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11, 1917. Those in attendance were thus enabled to be present at the meeting. Representatives of the public library and the library of the Ohio State University were also present and a goodly number of others interested in the State Library and its work. State Librarian C. B. Galbreath presided. He stated that of the twenty-four persons who had previously held the position (96) |
Ohio State Library Centennial. 97
of state librarian the following are
still living: H. L. Conard,
John M. Doane, W. G. Sibley, F. B.
Loomis and J. H. Newman.
A letter was read from his secretary
stating that Governor
Cox regretted his inability to be
present because of a previous
engagement to speak at Fort Benjamin
Harrison.
Letters of congratulation were received
from J. I. Wyer,
Jr., Director of the New York State
Library; Demarcus C.
Brown, State Librarian of Indiana; Mrs.
Mary C. Spencer, State
Librarian of Michigan; M. S. Dudgeon,
Secretary of the Free
Library Commission of Wisconsin and N.
D. C. Hodges, Lib-
brarian of the public library of
Cincinnati.
An interesting letter from W. G. Sibley,
editor of the
Tribune, Gallipolis, Ohio, and a former librarian of the State
Library was received. Among other things
he said:
"Please accept my best wishes for
yourself and those who may be
present on the anniversary. I have no
doubt it will be a pleasant occasion.
In my day the library was a political
plum, usually filled by some man
who could be useful to the Governor. But
I was not appointed for any
such reason, because when the Governor's
telegram offering me the
place arrived, I could not understand
it, never having had the remotest
idea of being a candidate for it. Later
I learned it was the result of a
suggestion made to the Governor by my
father at a time when ther
was no thought of any change.
"I am glad to know that now the
office is out of politics, and that
the librarian is chosen for fitness
alone."
Subsequent to the meeting a letter was
also received from
F. B. Loomis who was in California when
the invitation was di-
rected to his Washington address.
After a brief introduction by Mr.
Galbreath, the principal
address of the evening was delivered by
the well-known his-
torian, Hon. Daniel J. Ryan,
ex-Secretary of State of Ohio. His
carefully prepared address held the
closest attention of those
present. No summary can do justice to
it. It must be read to
be fully appreciated. It will long stand
not only as a faithful
and illuminating contribution to the
history of the State Library
but as a guide to a career of larger
usefulness for that institution.
Among other things it was a strong plea
for a tenure of office
Vol. XXVIII -7.
98 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
and employment in the State Library
based only upon recognized
qualification and efficient service.
Following this excellent address remarks
were made by Hon.
E. O. Randall, reporter of the Supreme
Court of Ohio and Secre-
tary of the State Archaeological and
Historical Society; Hon.
J. H. Newman, former State Librarian;
Mr. John J. Pugh, lib-
brarian of the Columbus Public Library;
Miss Olive Jones, li-
brarian of the Ohio State University;
Miss Julia W. Merrill,
branch librarian of the Cincinnati
Public Library; Mr. Clayton
A. McCleary, State Library Commissioner
and Mr. C. Welles
Reeder, reference librarian of the Ohio
State University Library.
The addresses and summary of remarks are
found on the
following pages.
At the conclusion of the speaking the
audience lingered to
partake of refreshments that had been
prepared by the ladies
of the Ohio State Library staff.
THE STATE LIBRARY AND ITS FOUNDER.
ADDRESS BY HON. DANIEL J. RYAN.
We are surrounded tonight with treasures
of knowledge that are the
collection of a century. These 200,000
volumes represent the intellectual
cravings and ideals of the state. Its material resources are abounding
on all sides, and their development has
been gratifying and phenomenal.
But they are only the secondary element
of the state's greatness. The
desire for knowledge is an elemental
passion in man. It is the origin of
all progress, and it marks the point
where the brute ends and man
begins. For centuries the writings of
men have been the vehicles of
knowledge, and through them have come
human progress, social develop-
ment and educational advancements. The
wider the dissemination of
learning and of scientific and moral
information, the happier and safer
is the State. An ignorant democracy is a
thing of danger. John Adams
in one of his letters, says "The preservation of the means of
knowledge
among the lowest ranks is more important
to the public than all the
property of all the rich men in the
country." Doctor Channing, speaking
of libraries, declares that "The
diffusion of these silent teachers through
the whole community is to work greater
effects than artillery, machinery
or legislation. Its peaceful agency is
to supersede stormy revolutions."
A library to accomplish Dr. Channing's
ideal should be democratic;
it should contain all branches and sorts
of literature, good but variant
to the extreme. It should run the entire
gamut of human knowledge.
It should not be for the scientific or
learned alone. It should have the
Ohio State Library Centennial. 99
material to draw the unlearned, and the
elementary seeker after know-
ledge. This is such a library. Herein
may be found the best and noblest
in all literature, with ample food for
the trained and untrained mind.
On these shelves may be found the
histories of all peoples; the biographies
of the great minds of the past; the
records of the much-traveled; the
wisdom of all the philosophers of humanity;
the wisest works of political
economy and social science; and all that
is beautiful in the spiritual
life of all ages. Here the citizen has
the privilege of conversing with
the greatest minds that have ever lived,
of searching after the truth and
of contemplating the beautiful. He can
live with the distant, the unreal,
the past and the future.
