Ohio History Journal

BOOK REVIEWS

 

The Territorial Papers of the United States. Compiled and edited

by Clarence Edwin Carter. Volumes VII-VIII. Indiana

Territory, 1800-1816. U. S. Dept of State. Publications.

Nos. 1383-1384. (Washington, D. C., Government Printing

Office, 1939. 2v.: ⁷⁸4p.; ⁴⁹⁶p. $2.00; $1.50.)

The Library of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical

Society has received volumes VII and VIII of the Territorial

Papers of the United States, compiled and edited by Dr. Clarence

Edwin Carter of the Department of State, Washington, D. C.

These two volumes are devoted to the Territory of Indiana, volume

VII covering the years 1800-1810 and volume VIII, 1810-1816.

In their entirety these documents, letters and papers present an

interesting picture of Indiana Territory. Papers relating to the

foundation of Indiana Territory, land laws, the extension of

postal facilities, the organization of local government, incursions

on Indian lands, correspondence between federal and territorial

officers, and frequent references to frontier politics all contribute

to the better understanding of the early life and history of the

region.

These two volumes, following volumes II and III of the

series which contained papers relating to the Territory Northwest

of the River Ohio furnish a set of source material for the history

of Ohio and Indiana.

Explanatory footnotes accompany the documents published.

These volumes are available to the public and are sold direct

by the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office,

Washington, D. C., volume VII being priced at $2.00 per copy

and volume VIII at $1.50 per copy.

H. L.

(289)

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Democracy's Norris, the Biography of a Lonely Crusade. By

Alfred Lief. (New York, Stackpole Sons, 1939. ⁵⁴⁶p. $3.50.)

The author has given us here a chronological account of

Senator George W. Norris' life, beginning with childhood in Ohio.

The part of his life which receives the longest treatment is,

naturally, his career, first as a member of the House of Repre-

sentatives, and later of the Senate. In this panorama Mr. Lief

has presented Senator Norris' suggestion that bank deposits be

guaranteed (after the panic of 1907); the battle to break the power

of the Speaker; the fight for an investigation of Mr. Ballinger's

conduct as Secretary of the Interior which would have been white-

washed, according to the author, except for Senator Norris); the

struggle over whether the United States should arm merchant

vessels in 1917 (and the dramatic story of Norris' defense of his

conduct in a speech in Lincoln); the vote on our entrance into

the war, and on the League of Nations; the amazing incident (and

later investigation) of George W. Norris, grocery clerk in

Broken Bow, Nebraska, filing papers as candidate for Senator;

Norris' attitude toward Franklin D. Roosevelt's ideas on how to

change the point of view of the Supreme Court (Norris said that

with a Supreme Court of fifteen members there would still be

the possibility of having the same difficulty that irked the Presi-

dent; the Senator favored making it necessary for seven of the

nine judges to assent in order that a law be held unconstitutional).

Much space is also devoted to a narration of Norris' dogged fight

in the Senate to keep the Muscle Shoals development in the hands

of the Government, and to have the Government sell electricity to

the consumers. In short, this book is a saga of a man's struggle

for what he has believed would conduce to a working, liberal

democracy in the United States.

But while, in this, the book gives a satisfactory story, it is

not, however, completely satisfying. The author limits himself

too much to a consideration of Norris as judge or as legislator.

The reader sees only too seldom the influences and forces in

Washington or elsewhere that helped to make Norris' ideas what

they were. There is almost no mention of the books Norris read,

or of the influence upon him of conversation, or of the effect upon

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him of what he saw while traveling between Washington and

McCook. In this respect, it is as if Mr. Lief had presented a

liberal legislator in vacuo, isolated from the social and economic

forces he has struggled so hard to regulate and control. The

reader gets a picture of the expression of the Senator's ideas and

desires, but seldom a picture of their formation. There is also

evident in the early pages a lack of consideration of Norris' social

life in either Washington or McCook. The reader knows Norris

only as a man on the bench or on the floor of Congress. He never

sees him in his shirt sleeves, or in a tux, or telling stories to his

cronies, or dandling children on his knee. Part of this lack may

be explained however by Norris' explanation to Justice Brandeis

when the latter invited him to his home. The Senator explained

that he never went out. If this statement is to be taken as

literally true, then part of this criticism falls flat. If Mr. Norris

has had no social life, the author could not have portrayed it.

But nevertheless, Mr. Lief has not given a satisfactory picture

of the germination and growth of the ideas which Norris has

uttered on the floor of Congress.

Although Norris has never been interested in personalities

or in sarcasm when engaged in debate, there do occur among the

quotations which Mr. Lief has cited, striking examples of Norris'

capacity when provoked for vehemence and vituperation (p. 265,

508, and 513, to cite only a few).

One is struck in reading this life by the small number of acts

which bear Senator Norris' name. Mr. Lief has sub-titled his

work "The Biography of a Lonely Crusade." As he presents

Senator Norris, however, it would seem that rather than a lonely

crusade the Senator has been embarked for nearly forty years on

a crusade in which he usually had company, but seldom enough to

accomplish his legislative purposes. But the book also shows that

Norris' influence cannot be measured by this small number of acts;

it is inherent in any treatment of the life of this Nebraskan that

his contribution to American life lies rather in the influence he

has exerted on his fellow legislators, on his constitutents, and

on the people of the whole country. The measures he has favored

and opposed are probably his best testimonials.

JOHN H. McMINN.

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Imprisoned Preachers and Religious Liberty in Virginia.  By

Lewis Peyton Little. (Lynchburg, Virginia, J. P. Bell Co.,

1938. 534P. Illus.)

