REVIEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS
BY THE EDITOR
A REVIEW OF THE LIFE AND THE DIARY AND
LET-
TERS OF RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
Robert Latham, the editor of the
Asheville (N. C.)
Citizen in the issue of that paper for May 12, 1929,
publishes his review of the Life and
the Diary and Let-
ters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes. Mr. Latham is a
well-known journalist of the Southland.
He began on
the editorial staff of the Columbia (S.
C.) State. He
was afterwards editor of the News and
Courier, Char-
leston (S. C.). In 1924 he received the
Pulitzer prize
for the best editorial in the United
States.
Following is his estimate of the Hayes
Series:
It is now fifteen years since Dr.
Williams' Life of the 19th
President of the United States was
published. Dr. Williams had
undertaken its preparation as a labor of
love. William Henry
Smith, the intimate personal and
political friend of Mr. Hayes,
had assembled much of the material for a
history of the eventful
period in which Hayes was a pivotal
figure but had not been able
to write the biography which he had in
mind. He turned in his
last days to Dr. Williams, his close
associate, and asked him to
complete the undertaking; and Dr.
Williams could not refuse the
request, seconded as it was by the sons
of Mr. Hayes.
The undertaking gave him considerable
uneasiness in the be-
ginning for he mistrusted his own
qualifications; especially as he
was by training and conviction a
Democrat, editing for many
years, with distinguished ability, The
Indianapolis News and mak-
ing that journal one of the great
newspapers of the Middle West.
When, however, upon his retirement from
his editorial work in
1911, he turned to writing the
Hayes biography and to editing the
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Reviews, Notes and Comments 503
immense collection of papers which Mr.
Hayes had preserved, he
soon warmed to the task. Competent
historians long ago have
written their verdict of approval on the
manner in which he per-
formed it.
Only now can the reader appreciate the
time and labor which
Dr. Williams spent on this work. From
his early youth, Mr.
Hayes kept a diary in which he
faithfully and systematically re-
corded his views and impressions. He had
preserved besides
thousands of letters and papers,
especially during the stressful
years when he was active in the
political life of Ohio and of the
nation. All of these Dr. Williams read
and studied with pains-
taking care. The Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical So-
ciety has now issued the entire
collection in a series of five bound
volumes covering the whole period of Mr.
Hayes' life. The So-
ciety has also reissued Dr. Williams' Life
of President Hayes in
two companion volumes as part of the
Hayes Series.
Historians who welcomed the Life of
Hayes upon its appear-
ance in 1914 will be glad now to have
the Diary and Letters; for
while Dr. Williams had quoted freely
from both in his biography
the full collection now made available
will be turned to by students
eager for the light which these papers
throw on a period of the
country's history which will always be
absorbingly interesting.
There is no occasion here to review this
material in detail. Dr.
Williams in his life fixed the character
of President Hayes in the
public mind. He showed him to have been
a man who accepted
the tasks which were laid upon him with
readiness and thorough-
ness, a man devoted to duty, filled with
public spirit, modest, dig-
nified, eager for the right. A reading
of the Hayes Diary and
Letters does
not alter this impression. It is confirmed in the let-
ters which he wrote during the campaign
in which he was a candi-
date for the Presidency. It is further
confirmed by the letters
which he wrote and the entries which he
made in his diary while
the election was in dispute. Whatever
view one may have as to
the manner in which that dispute was
settled, Mr. Hayes himself
pursued a course in which his purpose
was clear to do nothing
which he did not think was right. The
controversy raged vio-
lently but it is plain that he sought to
maintain his own serenity
and endeavored to keep his vision
unclouded. He had not ex-
pected success; and for himself he does
not appear especially to
have hoped for it. "I shall,"
he writes, "await the event with the
utmost composure. If the result is
adverse I shall be cheerful,
quiet and serene. If successful, may God give me grace
to be fair
and wise and just-clear in the great office-for the
true interest
of all the people in the United States."
504 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
In these letters, as in the diary, one
gets many intimate
glimpses of how difficult it was for Mr.
Hayes as President to
know where to find the truth or whom to
trust. Here, for ex-
ample, is an entry from the diary under
date of December 30,
1876: "The political event of the
week is the visit made me by
Judge T. J. Mackey of Chester, N. C.,
with a letter from General
Wade Hampton. Mackey is a fluent and
florid talker. His rep-
resentations are such as lead one to
hope for good results by wise
policy in the South. The letter is not
of much importance except
as it indicates General Hampton's views
of duty in case of armed
resistance by the Democrats. I have a
dispatch from C. P. Leslie
as follows- 'warn you to beware of Tom
Mackey. * * *
He is a first-class fraud. * * *'
This is a specimen of the
Southern complications."