While collecting this general
literature, that which may be classed
as contemporary and local has not been
neglected. The results are
(1) a rare and complete array of
governmental records both of the
State and Nation; (2) the most complete
collection in this country of
Ohio newspapers dating from the
territorial period to the present time;
(3) topographical histories, being the
annals of the counties, cities, and
localities of the State; (4) thousands
of pamphlets on all subjects, and
(5) bound volumes of magazines for the
past hundred years. To a
great library everything is welcome. It
should by all means be encyclo-
paedical. To the ordinary reader a
passing pamphlet may be inconse-
quential; it may even be literary trash;
but the trained librarian knows
better, and he saves it for his shelves
because he knows that to the next
generation it may be a prized treasure.
This idea was well expressed
many years ago by Mr. Edwards of the
great public library at Man-
chester, England, when he wrote:
"What a Bodley at the end of the
sixteenth century calls 'riff-raff,'
which a library keeper should disdain
to seek out and deliver to any man, a
Bodley's librarian has to buy almost
for his weight in gold at the beginning
of the nineteenth century, for,
by that time, it comes to be apparent
that the most obscure pamphlet, or
the flimsiest ballad, may throw a ray of
light upon some pregnant fact
of history, or may serve as the key to a
mystery in some life career
which gave to an age its very 'form and
pressure'".
The present Librarian has been a
persistent and intelligent executor
of this policy. Every scrap of published
literature in pamphlet or book
form relating to the contemporary
history of the State has been pre-
served by him. I can safely and
conscientiously say, with some little
knowledge on the subject, that he has
done better and more valuable
work in this direction than any of his
predecessors. His own knowledge
of literature, his scholarly
discrimination, and his love for his work for the
work's sake, has been the inspiration of
this endeavor.
I have known personally every Librarian
of this institution for
forty-three years-commencing with the
scholarly and accomplished Wal-
ter C. Hood, of Marietta, whom I knew
when a boy in my teens. And
during that period they were well
qualified, with but very few exceptions,
100 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
by nature and education, to grace the
position. But the spoils system of
partisan politics made the State Library
the prey of every administration
for party workers. From 1874 to 1896,
when Mr. Galbreath was first ap-
pointed-the official life of the
Librarian was a few days over twenty-
two months. It was the system of those
times. Every Governor ap-
proached. the change with reluctance, if
not with disgust. They were all
high-minded men-the men who were
compelled to do this under party
stress. No other pressure and no other
system could have secured such
results from William Allen, Rutherford
B. Hayes, Charles Foster, George
Hoadly, Joseph B. Foraker, James E.
Campbell, and William McKinley.
Each one, under this spoils system, as
Goldsmith wrote of an English
statesman,
"Narrowed his mind, and to party
gave up
What was meant for mankind."
In the beginning the State Librarian was
more of a custodian, and
not a very good one at that, evidently,
for in 1823 some one during the
legislative vacation obtained access to
the library and stole fifteen books
together with a collection of pamphlets
which had been presented by
Jeremy Benthan and Robert Owen, the
celebrated English philosophers
and economists. Thereupon the
legislature in 1824 passed the first law
making the Library a state institution
and fixing the salary of the
librarian at $200 a year.
These early librarians were not men of
literary attainments or
scholarly culture, but were usually
active politicians to whom the party
in power was indebted. The first
librarian, John L. Harper, was rather
a stormy petrel in his day. He was one
of Governor Worthington's
active lieutenants and a prominent
politician in the Democratic-Republican
party. He was a participant and one of
the active figures in the war
against the United States Bank which was
being waged just about the
time he took charge of the library. It
was the most sensational event
of that era, and the subsequent
connection of the first librarian of the
State with it makes it interesting to
refer to now. Upon the re-charter
of the United States Bank it established
two branches in Ohio, one at
Cincinnati, January 28, 1817, and
another at Chillicothe, October 13 of
the same year. At this time Harper was
serving as State Librarian.
These branches under federal authority,
issued notes extensively which
had a tendency to depreciate the
currency of the State banks. They,
the Federal banks, also in due course of
business acquired the notes of
these banks in large quantities, and in
calling upon them to redeem the
paper, strained the solvency of those
institutions. The result was that
the notes of the State banks continued
to depreciate and many of them
became valueless. This situation
developed a clamor in opposition to
the United States Bank that soon became
widespread throughout the
State. The politicians and the local
banks, some of which were the
"wildcat" institutions of a
later day, joined in a popular crusade. In
Ohio State Library Centennial. 101
those days the banks formed the moneyed
aristocracy of the State, and
they owned many a rotten borough, for
they had great influence in saying
who should go to the legislature as well
as who should remain at home.