This volume, compiled by Lewis Peyton Little, is an honest

but ineffective effort to supply a narrative illustrative of religious

persecution in Virginia from 1607 to 1778. While the author has

included materials from the official records of Virginia Court-

houses, letters, and unpublished sources, the bulk of the material,

in the form of biographical sketches, has been taken from second-

ary sources, which, for the most part, are not inaccessible to stu-

dents of American history.

The volume as a whole, although not presenting a nice syn-

thesis and correlation of facts concerning the period under con-

sideration, gives an almost incredible account of religious intoler-

ance and unfolds a story, which, at this period, the American

people can scarcely regard with pride. Some readers, of course,

may find their chief interest in the details of the gruesome business

of persecution itself: the confinement of preachers in jails, public

whippings, public duckings and other annoying if not injurious

treatment, which, upon the whole, did not deter the righteous in

their crusade for religious freedom.

The volume, attractively bound and well-printed, contains an

alphabetical list of Baptist ministers who were persecuted, the

counties in which the persecution occurred, the nature of the pun-

ishment, a list of Baptist churches in Virginia, and the names of

those whose contributions made the publication of the book pos-

sible. There are fifty-three illustrations, an introduction by R. H.

Pitt, and an adequate index.

JOHN O. MARSH.

 

 

The Constitutional History of the United States, 1776-1826: The

Blessings of Liberty. By Homer C. Hockett. (New York,

Macmillan Co., 1939. 417p. $3.00.)

In this volume, the first of a series, Dr. Hockett presents a

scholarly but untechnical constitutional history of the United

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States from 1776 to 1826. The first section of the volume is de-

voted to a discussion of the colonial background of American

constitutional history. Here also is outlined the growing dissatis-

faction with the British imperial system, plans for colonial union,

and the measures and remedies offered by both the dependencies,

and the liberals in England, who sought to combat the claim of

parliamentary supremacy. Two chapters contain a detailed account

of the attempts of the British to consolidate the imperial system,

the breakdown of the imperial constitution, the intolerable acts,

the repudiation of Parliament, and the assemblying of the First

Continental Congress.

The second section, consisting of five chapters, treats of the

coming of the Revolution, the constitutional thinking of the pa-

triots, the Declaration of Independence, the formation of state

governments, and the establishment of a new American Confedera-

tion. The author shows that the domestic phase of the conflict

was a contest between conservative patriots who wished to per-

petuate their rule and the "radicals" who demanded the demo-

cratization of government. The contest continued during the

making of state constitutions -- a contest between the middleclass

ideology and the exponents of democracy. In analyzing the Arti-

cles of Confederation the author, accepting the Fiske thesis of a

critical period, outlines the defects in the governmental machinery,

discusses the impotency of Congress, the inability of the National

Government to maintain law and order, the emergence of a federal

judiciary, the foundations of expansion, the development of a

colonial policy, which, in many respects, was comparable to the

British colonial system, explains the dissatisfaction of the com-

mercial interests, which eventually led to a demand for a more

perfect union, and outlines the steps leading to the assemblying

of the National Constitutional Convention.

There is scant support in this history for the interpretation

that the "Fathers" were motivated by high idealism alone. Dr.

Hockett recognizes the significance of the economic forces under-

lying the movement for a revision of the Articles, which, he ex-

plains, offered few guarantees to the commercial and business

interests. He has not, however, underrated, as the newer school

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of economic historians have overrated, the economic motives.

This cannot be interpreted to mean, however, that the author has

abandoned in every instance the idealistic interpretation of history

and that he has failed to show how ideas and ideals shaped institu-

tions. The author concludes that the Constitution, as draughted,

"reflected the lessons of experience and embodied the principles

which Americans had long followed."  Moreover, it is shown

that the sharp division which appeared between its supporters and

critics must "be regarded as a division within the ranks of the

enfranchised, propertied class, rather than one between the Haves

and the Have Nots."

In the final section, consisting of seven chapters, the author

explains the relationship between the legislative, executive, and

judicial departments, the constitutional thinking of Hamilton and

Jefferson, and reiterates that the Constitution, although designed

in the interest of propertied-business groups, did not commit the

government "beyond cavil" either to democracy or nationalism

and that the character of the administration was certain

to be determined by the interpretation of the organic in-

strument by its administrators. In this connection it is shown,

in the usual text-book fashion, that the Federalists represented by

Alexander Hamilton opposed the principles of state sovereignty,

sought to strengthen the supremacy of the national state by the

assumption of state debts by the National Government, the estab-

lishment of a United States Bank, and the levying of an excise

tax, which, although combatted by force in Pennsylvania, gave the

Federal Government an excellent opportunity to vindicate coercion.

He also shows that the Supreme Court, compelled during the early

period to enter into an analysis of the nature of the union, sup-

ported the authority of the Central Government. In such cases

as Chisholm v. Georgia (1793) the court ruled that an individual

might sue a state; and although the decision was speedily dis-

allowed by debtor states by the adoption of the Eleventh Amend-

ment, its underlying purpose or premise was that the states were

not sovereign. John Marshall's reading of the Constitution estab-

lished national supremacy and private rights. The court elabor-

ated the tenets of the nationalistic creed in the case of McCulloch

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v. Maryland, advanced the exclusiveness of Congress's power over

interstate commerce (Gibbons v. Ogden), and emphasized the

sanctity of contracts in the case of Dartmouth College v. Wood-

ward and in Fletcher v. Peck.

