THE HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
OF OHIO
By LEE SHEPARD
In the space of a short sketch it is
impossible to write a com-
prehensive history of this 113-year-old
society. When it is real-
ized that the first effort to form a
historical society in Ohio was
made in 1822, only 27 years after the
signing of the Treaty of
Greenville, one can only wonder at the
temerity of the scattered
residents whose ambitions at that time
were doomed to failure.
Ohio was developing fast, however, and
on February 11, 1831,
the legislature passed another Act of
Incorporation, the refer-
ence being Vol. 39, Local Laws, page
122, Sec.
1 which begins:
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of
the State of Ohio, that
Benjamin Tappan, John C. Wright and
Doctor John Andrews of Steuben-
ville, Arius Nye and Doctor S. P.
Hildreth of Marietta, Appleton Downer,
Doctor T. Flanner and E. Buckingham of
Zanesville, Thomas James, B. G.
Leonard and James T. Worthington of
Chillicothe, Gustavus Swan, John
M. Edmiston, Alfred Kelley and Doctor
Benjamin Platt of Columbus,
Joseph S. Sullivant of Franklinton,
Doctor E. Cooper of Newark, R. H.
Bishop, Thomas Kelly and James McBride
of Butler County, Dr. J. Cobb,
Dr. Elijah Slack, N. Longworth, John P.
Foote and Timothy Flint of
Cincinnati, John Sloane, of Wayne
County, Jared P. Kirtland of Trumbull
County, Samuel Wheeler of Geauga County,
Ebenezer Lane of Huron
County and William Wall of Athens, and
such other persons as may from
time to time become members shall be and
are hereby constituted a body cor-
porate, etc. . . .
Provided always, That the funds of said
corporation shall not be used
and appropriated to the purpose of
banking . . . That any five persons
named in the first section of this Act
shall have power to call a meeting
of said Society for the election of
their officers and the transaction of such
other business as may be necessary and
proper, etc. . . . No person shall
be admitted a member of this Society who
is not a resident of Ohio and
21 years of age--but honorary membership
shall be obtainable for those
persons distinguished for their talents,
knowledge, science or worth in any
part of the world. ...
(89)
90 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
At the first meeting of the Society held
at Columbus Decem-
ber 21, 1831, the following resolution
was unanimously adopted:
"That Jeremiah Morrow, Ethan A.
Brown, Benjamin Ruggles,
David K. Este, Edward King, John M.
Goodenow, Philemon
Bucher, Ralph Granger and Thomas H.
Genine, the individuals
named in the Act to incorporate the
Historical Society of Ohio
(passed February 12, 1822) be admitted and considered members
of this Society."
Attesting to the fact that the
incorporators of the Historical
and Philosophical Society of Ohio really
tried to make it a state
society is the representative list of
members from all parts of the
State. Among the earliest honorary
members elected were Dr.
Thomas Say and Charles Lescuer, from New
Harmony, Indiana,
exponents of a new social order. They
were not elected how-
ever without some debate. Many prominent
men in all parts
of the country were elected to honorary
membership.
Who were these men who felt so strongly
that the recollec-
tions and diaries of the first pioneers
of this section should be
preserved while many of them were yet
living?
Benjamin Tappan came to Ohio in 1799. He
was the first
white settler in Portage County, became
judge of the Common
Pleas Court and later U. S. Senator.
Afterwards he was a law
partner of Edwin M. Stanton. He was the
first elected president
of the Historical and Philosophical
Society of Ohio at its meeting
held in Columbus, December 31, 1831, and
made the annual ad-
dress at the meeting of the Society,
December 22, 1832. John
C. Wright came to Ohio in 1810. He was a
Congressman and
later Judge of the Supreme Court of
Ohio, editor of the Cincin-
nati Gazette and one of the
founders of the Cincinnati Law
School. Alfred C. Kelley served for many
years in the General
Assembly, acted as Canal Commissioner
and was connected with
the development of two of Ohio's
earliest railroads. R. H. Bishop
was President of Miami University at the
time of the incorpora-
tion of the Society and a recognized
educator in Kentucky and
Ohio.
James McBride was a resident of Butler
County all of his
HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL
SOCIETY 91
life. He had quite a reputation as a
writer and historian. Jared
P. Kirtland's reputation rested on the
fact that he was well known
over the State as a medical college
professor. Dr. S. P. Hildreth
was not only a well known physician in
Marietta but he enjoyed
a state reputation as a historical
writer. Timothy Flint, the Con-
gregational minister, missionary and
author was well known in
the western country. Judge Jacob Burnet,
E. D. Mansfield, Wil-
liam Gallagher, Manning F. Force, Rufus
King were some of a
long and important list of members who
gave generously of their
time and abilities to further the aims
of the Society.
Certainly it can be claimed that even in
1831 Ohio had many
educated and scholarly men whose names
would add lustre to any
historical society in any state, and
while the Society did not
flourish as far as meetings were
concerned it did, however, for
a time manage to hold an annual meeting
each December in Colum-
bus. It was during this early period
that John H. James addressed
the annual meeting, December 26, 1835,
on a rational system of
education. At other meetings Dr.