They revailed at the big banks with all
the venom of political opponents
and the commercial rancor of business
rivals. Filled with the spirit
of the silversmiths of Ephesus against
Paul, they cried that under the
new financial regime "our craft is
in danger to be set at naught." The
legislature took up the controversy and
being under the domination of
the Jeffersonian doctrine of antagonism
to the United States Bank they
passed drastic laws, the purpose of
which was to drive it out of Ohio
with the strong and resistless whip of
taxation. They passed what was
called in those days the "crowbar
law", so called from the method of
enforcement, and the first Librarian of
Ohio was the man who weilded
the crowbar. The law provided that the
Bank of the United States,
through its two branches in Ohio, should
pay an annual tax of fifty
thousand dollars as long as it did
business within the State. To the
Auditor of State was committed the duty
of enforcing this law. He
was authorized to appoint any person he
might choose to collect the tax,
and in case payment should be refused,
and such person could not find in
the banking room any bank notes, money,
goods, chattels, or other
property whereon to levy, he should go
to each and any other room in
such banking house "and every
closet box, or drawer in each banking
house to open and search" and take
possession of whatever might be
found. John L. Harper was the man
authorized by the Auditor of
State to exercise this limitless right
of search. Before the law went into
effect, however, the Bank secured an
injunction in the United States
Court against the collection and levy of
the tax. The counsel of the
Auditor of State advised him that the
papers served on him did not act
as an injunction and he therefore told
John L. Harper to go ahead.
Harper thereupon proceeded to
Chillicothe and entering the Bank's branch
office there levied upon, forcibly took
possession of the sum of one hun-
dred thousand dollars. This was carted
up to Columbus in a wagon,
and the sum of ninety-eight thousand
dollars was turned over to the
Treasurer of State, and Harper kept two
thousand dollars, being two
per cent of the amount levied for his
compensation. The subsequent
part of the history is a mixture of
tragedy and comedy. The injunction
was made effective. The State of Ohio
and Mr. Harper had to pay back
the hundred thousand dollars, and the
first Librarian of Ohio was sent
to jail for lese majeste of Uncle
Sam. Beyond this, he has left no record
that would add either glory or
instruction to the Ohio State Library,
and yet all that has been narrated, it
should be remembered, was done
under authority of law and by virtue of
his appointment from the Audi-
tor of State.
We do not strike any name of note in the
list of state librarians
until we reach that of John Greiner, who
served from 1845 to 1851. His
102 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
appointment largely came to him by
reason of the celebrity obtained
in the Hard Cider campaign of 1840. He
was a song writer, and in the
Harrison campaign songs were the most
potent factors. The ecstatic
condition of the popular mind was quick
to respond to rhythm. It is a
singular psychological fact that crowds
are more responsive than the
average unit of the crowd. In every
cabin, on every by-way, in village and
town, Whig gatherings were singing the
songs of Harrison, and John
Greiner furnished some of the most
popular ones. His "Old Coon",
"The Wagoner Boy", and others,
recited the heroic deeds of General
Harrison and Tom Corwin. Fletcher of
Saltoun, a 17th century Scot-
tish writer, said: "If a man were
permitted to make all the ballads, he
need not care who should make the laws
of a nation". Happy, indeed,
is the party with a candidate about
whose life ballads can be sung. Out
of this condition grew John Greiner's
appointment as State Librarian.
He was not without ability. He dame to
Ohio when a boy and soon
became distinguished as a temperance
orator. After he served as libra-
rian he was appointed Indian agent to
New Mexico, and in 1852 he was
made Governor of that territory. He
returned to Ohio and became suc-
cessively editor of "The Ohio State
Journal", and editor and proprietor
of the Columbus "Gazette" and
the Zanesville "Times". Subsequently
he returned to New Mexico and became
receiver in the United States
land office at Santa Fe, and afterwards
served as United States Sub-
treasurer there. He finally returned to
Ohio, where he ended his days
in Toledo May 13, 1871.
For the first thirty-seven years of the
State Library it was in
charge of men totally unfitted for the
responsibility, and in no wise
qualified to build it up. They were
mediocre in intelligence, with no
instincts toward literature, and were
usually either "lame ducks" in poli-
tics, or were political managers who
were valuable to their party by
reason of the contact which existed
between the legislature and the
Library. For remember, during this
period, the use of the books was
confined to state officers and the
members of the General Assembly. It
was not until 1854 that the Library came
under the control of one whose
nature, education, and instincts fitted
him eminently for the position of
librarian. This was James W. Taylor, who
was appointed by Governor
William Medill, the first Democratic
Governor under the constitution of
1851, and himself a man of scholarly
tastes and attainments. Mr. Taylor
had the book instinct in addition to his
literary tastes. There is an
instinct of the librarian which
education in library classes or skill in
card indexing can never develop. It
comes from the love of books for
their own sake, and it is as
natural as the love of reading. James W.
