Ohio History Journal

REVIEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS

 

 

BY THE EDITOR

 

Know Ohio: a Souvenir of the Buckeye State

By J. L. Clifton and B. A. Aughinbaugh. 64 p.

Columbus, Ohio: 25 cents.

This is the title of a neatly printed, attractively

bound and extensively illustrated booklet of sixty-four

pages, each carrying eight by five inches of printed mat-

ter. The writer has before him the revised proof sheets

of the second printing of this work and is impressed with

the belief that it will become very popular with the pub-

lic schools whose present demand it seems especially

designed to meet and with the general public who are

now seeking as never before to become more thoroughly

acquainted with their own state.

Its authorship is ample guaranty for its authenticity.

Hon. J. L. Clifton, Director of Education in Ohio, is

acquainted with the need for such a work and a compe-

tent judge of its proper scope. Mr. B. A. Aughinbaugh

had years of experience as teacher in the public schools

of Ohio and the Philippine Islands before he was called

to the Division of Visual Education in the service of the

state. He has traveled in every county of Ohio, in all

but four states of the Union and most of the civilized

countries of the world, and has collected over six hun-

dred photographs of the scenic, historical and industrial

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Reviews, Notes and Comments      661

points of interest in Ohio. From this large collection he

has chosen with rare good judgment the illustrations,

ninety in number, which add to the text of the printed

page.

The subject is treated topically under sixty-nine

questions and answers. It must not be concluded that

the questions are answered each in a single word or

sentence. Take, for instance, the question:

"How did your county receive its name?"

Five full pages are used in the answer. The name of

each of the eighty-eight counties is given, its origin from

authentic sources, and the date of the county's organiza-

tion.

Almost three pages are required to answer the fol-

lowing:

"Locate and tell something about the principal forts

that were located in Ohio."

On a single page appear the following questions:

"Who was the Governor when Ohio was part of the

Northwest Territory? Who was the first Governor

when Ohio became a state?

"When was Ohio admitted to the Union ?

"What three cities have been capitals of Ohio?

"Where is located the oldest house in Ohio?

"Why does the rainbow come down in Ohio?"

Each of these is answered and with the answers are

given sustaining reasons. The last in particular is of

great interest to Ohioans.

While the location of points of interest is given, the

work is not a highway guide. Such guides are pub-

lished by various agencies and may be had free or at

small cost. Know Ohio, however, is a very useful book

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662      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

for tourists as it contains much more information in re-

gard to points of interest than is found in a highway

guide. It may be read with profit before setting out on

a tour through any portion of the state in order to de-

termine what are the really interesting places to visit.

The price, only 25 cents, brings this interesting and use-

ful publication within the reach of all.

 

Simon Kenton: His Life and Period.

By Edna Kenton. 352 pp. New York:

Doubleday, Doran & Co. $3.50.

The story of the westward march of civilization on

this continent, the triumph over untamed nature, the

wild animal denizens of forest and plain, and the wily,

mysterious and spectacular Indian, has lost none of its

lure with the flight of years. It appeals to the love of

adventure that is innate in the young descendants of the

American forefathers who planted on the North Ameri-

can continent a new social and political order whose

growth and dominance have become the wonder of the

world.

The hunter, the Indian and the Indian fighter figure

conspicuously in the literature of the day. J. Feni-

more Cooper had his thousands of readers. Zane Grey

is read by the million. The characters of pioneer history

figure prominently in the popular novel of today, but

under the light of modern research, sometimes a new

verification is found of the trite assertion that "truth is

stranger that fiction." We have an emphatic illustration

of that fact in a new biography of an eminent pioneer

whose thrilling exploits have been an absorbing theme

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Reviews, Notes and Comments          663

at American firesides for more than a century. The

title of this book is Simon Kenton, His Life and Period:

1755-1836. It is written by Edna Kenton, a lineal de-

scendant of this stalwart and daring pioneer.

A review published in a recent issue of The New

York Times Book Review opens with this interesting

statement:

This biography of a storied pioneer, by one of his lineal

descendants, is all that a biography of such a figure should be. It

is written in clear, disciplined prose, with due attention to back-

ground and to the pioneer salt that resides in the recorded say-

ings of frontier men and women. Miss Kenton has not skimped

the picturesque, but she is careful to give chapter and verse at

all points. There is no attempt to do what romancers of the past

have done, to make a "blood pudding" shocker out of Simon

Kenton's career. Fact is rigorously separated from myth, for

Miss Kenton has, with great good sense, realized that the simple

fact is romantic enough.

