be sent to the Library

of Congress.

At the present time the Library is receiving regularly 136 Ohio news-

papers and eleven out-of-state papers. For the year 1938-39 the Library

received 707 volumes and sixty-seven miscellaneous copies of various Ohio

papers. The Library now has permanent possession of 17,143 bound

volumes and 9,538 unbound volumes, making a total of 27,681 volumes.

This figure is somewhat smaller than the figure given in the 1938 report.

However, this is due to combining volumes and packages into larger units.

From March 27, 1938, to March 31, 1939, inclusive, the Library received

2,942 calls for papers. This number is high considering the fact that the

use of the Library is limited to research students only.

During the past year the Society has sponsored several Works Prog-

ress Administration projects.  On these projects--the Federal Archives

Survey, the Bibliography of Ohio project, the Ohio Imprints Inventory,

and the Historical Records Survey--the Federal Government has expended

a total of approximately $100,000. The work has cost the Society a little

over $1500 for materials and part of the time of nine of its employees for

supervision. All of these projects have shown worthwhile results.

The following changes and additions to the staff of the Secretary,

Editor and Librarian have been made:

Mr. K. William McKinley, formerly assistant to the Secretary-

Librarian, was made assistant librarian in charge of manuscripts, maps,

and archives. Mr. Andrew J. Ondrak, who has completed his work for a

Master's degree in history and has had library school training, was ap-

pointed assistant reference librarian. Mr. Robert R. Clark was appointed

bookbinder. Miss Lois R. Hiestand, a graduate of the University of Wis-

consin and the University of Pennsylvania and who has had extensive

experience in editorial and secretarial work, was appointed editorial as-

sistant and secretary to the Editor and Librarian.

• 19
 

114     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

For the loyalty and faithfulness of the members of the Library staff

the Secretary wishes to express this word of thanks and appreciation.

Respectfully submitted,

HARLOW LINDLEY,

Secretary, Editor and Librarian.

PRESIDENT JOHNSON: I think that Dr. Lindley's report calls for

no comment except that the trustees have been considering calling

a special meeting to try to find something for Dr. Lindley to do.

Is Mr. Miller, the treasurer, in the room?

DIRECTOR SHETRONE: Mr. Miller will be here later and I will

ask the financial secretary to read the treasurer's report.

MRS. STAHL: Because it contains some information which I

think will be of interest to you, I am going to read the letter of

transmittal written by W. D. Wall, Certified Public Accountant.

to our treasurer, Oscar F. Miller.

April 6, 1939.

MR. 0. F. MILLER, TREASURER

THE OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

COLUMBUS, OHIO

DEAR SIR:

We are reporting on the audit of the books of accounts of the Ohio

State Archaeological and Historical Society for the year ended December

31, 1938.

From the schedule of the Society's Receipts and Disbursements, it

will be noted that total receipts collected during the year was $5,355.30,

of which $202.10 was for refunds from the State, leaving a balance of

$5,153.20 from revenue sources as compared with $5,382.90 for the year

1937, a decrease of $229.70. Expenses for the year were in excess of

receipts which necessitated the transfer of $5,100.00 from the Permanent

Fund and $2,500.00 from the Savings Account. Total disbursements for

the year from its own funds was $11,946.92 and advances of $268.80 for

expenses. Included in total disbursements of Society funds was $1,285.57

for supplies for the W.P.A. projects housed in the Museum and Library

Building. Also, $5,360.27 was spent for materials and expenses incident

to W.P.A. work in the several memorials as the detail in the above re-

ferred to schedule indicates. Total appropriations was $149,340.58 with a

total balance carried forward from the year 1937 of $8,574.66, making

total appropriations available of $157,915.24, an increase of $18,572.99 over

the year 1937. From the State appropriations the Society expended $141,-

544.32 during the year as compared with $131,184.88 for the year 1937, an

increase in appropriation expenditures of $10,359.44.

• 20
 

OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                 115

 

During the year the Society was bequeathed $4,259.87 from the estate

of Hamilton Kline, creating the Hamilton Kline Memorial Fund for im-

provement and betterment of Fort Laurens. The fund was deposited in the

Bolivar State Bank, Bolivar, Ohio, as follows:

Checking Account ....................... $2,259.87

Certificates of Deposits--5304 .............                    1,500.00

Certificates of Deposits--5335 .............                    500.00

 

Total  as  above.......................                          $4,259.87

There was expended $1,039.36 for equipment and plans within the year,

leaving a balance of $3,220.51 of this fund. In addition, the Society received

under this bequest a depositor's claim (No. 574) for $437.03 against the

former Bolivar State Bank, the realizable value of which is problematical.

The concession stands operated in some State Memorials produced

total receipts of $13,499.70 with total disbursements of $12,889.08, resulting

in a cash balance on hand at the close of the year of $610.62. Included

in the receipts is rent* received of $750.00 at Mound Builders' State Me-

morial. In addition to the necessary expenses of operating the concession

stands, there was expended $3,022.70 for both personal and maintenance

service of the State Memorials. The Northwest Territory Celebration ex-

pense of $470.60 was paid out of this fund.

The Permanent Fund has been reduced by $5,100.00 leaving a balance

of $21,150.00 at December 31, 1938.

Respectfully submitted,

W. D. WALL, Certified Public Accountant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Rent from golf course at the Mound Builders' State Memorial.

• 21
 

116     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

REPORT OF THE TREASURER OF THE OHIO STATE

ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Cash Balance, January 1, 1938 ..............................  $6,516.51

Receipts:

Society Cash Receipts    .    ....................... $14,715.17

Interest on John Klippart Memorial Fund ......     30.45

State Memorial Concession Funds .............   13,481.12

State Appropriation:

House Bill 369--1937 Balance...              $8,574.66

House Bill 369--1938 ..........                   107,195.00

Senate  Bill  150 .................                    17,945.58

Senate Bill 460 .................                      18,000.00

Senate Bill 201 .................                      5,000.00

Emergency Bill ................                       1,200.00

 

TOTAL ..................... $157,915.24

LESS Balance December 31, 1938      16,370.92

 

NET AMOUNT .......................... $141,544.32

 

TOTAL RECEIPTS .................................... $169,771.06

 

GRAND TOTAL RECEIPTS........................... $176,287.57

Disbursements:

Museum and Library............. $72,150.93

Administration of State Memorials.            2,923.38

Big Bottom State Memorial .......                    321.45

Buffington Island State Memorial.                  178.89

Campbell Mound .................                           98.40

Campus Martius State Memorial..                7,948.20

Custer Monument ................                          104.45

Dunbar Historic House...........                     1,776.79

Fallen Timbers Monument .........                    94.28

Fort Amanda Monument ..........                     599.79

Fort Ancient State Memorial......                7,590.75

Fort Hill State Memorial.........                    20,095.91

Fort Jefferson State Memorial.....                ........

Fort Laurens State Memorial.....                  2,557.88

Fort Recovery State Memorial....                2,524.54

Fort St. Clair State Memorial.....                 2,895.05

Gnadenhutten Monument .........                     167.63

Grant Historic House ............                     2,708.73

Hanby Historic House ............                        926.73

Harrison State Memorial..........                       912.12

• 22
 

OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                 117

 

Hayes State Memorial ............                                              7,073.34

Inscription Rock .................                                                          88.46

Logan  Elm  ......................                                                              383.00

Miamisburg Mound ..............                                                       886.80

Mound Builders' State Memorial..                3,162.16

Mound City State Memorial......                  3,228.48

Rankin Historic House ...........                    5,000.00

Felix Renick ....................                                25.00

Schoenbrunn State Memorial ......               13,116.08

Seip Mound .....................                                303.64

Serpent Mound State Memorial...               6,302.23

Tarlton Cross State Memorial .....                    224.50

Northwest Territory Celebration..                   461.31

 

TOTAL DISBURSEMENTS.............. $167,670.90

 

BALANCE, December 31, 1938 ......................      $8,616.67

To Prove:

Klippart Memorial Fund ......................      $2,060.45

Current Fund Checking Account   ...............    1,348.45

Current Fund Savings Account ................   1,376.64

State Memorials Fund .......................                                  610.62

Kline Memorial Fund:

Checking Account .............                    $1,220.51

Certificates of Deposit..........                  2,000.00

 

3,220.51

 

TOTAL AS ABOVE ................................        $8,616.67

Respectfully submitted,

OSCAR F. MILLER, Treasurer.

PRESIDENT JOHNSON: Are there any questions in the matter of

the financial report? If not, I will ask Director Shetrone to tell

the members very briefly the status of the appropriation for the

coming biennium.

DIRECTOR SHETRONE: I presume that you will not want details

at this time so I shall say that while we had hopes of a more

adequate appropriation for this present biennium, we find that

the determination of the administration of the State government

to effect economies applies to this Society as well as all other

divisions and departments receiving funds from tax measures. So

• 23
 

118   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

it now appears that we shall find ourselves with approximately

what we spent during the past biennium, which is inadequate. It

sounds rather better than it really is because during the past

biennium we had insufficient funds to meet our needs. Economies

were effected where possible and transfers were made from

sources where they could be spared to maintain status quo. The

situation is not very encouraging but we shall find a way as we

did in the past and keep hoping that two years hence we may

expect to get "a break" financially.

PRESIDENT JOHNSON: Well, I suppose that is one of the neces-

sary evils of trying to do idealistic things--we must pay no atten-

tion to the lack of money but carry on and do the best we can. Is

there any item of miscellaneous business to come up at this time?

DR. LINDLEY: You are aware, I believe, of an appropriation

made two years ago for publishing a six-volume History of Ohio

as a part of our contribution in connection with the Northwest

Territory Celebration last year. It was impossible to complete

more than half of this work during the period and of course at

the end of last year this fund lapsed. Since we are anxious to

complete the history, we are asking the present legislature for a

re-appropriation of the unexpended balance.

PRESIDENT JOHNSON: If there are no objections to that pro-

cedure it will be so ordered. Are there any other items of mis-

cellaneous business?

At this time the President called for a report of the Nominat-

ing Committee for trustees. The chairman of the committee

reported that the committee unanimously recommended the re-

appointment of Carl V. Weygandt, Carl Wittke and Oscar F.

Miller to the Board of Trustees for a regular term of three years

from date.

PRESIDENT JOHNSON: Mr. Zepp, curator of State Memorials,

has a brief statement to make concerning the Memorials or State

Parks. Mr. Zepp has been doing some very good work in the

Department of State Memorials and has acquired a good deal of

capacity for dealing with legislatures. I think he has done a very

nice job on the Society's budgets.