The nationalistic interpretation of the Constitution was not,

however, allowed to go unchallenged by Jefferson and his col-

leagues, who, disgruntled by the practical application of the Fed-

eralist theories of implied powers and the decisions of the Supreme

Court which were considered as unfavorable to the states, sought

first to curb the nationalistic trend by advancing the doctrine of

sentinelship, promulgating the compact theory, and later invoking

the power of impeachment against the Federalist intrenched in the

Judiciary. The compact theory, as promulgated in the Virginia

and Kentucky Resolutions, was accepted by Federalist New

England during the War of 1812 and furnished a convenient

basis for a particularistic reaction which was to find its greatest

strength and expression in the Old South in the decades following

1826. The final section also contains material concerning the

origin of the cabinet system, the constitutional problems involved

in national expansion, internal improvements, the shifting position

of Federalist and Republicans, and the adoption of the Twelfth

Amendment, which, according to the author, was the constitutional

recognition of the existence of political parties.

Despite Dr. Hockett's unwearied industry a few minor errors

have been noted. The author's citations to sources sometimes

leave the reader without page numbers (p. 275, 343), and some-

times without editor or translator (p. 227). Article VI, par. 2 of

the Constitution and not Article III, par. 1, treats of the supremacy

of the Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties

(p. 252), and Article II, sec. 2, par. 2, not par. 3, treats of the ap-

pointment of the "heads" of departments (p. 235). It would seem,

too, that three secretaries, not four, attended the first advisory

meeting in 1791 (p. 244). But these are minor deficiencies. The

research has been tremendous, the treatment fair and impartial.

The volume is provided with an excellent bibliography and a sat-

isfactory index.

JOHN O. MARSH.

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Elkanah and Mary Walker. By Clifford Merrill Drury. (Cald-

well, Idaho, Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1940. ²⁸3p. Illus. $3.00.)

This book is the third of a series concerning the Oregon Mis-

sion of the American Board. There were three mission stations

of the Board in Washington Territory. The first volume of the

series concerned the missionary activities at Lapwai of Henry

Harmon Spalding, the second of Dr. Marcus Whitman's mission

at Waiilatpu, and this volume is devoted to the lives and activities

of Elkanah and Mary Walker. This book is based upon their

journals which give us one of the most complete documents of

Far West frontier life. These two people who had never met

were assigned to Indian missions in 1837. Each left journals of

their journey over the western plains and mountains to Oregon

and of their years of activities which followed. Mr. Walker died

in 1877 and his wife twenty years later. Their life was typical

of the pioneer days with all its difficulties, hard work, joys and

sorrows. The book shows careful scholarship and original re-

search, the story covering the years 1805-1897. It is well illus-

trated, and augmented with author's note, footnotes, bibliography,

and index.

H. L.

 

 

The Moravian Indian Mission on White River: Diaries and Letters

May 5, 1799 to November 12, 1806. Translated from the

German of the Original Manuscript by Harry E. Stocker,

Herman T. Frueauff, and Samuel C. Zeller. Edited by

Lawrence Henry Gipson. Indiana Historical Collections,

XXIII. (Indianapolis, Indiana Historical Bureau, 1938.

⁶74p.)

Over two hundred years ago the Moravian Church (the

Unitas Fratrum) began its missionary activities among the natives

of North America. By the middle of the eighteenth century, the

Moravian towns, Bethlehem and Nazareth, Pennsylvania, had been

settled, and "from these two centers flowed streams of evangelistic

activity, together with the establishment of a number of other

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Moravian settlements."  After the French and Indian War, the

Moravians directed their missionary efforts into regions well be-

yond the frontier of white settlement. Under the leadership of

David Zeisberger and John Heckewelder, a number of Indians of

western Pennsylvania were converted. Disputes over land claims

led to the determination to cross the Ohio, and between two and

three hundred converts were finally settled in the 1770's on the

Tuscarawas River in the villages of Schonbrunn, Gnadenh??tten,

and Lichtenau.

During the period of the Revolution, the Moravian towns were

continually harassed; the three original villages were abandoned,

and New Schonbrunn and Salem were established. In the winter

of 1781-1782, a number of Moravian Indians returned to Gnaden-

hutten for supplies, only to be massacred by American troops.

The Indians of the Tuscarawas villages wandered for several

years, chiefly in Michigan and Canada. After Wayne's victory,

Zeisberger led his followers back to the Tuscarawas, where the

village of Goshen was erected in 1798.

While in Canada, Zeisberger heard that Delawares on the

White River (Indiana) desired the gospel. In 1800, the Moravian

Church decided to establish mission work on White River, and

Abraham Luckenbach and John Peter Kluge were assigned to

this enterprise.  The mission was founded in 1801, near the

present site of Anderson, Indiana. The time was not propitious

for success. The pressure of incoming pioneers discouraged at-

tempts to form permanent Indian settlements. William Henry

Harrison, Governor of Indiana Territory, favored the elimina-

tion of Indians from the region. Some tribes, aroused by the

aggressiveness of the whites, began to consider means of resisting

them. This group, led by the Prophet, pressed the Delawares on

White River to join in opposing the white man. Meanwhile, the

Indians of the territory and of the Moravian mission, were de-

bauched by liquor brought from Fort Hamilton (Ohio) or Fort

Wayne (Indiana), although the sale of liquor to Indians was for-

bidden by law. Finally, in 1806, the Moravian missionaries and

their remaining followers, discouraged by the years of failure,

gave up the enterprise, and turned back toward the East.

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In the book under review, the story of the White River mis-

sion is told through the reproduction of the source materials writ-

ten by those who were connected with the mission. A brief histori-

cal introduction is followed by extracts from diaries of the mission

at Goshen on the Muskingum, from 1799 to 1801; the diaries of

the journeys of Luckenbach and Kluge from Bethlehem to Goshen

in 1800, from Goshen to White River in 1801, and from White

River to Bethlehem in 1806; diaries of the Little Indian Congre-

gation on White River for each year from 1801 to 1806; letters

from the White River mission; and the autobiographies of

Luckenbach and Kluge.