The author has with commendable industry searched

all available sources for this biography.  She has read

that never failing source of the history of the Middle

West, the Draper Manuscripts in the library of the Wis-

consin Historical Society. These manuscripts were col-

lected before the Civil War by Lyman C. Draper, who

visited elderly men and women whose memories ran

back to the early settlement of the Ohio Valley, and

gathered from them not only written statements, but

letters, documents, diaries, and other manuscripts that

constitute a unique and priceless depository of the early

history of the Northwest Territory and the region south

of the Ohio.

This volume is of especial interest to Ohioans, as

many of the daring adventures of Kenton were within

portions of the territory which afterwards became a part

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664       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

of that state.  His captivity and escape in the years

1778-1779 is aptly sketched by the author as follows:

When Simon Kenton crossed the Ohio on his spying expe-

dition to Chillicothe he entered upon an adventure which for its

momentous succession of perils, transitions, and hairbreadth es-

capes has not its parallel in all the adventurous annals of West-

ern border history. For nearly two months there was literally

no moment when his life was not threatened, nor correspond-

ingly a moment when his life was not miraculously "saved." He

was, it is true, never off guard; he saved himself when he could;

he used all the cunning that Nature had taught him; he ran as

it were on his own marvelous instinct--nothing else served him

now. But for the most part it was as if the Fates had drawn

a cage around him and sat at its corners, wondering with him

how much he could endure.

Then follows a detailed account of his captivity.

Kenton had made an effort to recover some horses

that had been stolen from the Kentucky settlements by

the Indians, but he was not able to swim them from the

Ohio side across the river. After he was captured by

the Indians they took a three-year-old colt and tied him

to its back. "A halter was passed about his neck and

its ends fastened to the colt's neck and rump. Then,

all made ready, with Kenton powerless to ward off

branches and underbrush from his face and body, they

gave the colt a smart blow as they released it, and as it

dashed off they roared with mirth at the spectacle.

. . . The colt pitched, reared, and rolled to rid it-

self of its burden; the ragged bushes tore its rider's legs

and feet; the tree limbs raked and scourged his face and

body."

This has gone down in history as Kenton's "Ma-

zeppa ride," which has been vividly portrayed by two

French artists, a reproduction from whose painting ap-

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Reviews, Notes and Comments            665

pears on the lining papers at the front of the volume.

After the colt was exhausted and quieted down, Kenton

was treated with all manner of abuse and indignity as

he was conducted through the wilderness northward

across what is now the state of Ohio. He was forced to

run the gauntlet eight times in all according to the au-

thor. This is about twice the number usually recorded

but the statement seems to be well sustained. He was

finally ransomed, taken to Detroit as a prisoner, escaped

and returned to Kentucky.

The volume includes a number of illustrations, one

of especial interest to the Ohio State Archaeological and

Historical Society. This is a reproduction of the paint-

ing that hangs on the walls of the Museum of the Society

and was presented by Walter D. McKinney of Colum-

bus. In regard to the portraits of Kenton painted in

1836, the author writes as follows:

 

Louis Morgan, then a rising young artist of the East, pre-

sented himself at Kenton's home on a commission to paint his

portrait for the National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished

Americans. This was an enterprise sponsored in Philadelphia,

the first ambitious attempt to collect portraits of Americans

painted by American artists. Boone's portrait had been already

painted for this collection, but Boone's name had been a familiar

one since 1784, not only in America and England but also in

France and Germany where translations of Filson's so-called

Autobiography had appeared. Byron had written of him--as

he might have written of Kenton had accident made him instead

of Boone the first autobiographed Kentucky pioneer. As it is,

in the early Kenton sketches we often come on references to his

wild colt ride as the theme of Byron's "Mazeppa"! McClung's

brief sketch of him had but lately appeared, however; had it not

been for this, it is doubtful that the editors of the Portrait Gal-

lery would have known of his existence--this man almost un-

known outside of the two states he had helped to found and pre-

serve, whose services were so great just exactly because they

were so private.

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666       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

Judge Noah McCulloch went up from Zanesfield with the

"Gentlemanly young man" just arrived from Louisville to intro-

duce him to Kenton and to prepare the old man for the ordeal.

But Mrs. Kenton was the troubled one. Judge McCulloch says

that she was greatly concerned over her husband's lack of proper

attire for a portrait, and was not at all consoled by Morgan's as-

sertion that he "cared nothing for that." Kenton himself was

pleased and interested, and the painter, having arranged all to his

liking, settled down for a week's stay at the Parkisons.