• 24
 

OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                 11₉

 

A TENTATIVE POLICY FOR OHIO'S STATE MEMORIALS

By ERWIN C. ZEPP

 

Because of the recent origin and unprecedented growth of the move-

ment, it is difficult if not impossible to devise a definite policy for the

preservation, development and maintenance of human history sites, as con-

trasted to natural history areas. It thus becomes evident that whatever sug-

gestions may be offered here are necessarily tentative in their nature.

The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society has been in-

terested in the preservation of important archaeological and historical areas

since its organization a half century ago. It is beyond question the sponsor

in Ohio of such preservation, beginning with the noted Serpent Mound as

its first acquisition and gradually increasing its sponsorship of such prop-

erties through the years. It is, however, only within the past decade or

even less that the movement has assumed such impelling proportions.

This inordinate development of what for so long had been an orderly

growth came, strangely enough, with the period of industrial depression.

Having more leisure time, the public became conscious of the need of larger

facilities for entertainment and, perhaps, instruction. At the same time,

the Federal Government, the several commonwealths and the lesser political

areas became conscious of the need for caring for the unemployed. Acquisi-

tion and development of public areas of every kind offered a logical oppor-

tunity for relief labor. The activity which followed, together with far

too frequent uncertainties and disagreements can only be appreciated by

those who were directly concerned with project sponsorships. The State

government was beseiged from   every quarter for such projects.   The

several counties quickly came to feel that if another county possessed a

state park, they also should have a state park. This Society, as the natural

sponsor of such activities soon found itself engulfed in the mad whirl to

take advantage of federal relief funds, frequently without proper con-

sideration as to whether or not an area merited park status.

Now that this memorable era lies for the most part in the past, it is

possible for the first time to gain a clearer perspective and to realize the

outcome. Officials of the Society were not long in recognizing the need

for controls: but such recognition, and the applying of remedies, were two

different things. At its scheduled meeting in July, 1934, the Society's Board

of Trustees, on the suggestion of the director, went on record as favoring

certain corrective measures. It was agreed that since state parks, so-called,

included a minimum acreage greater than comprised in the archaeological

and historical sites in the Society's custody; and that, furthermore, since

state parks exist mainly for recreational purposes and preservation of

naturalistic and scenic areas; that, therefore, these human history sites

cannot properly be considered as state parks. This agreement took the

• 25
 

120     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

form of adopting the present designation of State Memorials for human

history sites.

The Board agreed that many areas were being developed as State

Memorials, which were not of sufficient importance to merit expenditure

of public funds, and that ways and means should be sought to discourage

the State government in erecting them. It requires no great mental effort

to realize that such a desirable solution with partisan politics a factor, can

only be hoped for following a period of educational effort. Such an effort

is being made, with considerable progress.

The trustees further agreed that of the forty existing memorials in

the Society's custody, perhaps one-half the total number do not merit main-

tenance through expenditure of taxpayers' funds, and that an effort should

be made to prevail upon local interests and organizations to take the respon-

sibility of their maintenance. While some progress has resulted, this appar-

ently logical procedure has not met with favor thus far. The director

and the curator of this department are conducting an educational campaign

in the various counties in an attempt to popularize the idea of county

memorial areas. This eventually should solve the problem for sites of

local interest only.

Still another proposal was made by the Board--namely, that the plan

of charging nominal admission fees to the more important memorials be

given careful consideration. This plan is in operation in several states,

notably in Indiana, and has gone far to solve the difficult problem of

financing these areas--a problem which, owing to legislative indifference

always is a difficult one. It may be said that at the time this suggestion

was made, tentative inquiry disclosed that passage of the necessary enact-

ment would have been utterly hopeless. Just recently, however, a measure

drafted to permit this plan of nominal admissions was introduced into the

legislature, and failed of passage by only a few votes. It may be con-

fidently expected that two years hence it will be enacted.

It is evident that matters of policy have received much consideration.

A well-planned program will effect greater results. However, the effec-

tiveness of this work must be motivated to a great extent by a general

cooperative movement. What additional measures, then, are to be taken?

Your speaker may refer to the fact that since assuming responsibility for

the Department of State Memorials, he has effected two major improve-

ments, and definitely favors additional modifications as they can be applied.

Primarily, the field staff of the department has been reorganized in the

interest of greater efficiency. Two technically trained men have been added

to the staff. The State, as a whole, has been divided into four districts

with competent men in charge of each, and directly responsible to the

central office for the administration of their respective districts. Whereas

formerly it was impossible for the curators to contact the various memorial

superintendents personally and frequently, the present system facilitates con-

stant contact with all areas.

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                 121

 

A second improvement is the centralization of expenditures and ac-

counting of local funds accruing in the several memorial areas from the

sale of souvenirs and refreshments within the headquarters office. This

relieves the field men, untrained in such procedure, of the necessity of

keeping books, and greatly simplifies financial procedure.

For the rest, your speaker feels that the steps already taken should be

continued and carried to their ultimate realization. To make possible future

contemplated expansion, he feels that additional funds and the enactment

of moderate legislation are essential and he trusts that the officers and

members of the Society will lend their aid in securing these necessities.

He believes that for the future, areas which cannot meet a reasonable stand-

ard should be excluded from recognition as State Memorials; that greater

recognition should be accorded outstanding examples of early Ohio archi-

tecture, sites and structures of outstanding historical interest, one or more

of the fine old taverns along the old National Pike; a good example of a

charcoal iron furnace, and some others. He feels that it is of utmost

importance that ways and means be found for securing and preserving the

principal features of the village of Zoar, before private interests make

such an acquisition forever impossible. Up to the present, private indi-

viduals have saved this priceless relic from destruction, but this arrange-

ment cannot long continue. It is, by all odds, in his opinion the most

important historical site in Ohio which remains unprovided for.

PRESIDENT JOHNSON: The Society may rest assured that its

Board of Trustees has had these matters under most careful con-

sideration, especially during the past year. Unless there is some

comment or unless the Society wishes to take some action on the

suggestions of the curator of State Memorials, we will leave the

matter to the Board of Trustees for development of a policy in

connection with the State Memorials. We will now have a report

on local historical societies by Dr. Lindley.

The secretary presented a brief report concerning the status

of the local historical societies in Ohio. From questionnaires and

reports available, it seems there are now fifty-two historical

societies operating in the State, including the State Society, the

Western Reserve Society at Cleveland, and the Historical and

Philosophical Society of Ohio at Cincinnati. During the year,

three historical societies have been organized and two are in

process of formation. Some of these local societies were officially

represented at this Annual Meeting.

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122   OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Six societies have reported some special activities in which

they have been engaged during the past year.

The Mahoning Valley Historical Society at Youngstown has

been reorganized and has adopted a constructive program of

activities. One of the first things accomplished by the new society

was the development of an historical museum, which is now

housed in the Youngstown Public Library building.

The Firelands Historical Society, with headquarters at Nor-

walk, is publishing an index of both the old and new series of

the Firelands Pioneer. The last volume of this publication was

issued in 1937.

The Summit County Historical Society has had a year of

interesting activities. In addition to its regular monthly meetings

during the season, it sponsored the Northwest Territory Caravan

program and held a joint meeting with the Summit County Hor-

ticultural Society. Considerable work has been accomplished on

the Old Stone School, which the society is restoring for its head-

quarters and museum.

One of the most active historical societies in the State during

the past year has been the Allen County Historical and Ar-

chaeological Society, under the leadership of the new secretary-

curator, Mrs. Harry B. Longsworth. This society has taken ad-

vantage of an N. Y. A. project and is also looking forward to

securing a permanent home and museum building.

The Early Settlers Association of the Western Reserve was

actively interested in participating in the celebration of the one

hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the North-

west Territory and the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary

of the Battle of Lake Erie, co-operating with both Federal Com-

missions directing these two celebrations. The association has

also sponsored a project of restoring the Erie Street Cemetery

in Cleveland, which is the oldest one there.

The Clark County Historical Society, of which Mr. Arthur

R. Altick is secretary-curator, has been engaged in a number

of varied activities, including some very valuable and interesting

field work under the direction of Mr. Altick. It also participated

in the celebration of the Northwest Territory sesqui-centennial

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS         123

 

celebration and has served its constituency in many helpful ways,

such as sponsoring lectures, publishing magazine articles, etc. Ex-

tensive repairs have been completed on the museum building itself.

We hope that, more and more, the local historical societies

in the State will participate in the annual conferences.

President Johnson then introduced Mrs. Janet Wethy Foley,

of Akron, New York, who discussed briefly the plans which the

New York State Historical Society has developed in connection

with its programs for annual meetings.

PRESIDENT JOHNSON: Thank you, Mrs. Foley. Now, are there

any announcements, Mr. Secretary?

DR. LINDLEY: Yes, I should like to announce the program for

the remainder of the day. At twelve-thirty there will be a

luncheon conference of the Ohio Academy of History at the

Deshler-Wallick Hotel. At one o'clock this afternoon the annual

meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Society will be held in

the Trustees' Room of the Museum. At two o'clock the pro-

gram which has been arranged by the Ohio Committee on Medical

History and Archives will be held in the Library and I know

that it will be very interesting. Then, at two-thirty in this room

the program sponsored by the Ohio Academy of History and this

Society will be held. At six-fifteen the Annual Dinner has been

arranged at the Faculty Club where Mrs. Janet Wethy Foley will

be the guest speaker. Then, immediately following, we will pro-

ceed to the general session at University Hall where Mr. Grove

Patterson, editor of the Toledo Blade, will address us on the sub-

ject of "Tales of the Presidents or the Gossip of History."

Tomorrow morning a program has been arranged for ten o'clock

which will be a joint session of the Columbus Genealogical Society

and the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society. We

feel that we owe a great deal to these auxiliary associations which

are cooperating with us in this general movement.

I wish to call attention to some special displays which have been

prepared in connection with these meetings. The Columbus Gen-

ealogical Society has brought an interesting exhibit of manuscripts

and other materials; Mrs. Foley brought some interesting old

records and genealogical publications; the medical group has pre-

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124     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

pared a display of historic medical and surgical instruments, and

in the next room is an especially fine exhibit of the evolution of

costumes. All of these are worthy of your attention.

PRESIDENT JOHNSON: Is there any further business to be brought

before this meeting? If not, a motion for adjournment is in order.

A motion for adjournment was offered by Howard R.

Goodwin, seconded by Edward S. Thomas and carried.