Taylor possessed this instinct. We find
him in his report appealing for all
copies of newspapers which were
published in Ohio prior to 1830; and
he tells us that "Measures have
been taken to preserve every pamphlet
printed in the State, no matter what the
topic thereof may be. Every
Ohio State Library Centennial. 103
such publication which has been found is
gathered into a series of
volumes entitled 'Ohio Pamphlets'. The collection is as yet limited,
however, and publishers are urged to
send whatever may be issued by
them in this fugitive form for
preservation in the State Library". He
did more than all his predecessors to
build up the Library and to gather
material relating to Ohio. When
appointed to his position he was a
lawyer of excellent standing, and had
practiced in both New York and
Ohio. He was a member of the Ohio
Constitutional Convention of
1849-50, secretary to the commission to
revise the judicial code of the
State in 1851-2, and was State Librarian
from 1854 to 1856. He had en-
gaged also in journalism and published
the Cincinnati "Signal" in 1847. In
1854 he published a "History of the
State of Ohio: First Period, 1620-
1787". It was evidently the first
volume of a complete and pretentious
history of the State. It is valuable for
its accuracy and detail and for a
full treatment of the period covered,
and one regrets that he never com-
pleted his work. If he had done so in as
thorough a manner as he
commenced it there would have been
little left for subsequent historians
to write about. In 1857 he wrote a
"Manual of the Ohio School Sys-
tem", which is a most extensive and
authoritative history of education
in Ohio. During the Civil War and for
several years afterwards Mr.
Taylor was special agent of the United
States Treasury, being charged
with making inquiries into the
reciprocal relations of trade and trans-
portation between the United States and
Canada. In 1856 he removed
to St. Paul, Minnesota, and from there
he made many contributions to
literature. In 1862 he wrote
"Alleghania, or the Strength of the Union
and the Weakness of Slavery in the High
Lands of the South". In
1867 he wrote in connection with John R.
Brown "The Mineral Re-
sources of the United States". In
1882 he wrote "Forest and Fruit
Culture in Manitoba", and in
addition wrote pamphlets relating to the
Indian question in connection with the
Sioux war of 1862-3. His other
writings consist of "The Railroad
System of Minnesota and North-
western Connections", published in
1859, and "Reports to Treasury De-
partment on Commercial Relations with
Canada", published at Washing-
ton, D. C., in 1860, 1862, 1868. In the
later days of his life he served
as United States Consul at Winnipeg,
Manitoba, where he died April 28,
1893. This man held the office of
Librarian for two years and succumbed
to the party pressure of Republican
spoilsmen when Salmon P. Chase
became Governor.
It was fortunate for the Library that
Mr. Taylor's successor took
equal rank as one in every way qualified
to take charge of this institu-
tion. Governor Chase's nominee was
William Turner Coggeshall. His
whole life had been spent in a literary
atmosphere. He came to Akron,
Ohio, from Pennsylvania in his early
manhood and embarked in the pub-
lication of a temperance paper which
bore the peculiar name, "The
Roarer". In Cincinnati, to which
place he removed in 1847, he became
identified with "The Genius of the
West", a monthly magazine of western
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popular in their day. He was a most industrious worker and covered in his writings a varied territory. As a practical moralizer he wrote sketches for young men on "State Governors", on "Millard Fillmore", and "Young America". As a historical writer he prepared papers on "The Origin and Progress of Printing", "Men and Events in the West", and "Literary and Artistic Enterprises in Cincinnati". In 1859 he pub- lished "A Discourse in the Social and Moral Advantages of the Culti- vation of Local Literature". All the while he was appearing on the public platform in the capacity of a lecturer in which he obtained considerable popularity. He served as State Librarian during the administrations of Governors Chase and Dennison. During the Civil War he volunteered and was appointed on the staff of Governor Dennison with the rank of Colonel. His services in West Virginia resulted in a permanent disease which finally caused his death. Retiring from the army, he became private secretary to Governor J. B. Cox. In 1865 he was appointed United States Minister to Quito, Ecuador, and immediately removed to |
Ohio State Library Centennial. 105
South America. His health was broken and
incapable of restoration;
he died at Quito, August 2, 1867, aged
42 years. No man in his genera-
tion did more for the promotion of
literary culture in the west than
Coggeshall; and no man in the century of
its existence has reflected
more credit on the Ohio State Library.
His monument lies, aside from his
official worth, in his "Poets and
Poetry of the West", which has done
so much to keep green the memory of our
early authors, and to give
prestige to the men and women who
deserved literary honor.
The establishment of this Library was
modestly announced by Gov-
ernor Thomas Worthington in his message
to the General Assembly as
follows: "The fund made subject to
my control by the last General
Assembly, besides paying the ordinary
demands upon it and for articles
mentioned in the resolution of the
legislature of the 28th of January,
1817, has enabled me to purchase a small
but valuable collection of books
which are intended as the commencement
of a library for this State. In
the performance of this act I was guided
by what I conceived the best
interests of the State by placing within
reach of the representatives of
the people such information as will aid
them in the discharge of the
important duties they are delegated to
perform."
Subsequently Governor Worthington, in a
message to the General
Assembly, presented a catalogue of the
books purchased, being five hun-
dred and nine volumes. They embraced a
wide range of literature of the
most substantial character, and it is
noticed that in the entire list there
is but one work of poetry, that being
Milton's "Paradise Lost". In this
list we observe the works of authors
representing the best literature in
ancient and modern times. The foundation thus laid by Governor
Worthington has increased year by year
until there has been formed one
of the most comprehensive and valuable
collections of books possessed by
any state in the Union. The man who did
this work has erected for
himself a monument more lasting than
brass, and has rendered the gen-
erations that followed him his grateful
debtors. It would be neglect-
ing the chief obligation of this
occasion not to give more than a passing
notice to Thomas Worthington,-a
full-length portrait of the man and
his career will certainly add to the
interest of this evening.