He was evidently charmed with his subject, for he made not

one but three portraits. He did them all in Kenton's character-

istic posture before the fire, with his old staff in his hand--its

charred end can be seen. As he painted, the old man talked, re-

told the stories of the past, and so reanimated himself that the

painter had little work to do in entertaining the sitter--he was

himself the entertained. This was just three months before Ken-

ton's death.

When Morgan returned to Louisville he sent on one of the

three portraits to James Longacre, editor and publisher of the

Gallery. R. W. Hodson made the engraving; then the portrait

was exhibited at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, and

was unfortunately "skyed." But Felix Darley--old famous art

critic--saw it, approved it, had it rehung, and it became the suc-

cess of the exhibition.

Another of the portraits passed into the possession of the

late Colonel R. T. Durrett of Louisville and was for years one of

the prizes in his fine collection of early Kentucky papers and

pictures. In 1913, after his death, this collection was purchased

by the University of Chicago.

The third had a checkered history and rather a hard one, as

its present battered state clearly shows. Morgan evidently hoped

to sell it to Kentucky and kept it in his studio for some years as

he moved about from Louisville to Frankfort to Lexington. But

no appropriation for its purchase was made by any legislature,

and finally he turned it over to Thomas W. Cridland, his frame

maker, in payment for some debt. Cridland also attempted to

sell it to Kentucky but failed, and when he left Kentucky for

Ohio, in 1852, he took the portrait with him. In 1890 it passed

into the possession of his eldest son, Thomas H. Cridland, who

held it until his death in 1924. Then his nephew, Walter D.

McKinney, presented it to the Ohio State Archaeological and

Historical Society at Columbus. "Five generations of the Crid-

land family," he said in presentation speech, "have looked upon

this portrait, and for many years the face of 'Uncle Simon' hung

on the wall in my room, the first to greet me in the morning, and

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Reviews, Notes and Comments          667

 

the last to bid me good night. He comforted me and guarded

me as a boy and young man, until I left my grandfather's home."

And then he added what seems inseparable from any reminiscence

of Kenton, what so many had said before him in the Kenton

Papers, "Simon Kenton, however, is something more to me than

a portrait. He was the pioneer guide and personal friend of my

father's people."

No outline can do justice to this attractive book. It

can be truly said that this is the final and definitive bio-

graphy of Simon Kenton, which is presented in an inter-

esting and lucid style and is fully up to the best modern

standards of biographical writing. The writer of this

review can at this time think of no more attractive

worthwhile book to purchase as a Christmas present in

the coming holiday season for young and old who find

an interest in the thrilling and truthful narratives of the

border while as yet Ohio was a part of the Northwest

Territory and in the early formative period when it be-

came a state. During the Revolution, Kenton was a

scout in the interest of the American cause. In this ca-

pacity he served later in the legion of General Anthony

Wayne. He was a sergeant under General Duncan Mc-

Arthur in the War of 1812. He had accumulated a for-

tune in western lands but lost it all before his death and

was at one time imprisoned for debt. But he never lost

his interest in life and his loyalty to the Republic that he

served through a long, romantic and colorful career.

 

The Life of General Custer,

By Milton Ronsheim, Cadiz, Ohio:

Office of the Cadiz Republican, $1.00.

At the last session of the General Assembly an act

was passed, as recorded in the Quarterly, providing for

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668      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

the erection of a memorial to General George Arm-

strong Custer on the site of his birthplace at New Rum-

ley, Harrison County, Ohio, under the auspices of the

Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society.

In anticipation of the erection and dedication of this

memorial an interesting, authoritative and reliable

biography of General Custer, after running through the

files of the Cadiz Republican through the year 1929, has

been brought out in an attractive separate publication

with many illustrations. We can cheerfully recommend

this as the best source of information with much local

color that is now available for those who have expressed

a revival of interest in this valiant and distinguished

Ohioan in anticipation of the dedicatory services that

are less than a year distant from the present.

The book, in pamphlet cover, opens with a somewhat

extended statement of the genealogy of General Custer.

The claim sometimes made that his ancestors served as

Hessian allies of Great Britain in the War of the Revo-

lution is completely disproved. We are told that Ser-

geant Emanuel C., the great-grandfather of the General,

served with the 10th Regiment, 5th Battalion, 8th Com-

pany, of the Philadelphia County Militia; that he was

born in 1754 in Allegheny County, Maryland, and died

at the age of 100 years; that Emanuel's father was Paul

Custer who married Sarah Martha Ball, cousin of the

mother of George Washington. "So", says Mr. Rons-

heim, "the subject of these sketches was not only from

Colonial stock, but also of the same blood which pro-

duced the Father of the Nation."