 

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF

TRUSTEES OF THE OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL

AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, APRIL 7, 1939

The regular April meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio

State Archaeological and Historical Society was held in the Ohio State

Museum, Friday afternoon, April 7, 1939, at one o'clock. Trustees present

were Messrs. Johnson, Miller, Spetnagel, Wolfe, Mrs. Anna Young of

Zanesville, making her first appearance as a trustee, and Mr. George B.

Smith of Dayton, newly returned to membership on the Board. Director

Shetrone, Secretary Lindley, and Miss Hiestand were also present. In the

course of the afternoon a telephone message was received from Mr. Flor-

ence authorizing those present to act for him and to cast his ballot with

theirs in the election of staff members and officers of the Board. By this

action Mr. Florence made it possible for the Board to transact business as

a quorum. Mr. Johnson presided over the meeting.

There being no objections to the minutes of the previous meeting

which had been sent to members of the Board through the mail, those

minutes were declared approved.

After a brief resume of the previous history of the Society's interest

in the McFarland Estate at Oxford, Ohio, the secretary reported that he

felt the time had come for the Society to take immediate and definite

action, either alone or in cooperation with the Ohio State University, to

secure the $1,000 coming to it from that estate. The Board instructed the

secretary to take whatever action he deemed necessary to obtain a settle-

ment of this estate, and suggested that he cooperate with the Attorney-

General of Ohio in whatever legal action might be required.

The Board expressed its approval of the re-appropriation by the Ohio

legislature of the unexpended balance of the money originally granted dur-

ing the past biennium for the publication by the Society of a six-volume

History of Ohio, and asked that a sentence expressing its approbation of

such re-appropriation be included in the general statement of approval

which the secretary had been instructed by the Society (in its morning

meeting of April 7, 1939) to draw up for whatever use he might make

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                 125

 

of it in connection with securing the re-appropriation of the unexpended

balance.

The secretary gave a brief review of recent correspondence between

him and Curtis W. Garrison, director of research at the Hayes Memorial,

Fremont, Ohio, regarding the possible free distribution of the two-volume

Life of Hayes and the five-volume Diary and Letters of Hayes which the

Society has on hand. The Society now possesses 1,150 sets of the former

work and 102 sets of the latter. Mr. Garrison had suggested, and the

secretary concurred in his thought, that it might be worth while to give

some of these sets to a selected list of libraries and historical institutions

throughout the country. After general discussion, Mr. Miller moved that

500 sets of the Life and 52 sets of the Diary and Letters be retained by

the Society in its Museum at Columbus, and the remainder of the two

works be sent to Fremont for distribution by the Hayes Memorial Library,

it being understood that the Hayes Memorial should pay the cost of trans-

portation of these books. This motion, after being seconded by Mr. Spet-

nagel, was carried.

Mr. Wolfe moved that the present staff of the Society be re-elected

for another year. The motion was seconded by Mr. Miller and approved,

with appreciation voiced by Mr. Johnson for the work of the staff during

the past year.

The director reviewed the Society's financial situation, sketching the

budget requests of and grants to the Society since the biennium of 1935-6.

A resume of the items in the Society's present budget, now before the

legislature for action, was given. The director emphasized the inadequacy

of the amount now designated for "Personal Services." He spoke par-

ticularly of the loss to the Society should it be necessary to discontinue

the work of the Lithic Laboratory for the Eastern United States, housed

in the Ohio State Museum and at present supported through the gen-

erosity of Mr. Johnson and Mr. Wolfe. Mr. Smith expressed an interest

in this work and volunteered to assist in the support of the Lithic Labora-

tory. The director also spoke his appreciation, and that of the staff and

the Society, in the help given by the Board in trying to obtain for the

Society an adequate appropriation.

The director spoke briefly of the active part which the Society is

taking in planning and preparing for Ohio's display at the World's Fair

at New York City this summer. He expressed the hope that funds would

be available later to reimburse the Society for the money which it has

expended in this connection.

The office of Second Vice-President being vacant, Mr. Miller moved

that Mr. Wolfe be nominated for this position. The motion was seconded

by Mr. Smith and unanimously approved by the Board. Mr. Wolfe took

the chair during the election of the other officers of the Society. Mr. Smith

presented a motion that the officers who had served the Board of Trustees

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126    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

during the past year (Mr. Johnson, President; Mr. Eagleson, First Vice-

President; Mr. Lindley, Secretary; and Mr. Miller, Treasurer) be re-

elected for the coming year and that the secretary be instructed to cast

the ballot for their re-election. This motion, seconded by Mr. Spetnagel,

was unanimously approved. Mr. Johnson asked that the secretary draft

letters to the two retiring members of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Gold-

man and Mr. Goodman, thanking them for their services in behalf of the

Society. This suggestion was approved.

The secretary spoke briefly of the sessions of the Ohio History Con-

ference already held and of those yet to come.

Mr. Smith kindly offered to present to the Library of the Society

a special edition, autographed copy of Charlotte Reeve Conover's Builders

in New Fields, which bears directly on the history of Dayton. Apprecia-

tion of this generous gift was spoken by the secretary.

On motion of Mr. Miller and second of Mr. Wolfe, the meeting

was adjourned.

ARTHUR C. JOHNSON, SR., President.

HARLOW LINDLEY, Secretary.

 

 

Ohio Academy of History Sessions, April 7, 12:30 P. M., Deshler-

Wallick Hotel; 2:30 P. M., Ohio State Museum

Auditorium, A. Sellew Roberts, Presiding

The Ohio Academy of History, one of the sponsors of the

Ohio History Conference, met in two sessions April 7th. The

noon luncheon meeting was held as usual in connection with the

Ohio College Teachers' Association at the Deshler-Wallick Hotel

in Columbus. Dr. Arthur C. Cole, Western Reserve University,

read a paper on "Some Aspects of the Early Attack upon Amer-

ican Puritanism."

The afternoon session, a joint meeting with the Ohio State

Archaeological and Historical Society, was held in the Auditorium

of the Ohio State Museum on the university campus. The follow-

ing papers were read: Blake C. Cook, "Judge John Tyler--

Pioneer Jurist"; Curtis W. Garrison, "A President's Library";

and A. T. Volwiler, "Harrison, Blaine, and American Foreign

Policy, 1889-1893."

Professor A. T. Volwiler, Ohio University, Athens, was

elected president of the academy for the coming year and Dr.

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                 127

 

William D. Overman, Ohio State Archaeological and Historical

Society, was elected secretary.

Mr. Cook's paper on "Judge John Tyler--Pioneer Jurist"

will be published in the QUARTERLY later if not published other-

wise.   Professor A. T. Volwiler's paper on "Harrison, Blaine

and American Foreign Policy, 1889-1893" will be published in

the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 79,

no. 4. Mr. Garrison's paper follows.

 

 

A PRESIDENT'S LIBRARY

By CURTIS W. GARRISON

 

Private libraries, like figures, often lie. It is hazardous to judge a

man by the contents of his library. Thus the possession of Herodotus by

Grant, and the possession of Gibbon by Lincoln arouses contrary feelings.

And yet, we should study the circumstances which led to the acquisition of

these volumes and the evidences of their use, before we pass judgment.

To those interested in such matters I commend a paper read before

the American Antiquarian Society in 1934 by Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach,

in the preparation of which he was assisted by Dr. Clarence S. "Brigham,

entitled "The Libraries of the Presidents of the United States" (Wor-

cester, 1935). I felt sad as I read therein of the dispersal of Presidential

collections. Dr. Rosenbach can see some good in it, for note his last word:

"It is a pity that the great institutions of the United States do not contain

more books that at one time belonged to our Presidents, for it is possible

to obtain volumes from the private libraries of all of them."  Thus, you

have the opposite point of view of collector and librarian, and I am not

sure but that Dr. Rosenbach is right.

Three Presidential libraries, of all those from Washington through

Grant, were handed down intact: Jefferson's, John Quincy Adams', and

Grant's. Jefferson's, numbering over 7,000 volumes, was two-thirds de-

stroyed in the Capitol fire of 1851; John Quincy Adams', numbering about

6,500 volumes, is still preserved in the structure adjoining the Adams House

in Quincy, Massachusetts, together with some 750 titles in the Boston

Athenaeum; and the small and unimportant Grant collection is in the Cali-

fornia Building in Balboa Park. We may deduct from this that the Hayes

Library at Spiegel Grove, Fremont, together with the John Quincy Adams

Library, stand out as the two most important collections still intact and

still open to the student public. Strange to say, all the important collec-

tions after Hayes' time are closed to the public. Those which would ir

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128   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

any way compare--Benjamin Harrison's, Theodore Roosevelt's, Taft's,

Wilson's, and Hoover's--are in private possession. We might except the

Hoover War Library at Leland Stanford, but this is obviously not his

entire personal library.

When Hayes died he handed down about 8,000 volumes besides several

thousand pamphlets, a few leading files of newspapers, over a hundred

volumes of clippings, and a good collection of manuscripts. This library

with its additions was deeded to the state of Ohio in 1912 and is jointly

maintained in its own building by the State, acting through the Ohio State

Archaeological and Historical Society, and the Hayes Foundation. It has

been arranged and cataloged.

Catalogs, lists and bibliographies are intended to be printed and not

read aloud, so the most painless process of assimilating your mind to the

meaning of this collection is to sketch briefly the reading and acquisition

habits and background of Rutherford B. Hayes.

In November, 1875, when many referred to him as the next Presi-

dent, Hayes finished reading a biography of William H. Seward and noted

in his diary: "'He was not a scholar but he had scholarly tastes and

aptitudes.'" He had quoted this from the book, and added, "This is my

case." The library which he had then accumulated was a scholar's library,

but Hayes' estimate of himself is correct. He was well balanced between

the student and the man of action. His appetite for print was not guided

by esthetic considerations. All of his books are cut. He revered study

and source books and great writers as the record of our national history,

but he did not substitute the symbol of the printed page for the idea.

His father having died several months before his birth, an uncle,

Sardis Birchard, saw Rutherford through preparatory school, Kenyon Col-

lege, and Harvard Law School. His uncle illustrates for society in general

the transit of culture to the trans-Appalachia. He was an early store-

keeper, Indian trader, merchant, and banker of Lower Sandusky. In his

well-selected library of best read authors in English and American litera-

ture, Ruskin strikes the predominating note. He also became interested

in Emerson. The great historians and philosophers of the day, including

Bacon, Robertson, and Hume, were present and were read. In common

with the educators of the age, he believed thoroughly in the Greek and

Latin classics, and in ethics. Xenophon, Livy, Cicero, Tacitus, Plato, Herod-

otus, and Virgil must have developed tough mental fiber in collegians,

and seemed to have done little harm. To balance this fare Rutherford

enjoyed himself with Gibbon, Milman, and other ponderous histories. He

worried little over his studies. They came easily to him. The lives and

exploits of his fellow students furnished the main stuff for his diary. In

his junior year he became much affected with the beauties of Edmund

Spenser, which led to further poetical reading--Pope, Byron, Thomas

Moore, and Milton lumped together. Let us hope this neutralized the

classics.

