Ohio History Journal

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INFLUENCE OF PENNSYLVANIA ON OHIO

INFLUENCE OF PENNSYLVANIA ON OHIO.

 

BY W. H. HUNTER.

[The celebration of the Centennial of the State has led to much dis-

cussion regarding the ethnological history of Ohio. As a contribution to

this subject, we present the address delivered by W. H. Hunter, of Chilli-

cothe, at a banquet given in Philadelphia several years ago by the Penn-

sylvania Scotch-Irish society, which has for its object the preservation of

historical data. - E. O. R.]

THE PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN: - While in attendance at

the Harrisburg session of the Scotch-Irish Society of America

last summer, I was thrilled by the eloquence of your honorable

Past President, Dr. McCook, who then delivered one of the most

impressive addresses I ever heard - beautiful in diction, eloquent

in presentation--his subject being "The Scotch-Irish Pioneer

Women."    Among the accomplishments of those noble women

described was the manufacture of mush and milk; or rather, I

should say, Pioneer Porridge, the piece de resistance on the table

of the fathers. His panegyric was so eloquent and his descrip-

tion of the process was so real one could close his eyes and hear

the mush splutter as it was stirred in the pot, could see the par-

ticles fly over the brim and smell the odor of burning meal as

the globules fell upon the fire. When I think back to the old

homestead in Eastern Ohio I run against the fact that I did not

like mush and milk any more than I loved the catechism, which

we had together at our house eight evenings in the week. I

recall it now as the one cloud over the sunshine of happy boyhood

days; but Dr. McCook's eloquence made such an impression on

me that all my early repugnance for mush and milk has left me;

I have never been so fortunate as to hear him on the catechism.

Through the kindness of my good friend, Colonel McIlhenney,

I am here to enjoy with you the food of our ancestors. I prom-

ised him when he gave me the opportunity to break mush and

milk with the Society, I would endeavor to partly pay my way

with a story of the influence of the Scotch-Irish of Pennsylvania

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