OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
REVIEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS
BY THE EDITOR
DEATH OF GRANDSON OF JOHN BROWN
On March 21, 1927, Charles P. Brown,
son of
Jason Brown and grandson of John Brown
of Osawa-
tomie and Harper's Ferry fame, died at
his home in
Akron at the age of seventy-three. He
was the second
son of Jason Brown. His older brother,
Austin, went
with Jason and John Brown, Jr., to
Kansas before John
Brown, Sr., left for the West. Austin
died on the way
to Kansas and was buried on the banks
of the Mis-
souri River.
In a conversation a few years ago with
the writer,
Charles P. Brown spoke freely of his
grandfather. He
remembered him, a man of stern appearance
but kindly
disposition. "Grandfather,"
he said, "was very fond
of all his grandchildren. I remember
that he used to
take me on his knee and manifest a
kindly interest
in me."
Charles Brown was not an
extremist. While he
manifested a degree of pride in his
descent from John
Brown, he was able to view the actions
of his famous
ancestor at Osawatomie and Harper's
Ferry from all
points to reach very rational
conclusions. "In view of
(312)
Reviews, Notes and Comments 313
conditions at the time," he said,
"I am not surprised at
the action of the United States
government. Slavery
is now recognized as morally and
economically wrong,
but at the time of the Harper's Ferry
raid it was legal-
ized by the United States and the State
of Virginia. It
is generally admitted now that the blow
at Harper's
Ferry hastened the outbreak of the
Civil War, which
brought slavery to an end in the United
States. John
Brown's contribution to this
achievement will not be for-
gotten. Of course there has been and
will be criticism
of the means that he employed. His sincerity and
singleness of purpose, however, are
seldom questioned."
Charles Brown had lived in Summit
County all his
life, except a few months of his
childhood in Kansas
before the Civil War. For about twenty
years he worked
as an engineer in the old Schumacher
Milling Company
Mills, then one of Akron's foremost
industries. Later
he operated a berry farm. In recent
years he has lived
a retired life in his comfortable home
at 152 N. Portage
Path, Akron. He leaves a widow, Mrs.
Alice M.
Brown, formerly Miss Alice Pettit, a
son by a former
marriage, Gerald H. Brown, a veteran of
the War with
Spain, who lives at 182 Maplecliff
Drive, Lakewood,
Ohio, and three grandchildren.
JOHN BROWN HOME IN AKRON
The house in which John Brown lived for
some time
when he was a citizen of Akron, Ohio,
we learn from
an exchange is about to be sold and
razed to make way
for another building. There is a
disposition on the part
of some citizens of Akron to regret the
removal of this
314
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
historic building, but no one has come
forward with
the money to purchase and preserve it.
It is likely to
share the fate of the house in Niles in
which William
McKinley was born.
JUDSON HARMON
Judson Harmon, jurist, attorney general
in the cabi-
net of President Cleveland and twice
elected governor
of Ohio, died in Cincinnati, February
22, 1927. He
was a graduate of Denison University, a
lawyer of emi-
nent ability and a life member of the
Ohio State Arch-
aeological and Historical Society.
During his admin-
istration as governor of the State,
provision was made
for the front wing of the present
Museum and Library
Building on the University Grounds and
for the Hayes
Memorial Building, at Fremont, Ohio.
His law part-
ner, Hugh L. Nichols, former Chief
Justice of the Su-
preme Court of Ohio, will write a
sketch of Governor
Harmon for the QUARTERLY.
HENRY FORD AND THE McGUFFEY READERS
The interest of Henry Ford, the Detroit
automobile
manufacturer, in the McGuffey Readers
and the Mc-
Guffey Society is worthy of note in
this issue. Evidence
of his interest in the Readers has been
manifest in his
effort to acquire a complete set of
them, and in articles
that have appeared at different times
in the Dearborn
Independent.
He has had reprinted at considerable
expense the
First, Second, Third and Fourth
Readers, editions 1866-
Reviews and Comments 315
1885. A copy of each of these, with his
autograph, he
presented to the McGuffey Society of
Columbus, Ohio.
They are in the list of books presented
to the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society.
Just as we go to press, Henry Ford has
contributed
Reprints of the Fifth and Sixth
Readers, Copyright of
1866. These complete his series of
reprints.
ROBERT FREDERICK WOLFE
The capital city of Ohio was shocked on
January 13,
1927, to learn of the tragic death of
Robert Frederick
Wolfe, publisher of the Ohio State
Journal and the
Columbus Evening Dispatch. At
11:35 A. M. of that
date he fell from a casement window on
the fifth floor
of the Dispatch Building and was
instantly killed.
The announcement of his sudden death
brought a
shadow of gloom over the city with the
realization that
Columbus had lost her most prominent
citizen.
Robert Frederick Wolfe was born in
Cumberland,
Guernsey County, Ohio, November 7,
1860. He was the
son of Andrew Jackson Wolfe and Nancy
Jane Barton
Wolfe. His early boyhood days were
spent in his native
village. At the age of eleven years he
was working in
a glass factory in Zanesville, Ohio. At
the age of four-
teen years he was driving a canal boat
between Cumber-
land, Maryland, and Georgetown,
District of Columbia.
Later he became a seaman on a steam
coasting vessel.
Next he went to New York City where he
sold
the New York Sun, then published
by Charles A. Dana.