An illuminating specimen it is, as all
who are familiar with
the adventurous career of Judge Mackey
in South Carolina poli-
tics will admit. Mr. Hayes' description
of him as "a fluent and
florid talker" could not be
improved upon. He could charge a
jury for hours or end without once
pausing for a word-or a
thought-in the flow of his eloquence; he
played now with one
element and now with another, as the
Leslie telegram to Mr.
Hayes indicates.
The South, which owes to President Hayes
the removal of
the Federal troops from this section,
will find not a few interest-
ing passages in these papers. They throw
light also on his fight
to rid the public service of corruption,
or his determined efforts
to preserve the integrity of the
nation's finances, and on his con-
spicuous stand for temperance in a day
when such a stand on the
part of a public man was a rarity.
STONE BUILDING AT ISLETA, OHIO
Many questions have in recent years
been raised in
regard to the old stone building on a
farm near Isleta,
Ohio. The structure of its walls, which
are still stand-
ing, seems to indicate that it was used
as a fortification.
No evidence, however, has yet been
found to indicate
that it was erected by the United
States or any other
government. Recently there have
appeared in the news-
papers, accounts of the origin of this
stone structure.
We reproduce two of these.
Reviews, Notes and Comments 505
In the Columbus Evening Dispatch of
February 12,
1926, appears the following:
Fort Evans, erected in 1806 in Oxford
Township, Coshocton
County, Ohio, as a protection against
Indians, is to be rebuilt.
James Richmond, an Ohio Civil War
Veteran, born near the
site of this fort and for many years a
doorkeeper of the House
of Representatives, has compiled some
interesting information
concerning Fort Evans and the early
settlers in its vicinity from
books and records obtained from the
Library of Congress by
Senator S. D. Fess, Chairman of the
Senate Library Committee.
Fort Evans was built by Isaac Evans,
whose first child,
Joseph Evans, born October 3, 1801, was
the first white child born
in Coshocton County and one of the first in Ohio.
The first white woman known to have
lived in Oxford Town-
ship, Richmond found, was Mary Harris,
brought there in 1750
by the Indian chief, Eagle Feather, whom
she married. When
Eagle Feather brought another white
woman home after one of
his raids, Mary Harris killed the chief
in his sleep and drove the
other, called "Newcomer," away
from the camp.
The latter was killed by other Indians
and her body, found
by Christopher Gist and Barney Curran,
was buried on the site
of the present city of Newcomerstown.
Isaac Evans settled on the banks of the
Tuscarawas river
near the present village of Evansburg in
1800 and about six years
later bought a tract of land on the
opposite side of the river on
which he built a fort with the aid of
Robert Corbit and other set-
tlers. Its ruins stand on the Manche
Atchison farm. In the
early days of the past century it served
as the only protection for
settlers and their families against
Indian massacres.
In the Columbus Evening Dispatch of
July 5, 1927,
we find the following relative to this
old stone building:
The general land office is cooperating
with Senator Fess and
Ohio citizens of Coshocton County in
trying to trace the history
of an old fort in Oxford Township, that
county. James E. Rich-
mond of Isleta, Ohio, sent to Senator
Fess a legal description of
the tract of land on which the fort
stood.
"The Historical Society of
Coshocton County is anxious to
find out who purchased this tract of
land from the government of
the United States," wrote Mr. Richmond.
The Society's records showed that some
time between 1806
506
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
and 1812 the tract was resold to
Isaac Evans, but the Society de-
sired the name of the original patentee.
Thomas E. Havell, Assistant Commissioner
of the General
Land Office, furnishes this information:
"The records of this office
show," he wrote to Senator Fess,
"That the land in question was
patented on April 10, 1800, to
William Steele, as No. 53 of the tracts
appropriated for satisfying
warrants for military service and is
recorded in this office in
volume 1, page 161, of the United
States military patents."
The story of Eagle Feather has been
investigated
with much care and extensive research
by Professor
George F. Smythe and found to be
mythical. There is
no evidence that Mary Harris married a
chief by the
name of Eagle Feather or that he and
another white
woman were killed. Professor Smythe has
established
beyond question that Eagle Feather and
the 'New-
comer" are creatures of the
imagination. His contri-
bution on this subject is found in
volume 33, pages 283-
300 of the QUARTERLY. The statements
quoted above
from the Dispatch seem to throw
additional light on the
purpose for which the old "fort'
was built, but there is
still room for additional documentary
testimony on this
subject. It is pleasing to note,
however, that steps are
about to be taken to restore the old
stone building.