The seat of government of Ohio by act of
the General Assembly
was removed from Chillicothe to Columbus,
and from the second Tues-
day of October 1816, the latter town
became the Capital of Ohio. On
December 2, 1816, the General Assembly
met for the first time in Colum-
bus in the new State House, which was
located on the northeast corner
of Third and State Streets.
The first Governor of Ohio to be
inaugurated in the new capital
was Thomas Worthington, of Chillicothe;
he assumed his second term
and delivered his inaugural address
before both houses of the legislature
on December 9, 1816. He had been elected
to his first term in 1814, and
to accept the governorship he resigned
his seat in the United States
106 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
Senate. Worthington was one of that
great triumvirate, his compeers
being Edward Tiffin and Nathaniel
Massie, who conducted to a success-
ful termination the struggle which
resulted in Ohio becoming a state.
These men, all Virginians, all
Jeffersonian Democrats, resisted the en-
croachment of Federalism as embodied in
the administration of Governor
Arthur St. Clair of the Northwest
Territory. After a bitter contest,
they succeeded in removing the aged and
gallant Governor, and finally
forced, with the assistance of Thomas
Jefferson, statehood on the people
of Ohio. It was a magnificent contest, a
great conquest, and subsequent
generations have been laid under eternal
obligations for their patriotic
and persistent struggle. In this
struggle for statehood, Edward Tiffin
was the master spirit and Thomas
Worthington was his chief associate
and lieutenant. When Ohio became a
state, Worthington was one of the
two United States Senators elected by
the first legislature which met
March 1, 1803. He at once took an
important rank in the Senate as a
man of affairs, and he was recognized as
a practical authority on the
wants of the new state and the west
generally. He was not a stranger
at the seat of government. In the
struggles just past he was first at
Philadelphia and afterward at
Washington, representing the Democratic
Republicans in their fight against
Governor St. Clair and the admission
of Ohio to the Union. He was recognized
by President Jefferson as
one of the influential leaders of the
party to which both belonged and as
a staunch friend of the administration.
On the questions of canals, internal
improvements, and public lands,
he was an acknowledged authority.
Secretary of the Treasury, Albert
Gallatin, wrote to President Jefferson,
November 25, 1807, concerning
Worthington, as follows: "Whatever
relates to land cannot be too closely
watched. Worthington is the only one in
the Senate since Breckenridge
left, who understands the subject. He
has been perfectly faithful in
that respect, trying to relieve as much
as possible the purchasers generally
from being pressed for payment". On
the last day of his first term in
the Senate he secured the passage of a
resolution that was the precursor
of the Government construction of the
National Road.
He was again elected to the Senate
December 10, 1810, to serve
out the unfinished term ending March 4,
1815, of Return J. Meigs, Jr.,
who had been elected Governor, and right
here I want to call attention
to a fact that crops out in the early
period of which I speak, not only
in Ohio but in other states. It is this:
We find numerous instances of
men resigning the United States
senatorship to accept the office of
Governor of their state. They seem to
have more ambition to serve
their people by attention to domestic
affairs than to occupy a post of
honor at the distant capitol. Meigs did
this. So did Worthington, as
well as several other Governors of Ohio.
When Worthington returned
to his second term as Senator, he again
became the authority on the
public domain. He served on the
Committee on Public Land, Manufac-
tures, and Indian Affairs. The
establishment of the General Land Office,
Ohio State Library Centennial. 107
was the result of a bill introduced by
him which became a law April
24, 1812. He secured an appropriation of
thirty thousand dollars to
finish the first section of a National
Road, which was one of the results
of his project of internal improvements.
Although a Democrat he opposed and voted
against the declara-
tion of war against Great Britain in
1812, because he believed it was
ill-advised, and that the country was
not prepared for the conflict. His
opposition, however, stopped with his
vote, for he supported all the
war measures of that time.
On December 8, 1814, he was inaugurated
at Chillicothe as Gov-
ernor. He had resigned from the United
States Senate the day before.
The war was still on, and Governor
Worthington lent all his energies
to sustaining the national government
and protecting Ohio. During his
term as Governor, he constantly urged
the legislature to take steps look-
ing to the construction of canals and
the advancement of education.
After serving two terms as Governor, he
represented Ross County
in the Twentieth and Twenty-first
General Assemblies in 1821-23. He
afterwards acted on the Canal Commission
with Alfred Kelly and did
much to promote a canal system, being
the first Governor to advocate
that improvement.
Thomas Worthington may be justly styled
one of the master spirits
of Ohio. His long public career was
productive of much good. He
was distinctly a constructive statesman,
giving his whole life to found-
ing and building Ohio to greatness. When
we look over his work
in this State, we find that he was the
first Governor to urge free schools
for the poor, to restrict the liquor
traffic in favor of temperance, to
found a great library, to recommend a
Governor's mansion, to grant
prisoners in the penitentiary a portion
of their labor income, to urge
a state normal school, to establish
county infirmaries, to advocate canals,
and to promote internal improvements by
state roads. Measuring his
full career, both in national and state
affairs, we can well agree with
Salmon P. Chase, that he was a
"gentleman of distinguished ability and
great influence".