Hildreth presented a brief
history of the floods in the Ohio River
from 1772 to 1832, John
W. Van Cleve's address covered the
history of the early settle-
ment of Dayton, James McBride's paper
was a sketch of the his-
tory of Oxford and the Miami University
and a survey of the
ancient fortifications in Butler County,
Ohio. Judge Burnet wrote
a series of letters on the early history
of the Northwest Territory
which the Society published in 1839,
this publication also including
discourses before the Society of Timothy
Walker, General Wil-
liam Henry Harrison, James H. Perkins,
James T. Worthington
and Arius Nye. Thus the Society fostered
and developed the
literary talents of its members and
preserved for posterity many
interesting facts relating to the early
history of Ohio. With
travel conditions as they were at this
time it was difficult for a
state society to function and the annual
meetings were never well
attended.
The first minute book of the Society
contains a faithful rec-
ord of the meetings up to May 6, 1850.
The constitution was
signed by many of the members who also
listed their ages and
92
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
places of residence. It is interesting
to note that the average age
of the first 70 members was only 39. But
the early enthusiasm of
the scattered members cooled off and by
the late 1840's it became
increasingly difficult to hold annual
meetings at Columbus.
At a special meeting of the Society held
at the Neil House in
Columbus on December 26, 1848, the
question of poor attendance
was discussed. Salmon P. Chase made a
motion: "Resolved that
the 2nd Section of the By-Laws be
amended by striking out the
word Columbus where it occurs in said
Section and filling the
blank with the word Cincinnati so as to
provide that the future
meetings of this society shall be held
at Cincinnati." On motion
of Mr. Chase it was further resolved:
"That this annual meeting
stands adjourned to meet at the rooms of
the Cincinnati Historical
Society in Cincinnati on the first
Monday in February next and
public notice be given such meeting in
one newspaper in each of
the cities of Cleveland, Columbus and
Cincinnati." These motions
were passed by those in attendance and
on February 5, 1849, the
Society met pursuant to adjournment in
Cincinnati.
On February 8, 1849, eight new members
were elected, all
from Cincinnati. It was not long before
it was voted to take in
all those belonging to the Cincinnati
Historical Society. By this
action it was felt that a strong society
could be sustained at Cin-
cinnati. The Cincinnati Historical
Society had been formed in
1844 and a broadside recently acquired
dated August 24, 1844,
reads as follows:
Sir: An Association has been recently
organized in this city whose
principal object is the collection of
the historical records of the west, with
a view to their preservation and
diffusion. Among those we include all
books, maps, statistics, pamphlets,
addresses and manuscripts relating to
the transactions of the past.
The Society is called the Cincinnati
Historical Society and has the
following officers; James H. Perkins,
President, John P. Foote, Vice-
President, J. G. Anthony, Recording
Secretary, Charles Whittlesey, Cor-
responding Secretary, Harvey Hall,
Treasurer, and A. Randall, Librarian.
The Executive Committee have procured
and directed the Corresponding
Secretary to print a catalogue of the
Works we wish to obtain. . . .
Will you examine it, and inform the
Secretary as soon as practicable
through the Post Office or other means,
what Works of the proper kind
HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL
SOCIETY 93
you are in possession of--whether you
are disposed to donate any of them
to the Association--what Books you would
exchange for others, or sell,
and affix the prices to all. Also, what
publication you would be willing to
deposit with the Librarian, with the
privilege of purchase within a rea-
sonable time; and whether you are
disposed to become a member--admis-
sion fee, three dollars.
Then followed a list of some 275 books
wanted by the So-
ciety. The curious thing is that at
least three-fourths of this list
can be found today in all three of the
great state collections in
Ohio in their original editions
published before 1844, a hundred
years ago.
When the societies merged in 1849,
naturally, the libraries
were merged, but because neither society
had much of a system
for taking care of their collections,
the merged library was still
small and comparatively unimportant,
except for the manuscripts
and diaries which had a tendency to
disappear as time went on.
The minutes are lacking from May 6, 1850
to May 23, 1868. The
Society continued to function, but by
the close of the Civil War
only four members remained. They were Robert Buchanan,
George Graham, John D. Caldwell, all of
Cincinnati, and Joseph
Sullivant of Columbus.
By 1871 a revival of interest had set
in, for the membership
of the Society climbed back to 68. It
now grew rapidly in num-
bers and prestige with the passing
years, until, by 1889, the mem-
bership numbered 188.
During the period from 1850 to 1868, the
Society functioned
because of the great loyalty of its few
members. The collection
had been moved about from one location
to another and had finally
been placed in the Public Library in
1860. On May 23, 1869, a
meeting was called for reorganization
and new life was infused
by the addition of new members, the
collections then being moved
to the Literary Club. Special mention
should be given to Julius
Dexter, Robert Clarke and E. F. Bliss,
three men who were very
influential in leading the Society back
to its rightful place among
historical societies. Robert Clarke's book company published
many historical works during the next
few years and his counsel
94
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
was valuable, while both Bliss and
Dexter not only worked hard
in the interests of the Society, but
both became important bene-
factors in a financial way. The Society
has always been privately
sustained and controlled, depending upon
its members and friends
for support.