A HISTORY-READING COMMUNITY
Many persons are of the opinion that
very few
Americans pay any attention to the
history of their own
city or county, so busy are they with
the affairs of the
present. It is intended here, not to
discuss that large
question, but to show that there is at
least one American
center of population where very marked
attention is
given to local history. Of course it is
in Ohio; and
Reviews, Notes and Comments 507
significantly enough it is that place
which the Literary
Digest has honored with the title of "the Average Amer-
ican City"-Zanesville.
In August, 1920, Thomas W. Lewis, a
Zanesville
newspaper man, began to write for each
issue of the
Sunday Times-Signal, of that
city, two columns of
feature matter meant to deal for the
most part with local
affairs. Mr. Lewis had been in earlier
years business
manager and later managing editor, of
the Zanesville
Times-Recorder; president of the Zanesville Board of
Trade; member of the city council and
an informal but
constant writer of publicity matter in
behalf of the city.
These activities and almost lifelong
residence in Zanes-
ville had given him wide and varied
knowledge of its
history. It naturally followed that his
Times-Signal
contributions soon began to deal
largely with the city's
past.
Starting with personal reminiscences
the articles
soon attracted the attention of readers
who remembered
some of the events described and the
persons connected
therewith. From these readers came to
Mr. Lewis many
reminders and records well calculated
to enlarge and en-
rich the original stories and he not
only used them for
that purpose but mentioned appreciatively
the names of
their donors in articles that followed.
A FLOOD OF HELPFUL DATA
Having found in these acknowledgements
good evi-
dence that the readers' assistance was
welcome the tide
of their offerings steadily grew in
volume and variety.
Old Zanesville newspapers and newspaper
clippings
which had been put aside because they
covered events of
508
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
local historic value; programs
containing the proceed-
ings of conventions, entertainments,
celebrations, school
graduations, etc.; minutes of meetings;
documents con-
taining first-hand data of a legal
character; bound vol-
umes of extended history and booklets
dealing with par-
ticular events; city directories
beginning with Zanes-
ville's first issue of the kind
(1851)--these and many
other printed and written records
poured in from scores
of interested and helpful readers.
OLD FAMILIAR NAMES WELCOMED
As the stories succeeded each other the
feature grew
by what it fed on. In each instalment
there was some-
thing to unlock the chambers of memory
and bring forth
the evidence of some long-forgotten
happening. It was
soon found that the lists of names of
earlier Zanesville
residents which many contributions
included were as in-
teresting to readers as any features
used and these were
frequently given in groups occupying as
much as a
quarter-column of space. This was one
feature of the
human-interest element which the writer
of the series
constantly sought to preserve.
TABLOID HISTORY
It should be stated here that the
Sunday Times-
Signal, the evening Signal and the morning Times Re-
corder were then (as now) issued by the Zanesville Pub-
lishing Co. W. O. Littick, the general
manager, who
had initiated the Times-Signal series,
found it so ac-
ceptable to readers that in May, 1921,
he commissioned
Mr. Lewis to write for the Signal each
day a succession
of paragraphs under the head of
"Do You Remember?"
Reviews, Notes and Comments 509
These also took on historic, biographic
and reminiscent
qualities. They were tabloid records of
the past.
These also aroused recollections of
earlier days and
their readers responded in the same
spirit that had ac-
tuated those of the Times-Signal. Both
of these series
are going strong to this day and
although the first has
been running over eight and the other
over seven years
the supply of materials for them shows
no signs of ex-
haustion.
WANTED A FORMAL HISTORY
But there is another phase of the story
which adds
new weight to the evidence that
Zanesville newspaper
readers are not too much absorbed in
their daily tasks to
keep informed concerning their
community's past. With
the success of the long stories and
paragraphs in evi-
dence, Mr. Littick next decided to
provide for the Times
Recorder a serial history of Zanesville and Muskingum
county. This enterprise was also placed
in Mr. Lewis'
hands, who welcomed it as a call for
formal and orderly
treatment.
His Sunday articles, which had then
been running
three years, were printed without
regard to chronologi-
cal order. The new series would have
historical form
and sequence. And the project was
timely, for no his-
tory of the city and county had been
issued since 1905
and much history had been made during
the interval.