The volume is carefully edited and annotated, and is con-

cluded by a full index. It is a valuable source collection for the

history of the Moravian Church, of the Moravian Indians, and of

early Ohio and Indiana, and as such is a credit to those who con-

tributed their time and effort to its publication.

JAMES H. RODABAUGH.

 

 

The Wabash. By William E. Wilson. (New York, Farrar and

Rinehart, 1940. 339p. $2.50.)

This book, one of the volumes of the Rivers of America

series, is not a story of the Wabash River but, rather, a story of

Indiana. For instance, there are only nine pages given to steam-

boating while fifty pages are allotted to Lincoln's boyhood on

Pigeon Creek. The author is aware of this fact, however, for he

writes that "this is the story of the Wabash, and yet it is not the

Wabash itself. The Wabash is something more than topography,

history, and statistics. It is, rather, the things a Hoosier remem-

bers when he hears that magic name."

The story begins with the discovery of the Wabash by

La Salle. It then proceeds with accounts of the early French

settlements and of George Rogers Clark and his small band, and

continues with short sketches of the various Hoosier politicians

and literary men. One part of the book, titled "Utopian Inter-

lude," tells the dramatic stories of George Rapp and Robert Owen

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and of their attempts to found a new society. The author's re-

marks regarding the efforts of these two men are interesting:

Rapp's colony failed because it was successful; Owen's colony

succeeded because it failed. In addition, there is a chapter, titled

"Two for Posterity," that tells the stories of Eugene V. Debs and

Albert J. Beveridge. The author pays a beautiful tribute to Debs.

But in writing of Beveridge the author succinctly remarks that

two obstacles stood between Beveridge and the honor he dreamed

of: "One was the people, whom he discovered too late. The

other was himself, whom he never learned to forget."

This book was not written for the professional historian. In-

deed, there are some historical inaccuracies or, if you please,

inaccurate interpretations. For example, the author states that

"on the bank of the Wabash, the shape and size of the United

States were determined during the Revolution." As a matter of

fact, the work of Clark had no bearing upon the treaty which

ended our war for independence. England had regained the ter-

ritory Clark had conquered and he and his small army were resting

safely at the Falls in the Ohio. Nor was any mention made of

the work of Clark by the commissioners of peace who wrote the

treaty.

Another chapter is also subject to criticism.  In treating

of the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920's the author tries

to discount the orgy of intolerance ushered in by the Klan. He

states that the Hoosiers, who are naturally "joiners," were victim-

ized by the arch deceiver, D. C. Stephenson. But this explana-

tion is hardly enough. Even "joiners," if they are free of intoler-

ance would not have remained in such an organization for so long

a time. In no other state of the Union did the Klan acquire so

much political power and achieve such a merited reputation for

corruption.

Nevertheless, the book is interesting. The author writes well

and at times he almost rises to the height of "great literature."

The book is also well planned and some of the devices used to

bring out particular points are very effective. For example, the

author shows by short biographical sketches of a "Kentuckian,"

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a "New Yorker," an "Interloper," a "Virginian," a "Pennsyl-

vanian," and a "Yankee" that the Hoosier is a composite of the

blood streams of these men. The author also points out that the

immigrants generally came from the minority group in their home

states. As a result, New Englanders were often found in the

Democratic party in Indiana while Southerners were ofttimes

Whigs and later Republicans.

This reviewer felt more than once that he had been denied

a great heritage by not having been born on the banks of the

Wabash. The book is well bound, the printing is good, and it

contains eleven beautiful illustrations, a bibliography, and a good

index.

EUGENE O. PORTER.

 

 

Heaven On Earth: A Planned Mormon Society. By William J.

McNiff. (Oxford, Ohio, Mississippi Valley Press, 1940.

262p. $3.00.)

This book, the first volume of the Annals of America series,

is an attempt to understand the efforts made by the Mormon

leaders to develop an indigenous culture in Utah. The author

has closed his study with the year of Brigham Young's death.

This date, 1877, seems appropriate because the railroad which

reached Utah in 1869 was bringing new forces and people to

modify the Mormon environment.

The author points out that the architects of the Mormon

social order wanted their followers to develop mentally as well as

physically. "Thus, running along in parallel fashion with the

Mormon economic teachings, ran a Mormon theology and philos-

ophy which advocated the development of intelligence." Brigham

Young wrote in his Journal of Discourses and in his Doctrine and

Covenants that "The Whole Mortal existence of Man is neither

more nor less than a preparatory state given to finite beings, a

space wherein they may improve themselves for a higher state of

being." And also, "Whatever principles of intelligence we attain

to in this life, it will arise with us in the resurrection."

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The author examines the various aspects of Mormon culture

and draws some interesting conclusions. For instance, the Mormon

leaders advocated education for the faithful but the leaders were

lax in carrying out an educational program. This laxness may

have been due in part to the lack of wealth in this frontier com-

munity but there was also a lack of interest on the part of both

the leaders and their followers.

Another field of cultural development was that of the drama.

The Mormon leaders believed that the stage could be used to aid

the pulpit in teaching the difference between virtue and vice. There

were, however, few original dramas by Utah writers and, also,

there were few efforts made to use the drama for expressing

Mormon beliefs. When the railroad came, therefore, "the terri-

torial history of that locality merged with that common to the re-

mainder of the United States."

On the other hand, the field of music had a greater success

than that of any other. There were several English musicians who

were converts and these aided greatly in developing music. More-

over, there were two channels of interest in musical affairs, the

Mormon devotional exercises and the theatricals and dances. As

regards the latter, the Friday evening dance became the major

event of the week. Nevertheless, music, as in the case of the

drama, was submerged by the more strongly organized cultures

brought in by the railroad.

