Ohio History Journal

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

• 1
 

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,

• 2
 

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

• 3
 

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

• 4
 

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

• 5
 

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

• 6
 

104        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. literature. With him in this connection was associated Coates Kinney, the author of the exquisite lyric, "Rain on the Roof". With his literary work in Cincinnati, Coggeshall engaged in newspaper reporting.  He travelled with General Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian liberator, in 1851-2, From 1856 until 1862 he was State Librarian. He was a man of varied

literary tastes. In 1851 he pub- lished "Signs of the Times", a book on spirit rappings, and he has some good novels to his credit, "Easy Warren and his Contemporaries"  (N e w   York, 1854), and "Oakshaw, or the Victim of Avarice" (Cincinnati, 1855), were both popular works in their day and had wide circula- tion. He is remembered chiefly by his "Poets and Poetry of the West"   (Columbus,   1860),  as being the first effort to perpetuate the poetical sentiment of the west and to present an anthology of, at that time, a new field of litera- ture. In 1865 he published "The Journeys of A. Lincoln as Presi- dent-elect  a n d  as  President Martyred", now a rare and much- sought-for item of Lincolnana. His other works, "Home Hits and  Hints", and   "Stories  of Frontier Adventure" were very

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

• 7
 

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

• 8
 

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,

• 9
 

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

• 10