A SERIAL HISTORY
Compilation began at once but the first
chapter of the
new history did not appear in The Times
Recorder until
January 7, 1924. About a column and a
half of space
was used in each issue and the
publication days were
510
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. As the
last chapter
was printed in the issue of January 10,
1925, the serial
ran a full year.
A serial history is an unusual form of
the news-
paper continued story but the newness
of the Times
Recorder feature added to its acceptability. Many read-
ers at first scissored each instalment
from the paper
and began work on a scrap-book, but
finding it impossi-
ble always to clip in the nick of time most
of them gave
up the task in the belief that some
publisher would issue
the serial in book form. This was done
in 1927 by the
S. J. Clarke Publishing Company of
Chicago. Mr. Lewis
was agreeably surprised to learn that
these experienced
publishers did not object to the serial
form. Indeed they
liked that because it enhanced the
narrative quality of
the composition--made the serial read
"more like a story
than a history," as one reader
said.
CONDENSED HISTORY
A later development added weight to
this showing
of prolonged and continuous interest in
local annals on
the part of the busy readers of a busy
industrial city.
With Mr. Lewis' History of
Zanesville and Muskingum
County off the press its publishers commissioned him
to write another bearing the title Southeastern
Ohio and
the Muskingum Valley and covering twelve counties.
Thirteen months were consumed in its
compilation and it
was issued in three volumes in the
early summer of
1928.
Having initiated the county history of
1927 and thus
laid foundations for the twelve-county
history of 1928,
the Times Recorder found it
logical to carry out a pro-
Reviews, Notes and Comments 511
posal made by their writer to run daily
for the hasty
reader," Little Stories of
Southeastern Ohio," data for
which Mr. Lewis had found while
compiling the 1928
work. All three Zanesville newspapers,
therefore, are
still treating their readers to history
and no signs appear
to show the existence of any objections
to the supply.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY BENEFITS
A significant and happy result of this
establishment
in Zanesville of the spirit and
atmosphere of history is
one which has conferred benefits upon
the Pioneer and
Historical Society of Muskingum County.
Organized
in 1890, this body collected many
portraits, relics, an-
tiques, documents, and printed and
written records
throwing light upon the county's
earlier days. As its
founders passed away, however, there
was a gradual
loss of interest in its affairs and for
years no meetings
were held. The revival came in 1924
when a few choice
spirits among surviving members reorganized
the
society.
As Mr. Lewis completed use of the
materials drawn
upon for his newspaper contributions
and histories he
donated them to the Society and this
moved many citi-
zens to do the same with such materials
as they pos-
sessed, which were very numerous, and
now few minor
cities in Ohio have a collection of
historical objects equal
to that in the custody of the society.
The future Zanes-
ville historian will have in this array
an inspiration for
further preservation which ought to
assure far-reaching
results.
REVIEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS
BY THE EDITOR
A REVIEW OF THE LIFE AND THE DIARY AND
LET-
TERS OF RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
Robert Latham, the editor of the
Asheville (N. C.)
Citizen in the issue of that paper for May 12, 1929,
publishes his review of the Life and
the Diary and Let-
ters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes. Mr. Latham is a
well-known journalist of the Southland.
He began on
the editorial staff of the Columbia (S.
C.) State. He
was afterwards editor of the News and
Courier, Char-
leston (S. C.). In 1924 he received the
Pulitzer prize
for the best editorial in the United
States.
Following is his estimate of the Hayes
Series:
It is now fifteen years since Dr.
Williams' Life of the 19th
President of the United States was
published. Dr. Williams had
undertaken its preparation as a labor of
love. William Henry
Smith, the intimate personal and
political friend of Mr. Hayes,
had assembled much of the material for a
history of the eventful
period in which Hayes was a pivotal
figure but had not been able
to write the biography which he had in
mind. He turned in his
last days to Dr. Williams, his close
associate, and asked him to
complete the undertaking; and Dr.
Williams could not refuse the
request, seconded as it was by the sons
of Mr. Hayes.
The undertaking gave him considerable
uneasiness in the be-
ginning for he mistrusted his own
qualifications; especially as he
was by training and conviction a
Democrat, editing for many
years, with distinguished ability, The
Indianapolis News and mak-
ing that journal one of the great
newspapers of the Middle West.
When, however, upon his retirement from
his editorial work in
1911, he turned to writing the
Hayes biography and to editing the
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