REVIEWS
History of Ohio. By Eugene Holloway Roseboom
and Francis Phelps Weisenburger. (New
York: Pren-
tice Hall, Inc., 545 pages. Price $5.00.)
What at least two other authors told in
four or five
volumes, these two assistant professors
of history in the
Ohio State University have put into a
single volume, a
unit in the series edited by Carl
Wittke, head of the
department. Moreover, as the
bibliography at the end
of each chapter shows, they have consulted
numerous
books and documents bearing, as they
say, "on the his-
tory of a State whose population is
approximately
equivalent to that of Switzerland and
Norway com-
bined." They add--these natives of
Ohio, the members
of whose families for three generations
have been born
within its borders: "Because of the significant role
played by Ohio in the development of
the United States,
the history of the State may serve,
moreover, not to
accentuate any undesirable
provincialism, but to explain
the contribution of a single state to
the larger life of the
nation."
The story naturally begins with a
consideration of
the land and its first inhabitants.
"Perhaps two or three
thousand years ago, when the
Mediterranean world was
revolving around the civilization of
the Greeks or was
being dazzled by the glory of Rome, the
Scioto valley
and the Miami valleys were inhabited by
men who pre-
served knowledge of their culture for
the archaeologist
(471)
472
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
of another race by building mounds of
earth." Whence
these people came and how they
disappeared are ques-
tions unanswered, but "facts seem
to indicate that they
flourished as late as the century just
preceding the dis-
covery of America."
The authors tell us that "when
French and English
began their struggles for the Ohio
Valley in the middle
of the eighteenth century, they found
the present State
of Ohio occupied by a number of Indian
tribes who were
themselves recent immigrants into the
region." The
brief account of these Indian tribes
and their location is
followed by a succinct story of the
struggle between the
whites and the Indians for possession
of the land. Per-
haps if one could be sure that the
Indians had recently
dispossessed the Mound Builders, one
would be less con-
cerned about the dispossession of the
Indians by the
whites. The country would then have
been stolen prop-
erty not adequately utilized by its
occupants for the good
of humanity. But have we not been told
by some ar-
chaeologists that the Mound Builders
and the Indians
were of the same race?
The story moves rapidly but with
interest along the
years--conditions after the
Revolutionary War, in the
territorial period, the rise of Ohio to
statehood and the
War of 1812, of which it is said:
"The real clue to the
spirit and the votes that compelled the
conflict was
found to be among the pioneers of the
West who, with
the frontier love of action, welcomed
an encounter which
promised to remove forever the menace
of Indian ag-
gression and to gain possibly a part or
all of British
North America beyond the Great
Lakes."
In succeeding chapters one reads of the
rise of the
Reviews 473
Jackson Democracy; the passing of
pioneer life; the be-
ginning of the anti-slavery movement;
the rise of the
Republican Party; Ohio in the Civil War
and after;
economic progress; political trends;
cultural progress
since 1850; the progressive movement;
and the World
War and since, down to the end of 1933.
Outstanding
incidents in the various periods are
briefly described,
and prominent persons in the making of
the State and
in its representation in the nation's
peacetime and war-
time activities are given their proper
setting.
On the whole it is an admirable short
record of what
has been going on in Ohio since the
advent of the pio-
neers. It may be used as a textbook,
but is equally
adapted to the needs of the general
reader who wants to
know what Ohio has meant to the nation.
References
to books and articles and documents
make possible
further study of any feature of the
State's development.
A number of maps of the State at
different periods
showing the land divisions, early
settlements, the canals,
the National road, Zane's trace, etc.,
and the figures of
several presidential elections add much
to the interest of
the book. OSMAN C. HOOPER.
Ohio Indian Trails. By Frank N. Wilcox. (Pub-
lished by The Gates Press, Cleveland.
1933.)
In an attractive and artistic volume of
268 pages,
Mr. Frank N. Wilcox, a member of the
faculty of the
Cleveland School of Art, has given us a
book entitled
Ohio Indian Trails. The book contains many illustra-
tions, all the work of the author. It
also contains on
front and back inside covers a map of
Ohio showing
Indian trails and towns about 1776 and
a map of Ohio
showing relation of Old Trails to the
modern towns, also
474
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
the topography of the State. It is
published by The
Gates Press of Cleveland, Ohio, and
sells at $3.75 per
copy.
Mr. Wilcox shows in this book that he
is an artist in
the use of words as well as in his
illustrations. He has
been a student of Ohio history and
Indian lore, which
thus increases the value of the book.
While designed
as a guide-book for motorists or
walking parties, yet it
is a real contribution to the literature
and history of the
State of Ohio. After an appropriate
introduction and
prologue the writer devotes a chapter
to the physical
geography of Ohio, followed by chapters
on brief his-
tory of the Indian and Indian warfare
in Ohio, famous
Indians and Indian towns, the white
man's use of Indian
trails, trails as military roads, the
reconstruction of In-
dian trails and then a description of
thirty-one leading
old Indian trails of the State.