His lasting memorial is this Library.
Other governors have con-
tributed their part in developing the
material greatness of the State, and
some have added glory to its name by
valor in war, but the man who has
furnished means of happiness and
elevation of spirit to the thousands
that have gone before, and through whose
instrumentality thousands to
come will be benefitted, has left a
monument that time cannot destroy and
men cannot forget.
Mr. E. O. Randall spoke informally and
said in part;
The opportunity of paying my tribute to
the history and services of
this good library, which have now
extended over a century in the State
of Ohio, is fully appreciated. Among the
recollections of my earliest
days are those of coming, first with my
good father, who was not only
108 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
a book-reader but a book-writer, to this
library, and then in my teens
of drawing books for myself. At that
time the privilege of drawing
books from this library was confined to
the state officials, but my father
being a clergyman and at times
officiating as the Chaplain of the Legis-
lature put him on the privileged list
and that included his son. I have
been a very constant patron of this library,
and it has almost become a
second home to me; certainly a literary
refuge.
The thought that most impresses me in
connection with the history
of the library system throughout the
country is the growth in the use
and usefulness of public libraries. Up
to within a generation ago-say
thirty years-a public library was
generally an indiscriminate collection
of books, more or less wisely selected,
and usually with little or no
classification or even order of
arrangement in the shelves. Then came
the systematic catalogue and topical
classification under general and speci-
fic subjects. I need not mention those
methods, you are familiar with
them. And then the elevation, so to
speak, of the librarian and assistants
to what might be called a profession.
Special education and training
for the duties of those in attendance
upon the library were required.
Previous to that time all that an
attendant in the library was expected
to do was to receive the books as they
came in, place them on some shelf
and hand out to the patron any book
which might be called for. Further
than that his duties did not extend,
they were purely mechanical. Under
the new requirement and qualifications,
it has become the duty of the
attendant to assist the reading patron
in securing not only the volumes
on certain subjects which he may
require, but make helpful suggestions.
I can best illustrate this by my first
experience under the new regime.
Some thirty years ago it was incumbent
upon me to prepare an address
to be delivered before the Art School of
Columbus. I was requested to
speak on the history of American
painting, a subject concerning which
I knew little, nor did I even know where
to find the material for my
purpose. I made a visit to New York
City, proceeded to the Astor
Library, made a statement of my wants to
the chief librarian, and he at
once said, "We can 'fix you up,'
please return tomorrow and we will
assign one of our assistants to you,
with an alcove where you may
work, and all publications upon or
referring to the subject will be at
your elbow." I found that to be the
case, and for several days I had at
my disposal the very best that had been
published on that subject, pre-
pared my address and came back and
filled my audience with admiration
and amazement at the vast, comprehensive
and scholarly knowledge I
had on that subject! It will thus be
seen what a boon to ignorance and
illiteracy has been the later library
system. And this state library and
its efficient corps has been doing that
sort of work. The public library has
thus became the main source of aid and
inspiration to the literary clubs
which are now so numerous in this
country, indeed, the library is now
recognized as second to the school and
college in its usefulness to the
Ohio State Library Centennial. 109
reading public. You will recall that
Andrew Carnegie called the library
the university of the people, and he
said to me once, when I had the rare
privilege of meeting him in New York,
that he had chosen the library
as the main avenue for his beneficence
because it brought to the people
knowledge and learning which, more than
any other feature in our social
life, brought them the intelligence that
might make them good citizens.
I tender my congratulations to you on
the happy occasion which you now
celebrate.
Hon. J. H. Newman was introduced and
briefly expressed
his pleasure at being present and
bespoke a more liberal sup-
port for the library.
Mr. John J. Pugh, librarian of the
Columbus public library,
spoke appreciatively of the service
rendered by the State Library
to the city of Columbus through many
years prior to the organ-
ization of the city library and through
the early years of its
growth. Before the city library had
built up a department of
bound magazines and periodicals patrons
had been referred to
the State Library to consult these
valuable sources of informa-
tion. Even under existing conditions
when the city library is
well supplied with books to meet the
popular demand there is
still room, he declared, for cooperation
and he had always ap-
preciated the privilege of working in
the Columbus field with
those in charge of the State Library.
Miss Olive Jones, librarian, of the library
of the Ohio State
University, spoke interestingly of the
achievements of the State
Library in recent years as follows:
It is a pleasure to bring the greetings
of the State University to
the State Library this evening. Of the
educational agencies of the State
the Ohio State University is one of the
youngest and it is with a feeling
of real veneration that it sends its
congratulations to its co-laborer,
which has over twice the years of service
to its credit in the educational
field. To me it seems a great and
beautiful thing to have given one
hundred years of able and gracious
service to the state. It is a record
to be proud of and I hope that tonight
the library as an institution and
the persons individually who are at
present making that institution pos-
sible, will allow themselves to enjoy to
the utmost the feeling of work
well done, than which there is no
greater pleasure in life.