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                 129

 

The Harvard Law School was probably the most important era in

Hayes' life. It broadened him to sit at the feet of Justice Joseph Story,

to hear his comments on men and events, his reminiscences of great debates,

his moral, legal, and common sense obiter dicta. Whig political meetings,

where John Quincy Adams and Webster thundered, the variety of churches,

the literary lectures of Longfellow, Boston in the flux of the transcendental

movement, raised him to a higher mental sphere. All this time he con-

tinued the reading of the poets. Nathaniel P. Willis, Byron and Scott

were giving way to Goethe and Schiller. Harvard gave him mental stimu-

lation and equipment, but the western student with Vermont relatives

wandered on the periphery of the hub, impressed by the outlook, but not

enough to addle his clear vision and judgment.

In 1850 he made the most decisive change in his life by starting

afresh in Cincinnati, after four desultory years in Lower Sandusky. In

our own time we cannot fully appreciate the importance of our oppor-

tunities for freeing the mind from the petty encirclements of a small com-

munity. Someone has recently pointed out that New York is now more

provincial than the small town. But when Hayes entered Cincinnati it

was as with the winged feet of Hermes. His mind ceased to read books

as lessons. The old favorites served as a springboard. He continued his

Byron to give him that "copia verborum and power of intense expression"

no jury advocate should lack. His favorite Shakespeare plays were re-

read, and Bulwer's Schiller gripped him peculiarly. How the reading

orgies of our youth return when we see in his diary that on December 1,

"Unshaved and unshirted spent the day in reading David Copperfield."

Possibly the greatest stimulus to his mental life came in the per-

sonal contact with Emerson in May, 1850. Emerson's visit to Cincinnati,

the cultural center of the West, to deliver his lectures on "England,"

"Instinct and Inspiration," and "Nature," was the most exciting adventure

the members of the Literary Society had experienced. Hayes was a mem-

ber of the delegation which waited on him and conducted him to the

society's rooms. The twenty-eight-year-old critic writes his sister, "There

is no logic or method in his essays or lectures. A Syllogism he despises.

The force of a connected chain of reasoning, his mind seems incapable

of appreciating. . . . He strikes me, contrary to my preconceived notions

of him, as a close, keen observer, rather than a profound thinker." He

goes on to analyze his philosophy, but time will not permit quotation.

Forty-two years later Hayes reflected on his very real debt to Emerson.

This time he wrote without analysis: Logic is the weapon of youth.

The reading noted above means also acquisition.    Everything of

Emerson, for instance, is in the Hayes Library, sometimes in several

editions, and lined throughout. But this after all represents assorted

congeries of volumes without any particular plan. The year 1856 is the

critical one for the Hayes Library. When Fremont was defeated in the

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130     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

election of that year, his anti-slavery interest crystallized. He decided,

"further work is to be done and my sense of duty determines me to keep

on in the path I have chosen--not to dabble in politics at the expense of

duty to my family and to the neglect of my profession, but to do what

I can consistently with other duties to aid in forming a public opinion

on this subject which will 'mitigate and finally eradicate the evil.' I must

study the subject, and am now beginning with Clarkson's 'History of the

Abolition of the Slave Trade.'" His collecting interests became chan-

nelized. From books on the liberation of man he ramifies into exploration

and American empire making. Jessy Quinn Thornton's Oregon and Cali-

fornia, Sir George Simpson's Narrative of a Journey around the World,

Charles Wilkes' Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition dur-

ing . . . 1838 . . . 1842, arouse an oratorical exuberance. "What a

prodigious growth this English Race, especially the American Branch of

it is having! How soon will it subdue and occupy all the wild parts of

this continent and of the islands adjacent. No prophecy, however seem-

ingly extravagant, as to future achievements in this way are likely to equal

the reality." Two weeks later he says he is "housed up all day trying to

keep warm reading Lewis and Clark's 'Expedition up the Missouri in

1804-5-6.'" He then swings back to Frederick L. Olmstead's A Journey

in the Seaboard Slave States, the life of Wilberforce, Frederick Douglass'

Life and W. G. W. Lewis' Biography of Samuel Lewis. This was the

best of his reading on the subject until he substituted the bayonet for

argument, and volunteered for the Civil War.

The men who won the war should see that its peace secured the vic-

tory. This was a natural philosophy. Hayes gladly accepted the oppor-

tunity to practise it, and was elected, even while in the field, to a seat in

Congress from Cincinnati. On December 1, 1865, having settled down in

his Washington office, he prudently noted his perquisites, the most im-

portant being all the back numbers of the Congressional Globe, a small

library of some value, and fifty dollars for newspapers. Ten days later

he noted that he had been appointed a member of the Joint Library Com-

mittee. "It is one of the no-account committees in a public sense," he

writes, "but has some private interest. . . It brings one in association

with the bookish." For the remainder of his term in Congress and dur-

ing his two terms as Governor, he probably read a preponderance of docu-

ments and newspapers. Scarcely out of the governor's chair, in January,

1872, however, he writes, "One of my pet schemes for the future will

be to form--to collect--a complete library of Ohio books. . . . I may hope,

at least for twenty years of life. In that time I may gather what in the

State Library, or other fit place, will be of much interest." His hope was

fulfilled. He had twenty-one years of life. He did gather the library,

not especially on Ohio, for his interests ultimately transcended the State.

Within two years he acquired in one group, that part usually referred to

as the Clarke purchase.

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                 131

 

During his Cincinnati days Hayes had met Robert Clarke, the book

dealer, publisher, and bibliophile. Very little has been written about him

and we are indebted to Dr. Reginald C. McGrane's sketch in the Dictionary

of American Biography. Justin Winsor, in the first volume of his Critical

and Narrative History, published in 1889, believed that "the most important

Americana lists at present issued by American dealers are those of Robert

Clarke & Co., of Cincinnati, which are admirable specimens of such lists."

Clarke issued about eight catalogs from 1869 to 1889, and sold at least

two large collections of books, the one purchased by Hayes in 1874, and

a later lot by Newberry Library. Hayes had just come into the estate

left him by his uncle, Sardis Birchard, and looked forward to a life of

scholarly and historical activity.

It is quite clear that it was his private collection which Clarke sold

to Hayes. On October 27, 1874, he wrote to him from Glendale: "I have

packed all of my Americana & shipped them last night as per enclosed

B/L. . . . I have marked in the catalogue the contents of each box. . . .

Ohio is in no. 13, Central West in No. 14. . . ."   Something more than

the student and something more than the collector speaks in the next para-

graph: "It is only by handling the books that one can appreciate their

value. I feel certain that no individual or society in the west has such a

collection, and they are worth much more than the price I placed on them.

I hope & have no doubt that you will have as much pleasure in them as

I have had. I have had the blues terribly in packing them, they are like

old friends. In some cases I have retained my old copies & given you

new ones, but in all cases better than the ones retained."

The appraisal he put on his library was no idle boast. There must

have been over four thousand volumes in the lot. As now arranged Ameri-

can local history occupies over three-fourths of the shelving devoted to the

Clarke purchase. It is arranged geographically commencing with New

England and the Atlantic seaboard, followed by the Southern States, then

the states of the Central West, the Plains, the Rocky Mountains, the

Pacific Coast, and a small collection on Canada and Mexico.     There

are also good sections on the Indians, general American travel and

description, general historical works, collections of statesmen, and the

wars from 1754 to 1815. Clarke built the collection on the foundation of

source books. It is preponderantly a series of descriptions and narratives

of participants and observers of the contemporary scene, or compilations

of such writings. It is not altogether a book collector's paradise. If we

had to use only those books which collectors in their whimsy hand us

as rarities, I would fear for the future of our historical writing. To

illustrate, let us take a shelf on general description, travel and history of

the Mississippi River and Valley as classified by the Library of Congress

scheme F 351 to 354. There are about fifty works in this section. I note

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132     OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

that in general works, we have Jacob Ferris' The States and Territories

of the Great West, 1856; Timothy Flint's Condensed Geography and His-

tory of the Western States, 1828; the same author's History and Geography

of the Mississippi Valley, 1832; John W. Foster's The Mississippi Valley,

1869; James Hall's The Romance of Western History, 1857; and the same

author's Sketches of History, Life, and Manners in the West, 1835; Mil-

burn's Pioneers, Preachers and People of the Mississippi Valley, 1860; and

Monette's well known work in the first edition of 1846. Selecting a few

of the outstanding in the next class, F 352, comprehending works of ex-

ploration before 1803, we have Daniel Coxe's Description of the English

Province of Carolana, 1741; Father Hennepin's Discovery, the London

edition of 1698; and the first, second, and third editions of Gilbert Imlay's

Topographical Description of the Western Territory of North America,

1792, 1793, and 1797. Thomas Ashe's travels are also here, and John D.

Gilmary Shea, H. M. Brackenridge, John Bradbury, Zadok Cramer's Navi-

gator, and so on. On Ohio, I doubt if there are any works not found

elsewhere in the State, but use of the Union Catalogs in Columbus and

in Cleveland might prove me mistaken. The "Maxwell code" of laws

relating to the Northwest Territory, 1796, the first book printed in Cin-

cinnati, is in the Ohio section.

If Hayes did not use these books as a historian, nevertheless very

few are in the "prime unused condition," of book-dealers' parlance. Many

bear his autograph on the title-page.

Not all of Hayes' collecting was in the realm of Americana. Sub-

sequent to this purchase he invested mainly in contemporary politics and

economics of the 1870's and 1880's. Few works of this type are rare,

save for pamphlets. In his pamphlet collection of over ten thousand items

are many titles on the continual political ferment, economic conditions,

education, and immigration appeals. Immigration prospectuses are especially

numerous on the South and West, the latter dating back before the Civil

War. One of the strongest subjects in the file is prison reform. Many

reports of penal, correctional, and welfare institutions were kept, for

Hayes was president of the American Prison Association from 1882 to his

death in January, 1893. We would expect to find a great deal on civil

service, temperance, currency, Chinese immigration, and the election of

1876, and we are not disappointed.