After studying the various aspects of Mormon culture the

author concludes that "the years from 1847 to 1869 did not give

the older Mormons time to throw off their non-Mormon thoughts

and memories before a new generation of Mormons had been

placed in contact with the Gentiles who came to Utah in the wake

of the railroad after 1869."

The author has made a real contribution to the history of

Mormonism. Unlike almost all writers on this subject, Dr. McNiff

is free from prejudices. He is neither defending nor prosecuting

a case. He interprets honestly his sources. He parades before

the reader innumerable secondary characters, but this weakness--

if it be a weakness--does not detract from the book's value.

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302    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

The book is well documented, and it contains an appendix,

a complete bibliography, and a good index.

EUGENE 0. PORTER.

 

 

The Boyhood of Tecumseh. By Marion Campbell. (Philadelphia,

Dorrance and Company, 1940. 192p. $2.00.)

The author of this book has lived with the Indians for several

years and she writes with understanding and appreciation of the

Indian character and customs. Her descriptions of an Indian wed-

ding, a ceremony for graduating warriors, and the annual feast

of love of the Creeks are unusually vivid and interesting.

On the other hand, historical facts are so jumbled that this

reviewer questions the accuracy of the entire book. The author

tells us in her preface that "the absence of dates and locations . . .

is not an oversight, but an attempt to remove the Indian from

data. . . ." Nevertheless, the omission of dates does not give the

author a license to ignore chronology. Indeed, many of the events

which, we are told, influenced Tecumseh's character occurred

either before his birth or during his infancy. And as Tecumseh

becomes older time marches backwards.

The reader learns that Tecumseh was initiated into the ranks

of the warrior class while still very young. The author has marked

the year of the initiation by telling us that already the first news-

paper north of the Ohio River has been published. The first news-

paper north of the Ohio River was the Centinel of the Northwest

Territory, and its first issue appeared in 1793. Thus Tecumseh,

who was born in 1775, was at least eighteen years of age when he

was initiated, a rather mature age for receiving such rites. More-

over, the reader learns that Cornstalk sent the young warrior Te-

cumseh and several others south to the Creek country before the

battle of Point Pleasant. Tecumseh furnished food for the party

by hunting. Yet the battle of Point Pleasant was fought in 1774,

a year before Tecumseh was born. Finally, the reader learns that

Silver Heels, the brother of Cornstalk, carried a message to Tecum-

seh in the South: Cornstalk is dead and Tecumseh must return

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home to assume the leadership of his people. But actually, Corn-

stalk was murdered in 1777 and a papoose would hardly be called

to the leadership of a tribe.

The author has announced a sequel to this book, Tecumseh's

Military Life. If she writes with the same abandon, she will have

Tecumseh leading a foray of Indians during Pontiac's Conspiracy.

EUGENE 0. PORTER.

 

 

Letters of James Gillespie Birney, 1831-1857. Edited by Dwight

L. Dumond. Prepared and published under the direction of

the American Historical Association from the income of the

Albert J. Beveridge Memorial Fund. (New York and Lon-

don, D. Appleton-Century Co., Inc., c1938. 2v. (1189p.)

$10.00.)

The Albert J. Beveridge Memorial Fund has financed the pub-

lication of two of the most important sources in the history of the

antislavery movement in the United States, namely, the Letters of

Theodore Dwight Weld, Angelina Grimke Weld and Sarah Grimke

(New York, 1934.2v.), edited by Gilbert H. Barnes and Dwight

L. Dumond, and the volumes now under review. The history of

the antislavery movement may be traced to the revolutionary

period. By 1816, it found expression in the organization of the

patronizing American Colonization Society, which, for the most

part, desired the removal from the country of what was regarded

as an inferior and degraded element of the population. However,

the system of slavery was so strongly entrenched in the South that

the Colonization Society, with its many slaveholding members, soon

found itself defending slavery against the social convulsion which

must accompany too rapid emancipation.

Meanwhile, a reform movement which looked upon slavery

as immoral was developing in the North. Especially during the dec-

ade of the 1830's this movement prospered: Evangelists preached

the sinfulness of slavery and converted men of all walks of life

to that view; churches took antislavery positions; abolitionist and

antislavery leaders like Garrison, Weld, Birney, Henry B. Stanton,

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304   OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Joshua Leavitt, and the Tappan brothers, organized antislavery

societies throughout the North; antislavery newspapers and pe-

riodicals multiplied at a rapid rate, and antislavery literature

flooded the Nation; political figures such as John Quincy Adams

and Joshua Reed Giddings brought the antislavery cause to the

floor of Congress.

"James G. Birney's public career extended through the entire

span of the antislavery crusade." Born to wealthy parents in

Danville, Kentucky, he was a slaveholder for many years in Ken-

tucky and Alabama. A humanitarian, he favored gradual emanci-

pation and became an agent for the American Colonization Society.

By 1833, he was virtually an immediate abolitionist, finally con-

verted wholly to the cause by Theodore D. Weld. Under the in-

fluence of Weld, who led the famous Lane Seminary debate of the

winter of 1833-34, Birney began the publication of his antislavery

Philanthropist in Cincinnati, moving it from Danville, and con-

tinued it in spite of mob attacks on his press and threats to his

person. Birney and Weld led the crusade in southwestern Ohio

for several years, Birney serving as publisher and pamphleteer. As

a propagandist Birney achieved a national reputation which led to

his call to New York as Corresponding Secretary of the American

Anti-Slavery Society.