My first memories of the Library date
back to the time, when as a
child, I was brought to this room by my
father. Being a clergyman, he
was allowed the privilege of withdrawing
books from the library and
110 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
he made use of the opportunity. At that
time the privilege of with-
drawal of books was restricted to state
officials and to clergymen. Just
why clergymen should have been looked
upon as a favored class, I do
not know. Possibly, it was thought they
stood in special need of the
inspiration of books. Be that as it may,
it was a great privilege, and to
me as a child the going to the State
Library was a great event. I re-
member my first visit and the feeling of
awe with which I surveyed
this room with its high walls lined with
books and its air of scholarly
quiet. After all these years, and after
many, many visits to the Library,
a little of that feeling is still with
me whenever I enter the room.
And it is a beautiful room! No
amount of modern efficiency which
stores books in compactly arranged
stacks and gives instant service by
means of trolleys and push buttons, can
give that bookish flavor which
you find in these old book halls,
literally halls of learning This room
is a fine example of the old style
library and I devoutely hope that
when the great new building, so greatly
needed and so richly deserved,
is erected for the State Library, this
room will be kept as the State
House branch. With all the excrescences
removed, which much crowding
has made necessary, the room would
regain the repose and dignity which
it has lost to some degree, and would
give ample space for all the library
activities which need to remain in the
State House itself.
I have spoken of the activities which
need to remain in the State
House, thus implying the fact that there
are others which can be carried
on outside of these restricted walls.
And this is the case, for times have
greatly changed since the Library was
expected to serve only state
officials and such privileged classes as
the clergymen of Columbus. The
beginning of this change was twenty-one
years ago, when Mr. Ruther-
ford P. Hayes, son of President Hayes,
and a patriotic citizen of Ohio,
centered his interests for a while on
the State Library. Mr. Hayes
thought that the State Library ought to
be what its name implied, a
library for the state, and he worked to
make it so. His great desire was to
see it taken out of politics and to this
end he worked for the formation
of a bi-partisan library commission. The
law forming such a commission
was passed in April, 1896. Mr. Hayes was
made a member, the other
members being Mr. J. F. McGrew and Mr.
Charles A Reynolds. In the
hands of this Commission were placed all
the affairs of the library and
one of its first acts was to elect Mr.
Charles B. Galbreath librarian. With
the exception of about four years, Mr.
Galbreath has been the state
librarian ever since. The Commission
immediately extended the privilege
of withdrawing books from the State
Library to every citizen of the
state. That privilege has never been
taken away.
In the admirable address which Mr. Ryan
has made this evening
he said that he purposely refrained from
commenting upon the recent
history of the library, because it was
known to every one. I wonder, Mr.
Chairman, if that is so. At times I am
inclined to think that it is a very
Ohio State Library Centennial. 111
small per cent of Ohio citizens who
realize what has been done for them
in these comparatively recent years.
In addition to the reorganization of the
library, classifying and
cataloging it according to approved
modern methods, and opening it to
the whole state, it seemed desirable to
go out into the state and to carry
the books to the people. Other states
had done this to some extent, so
why not Ohio? The Commission soon after the
organization authorized
the beginning of a Traveling Library
Department, and in 1898 the first
special appropriation was made for it.
This work has had a tremendous
growth and the traveling libraries are
still carrying comfort and enjoy-
ment to all parts of Ohio.
In 1908, the Organization Department was
established. Small
libraries over the state were needing
help in solving their problems.
They were naturally turning to the State
Library and help was freely
given, but there was need of some one to
go out to the libraries and help
the communities in the organization and
establishment of new libraries.
A library organizer, working under the
direction of the state librarian,
is doing this work.
Special reference work along the lines
of legislation was being
required. Some states had legislative
reference bureaus. Again, why
not Ohio? And the Legislative Reference Department of the State
Library was established in 1910.
In all of these lines of work the Ohio
Library Association was
interested and through the legislative
committee some work was done,
but the brunt of pushing the measures
through to successful accomplish-
ment fell upon Mr. Galbreath and to him
is due the credit for Ohio's
standing in the front line of state
library development. But it was all
done so quietly, so unostentatiously,
that, as I have said, I wonder how
generally people, both in and out of the
state, know of all that is being
accomplished. But, as some one has said,
Ohioans take things for granted.
A thing ought to be done, therefore it
is done. That seems to be true,
so far as the library situation is
concerned.
But of all the varied functions of the
library, the greatest one to
my mind is the one to which probably all
the others contribute. I refer
to the State Library being the virtual
head of the library system of the
state. It is the reservoir from which
the small library can borrow
books needed by its community. It is a
depository of technical know-
ledge which can be drawn upon by any
library worker. It is the head-
quarters for all library movements. This
is a high calling. Other lines
of work can well be left to scientific
and historical societies, but to the
State Library only, governed by a
commission, administered by an able
librarian, is entrusted the welfare of
the great body of small public
libraries of the state. I trust that no
question of expediency will ever
be allowed to interfere with this work
and privilege.
Mr. Chairman, again I congratulate you.
112 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
Miss Julia W. Merrill, branch librarian
of the Cincinnati public
library and instructor in the summer
library school, conveyed the con-
gratulations of the public library of
Cincinnati.