The catalog is already too long, and I must close with a mention

of the most important sources accumulated by Hayes, the bound clipping

file, and his correspondence. The clipping file is contained in 130 quarto

scrapbooks, of even size. They were compiled and arranged by White

House secretaries, fitting onto a small series started by Hayes himself.

Except for the first few volumes the clippings are for the most part dated

and titled. They refer to reaction on administration policies and national

events, from a wide spread of newspapers.

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                  133

 

The Hayes Papers cannot be described in a brief way. Read the

sketch of him by Allan 'Nevins in the Dictionary of American Biography

and then seek for enlargement on national themes in the Papers, and you

will not be disappointed. To a biographer they are disappointing for the

lack of Hayes letters. Probably several hundred drafts and originals were

retained or reclaimed, a mere handful to those he sent out. H. J. Ecken-

rode, in his interesting biography has a note on page 204 stating that

"Many of these letters have been published, but thousands of them, mostly

trivial, remain unpublished in . . . Fremont, Ohio." But, those published

in the Diary and Letters are, with few exceptions, letters of Hayes. I am

sure this note suffers from loose wording and does not mean what it might

import, for in his bibliography he calls the Papers "an invaluable source."

There is very little but family correspondence before 1860, but the series

between Hayes and his wife, Lucy, dating from 1852 are quite valuable.

Several thousand pieces suffice to take us up to the year 1876, including

some very important series of letters from Ohioans, and then the collec-

tion broadens nationally and stays on that plane until the end. The Presi-

dency probably covers about two-thirds of the whole. One of the great

virtues of this collection is the high relative quality of content. There

are interesting series on almost any important question of the Presidency.

Hayes dropped politics after leaving it, and devoted the last twelve years

to education (including his work on the Peabody and Slater Funds),

manual training, prison reform, and interest in the activities of the G. A. R.

and the Loyal Legion.

There are over one hundred thousand pages of writing in the collec-

tion, and the whole has been filmed on 16mm. single perforate film, in an

alphabetical arrangement. The collection is now being arranged chronolog-

ically, and that task is nearly completed. It compares with the Cleveland

Papers in the Library of Congress, and is larger than the Garfield and

McKinley collections.  It is quite similar in many respects to that of

Benjamin Harrison.

A President is a public man, and his acts have no meaning apart

from the public weal. As valuable as it is, the Hayes Library is valueless

without use. Please help to make it more valuable.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Citations to Rutherford B. Hayes' reading and acquisition of books are to

Charles R. Williams, ed., Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes (Colum-

bus, 1922-26). The other citations are mentioned in the text, except the letter from

Robert Clarke, which is in the Hayes MSS.

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134    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Public Session of the Ohio Committee on Medical History and

Archives, 2:00 P. M., April 7, Ohio State Museum Library,

Jonathan Forman, Presiding

The public session of the Ohio Committee on Medical His-

tory and Archives was called to order by Dr. Jonathan Forman,

its chairman, at 2:00 P. M. on April 7, 1939, in the Library of

the Museum. The program was concerned with "The Pioneer

Physicians of Ohio: Their Lives and Their Contributions to the

Development of the State, 1788-1835." The first paper in this

series was written by Dr. D. D. Shira and was entitled "An At-

tempt to Regulate by Law and the Purpose behind the Move-

ment." Dr. Shira was not present and his paper was read by

Dr. Robert G. Paterson.

(paper)*

DR. FORMAN: I think it is well to call attention to the fact that

in these early days county prosecutors reluctantly prosecuted cases

against unlicensed practitioners until a new law provided that

half of the fine should go to the county where the case was tried.

Now, it seems that there is a penalty because of holding this

meeting on Good Friday, as Dr. Waite of Cleveland cannot be

with us. The next paper will be that of Dr. Howard C. Dittrick

of Cleveland, speaking on "The Equipment, Instruments and

Drugs of the Pioneer Physicians of Ohio."

(paper)

DR. FORMAN: To go on now with the discussion of "The Method

of Treatment of Some of the More Common Diseases of the

Times by the Pioneer Physicians of Ohio" by Dr. David A.

Tucker, of Cincinnati.

(paper)

DR. FORMAN: I will try to tell you something about "The Med-

ical Journals of the Pioneer Physicians of Ohio" of this par-

ticular time.

(paper)

 

* Because of the educational and historical value of these papers it is planned

to publish them in the July, 1939, issue of the Ohio State Archaeological and His-

torical Quarterly. By this means the full proceedings of the 1939 Ohio History Con-

ference can be preserved.

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS        135

 

DR. FORMAN: We will now go to "The Part That the Pioneer

Physicians Played in Getting Certain Institutions for the Citizens

of Ohio, Such as the Commercial Hospital, the Schools for the

Deaf and Blind," by Dr. Robert G. Paterson.

(paper)

DR. FORMAN: We will now pass on to the seventh paper "The

Part That the Pioneer Physicians of Ohio Played in the Com-

munity as Exemplified in the Church and Lodge" by Dr. James

J. Tyler, of Warren.

(paper)

DR. FORMAN: We come now to "The Beginning of Formal

Dental Education at Bainbridge, Ohio," by Dr. Edward C. Mills,

of Columbus.

DR. MILLS: It is with real pleasure that I note the importance

that this organization has given to dentistry. During the reading

of the papers I was very much pleased to find Chillicothe so

prominently mentioned. That is my native heath and the region

of which I am going to speak lies twenty miles west of Chillicothe,

near Bainbridge.

(paper)

DR. FORMAN: This brings to a close the program which Dr.

Lindley, possibly wisely, called to ask me about--as to whether

we were going to give it in one afternoon or two days. Our

program has been lengthy but I think it has been very worth while

and I hope that it will be agreeable with the group next year to

go on and build up another period of about twenty-five years.

We should like to get the history of the part that the doctor has

played in Ohio. Do you have any announcements, Dr. Lindley?

DR. LINDLEY: Dr. Forman, I want to say that it is disconcerting

to try to be at three different places at the same time in one after-

noon. I was indeed sorry that I could not have been here at the

opening of the session to have given you a word of welcome to

the Ohio State Museum. We are proud of this movement that

has been carried forward in such a fine way by Dr. Forman and

Dr. Paterson. I have concluded that the medical profession is

much better balanced than I had thought it was. You do cer-

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136   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

tainly have an interest in historical background. I hope that each

of these papers will be deposited with the secretary of this sec-

tion and I want to say that from what I have heard we will want

to publish as nearly all of them as possible. I would like to have

at least abstracts so that in the course of the year we can carry

this out and make the discussions a matter of record. The Ohio

State Archaeological and Historical Society was organized and is

supported by the state of Ohio with one specific function and

that is to collect and preserve Ohio history in every way.

We appreciate very much the sort of experiment that we have

had this year--a united historical interest of various types into

this one historical conference. This is no longer the meeting of

the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society--this is the

Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, the historical

society of the medical profession, the Columbus Genealogical

Society, and the general session of the history teachers of colleges

and universities of the State. As you know, the annual dinner of

the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society is to be held

at six-fifteen at the Faculty Club of the Ohio State University

and all of those participating in the conference are invited. Fol-

lowing the dinner will be an address by Mr. Grove Patterson,

editor of the Toledo Blade. Tomorrow morning there will be a

joint session of the Columbus Genealogical Society and the Ohio

State Archaeological and Historical Society in the Auditorium of

the Museum. Those of you who can get away from your pro-

fession and be present are most cordially invited to attend.

DR. FORMAN: Is there any other business to come before the

group? Will all those appearing on the program kindly turn

their papers over to Dr. Paterson?

The session adjourned.

 

Annual Dinner Session of the Ohio State Archaeological and

Historical Society, 6:1₅ P. M., April 7, Faculty Club,

O. S. U., H. C. Shetrone, Presiding

The Annual Dinner of the Ohio State Archaeological and

Historical Society, held at 6:15 P. M., April 7, at the Faculty Club

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS         137

 

of the Ohio State University, was attended by over fifty persons,

representing the various organizations cooperating in the Ohio

History Conference. H. C. Shetrone, director of the Society,

presided, introducing Mrs. Janet Wethy Foley of Akron, New

York, who gave an address on "An Adventure in Genealogy,"

in which she related her own and her husband's experiences in

adopting genealogy as their profession.

 

 

General Session, 8:00 P. M., April 7, University Hall, O. S. U.,

Arthur C. Johnson, Sr., Presiding

The general session of the Ohio History Conference, held

Friday evening, April 7, in University Hall, Ohio State Uni-

versity, consisted of an address on "Tales of the Presidents, or

Gossip of History," delivered by the editor of the Toledo Blade,

Grove Patterson, enthusiastically introduced to an audience of

approximately two hundred persons by Arthur C. Johnson, Sr.,

president of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society.

Patterson warned his audience that what he had to say would

not be of great importance, that he would deal largely with

trivialities, but, he hoped, trivialities which would prove as in-

teresting to his hearers as they had to him.

After sketching briefly the rise and growth of political parties

in the United States, he turned to a survey of American Presi-

dents from George Washington to Theodore Roosevelt. An ac-

complished raconteur, he had evidently selected his material with

care, for the anecdotes which he related were all illustrative of

the thought which served as theme to his address: "The big

doors of history swing on little hinges." This they did, he as-

serted, at the time of Lincoln's election, caused in part at least

by these three apparently unrelated things: Stephen Douglas's

dislike of the climate of Cleveland; Lincoln's fatherly concern

over his son's poor academic record at Harvard; and Horace

Greeley's hatred of William H. Seward.

Patterson dwelt at some length on the career of Grant, whom

he considers the most interesting of all the Republican Presidents,

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138    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

the intriguing thing about Grant's career being that his fame

rested largely on his military achievements though Grant himself

was a man who neither liked war nor, on the technical side at

least, knew very much about it.

Speaking in a pleasing, staccato manner, Patterson captivated

his audience with his fund of seldom-heard stories, the interest-

ing sidelights he threw on well-known historic events, and his

ability to sum up in a few revealing words the personalities of

our Presidents.

Most of his tales were humorous ones, appreciation for which

was shown in the repeated laughter heard in the hall. One of

his most effective stories was that of the interview granted, per

force, to Anne Royall, intrepid newspaper woman of the early

nineteenth century, by John Quincy Adams, who bathed in the

Potomac while the dauntless reporter waited on the bank and,

seated on the presidential habiliments, noted down Adams' grudg-

ing replies to her questions on the United States Bank.

Hearty applause marked the conclusion of Patterson's lecture.

Speaking for himself, the Ohio State Archaeological and His-

torical Society, and attenders of the Ohio History Conference,

Johnson thanked Patterson for the stimulating and entertaining

evening he had given his listeners.