By 1840, Birney was the leader of those who favored enter-

ing an antislavery party in political campaigns. The party was

organized, and Birney was its presidential candidate in 1840 and

1844. After the latter campaign, he retired from public life, but

continued to carry on a voluminous correspondence with anti-

slavery leaders until his death.

Most of the letters reproduced in these volumes were selected

from the Birney papers now located in the Library of the Univer-

sity of Michigan. They concern the many activities of Birney in

the antislavery movement. Around forty-five letters deal with the

American and local colonization societies. There are more than

sixty letters from Weld, while others are to or from such important

figures as Clement C. Clay, Gerrit Smith, Asa Mahan, Elizur

Wright, Jr., Lewis Tappan, Gamaliel Bailey, Henry B. Stanton,

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BOOK REVIEWS                    305

 

Joshua Leavitt, William Jay, Seth M. Gates, William Birney, Theo-

dore Foster, Beriah Green, and William Goodell. The Weld-

Grimke Letters and the Birney Letters are the two most valuable

printed sources on the activities, agents, conventions of, and divi-

sions in, the American Anti-Slavery Society, as well as the history

of the Liberty Party.

Interesting to Ohioans are the letters which deal with the Lane

Seminary debate, the organization of Oberlin College, and the

exodus of Lane students to Oberlin. Volume I contains a number

of letters on the antislavery movement in Ohio, including infor-

mation on the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society, the publication of the

Philanthropist at Cincinnati, first by Birney and later by Gamaliel

Bailey, the attitude of southwestern Ohio toward the antislavery

movement, Salmon P. Chase's flirtation with the Liberty Party, the

history of the Liberty Party in Ohio, etc.

Brief biographical or explanatory notes identify many persons

and events mentioned in the letters. This reviewer, however, feels

that the failure more fully to annotate the papers has left some-

thing to be desired. Authorities for footnote information are not

cited. An index of thirteen pages concludes the volumes.

JAMES H. RODABAUGH.

 

 

My 50 Years in Engineering; the Autobiography of a Human,

Engineer. By Embury A. Hitchcock in collaboration with

Merrill Weed. (Caldwell, Idaho, Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1939.

277p. Illus. $3.00.)

This autobiography was written by the dean emeritus of the

College of Engineering of the Ohio State University in his seventy-

third year. In an easy and familiar style, the story begins with his

boyhood interest in steam engines and his first view of the Brush

arc-light in his home town in the Finger Lake region of New York

state.

Dean Hitchcock attended Cornell University where he studied

mechanical engineering. Upon graduation in 1890 he went to work

for the Corliss Steam Engine Company but two years later he took

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306   OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

a position as an instructor in the Department of Mechanical En-

gineering at the Ohio State University under Professor Stillman

W. Robinson. He taught twenty years before returning to indus-

try, but in 1920 came back to the university as Dean of the College

of Engineering. It is from his guidance of his students during

the next fifteen years that the book gets the subtitle, The Auto-

biography of a Human Engineer.

The chapters on the first twenty years at the Ohio State Uni-

versity contain many anecdotes which will interest his former

students and colleagues. During the period, 1912-1920, when he

worked for a company that managed power systems, his observa-

tions on the pioneering work of his firm in the development of the

Tennessee Valley will interest those who favor as well as those

who oppose government control of power resources.

There is a foreword by Charles F. Kettering, of the General

Motors Research Laboratories, pointing out that the book is sig-

nificant because it is the life story of an engineer "whose working

life spanned the period of the most rapid development in science

and engineering the world has ever seen."

W. D. O.

 

 

Ballad Makin' in the Mountains of Kentucky. By Jean Thomas.

With music arranged by Walter Kob. (New York, Henry

Holt and Company, 1939. ²70p. Illus. $3.00.)

The "Traipsin' Woman" has "set down" some more of the

ballads and tunes she has been "sarchin' out" for so many years.

In Ballad Makin' in the Mountains of Kentucky, Jean Thomas is

continuing the work begun in Devil's Ditties, The Traipsin'

Woman, and The Singin' Gatherin', of recording for posterity the

efforts of the Kentucky mountain muse. This latest book on which

Miss Thomas received help in setting some of the ballads to music

from Walter Kob, an instructor in music at Ohio State Univer-

sity, is an attempt to show the how and why of the Kentuckian's

ballads "made up right out of his head."

In ten chapters Miss Thomas tells how ballads have been used

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BOOK REVIEWS                    307

 

to give the stories of Feuds, Chanteys, War, Flood and Fire,

The Railroad, Stillin' and Drinkin', Killin', Lament and Farewells,

Hymn Makin', and Progress. Some of these ballads are set to

music which Miss Thomas says resembles closely the Gregorian

chants of the sixth century. The tradition of ballad making goes

far back into the history of Anglo-Saxon peoples but the subjects

of many of them are very much up to the minute. The "New Deal"

has been memorialized with ballads on the T. V. A. and the

W. P. A. The C. I. O. and the R. F. C. have also inspired the

mountain balladmakers. Miss Thomas sees a future for the rude

hill-poets that holds "the hope, perhaps, of an American grand

opera out of the fastnesses of the mountains of Kentucky."

K. W. M.

 

 

America in Midpassage. By Charles A. Beard & Mary R. Beard.

(New York, Macmillan Co., 1939. 977p. $3.50.)

America in Midpassage, although complete in itself, forms

the third volume of the Rise of American Civilization. The narra-

tive moves, sometimes brilliantly, through the nadir of national

disgrace, "the golden glow," the breakdown of the economic struc-

ture, the depression years, the Administration of Franklin D.

Roosevelt down to the very threshold of the present.