Mr. Clayton A. McCleary, State Library
Commissioner, stated that
while he had been a member of the Board
of Commissioners for a short
time only he was very greatly interested
in the work and in the exercises
of the evening to which it had been his
pleasure to listen. He expressed
hearty sympathy with all efforts to
extend the usefulness of the State
Library to those in official position
and to the citizens of the entire
state.
State Librarian, C. B. Galbreath, spoke
in part as follows:
Libraries are of remote antiquity. In
ancient times the position of
librarian was not without honor. When
civilization was young on the
banks of the Nile the "hall of
books" was regarded as a sacred place and
the "keeper of books" was a
man of prominence and power in the court
of the ruler of the realm.
In Palestine and Greece have been
unearthed the remains of libraries
dating back more than a thousand years
before the Christian era. The
story of the Alexandrian library is
familiar to all. At one time it is
said to have numbered over 700,000
volumes. It had a catalog of 120
volumes. Only in recent years, however,
have we learned that its de-
struction by the caliph Omar is probably
a myth. It perished at different
intervals in the fierce contests of
religious enthusiasts. The fanaticism
of that far off time, culminating in the
triumph of the Mohammedan
Arabs, A. D. 641, brought to ruin this
great treasury of the learning
of the ancient world.
Many of the libraries were archives-the
records of cities and
states-in other words official
libraries, state libraries, if you please. In
the second century before Christ,
Tiberius Gracchus, the great commoner
of Rome, built on the Aventine Hill the
first temple dedicated to liberty
and in it placed the library of the
republic-prophetic of the liberating
influence of books which, in a later age
should go to the whole world.
Some time in the year 1817 the State
Library of Ohio came into ex-
istence. The exact date has not been
definitely fixed. Early in the year
Governor Worthington, from his
contingent fund, purchased in Phila-
delphia 509 books for which he paid
$945.67. The date of payment was
June 13th of that year. On the second of
December following a book
stand was purchased for thirty-five
dollars and on the 26th of the
month one dozen chairs for twenty-four
dollars. Rules and regulations
were prescribed and a librarian, Mr.
John L. Harper, was placed in
charge. All this was done by Governor
Worthington without authoriza-
tion by the legislature. It is certainly
a high tribute to his interest in
the establishment of the library that he
should make such use of a
portion of his contingent fund and rely
upon the approval of the Gen-
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later, every city in the state, many of the progressive villages and town- ships and eight counties have free public libraries. The State Library is open on equal terms to all the citizens of Ohio. Under our Board of Library Commissioners have already been organized the traveling library department, the library organization department and the legislative ref- erence department. A small appropriation at the last session of the General Assembly has enabled our department of library organization to open and conduct a successful summer school at Ohio State University which closes its first term tomorrow. The State Library has steadily grown until it numbers about 200,000 volumes and its service now reaches every county in Ohio. Vol. XXVIII--8. |
114 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
The greatest need of the library, as
suggested in the letter that I
have read from Demarcus C. Brown, State
Librarian of Indiana, is more
room. The space assigned it in the
Capitol building has for years been
recognized as wholly inadequate. We have
here a collection of books
and documents of great value, many of
which could not be duplicated,
and most of which are in frequent demand
by scholars and students.
Ample room should be provided for their
convenient use. The state has
properly provided modern library
buildings for Miami University at
Oxford, the Ohio University at Athens,
the Ohio State University and
the State Archaeological and Historical
Society. Money has been ap-
propriated for the erection of an
executive mansion and other state
buildings. We have an abiding faith that
in the not distant future the
state will provide for its library, the
oldest institution of its kind west
of the Alleghenies and one of the oldest
in the United States.
In 1817, one century ago, this country
was at peace with the world
and at peace with herself. Partisan
controversy had almost disappeared
and the young republic had entered upon
a career of "good feeling" and
marvelous internal development. The
thoughts of our forefathers natur-
ally turned to education and the
pursuits of peaceful industry.
Today we are in a world war. At last, if
not at the Armageddon
of Holy Writ, at the Armageddon of
history we stand. The largest
present problem that faces this library
and its commission is to provide
books and periodicals for the soldiers
within the limits of our state.
A sufficient number of these books
should be promptly provided by
the state to meet present pressing
demands. The expense would thus
be distributed generally and no citizen
would complain of an expenditure
properly made for this patriotic
educational enterprise.
If the books cannot be furnished by the
state, however, the means
must be found to provide them. The war
has added to rather than
diminished the demand for reading matter
from the civilian population
of the state. This must be met and in
addition a library service must
be provided for the soldiers that will
reflect credit upon Ohio.
Library progress here in the Middle West
has been gratifying but
comparatively slow through the past
century. It is never safe to prophesy
conditions a century hence. But we may
rest assured that, viewed
from
the year 2017, present results will seem meager indeed. The
achievements of that far off time,
however, will be the fruition, in a
masure at least, of the progressive
spirit and the wider vision of those
who labor in the library field of today.
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11, 1917. Those in attendance were thus enabled to be present at the meeting. Representatives of the public library and the library of the Ohio State University were also present and a goodly number of others interested in the State Library and its work. State Librarian C. B. Galbreath presided. He stated that of the twenty-four persons who had previously held the position (96) |