 

General Session, 10:00 A. M., April 8, Ohio State Museum,

Frank A. Livingston, Presiding

The first speaker of the morning was Miss Mary A. Stone,

of Cambridge, Ohio, president of the Guernsey County Historical

Society, and a teacher for fifty-one years.

 

GENEALOGY: A STUDY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

By MARY A. STONE

The work of an historical society becomes more important as the

years pass. The pioneers who saw the beginnings are gone, and their

children who heard from their elders' lips the stories of the past are going

very rapidly. In the future, history must be written by the younger gen-

eration. The writers must make thorough scientific research and investi-

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                 139

 

gation. The full meaning of any movement is not understood by the actors

in the movement. Time gives perspective that enables interpretation. The

duty of the present day historical society is two-fold: to collect and pre-

serve records and to inspire the younger generation to further research

and. the writing of history. Each must interpret his own time by under-

standing the past. A great opportunity and a great responsibility is ours.

We are citizens of the vast Mississippi basin. A wise man said some forty

years ago: "This wide territory has furnished to the American spirit

something of its own largeness" and "this sense of space is an explanation

of many features in American character."

Many years ago a famous scholar from University of Cambridge,

England, said, as he looked over our wide prairies, rolling hills and noble

streams: "This will become the seat of the greatest empire the world has

ever known." He did not know American ideals, aspirations or traditions.

He little dreamed of the influence of the wide open spaces upon the

American spirit and the love of freedom.    He could not foresee our

democracy. The Middle West is a powerful factor in the nation. Immi-

gration played its part. Ports in the northern colonies were not open to

all peoples and religions, so many in the early years landed in Pennsyl-

vania, Virginia and Maryland, and as immigration moves on parallels

and the colonies where they landed were fast filled up, Scotch-Irish, Eng-

lish, Welsh, French and other Europeans, soon came to the West and the

Mississippi basin became the "melting pot of America." Assistant Attorney

General McMahon said recently: "The source of our power is the protec-

tion of our individual rights" and a writer on national defense declares "the

best way to promote world peace and good will is to make the American

experiment more and more successful." This gives great importance to

the development of personality. That has ever been a serious problem to

parents and teachers. I am old-fashioned enough to believe in heredity;

the best personality, I believe, is one in which the influences of heredity

and environment are well balanced and blended.

America needs now more than she has ever needed before, a return

to the ideals of her founders, "the faith of our fathers."

 

"We must safe-guard her standards

The vision of her Washington,

The martyrdom of her Lincoln

With the patriotic fervor of the Minute Men

And the soldiers of her glorious past."

 

Why study genealogy?     It seems unnecessary to explain to this

audience.

Dr. O. W. Holmes said, "Every man is an omnibus in which all of

his ancestors ride." Is it not worth while to be acquainted with our pas-

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140                OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

sengers?    I heard a new reason a few days ago. A Cambridge man, Mr.

A, who likes history and scorns genealogy was passing the home of his

friend, Mr. B, one morning. Mr. B rushed out to show his friend his lineage

which he had just received from one of the bureaus that offers to send

your family tree for $2 or more. Mr. A looked at it and said, "What

value is it to you?" Mr. B answered, "Well, I expect some day to go over

there and I should like to know whom I am going to meet."

There is a foolish vain pride of ancestry that collects famous names

and boasts of rank and wealth but there is a proper pride in ancestors of

high ideals, of loyalty, courage and industry, ancestors of noble ideas and

deeds. I see no dividing line between genealogy and history. History is

the activity of the people who were living at the time described.

We should honor in our lineage not only heroes and persons notable

but also the faithful toilers who lived, worked and died "unhonored and

unsung." American youth need to know the joy of working and of

bearing one's part in the general welfare. Once a worn out teakettle lay

in the corner of a shed with some disabled and dismantled locomotives.

The teakettle said, "Well, brothers, don't be downhearted; we played a

useful part in our day and may comfort ourselves thinking of our achieve-

ments." "What is that old tin-whistle talking about over there in the

corner? Who are his brothers?" said one locomotive. "Let me tell you,"

said the teakettle, "with all your pride you will not own me as a brother;

I am your father and mother, for whoever would have heard of a locomo-

tive, if it had not been for a teakettle?"

The Latin poet, Horace, had no pride of ancestry because his father

was a Roman slave, but those who pointed the finger of scorn at him died

in obscurity, while the poet is immortal.

The Chinese have held longer to their unchanging traditions than

any other people through an ancestor worship of a mistaken type.

The Athenian youths were very early sworn to uphold the ideals of

their fathers.

The Bible is full of genealogies, and there we find an illustration of

the passing of it over to the children. In orthodox homes of the Hebrews

a portion of the Scripture was placed in a tiny box or case, fastened to the

side of the door frame and each member of the family as he passed

through the door, touched the box with the finger tip and remembered the

sacred words; the little ones were required to repeat them aloud. At the

Passover, in each home, when the ceremonials are over the youngest boy

present asks of the oldest man, "Father, what mean these things?" and the

history and interpretation are given in detail.

Alfred the Great, famous Saxon king, required the monks to trace

his lineage back to Adam and write it in the old Saxon Chronicle; there

it is today--if you can get your line to Alfred, you can go on to Adam.

The old English also passed the traditions over to youth. Those who

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                 141

 

had the allotting of lands took with them lads whom they whipped with

rods as they went round the lots, so they would remember the boundaries.

This was called "beating the bounds."

I heard a speaker say the Pueblo Indians near Santa Fe had kept more

of their original traditions and customs than any other American Indians.

A picture painted at the artist camp near-by will explain that--it is the

"Solemn Pledge"--two tall dignified Indians stand in the foreground. Be-

fore them  is a twelve-year old boy, with serious face; he is pledging

himself to keep the ancient tradition. A younger boy stands by him drink-

ing in every word. When his time comes, I am sure he will pledge himself

gladly. Dr. Jay H. Nash of University of New York wrote recently: "No

great nation has developed leisure and lived. Get a hobby!" What more

fascinating hobby than genealogy?

When I was invited to speak here today, it was suggested that I give

some of my own experience. If I give too much of the personal, pray

pardon me on account of that request. I shall speak first of home experi-

ence as we were the children I knew best, and we were just ordinary

children; what would interest us would be interesting to other children. I

always feel sorry for children who grow up without the association with

their grandparents. It is perhaps because we were so unusually blessed

with them, that my sister and I became fascinated with both history and

genealogy. Our parents died in their thirties, but all four grandparents

lived to be more than the three score and ten. We lived with our father's

parents, and, my grandmother's older sister, "Auntie" Bassett, lived with

us and mothered us through our childhood.     Besides, we visited our

mother's parents and two great grandmothers and one great grandfather--

three golden weddings among them, which we helped to celebrate! What

stories they could tell! How we delighted in them! Grandma and Auntie

told about their journey to Ohio in 1828, from Keene, New Hamp-

shire, by big wagon to Troy, New York, by Erie Canal to Buffalo, by

Lake Erie in a great storm to Sandusky and again big wagon to what is

now Keene, Coshocton County, Ohio; of the grandfather left in the New

Hampshire home, lame from a wound at Bunker Hill; of the other grand-

father, a Minute Man at Lexington and Concord, and of his wife born in

the Wayside Inn which her grandfather built. Our grandfather told of

his Civil War experiences, of his father in 1812 and his grandfather with

Washington at Valley Forge, and how his tiny grandmother rode horse-

back from Culpepper, Virginia, to Valley Forge with supplies for her hus-

band and brothers, and how from York, Pennsylvania, she carried a letter

to General Washington, which told of a plot against him. We saw and

handled pewter plates, samplers and other heirlooms. We had candle

moulds and Grandma made some "tallow dips" for us. Grandpa tapped a

maple tree and let us make some maple sugar. He sowed a patch of flax

in our back yard and went through all the processes to the linen thread. I

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142    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

am sure you have guessed why I am telling all this. These are the things

children love to hear and see--true stories of olden times, heirlooms and

how things were done in the past. We should keep alive an interest in the

life and customs of olden time. Every child in Ohio should visit the Mu-

seum here, Schonbrunn and Marietta. Every high school boy and girl should

see Washington, D. C.

In the teacher-training department at Muskingum College in our social

studies classes, we required the teachers to develop a project they could

use in future in their schools. Some made scrap-books, some, collections of

pictures, card board villages of Indians or Pilgrims, etc. One Muskingum

County teacher made a collection of old time implements. Every boy who

saw it had to try the flail and then he would say, "It took a strong man to

thrash grain with that." A young man from Tuscarawas County began a

miniature Schonbrunn; he completed one cabin, the church and school; and

his pupils were to complete the project. Do you think children cannot

understand or appreciate these things? I fear we often underrate their

abilities in that line. Bobby, aged eight, used to come to enjoy my bird

books, readers, etc. One day I found him flat on the floor poring over a

Compendium of the Institute of American Genealogy. When I asked what

he was doing, he said he had a picture he wished I would explain--it was

an elaborate coat-of-arms in colors. I told him what I could about it and

to his surprise, his father brought out his family arms. Bobby brought it

over and together we studied its symbols and he kept it as a sort of mea-

sure of conduct and I believe it has helped him to become the fine young

man that he is now. In 1904, my sister and I took our five-year-old niece

to the St. Louis Exposition. One of her favorite places to visit each day

was the Independence Bell. One morning as we stood looking at it, the

policeman on guard said to us, "Let the little girl go under the rope and

put her hands on the bell." Margaret did not wait for us to tell her but

slipped quickly under the rope and patted the bell as though it were alive.

The policeman said a few days before he saw a little three-year-old boy

eyeing him as if, were he out of sight, he would do something, so he turned

his back and then turned quickly--the little boy had crept under the rope

and kneeling, was kissing the old bell. The guard said he had made up

his mind that all the little folks should have an opportunity to touch

the bell.

Last November I had some research at the Congressional Library;

before leaving, I visited once more the shrine of the Declaration of Inde-

pendence. As I stood before it thinking what the Signers must have felt,

the guard who has been there seven years said to me: "You love it, so do

I, but so many people care nothing about it. Very little children look at

it with awe and speak of it in whispers. From about the second grade to

the seventh, the children are interested and enthusiastic. From there on

through high school they are increasingly indifferent. I wonder why. Do

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OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS                143

 

you know?" I told him I did not know but I had some guesses--that

teachers become so accustomed to the same patriotic stories, they speak

without the enthusiasm they should feel and use. Some, impressing young

people with their own superiority, belittle the subject enshrined and, too,

the debunking of so many sacred things by newspapers does much harm.