Beginning with an analysis of the political, social, and eco-

nomic conditions in the United States at the beginning of the Coo-

lidge Administration the authors, interspersing their narrative

with picturesque portrayals and characterizations of the partici-

pants in the national political arena, trace the efforts of American

politicians and financiers to assure a continuation of the post-war

prosperity by encouraging high protective tariffs, promoting inter-

national trade, and discouraging legislation which might be in-

jurious to the vested interests. Then follows an account of the

crumbling of the economic structure, the failure of a world market,

the plight of the farmer, the unemployment problem and the mo-

blization of the Government to meet the crisis. Finally the au-

thors untangle the details of the New Deal legislation and dis-

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308    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

cuss the operation of the newly created governmental agencies.

The Beards significantly conclude that "behind each statute of the

New Deal legislation lay a long series of agitations, numerous

changes in the thought and economy of American society, and

pertinent enactments." In a chapter devoted to American foreign

policy, the authors effect a material revision of many historical

judgments pertaining to the manner in which foreign policies are

formed.

One of the distinctive features of the work is the treatment

of trends and problems, the emphasis placed upon social and eco-

nomic forces, the presentation of the points of view of reformers,

farmers and laborers, the attention given to social topics such as

amusements, education, literature, and religion. In this connec-

tion the treatment of the W. P. A. white-collar projects sponsored

by the Federal Government and designed to perpetuate and accen-

tuate our cultural heritage, should stimulate reflective thinking.

The volume is a valuable contribution to the literature of the

period. The task has been a difficult one. Sources of informa-

tion are, for the most part, inaccessible; objectivity is almost im-

possible, and proportion is difficult to determine. It is to be re-

gretted that the Beards, well versed in seminar methods, an-

nounce to the world that they have little patience with historians

who assume to write history in a scientific manner (p. 912).

The narrative, written in Dr. Beard's usual vigorous style,

should prove enlightening to both scholars and laymen. The

volume contains neither footnotes nor a bibliography.

JOHN O. MARSH.

 

 

Thomas Riley Marshall: Hoosier Statesman. By Charles M.

Thomas. (Oxford, Ohio, The Mississippi Valley Press, 1939.

296p. $3.00.)

This book might have been entitled, "The Portrait of a Vice-

President." That is exactly what this biography of Thomas Riley

Marshall is, a portrait, and the author never forgets that each

sentence is a brush stroke towards the completion of that portrait.

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BOOK REVIEWS                     309

 

The author has used "four types of sources: unpublished

manuscriptions, contemporary newspapers and periodicals, other

printed sources, and interviews with persons who were associated

with Thomas Riley Marshall." Because of this last type of source,

the personal interview, the author has been able to take us behind

the scenes of several important events that affected Marshall's

life. For example, the author takes us behind the scenes of the

Democratic Nominating Convention of 1912 and into the sick-

room of President Woodrow Wilson after his paralytic stroke of

September, 1919.

In discussing the convention, the author is a realist. He is,

unlike Mr. William Allen White, who, in his biography of Wood-

row Wilson, pictures the spirit of Wilson capturing the delegates.

Mr. White writes, "It was good to see that spirit feeling its way

into control of the convention. . . ." Dr. Thomas shows that

Wilson's nomination was due to a political deal. He writes, "The

conference lasted until the early hours of the morning, and when

McCombs [Wilson's manager] and the other leaders finally de-

parted they had all agreed to the Wilson-Marshall combination."

Concerning Wilson's illness, the author believes him to have

been incapacitated and that "somebody assumed the right to judge

which bills should be presented to him and which should become

laws without his signature," and, he adds, "Whoever did this

perpetrated a clear violation of the Constitution of the United

States." Congress, the author advises, should provide legislation

for the transference of the presidential powers in case of inability.

There are a few minor criticisms of the book. For example,

section four of chapter three might have been placed in a foot-

note. Also, the notes are incomplete, the author citing, in almost

all cases, only personal interviews and letters from those who

knew Marshall intimately. Nevertheless, the author has suc-

ceeded in capturing the spirit of Thomas Riley Marshall and this

reviewer must agree with the author's citation from the New

York Times: "We liked him better than we have liked some

greater but less hospitably human persons."

The book is well bound, and well printed, and it has several

pages of acknowledgments, a short bibliography, and a good index.

EUGENE O. PORTER.

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310    OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

"Eagle Forgotten": The Life of John Peter Altgeld. By Harry

Barnard. (Indianapolis, New York, Bobbs-Merrill, 1939.

⁴⁹⁶p. $4.00.)

Under the inspiring title "Eagle Forgotten," the author pre-

sents the story of one of the real liberals of modern times. Gov-

ernor John J. Altgeld, of Illinois, was a champion of liberal

thought in the closing years of the nineteenth century at a time

when the United States was emerging from an agricultural to an

industrial nation and at a time when radicalism was seeping

through the crevices of the American labor movement. The eco-

nomic changes following the conclusion of the War Between the

States created labor problems which were of national significance.

These, Altgeld faced with a philosophy which placed the interests

of the masses above those of the vested interests. Because of his

early background, Altgeld's sympathies were naturally with the

farmer and the laborer. His sympathies with these classes labeled

him a "radical"; his action in pardoning remaining persons con-

victed of implication in the Haymarket riots labeled him a "red";

while his controversy with President Grover Cleveland during

the Pullman strike brought the unqualified accusation that he was

a menace to society and was actually engaged in fomenting violence

and bloodshed.

The biography, although written in a sympathetic vein, is for

the most part impartial. The author, on rare occasions only, per-

mits his admiration of Altgeld to carry him beyond his sources.