Returning to the sea, he sailed to Cuba
and thence to
Louisiana. In the cypress swamps of
that state he
316
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
worked at getting out railroad ties.
Later he herded
cattle in Texas.
In 1888 he came to Columbus, Ohio, and
engaged as
a traveling salesman in the shoe
business. In this he
was remarkably successful. He was one
of the original
incorporators of the H. C. Godman
Company, which is
now one of the largest
shoe-manufacturing companies
in the Middle West.
In 1895 Mr. Wolfe and his brother Harry
P. Wolfe,
with a very small capital, entered upon
the shoe manu-
facturing business. This enterprise was
pushed with
characteristic vigor. At the time of
Mr. Wolfe's death
it had grown into "three great
chain-store systems, cen-
tering in Columbus, Minneapolis, and
Kansas City,
operating more than two thousand
stores."
In 1889 and 1890 Mr. Wolfe contributed
to the Co-
lumbus Sunday Capital a column
of local happenings that
attracted considerable interest. The
newspaper business
had a lure for him, probably dating
back to the days
when as a boy he sold The Sun on
the streets of New
York City. In 1903 he and his brother,
Harry, bought
the Ohio State Journal. In 1905
they purchased, also, the
Columbus Evening Dispatch. Both
of these properties
promptly responded to his vigorous
application of busi-
ness principles and like every other
venture undertaken
by him in the last thirty years of his
life, rapidly grew
in financial value. In circulation and
influence they
have more than kept pace with the rapid
and substan-
tial growth of the city of Columbus
which they have
signally advanced. His son, Edgar T.
Wolfe, is presi-
dent of the Ohio State Journal Company.
Robert F. Wolfe started in life with a
very limited
Reviews and Comments 317
education. He overcame this and other
handicaps and
reached the limit of his days crowned
with success. To
his friends he was loyal and he had the
faculty of bind-
ing others to himself with a friendship
as loyal as his
own. Employes were thoroughly devoted
to his inter-
ests. To those in need he was generous.
He was char-
itable without ostentation. He was
public-spirited and
gave freely for the upbuilding of
Columbus. Beneath
a rugged, reticent and unemotional
exterior he was ten-
der-hearted and kind. After his death
many bore testi-
mony to aid received from him in the
hour of need. The
number of his benefactions will never
be known.
He was a life member of the Ohio State
Archaeologi-
cal and Historical Society. On one
occasion when the
Society was struggling along with
inadequate appro-
priations and had reached the end of
its resources to
continue its field work, he contributed
$2000, with the
simple injunction that no publicity was
to be given to his
donation.
In the newspapers following his death,
from which
the preceding sketch has been gleaned,
are found ex-
tended accounts of his life with
testimonials of appre-
ciation from prominent citizens,
including officials of
the state and nation -- all attesting
his wide acquaint-
ance and influence that grew as he
approached life's end.
COUNTY WORLD WAR HISTORIES
Among the material relating to the
World War, on
the shelves of the Library of the
Society, are two very
interesting publications. The first of
these is the "Honor
Roll of Ohio -- Lawrence County."
In the introduction
we read:
318 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
The citizens of Lawrence County are
justly proud of her
soldiers in the late war. The glory of
her noble sons will ring
down through all the generations to
come. In every branch of
the service, in every great engagement, our boys were
there; at
Verdun, at St. Mihiel, in the Argonne,
at Chateau Thierry --
wherever there was conflict, our boys
more than stood the test.
The history of the achievement of our
noble sons will be, in
a general way, the history of the
nation's part in the war.
The book is extensively illustrated and
contains a
Roll of Honor, including the names and
portraits of
those who made the supreme sacrifice
for home and
country. There are also numerous
portraits of those
who returned from the service, with
brief sketches of
each.
*
* *
The "Honor Roll of Ohio -- Erie
County Edition,"
has also been received in the Library.
It follows, in a
general way, the publication noted
above and is sump-
tuously illustrated with portraits and
scenes from camp
and field.
*
* *
As we write these lines, we have
received from the
author, Judge Van A Snider, of
Lancaster, Ohio, Major
of Infantry, a copy of "Fairfield
County in the World
War." We shall make fuller mention of this in the
next issue of the QUARTERLY.
OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
REVIEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS
BY THE EDITOR
DEATH OF GRANDSON OF JOHN BROWN
On March 21, 1927, Charles P. Brown,
son of
Jason Brown and grandson of John Brown
of Osawa-
tomie and Harper's Ferry fame, died at
his home in
Akron at the age of seventy-three. He
was the second
son of Jason Brown. His older brother,
Austin, went
with Jason and John Brown, Jr., to
Kansas before John
Brown, Sr., left for the West. Austin
died on the way
to Kansas and was buried on the banks
of the Mis-
souri River.
In a conversation a few years ago with
the writer,
Charles P. Brown spoke freely of his
grandfather. He
remembered him, a man of stern appearance
but kindly
disposition. "Grandfather,"
he said, "was very fond
of all his grandchildren. I remember
that he used to
take me on his knee and manifest a
kindly interest
in me."
Charles Brown was not an
extremist. While he
manifested a degree of pride in his
descent from John
Brown, he was able to view the actions
of his famous
ancestor at Osawatomie and Harper's
Ferry from all
points to reach very rational
conclusions. "In view of
(312)