26
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
extent of the town and the obligations
of the founders.
Incidentally they show that sometime
between October
6 and December 15, 1821, the town
acquired the name
of Bucyrus.
Colonel Kilbourne was a man of varied
accomplish-
ments for his day. He was soldier,
minister, educator,
congressman and, we are told, a
musician whose songs
delighted companions and audiences.
Someone has said,
half in jest, half in earnest: "Poetry is lies; and it
follows that poets are liars." We
have ample evidence
that Colonel Kilbourne was something of
a poet, but the
famous poem with which he celebrated
Bucyrus, its ad-
vantages and prospects, cannot be thus
criticised. Fol-
lowing is the text of the poem:
BUCYRUS SONG
Ye men of spirit, ardent souls,
Whose hearts are firm and hands are
strong,
Whom generous enterprise controls,
Attend! and truth shall guide my song.
I'll tell you how Bucyrus, now
Just rising, like the star of morn,
Surrounded stands by fertile lands,
On clear Sandusky's rural bourn.
In these wide regions, known to fame,
Which freedom proudly calls her own;
Where free-born men the heathen tame,
And spurning kings-despise a throne.
No lands more blest, in all the West,
Are seen whichever way you turn,
Than those around Bucyrus, found
On clear Sandusky's rural bourn.
The river valley, rich and green,
Far as the power of sight extends,
Presents a splendid rural scene,
Which not the distant landscape ends.