He shows that Altgeld's actions were, at times, motivated by self-

ish purposes; that he was a politician with liberal leanings. The

author's conclusions are, for the most part, consistently in har-

mony with recent interpretations of the period. In arriving at

these conclusions, the author has used a large number of primary

and secondary sources. Magazine and newspaper materials seem

to have been utilized to a remarkable extent. Had the sources

been evaluated critically further information would, perhaps have

been gained, and certain errors avoided. The statement (p. 52)

that the "country seemed to be tottering on the brink of revolu-

tion" in 1877 is debatable. The immediate dangers were, of

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BOOK REVIEWS                    311

 

course, more apparent than real. On the other hand, the volume

bears ample evidence of scholarship and supplements admirably

the work of W. R. Browne which appeared in 1924. Barnard has

given an excellent life of a liberal, and one which will be wel-

comed by every student of recent American history. There is an

extensive bibliography and a satisfactory index.

JOHN O. MARSH.

 

 

 

 

 

Journal as Ambassador to Great Britain. By Charles G. Dawes.

(New York, The Macmillan Co., 1939. 442p. $5.00.)

This is a recording of General Charles G. Dawes' activities as

ambassador to London. The date of the first entry (at Evanston,

Illinois, while the general was preparing to go to London) is May

19, 1929, and that of the last (at London), December 21, 1931.

It is not literally a "journal," for the entries were not always

made every day; at times a week or more elapsed between them.

In these entries General Dawes narrates not only his official ac-

tivities, but also many of his social ones--ceremonies attended,

speeches made by him or others, banquets, parties, hunting trips,

and an expedition to the caves of prehistoric man in southern

France, to the Rio Tinto mine in Spain, and to near-by Niebla.

The ex-ambassador has also included at the appropriate place in

the text copies of official documents, speeches, and memoranda.

That part of his activity which occupies the largest section in

his journal treats of the Naval Conference of 1930. This section

may (or may not) be the most valuable part of the book--it may

be of some assistance to the naval historian. But even in con-

nection with this conference, Dawes has shown his readers so

little of the forces that motivated the various countries that en-

gaged in the conference, that his treatment has little value.

When Dawes attempts to generalize or philosophize, his re-

marks are apt to cloy. In discussing President Herbert Hoover's

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312   OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

unpopularity in 1930, the general drops this jewel: "The press

is belaboring the President unjustly. Whenever possible, the

public seems to delight in holding individuals responsible for un-

controllable events, good or bad. After a great disaster, there is

usually talk of some captain or engineer or mine superintendent

who might have averted it. The grand jury seldom indicts for

negligence. After a while, however, the agitation subsides and

subconsciously all know that the criticism has been generally un-

fair" (p. 255). That is the approximate depth to which the

attempts of the general at generalizing or philosophizing ever

reach.

Of course embarrassments might follow if a man in public

life were to write too frankly. But the reviewer found himself

wondering if the author were ever irked or nettled, if he ever

came to dislike anybody or anything. His adjectives are almost

invariably favorable and enthusiastic.

This book might well bear the sub-title, "Far Away and

Long Ago," treating as it does of an age that seems now so un-

related to our present world situation--of limitations on navies,

of Hoover's moratorium on reparations and debt payments, of

a world without Hitler and the subsequent "appeasement" policy,

and the present war. This is certainly not a criticism of the book,

but rather an indication of the speed with which events have been

passing.

Obviously this is neither a history of the United States nor

of England for the period covered; nor is it a history of Anglo-

American relations for the period, failing as it does to consider

in a way more than trivial the social and economic forces that are

ever the guiding spring of diplomacy. Dawes has turned out here

a work pedestrian in style, mediocre in philosophy, and uninter-

esting in its treatment of content.

The volume contains a short Foreword by Herbert Hoover,

numerous illustrations (mostly portraits), and an index.

JOHN H. MCMINN.

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BOOK REVIEWS                     313

 

Old Tippecanoe: William Henry Harrison and His Times. By

Freeman Cleaves. (New York, Charles Scribner's Sons,

1939. 422p. $3.75.)

One can hardly review this biography of Harrison without

comparing it with the one written by Dr. Dorothy Goebel (Indian-

apolis, 1926). Mr. Cleaves is more interested in Harrison's mili-

tary achievements, while Dr. Goebel emphasizes his political ca-

reer. This diversity of interests has caused each to accent dif-

ferent phases of Harrison's life. For instance, Mr. Cleaves allows

fifteen pages to Harrison's adventure in South America and

fifteen pages to the campaign of 1840, while to these Dr. Goebel

allows thirty-eight and forty-four pages respectively. On the

other hand, Mr. Cleaves uses one hundred and sixteen pages for

the War of 1812 and Dr. Goebel only seventy-six.

A comparison of the style of the two writers reveals that that

of Dr. Goebel flows easily and has charm, while that of Mr.

Cleaves is labored and tiresome. Indeed, some of Mr. Cleaves'

sentences are poorly constructed. For example, he writes, "Har-

rison asked the Kentucky governor to push on the militia as

quickly as possible in detachments as they were made up." And

again, "The story was circulated that Harrison had authorized

the premature advance of Winchester who thus had been sacri-

ficed and the general rid of a friendly rival for the command;

moreover, accomplishment in the Northwest had been nil even

though 'great sums' had been spent."

Upon the whole, however, the author has given us a valuable

book. Although he has unearthed no new material, he has exam-

ined thoroughly all that is available, and his conclusions seem

justified. This reviewer regrets that the author neglected to take

advantage of the drama in the campaign of 1840, a campaign

characterized by picturesque slogans, one of which the author in-

cludes: "Vote for Harrison and get $2 a day and roast beef."

The book is attractively bound, the printing is good, and it

contains eighteen well-chosen illustrations and four good maps,

as well as an excellent bibliography and an index.

EUGENE O. PORTER.

• 25