Following his concluding chapter the
volume con-
tains a bibliography, a list of Ohio
rivers and associated
trails, an index of towns and villages
related to Ohio
Indian trails, an index of historic
Indian towns in Ohio,
and a topical index. The author's
painstaking recon-
struction of the old trails and early
roadways from old
maps, charts and journals of early
travelers, correlating
them with the present day roadways is
well done. The
interpretation of these trails, many of
which are lost
today, is another commendable feature
of the book.
The volume itself is a fine example of
bookmaking and
it deserves a place in every library in
the State. H. L.
Education for Humanity, The Story of
Otterbein
College. By Willard W. Bartlett. (Published by Otter-
bein College, Westerville, Ohio. 285
pages. 1934.)
Reviews 475
This is a doctoral dissertation based
upon a careful
study of the records of the College.
Rev. Henry Garst's
History of Otterbein University, which the author used
extensively, was published in 1907. The
latter writes in
the preface, "This work is not
only an excellent second-
ary source of information, but it is
quite as much an
original source." Rev. Garst was a
student from 1853
to 1861 and from 1869 until 1907 was
connected with
the College as professor, president,
secretary and finally
as historian. Dr. Bartlett indicates
that the records of
the institution have been preserved
with care and are
exceptionally complete. They include
the minutes of all
the meetings of the trustees, executive
committee, and
faculty. The file of student
publications, catalogues, and
annual reports are also complete.
The volume is divided into three parts.
Part one
deals chronologically with the
development of the Col-
lege. Otterbein represents the first
educational effort of
the Church of United Brethren in
Christ. It was opened
in 1847. At the first meeting of the
Board of trustees,
Rev. William Hanby was directed to
correspond with
some leading colleges in order to get
information con-
cerning methods and management.
"How naive was
their conception of the task before
them and how high
were their ambitions is shown by the
fact that they chose
the name University." The name was not changed to
Otterbein College until 1917. The College had to strug-
gle financially until about 1904 when
it entered upon a
period of prosperity lasting until
1929. Eight of the ten
college buildings were constructed
during this period.
The present executive, Walter Gillman
Clippinger, has
secured 92% of the endowment since
1909. One of the
476
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
most interesting facts in the entire
history of the Col-
lege is that it was the student body
that carried through
a project which proved to be the
turning-point in the
history of the institution. In 1892 the
students pledged
$7,000 for a new building, and further
canvass of the
faculty and friends brought the amount
up to $11,000.
Every president of Otterbein, except
one, has been a
minister. From the first, however, trained
teachers
were sought for the faculty. The
faculty in 1867 were
all members of the United Brethren
Church. In 1933
of the forty-two members of the
faculty, fifty-two per
cent were United Brethren.
Part two consists of topical studies of
some selected
aspects, such as student life,
departments of instruction
and athletics. Part three is the
summary and conclu-
sion. Dr. Bartlett writes, page 259,
"In this study we
have endeavored to trace and to
interpret the history of
Otterbein College, which we have selected
as typical of
the denominational college in the
middle west. . . . It
partakes of the broad and tolerant
theological attitudes
as well as of the democratic spirit of
that denomination,
and like it, has held tenaciously to
high ethical ideas.
. . .The College has always been
characterized by a
fine spirit of democracy. The meetings
of the trustees
are open." W. D. O.
REVIEWS
History of Ohio. By Eugene Holloway Roseboom
and Francis Phelps Weisenburger. (New
York: Pren-
tice Hall, Inc., 545 pages. Price $5.00.)
What at least two other authors told in
four or five
volumes, these two assistant professors
of history in the
Ohio State University have put into a
single volume, a
unit in the series edited by Carl
Wittke, head of the
department. Moreover, as the
bibliography at the end
of each chapter shows, they have consulted
numerous
books and documents bearing, as they
say, "on the his-
tory of a State whose population is
approximately
equivalent to that of Switzerland and
Norway com-
bined." They add--these natives of
Ohio, the members
of whose families for three generations
have been born
within its borders: "Because of the significant role
played by Ohio in the development of
the United States,
the history of the State may serve,
moreover, not to
accentuate any undesirable
provincialism, but to explain
the contribution of a single state to
the larger life of the
nation."
The story naturally begins with a
consideration of
the land and its first inhabitants.
"Perhaps two or three
thousand years ago, when the
Mediterranean world was
revolving around the civilization of
the Greeks or was
being dazzled by the glory of Rome, the
Scioto valley
and the Miami valleys were inhabited by
men who pre-
served knowledge of their culture for
the archaeologist
(471)