When a young man Emanuel Custer moved to New

Rumley where he was the only smith for miles around.

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Reviews, Notes and Comments        669

He was married twice. His second wife was the widow

of Israel R. Kirkpatrick. They were married April 14,

1837. George Armstrong Custer was born two years

later on December 5, 1839.

"As a boy" continues the narrative, "George A. Cus-

ter was sturdy and flaxen haired. He was full of life

and frolic and always in mischief. Yet he was of a

gentle and lovable disposition, never quarrelsome or hot

headed."

Then follows a number of local incidents of the

school days of Custer. Much of this portion of the

biography is not available in other published works and

will be read with special interest in this year when Ohio

pays belated tribute to her illustrious son.

The headings of the different chapters of the book

illustrate its content. They are as follows:

Early Days

Custer at West Point

In the Civil War

The Campaign in Texas

Seeing Action on the Plains

The Battle on the Little Big Horn

Dandy, A Story of Custer's Favorite Horse

Reminiscences of Custer's Cousin

A Postscript

Early in his life Custer manifested a desire to be-

come a soldier. He entered West Point in 1857 and was

graduated in 1861 in the midst of the opening scenes

of the Civil War. After graduation he was immediately

sent to Washington and in July of 1861 was entrusted

by General Winfield Scott with important despatches to

General Irwin McDowell, who was preparing for the

first Battle of Bull Run. Having performed this mis-

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670      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

sion he joined the cavalry regiment and took part in the

battle. From the beginning of his military service he

won honorable mention from his superior officers. He

rose by rapid promotion from captain to brigadier-

general and was later brevetted major-general of vol-

unteers. When a youth of twenty-six years he had at-

tained not only the distinction of promotion to the office

of major-general, but fame as one of the most brilliant

cavalry leaders of the Civil War. He afterwards served

in the wars against the Indians in the West and in 1876

with all of his command, died fighting the savages in

overwhelming numbers on the Little Big Horn in Mon-

tana.

The three great generals that Ohio gave to the na-

tion in the Civil War are generally given as Grant, Sher-

man and Sheridan. Grant and Sherman were born in

Ohio, but Sheridan was born in New York, and came to

Ohio in his childhood. The three eminent generals of

Ohio birth were, therefore, Grant, Sherman and Custer.

Memorials have already been erected to Custer at

West Point, at Monroe, Michigan, and on the field of

his last battle on the heights overlooking the Little Big

Horn in Montana, while the state of his birth is now to

pay fitting tribute in a substantial memorial.

 

 

Pictorial Ohio which has been somewhat extensively

announced in the public press has appeared in attractive

cover and illustrations. Following its concluding page

is a very satisfactory road map with extensive index to

the cities and villages of Ohio. This publication covers

forty-eight pages of text including one hundred care-

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Reviews, Nates and Comments       671

fully chosen illustrations. The different counties of the

state are presented in alphabetical order. Every county

has at least one illustration of scenic or historic interest

with brief description. Other points of interest are

named and located.

The front cover of the book contains in color accu-

rate prints of the seal of the Northwest Territory, the

first seal of Ohio, the seal of Ohio authorized in 1866

by a law repealed two years later and the present seal of

the state, together with a small outline map of Ohio

on a Buckeye background.

This booklet, as announced on the front cover, is

published by the Standard Oil Company from informa-

tion furnished by the Ohio Department of Education

and the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society.

Arrangements have been made for its wide distribution.

 

"History of Educational Legislation in Ohio,

1851-1925"

This contribution by Dr. Nelson L. Bossing, whick

was completed in the April 1930 issue of the QUAR-

TERLY, has been eagerly and quite generally read by edu-

cators since it appeared in print. It covers in a satis-

factory way a period that has been neglected. Some

corrections have been pointed out by Professor R. H.

Eckelberry of the Department of Education of the Ohio

State University.

On page 101 of the QUARTERLY, the statement is

made that the township boards of education were au-

thorized to employ teachers and that the sub-district

directors "became simply figure-heads from the stand-

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672      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications point of authority." Mr. Eckelberry points out that section six of the act gives to the sub-district directors the right to employ and dismiss teachers--an authority that they exercised many years. On pages 387-388 the statement is made that the county under the system of 1914 "supplanted the town- ship as the unit of school control." The same impres- sion is conveyed on page 122. It would be more nearly correct to say that the authority was divided between the county board and the local board. It is true, how- ever, that large powers were granted to the county board and county superintendent. On page 255 the statement is made that "the next step in the [Ohio State] University program, came with the establishment of a high school building on the campus." This was authorized in the law but in fact such building was never erected.

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