As I came away he lifted his cap and said: "Thank you, you have given

me something to think about." I have thought about it, too, since, and I

think perhaps I omitted an important item. The high school boy does not

parade his emotions; perhaps his indifference, his flippant remark hide

real feeling.

In Washington, D. C., twin boys aged twelve won a contest for the

best verses on "Why I Love and Respect the Flag." Did they understand?

Listen !

"It's something that she stands for

That makes my heart beat fast;

It's the memory of her greatness,

The spirit of the past.

 

"A spirit great and glorious

That comes down through the years;

It makes my heart beat wild with joy

And eyes fill up with tears."

In August, 1936, I was retired after fifty years of teaching, the last

twenty-two years being in the teacher-training department of Muskingum

College. In order to be affiliated with the Teachers' Retirement Fund I was

required to teach an extra year. The Cambridge School Board gave me the

privilege and I taught my last--my fifty-first year, in a different building,

but on the same ground I taught my first. My position was an extra one--

I believe they called such jobs in the Revolutionary War supernumeraries.

Among other things, I had five classes of eighth grade boys and girls

in civics. The text-book was hard and dry, statistical; the students did not

like it. So we put into it a lot of local material--I had them draw North-

west Territory, Ohio, and the counties and roads, Guernsey County, the plat

of Cambridge in 1806, when all the streets were named for trees, and the

plat with twice as many lots in 1830. We had the photostat of the land

grant, too, giving the land, on which Cambridge is situated, to her founders,

Zaccheus A. Beatty and Zaccheus Biggs, signed November 6, 1801, by

Thomas Jefferson, President, and James Madison, secretary of state.

While we did this, we had stories of the founding of the town and organi-

zation of the county. Some of them were descendants of pioneers and

brought in items of interest. This brought in genealogy and the pupils were

greatly interested; some brought in books of family history. One boy said:

"Oh, Miss Stone, I haven't any ancestors." Thereupon another one com-

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mented: "Like Topsy, he just growed up." I understood and said: "Your

father came from England?" "Yes." "Well, ask him about his people in

England." He did and his father had an English sister send the boy a

chart, then the boy who didn't have any ancestors had plenty of them.

We were looking forward to the Northwest Territorial Celebration

and a few minutes each day were given to current news about it. One item

that attracted much attention was to the effect that our roads being harder,

the ox team must be shod and how was it to be done. One boy referred

the question to his father and was told: "Your grandfather drove oxen, ask

him." Next morning the boy was there bright and early and he had a shoe

for an ox. Most of the boys and girls asked if it were broken, not think-

ing that for a cloven hoof a shoe is in two pieces.

In the spring of 1937, Cambridge celebrated the centennial of its incor-

poration; the Chamber of Commerce asked that the schools take some part.

The principals met and decided I should do the work. So while a substi-

tute met my classes, I went about to the elementary schools and gave six-

teen talks on the history of Cambridge. The children gave excellent atten-

tion and their interested faces and enthusiastic reception I can never forget.

Then the teachers asked for it in permanent form and I carefully prepared

this little book. Any labor or time I gave to its preparation or of the talks

has been richly repaid by their appreciation. One mother of a first grade

girl told me that the little one showed visitors her little history first and

then her dolls.  One rainy Saturday evening not long ago, someone

knocked at my door and there was a little boy, his face streaked with tears.

He said a little cousin had visited him that day and had liked the "little

Cambridge book" so much his mother had given his to the visitor. When

she found how her boy grieved at its loss, she sent him to see if I had any

more. I sent him away happy with another book.

The Northwest Territory Celebration resulted with us in the forma-

tion of a Pioneer Club and then the Guernsey County Historical Society.

I wish to give you an idea of one of our plans. We are planning to enter-

tain small groups of young people in each township; several of us will be

there with something historical to show and talk about. A friend who is

an invalid and cannot take part in this has promised to lend me for my

first party one of her treasures--a cannon ball picked up on the battlefield

after Braddock's defeat.

 

"What are all the prizes won

To Youth's enchanted view?

And what is all that man has done

To what the boy can do?"

 

It is my sincere belief after years spent in the schoolroom, that the

Youth of America is today as fine and true and noble as the world has ever

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known. Entrust the future to them. Teach them ideals of service and of

Christian citizenship. They'll not fail us. Throw them the lighted torches

and these will grow brighter as they climb the heights to endless day.

Said our beloved poet:

 

"The thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."

and Emerson,

"So nigh is grandeur to our dust,

So near is God to man,

When duty whispers low, 'Thou must,'

The youth replies, 'I can.'"

The second speaker of the morning was Mrs. Helen C. Hill

Sloan of Marietta, Ohio.

 

THE LURE OF THE PIONEER

By MRS. HELEN C. HILL SLOAN

 

PRESIDENT LIVINGSTON, MEMBERS OF THE COLUMBUS GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

AND FRIENDS:

I bring you greetings from the little settlement at the confluence of

the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers. There for over one hundred and fifty

years we have carried on our New England traditions, under the giant elms

and maples, which our pioneer forefathers, and successive generations, have

planted and cared for.

We hope you will all drive down to Marietta this spring, the red-bud,

and dog-wood along the way will be beautiful. Summer or fall, we will

have many things that will interest you, historically and genealogically.

I have been asked to tell of some phases of my work in Washington

County. As historian and genealogist for the Marietta chapter, Daughters

of the American Revolution, and member of the State Historical Activities

Committee of the Colonial Dames of America, it has been my duty to

acquaint myself with the various sources of information available in this

section.

Our court and church records date from the beginning of the settle-

ment in 1788. Local histories, private collections of manuscripts, letters, and

genealogies, including the journals of Rufus Putnam and the proceedings of

the Ohio Company, furnish accurate data and enable us to go back beyond

the Revolution to early colonial times.

It has been my especial interest to collate the lines of descent of these

early pioneers, in order that their names and deeds may be preserved and

their pedigrees established, and made available back to the immigrant ances-

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tor who first established the family in America. Sometimes I have to fur-

nish a wife or husband and often I give them a dozen children.

"Throughout the fabrick that has been weaving in the loom of time

there is a pattern. The shuttle in ceaseless routine moves; with bright

colors: with the drab of uneventfulness, sometimes with the black of war,

with its deepening shadows of disaster and despair. Ever present though,

through all the ages, has been and will be, outstanding in the weaving pat-

tern, an undertone of values, eternal and supreme--the blending harmonies

of continuing family life."

I like the thought, recently attributed to Kaiser Wilhelm, that: "A

nation is created by families, a religion, traditions. It is made up of the

hearts of mothers, the wisdom of fathers, and the joyous laughter of

children."

If it be true, that the environment and experiences of our parents, and

of their parents, and earlier parents--uncounted--has come unerringly, in

some degree, to be a part of us, then, unless the role of indifference be

assumed, there must be wholesome concern in everyone, over the question:

Who were these people whose names we bear, whose stature we acquire,

whose complexion we share, and whose countenance our mirrors reflect?

By identifying those whose blood we share, we each may find a place

in the ever-weaving pattern. The shuttle thread of history thus becomes

to each of us a personal thing.

 

"History is a Painter

Her pictures fill the land

Unfailing is her genius

Unceasing is her hand."

 

Let us then look backward and see the picture portrayed and the part

our forebears had in the developing of this new world.

In 1620 our Pilgrim forefathers left their homes in old England and

established a New England here in America. In 1788 our pioneer fore-

fathers left this same New England to begin life anew in the Ohio country.

What was the lure of this new country--why did men and women

leave home and dear ones, friends and the comforts of an established com-

munity ?

If one is to think of the pioneers of Ohio of 1788 and the following

years, when there was a steady flow of emigration from the New England

states--one must inevitably think of 1620. I venture the assertion that

there were few--if any--of the early settlements in Ohio, that did not

number their Mayflower descendants--in accordance to the ratio of their

New England population.

We are familiar with the Mayflower Compact, we know why the

Pilgrims came to America and we have acquainted ourselves with the con-

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tributing factors which resulted in the forming of the Ohio Company and

the establishing of civil government in the Northwest Territory--but what

of the children of old England, and what of the mothers and families here

in Ohio?

We are prone to think of our pioneer Ohio families and our Revo-

lutionary heroes as being from New England--but were they? The more

we study the facts, the more are we convinced that

 

"No one can live unto himself alone, . . .

A separate path no one can quite pursue--

We work together, though we know it not."

 

Shall we look for a moment across the ocean? If I seem to ramble

about inanely, please bear with me, concentrate on the names I give and I

hope you can follow my line of thought.

First we will visit an English garden. The shy, lonely lad is Bill

Bradford--his parents are dead. Sometimes his grandparents allow him to

play with the six little Carpenter girls. "Let's play stage coach," suggested

Bridget. "Let's go far, far away, maybe clear to London," said Alice. "I

could never leave Mother," said prim little Mary. And little did they dream

that soon the Carpenters would flee to Holland, and never had they even

heard of America.

Many things happened and at last the Carpenters returned to England.

Alice was quite a big girl and grew very fond of young Bill Bradford, but

the proud parents soon put an end to the budding romance. Poor Bill left,

for no one knew where--so it was probably just as well.

The years flew by, and how amused they were, those six Carpenter

girls, when someone suggested they might go to America. "Why, how

silly, who ever heard of such a thing? Sister Alice is going to be mar-

ried next month to a very fine gentleman. We think Agnes likes Sam

Fuller, and everyone knows that Julia will marry George Morton, and live

in York."

As for Bill Bradford, no one had seen him for ever so long. It was

rumored that he had gone to Leyden and married Dorothy--well, Dorothy

somebody.

Probably Alice Carpenter had forgotten all about him. She was busy

with her two babies--and then her husband died.

Once in a while word would come from America. Massachusetts was

quite a colony and they were very proud of the new house for the

Governor.

Letters were an exciting event in those days and Mrs. Southworth

wondered who could be writing to her. Such a strange post-mark, and it

looked as though the letter had come a long way. I peeked over her

shoulder, and this is what I saw: "I am not that Bill Bradford I once was.

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I am now Governor of the Colony, a widower, and if you will come to

America, I am at your service."

Yes, I think we were mistaken--perhaps Alice Carpenter Southworth

had not quite forgotten her boyish lover. (Children sometimes don't--even

when their parents tell them to.)

It took a lot of courage, but sister Bridget said she would go along

and help with the children. They sailed on the good ship Ann, and on the

fourteenth of August, 1623, Alice Carpenter married Bill Bradford, and

went to live in the Governor's mansion.