The Society's collection, which is said
to have contained only
700 volumes in 1868, really started to
grow with the reorganiza-
tion and its growth has been steady ever
since. Today, it contains
over 40,000 volumes, besides thousands
of pamphlets, maps, manu-
scripts and other historical material.
The membership has been
growing steadily for several years and
much interest in the work
of the Society is being shown by the
Board and the membership
at large. Over the years, the Society
has been the recipient of
important manuscript material, such as
the Walker Papers, the
Gano Papers, the William Greene Letters,
the Follette Papers,
the Torrence Papers, and the Clarke
Papers. The correspond-
ence of John Cleves Symmes, edited by
Beverley W. Bond, Jr.,
and published by the Society in 1926 was
based upon a collection
of letters acquired from Peter G.
Thompson.
From Mr. Thompson's estate was also
acquired one of the
finest private collections in existence
on the history of Ohio and
the old Northwest Territory. In 1880,
Peter G. Thompson pub-
lished his Bibliography of Books and
Pamphlets Relating to Ohio
which was largely based on his own
collection. It would take a
great deal of space to list all the
important source material in
the Society's present collections. The
Society has been active
through the years in publishing portions
of its manuscript mate-
rial, starting in 1838, when it published
the early addresses of
and articles written by its members on
various historical subjects.
The last publication of the Society
covered the celebration last
year in Cincinnati of the Centenary of
the Cincinnati Observatory,
and included a sketch of the Cincinnati
Telescope and its dedica-
tion by John Quincy Adams written by the
Society's Vice Presi-
dent Robert L. Black.
The outstanding event of recent years in
the history of this
organization was the celebration of its
one hundredth birthday.
HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL
SOCIETY 95
On February 11, 1931, an afternoon
meeting of the members and
guests was held at the Queen City Club.
Professor Randolph G.
Adams, of the William L. Clements
Library at Ann Arbor, made
the principal address. The meeting was
followed by a banquet in
the evening when Joseph Wilby,
President, acted as toastmaster.
The Mayor, City Manager, Mrs. Joseph
Benson Foraker, Profes-
sor Adams and Dr. Beverley W. Bond, Jr.,
responded with short
addresses.
Rapid strides have been made in the last
few years under
the able leadership of Dr. Beverley W.
Bond, Jr., President, and
an interested Board of Directors. The
Society has been located
for some time in the University of
Cincinnati Library building,
where it is comfortably housed but it is
hoped that the time will
come when a home of its own will be
possible.*
* Editor's Note--Since the above article
went to press the Historical and Philo-
sophical Society of Ohio has chosen as its new director
Mr. Virginius C. Hall of
Cincinnati.
THE HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
OF OHIO
By LEE SHEPARD
In the space of a short sketch it is
impossible to write a com-
prehensive history of this 113-year-old
society. When it is real-
ized that the first effort to form a
historical society in Ohio was
made in 1822, only 27 years after the
signing of the Treaty of
Greenville, one can only wonder at the
temerity of the scattered
residents whose ambitions at that time
were doomed to failure.
Ohio was developing fast, however, and
on February 11, 1831,
the legislature passed another Act of
Incorporation, the refer-
ence being Vol. 39, Local Laws, page
122, Sec.
1 which begins:
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of
the State of Ohio, that
Benjamin Tappan, John C. Wright and
Doctor John Andrews of Steuben-
ville, Arius Nye and Doctor S. P.
Hildreth of Marietta, Appleton Downer,
Doctor T. Flanner and E. Buckingham of
Zanesville, Thomas James, B. G.
Leonard and James T. Worthington of
Chillicothe, Gustavus Swan, John
M. Edmiston, Alfred Kelley and Doctor
Benjamin Platt of Columbus,
Joseph S. Sullivant of Franklinton,
Doctor E. Cooper of Newark, R. H.
Bishop, Thomas Kelly and James McBride
of Butler County, Dr. J. Cobb,
Dr. Elijah Slack, N. Longworth, John P.
Foote and Timothy Flint of
Cincinnati, John Sloane, of Wayne
County, Jared P. Kirtland of Trumbull
County, Samuel Wheeler of Geauga County,
Ebenezer Lane of Huron
County and William Wall of Athens, and
such other persons as may from
time to time become members shall be and
are hereby constituted a body cor-
porate, etc. . . .
Provided always, That the funds of said
corporation shall not be used
and appropriated to the purpose of
banking . . . That any five persons
named in the first section of this Act
shall have power to call a meeting
of said Society for the election of
their officers and the transaction of such
other business as may be necessary and
proper, etc. . . . No person shall
be admitted a member of this Society who
is not a resident of Ohio and
21 years of age--but honorary membership
shall be obtainable for those
persons distinguished for their talents,
knowledge, science or worth in any
part of the world. ...
(89)