No, I have not forgotten about the other Carpenter girls. Of course

no one called them girls over here. They were very "well thought of," and

their husbands were important men in the colony.     Priscilla married

William Wright. Julia was Mrs. Morton, and Bridget had just become

Mrs. Fuller. "But, I thought you said Agnes--"   Yes, I did, but you see

poor Agnes died and was buried under St. Peter's in old Leyden town, and

then Dr. Fuller came to America on the Mayflower. You know Bridget

came over with her sister Alice in 1623, and after a time Dr. Fuller asked

her to be his wife. Do you remember little Mary saying she could never

leave her mother?   Well, she never did. She took such loving care of

her, but, after her mother's death, then Mary came over and made her

home with Governor and Alice Bradford. The records say she was "A

Godly old maid, never married," died at Plymouth, March 19, 1667, aged

about eighty years.

Here are "bits" from the letter which "prim little Mary Carpenter"

received, inviting and urging her to "come over to us" in America.

"We are grown old and the country here more unsettled than ever,

by reason of the great changes . . . and what will further be the Lord only

knows: which makes many think of removing their habitation, and sunderies

of our ministers (hearing of the peace and liberty now in England and

Ireland) begin to leave us, and it is feared many more will follow. . . .

With our love remembered unto you we take leave and rest,

Your loving brother and sister,

PLYMOUTH                                      WILLIAM BRADFORD."

August 19, 1664.

Less than eight miles from where the Carpenters used to live, is the

village of Bristol, where a little girl played with her dolls and carefully

mended their broken heads and arms.

The homes of northern England, were filled with sturdy youths, who

often went with their fathers to the fishing banks--sometimes as far as the

Great Banks. The Lakes were famous fishermen, and at last Archibald

was allowed to go. "He's much too young," growled his father.

Were you ever in Scotland? The Earl of Selkirk used to have a

beautiful garden up in Kircudbrightshire. The gardener's little son often

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watched his father, and thought that he too would work in the garden,

just as soon as he grew up. But like many little boys he changed his

mind, and went to sea in the American and West India Trade. Frequently

he saw Abe Whipple, who came over from the colony in Rhode Island.

Trade was good and soon John Paul, the gardener's son, grew wealthy

and settled in Virginia. I have heard that he joined with the colonists

against the British in the War and helped quite a lot in the Revolution.

Mary Bird grew up and put her dolls away, for she was going to be

married and go to the Great Banks with Archibald Lake, the boy from

northern England.

Over in Rhode Island, Abe Whipple had been pretty busy, fighting in

the French and Indian War, and after that he had some fun commanding a

"privateer."  He married Sarah Hopkins, sister of Governor Hopkins.

They were very wealthy and had a fine house in Providence, and a farm

"out Cranston way."

Things were not going so well with the Lakes. The French were

causing trouble about the fishing and so Archibald and Mary came to New

York, where Mr. Lake found work in the ship-yards.

It is too bad about young Whipple, we heard that he was to have been

hung, for some mischief he got into.

Let us return to Marietta. I want to tell you a little about our ceme-

teries. There is something that tugs at the heart strings, and a fascination

about these scattered God's Acres. Their soft grey sandstones are the

markers, left between the pages when our forefathers laid down the great

"book of time." It is surprising how much can be read between the lines

and the discoveries that may be made.

In the little cemetery at Cedarville, below Belpre, Ohio, may be found

the grave of Major Robert Bradford, and in the church-yard at Newport,

a shaft bears this inscription:

 

"Captain Nathaniel Little, died November 20, 1808,

The first interment in this cemetery"

and on the same stone:

"Pamela, wife of Nathaniel Little, died October 30, 1822,

aged 59 years."

 

I turn to the old family Bible, the one they had in "Farmer's Castle"

during the Indian War, and read: "Nathaniel Little and Pamela Bradford

was married February ye 16th, 1792."

On the west bank of the Muskingum, seven miles above Marietta, we

find another pioneer cemetery, with many interesting names. May I call

your attention to the one with the bronze tablet, which informs us that

Mary Bird Lake taught the first Sunday-school in the Northwest Territory

(some say in the United States) and was Matron of the General Army

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Hospitals during the Revolutionary War? Her husband, Archibald Lake,

also has a bronze tablet telling of his services in the War. If we look in

the early histories we will find many pages devoted to this remarkable

woman. Mrs. Lake was many times personally thanked by General Wash-

ington, for her "tender, vigilant, and unremitting care of the sick and

wounded soldiers."

It has often been stated that there are more Revolutionary officers

of high rank, buried in Mound Cemetery, than in any other one burial

ground in the United States. One has only to read the names, Putnam,

Tupper, Hildreth, Parsons, and on down the line to recognize the im-

portant part these men played in the war against Britain, and later in the

establishment of the Northwest Territory.

Over by the moat, near the Big Mound, is a simple white shaft. Per-

haps, some of you have leaned over the iron railing, trying to decipher the

unusual epitaph, have wondered about the man: who he was, and what

he had done.

"¹⁷³³ - 1819

Sacred

to the memory of

COMMODORE ABRAHAM WHIPPLE

whose name, skill, and courage

will ever remain the pride and

boast of his country.

In the late Revolution he was the

first on the seas to hurl defiance at proud Britain,

gallantly leading the way to wrest from

the mistress of the ocean her scepter,

and there to wave the star-spangled banner.

He also conducted to the sea

the first square-rigged vessel ever built on the Ohio,

opening to commerce

resources beyond calculation."

 

" the pride and boast of his country."

" the first to hurl defiance at proud Britain."

" the first to conduct ships down the Ohio."

" opening up commercial resources beyond calculation."

 

Does it not intrigue the imagination? Let us turn to the encyclopedia

and see what we may find. Strange is it not, that no mention is made of

Commodore Whipple? We are told that John Paul Jones, of Virginia,

rendered valuable service and has been regarded as chief among the naval

heroes of the American Revolution. His remains were brought in 1905

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from Paris to America where he was buried in the Naval Academy grounds

at Annapolis.

If we turn to colonial histories we will find much about Whipple's

daring service in the French and Indian War, and of his exploits as com-

mander of a privateer. Arnold tells of the burning of the Gaspe. Learning

that Captain Whipple had been in command of the men from Providence,

who burned this ship, a message was sent: "You, ABRAHAM WHIPPLE,

on the 10th of June, 1772, burned your Majesties vessel, the Gaspe, and I

will hang you at the Yard-arm," signed "JAMES WALLACE." To which the

terse reply was: "To SIR JAMES WALLACE: Always catch a man before

you hang him. ABRAHAM WHIPPLE."

Historians generally consider the burning of the Gaspe, the first overt

act of the Revolution. This was eighteen months prior to the Boston Tea

Party, and three years before the battle of Lexington.

Rhode Island was the first of the Colonies to renounce allegiance to

the British Crown, and the first to send to sea under legislative authority,

vessels of war. Rhode Island purchased, equipped and manned two sloops--

the Washington and Katy. These were placed under the command of Abra-

ham Whipple with the rank of Commodore. Whipple was ordered to clear

the bay of British ships. June 15, 1775, Whipple sailed down the Narra-

ganset, routed the British, cleared the bay, and thus gained the honor of

having fired the first shot--"the shot that was heard around the world."

Such was the commencement of our first American Navy, and that

was the Navy's first cruise. This was two days before the battle of Bunker

Hill.

Whipple was credited with having captured more British prizes than

any other naval officer of the Revolution. It was Commodore Whipple who

was intrusted with the important papers that must be gotten to our Com-

missioners in France, when it seemed impossible for any one to run the

British blockade. It was Whipple who was sent to raise the siege of

Charleston. It was Whipple who spent his own fortune to keep the Ameri-

can fleet manned--it was his money that paid the sailors. It was Whipple

who was given command of the first merchant vessel sent to Great Britain

after the Peace. At this time he was "the first to unfurl the American flag

(the star-spangled banner) on the Thames."

Whipple, like many others, had expended his entire fortune in the

cause of freedom, and was reduced to actual want. The whole amount due

Whipple was over sixteen thousand dollars, a considerable fortune in those

days. Quoting from his pitiful petition to Congress, in 1786, after setting

forth his military services, he said:

"Thus having exhausted the means of supporting myself and family,

I was reduced to the sad necessity of mortgaging my farm, the remnant I

had left, to obtain money for temporary support. The farm is now gone.

. . I am turned into the world at an advanced age, feeble and valetudinary,

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with my wife and children, destitute of a house or home that I can call my

own, or have the means of hiring ... I have served the United States from

the 15th of June, 1775, to December, 1782 [when taken prisoner], without

receiving a farthing of wages or subsistence from them since December,

1776 [6 yrs.]. . . . The payment of this, or a part of it, might be the happy

means of regaining the farm I have been obliged to give up, and snatch my

family from misery and ruin."

In 1788, Commodore Whipple and wife (Sarah Hopkins) came to

Marietta to be with their daughter and son-in-law, Colonel Ebenezer Sproat.

In 1800 the first ship built at Marietta was completed, but there was no one

in the new settlement qualified to take the vessel to sea. So once again,

though an old man, Whipple came to the rescue, took command, and with an

untrained crew took the boat to Havana, disposed of the cargo, reloaded with

sugar and sailed for Philadelphia, where he disposed of both cargo and ship

to advantage. Whipple then walked all the way back to Marietta. From

then until the Embargo Act, ship-building was the leading industry, and

vessels from Marietta sailed for every port. Thus had Commodore Whip-

ple "opened to commerce, resources beyond calculation."

Those who have made a study of the accomplishments of this old

hero may well question the point that John Paul Jones was "chief among

American naval heroes."

We read that "Man is but the plaything of Fate." Truly, even with

our last resting place--Fate her tricks doth play. How little did they

dream, those parents of long ago, that Alice and the lonely lad William

would find a resting place at Plymouth, in far away America! That little

Mary Bird from Bristol, and the fisher lad from northern England, would

lie beneath the sod of Wiseman's Bottom, beside the beautiful Mus-

kingum! And even in 1623, the Governor and his bride would have pon-

dered long, had some one foretold that a Major Robert would be in Cedar-

ville at Belpre, and Pamela with her husband and children, in Newport

would live and die.

The gardener's son will not be found in Scotland, for with pomp and

ceremony was he laid among the heroes of our country. Commodore Whip-

ple, we know, sleeps just as peacefully beside the moat, beneath the shadow

of the Great Mound. Who knows, perhaps those silent people of long ago,