Ohio History Journal

CALEB ATWATER: VERSATILE PIONEER

A RE-APPRAISAL

 

 

By HENRY C. SHETRONE

 

 

 

BACK EAST:

Educator, minister, lawyer and antiquarian; advocate of in-

ternal improvements; co-founder of Ohio's school system; Ohio's

first historian; intellectual and social pioneer of the Middle West!

Such was Caleb Atwater, of Massachusetts, New York--and

Ohio.

Without an understanding of the times in which Caleb At-

water lived, particularly of his years in the East before coming

to Ohio, one might well wonder how he could have so much of

accomplishment to his credit. The wonder is even greater, and

hardly to be explained, that his career is so little known today.

Atwater was born on Christmas Day, 1778, in North Adams,

Massachusetts, a descendant of David Atwater, an original settler

of the New Haven colony. He graduated with the degree of

Master of Arts, in 1804, from Williams College, Williamstown,

Massachusetts. Shortly thereafter, he opened a school for young

women in New York City, during which time he studied the-

ology and was ordained to the Presbyterian ministry. It is indica-

tive of his restless energy and his intellectual versatility that, a

few years later, he turned to the legal profession and was ad-

mitted to the New York bar.

In 1815, at the age of 37, Atwater succumbed to the current

urge to seek his fortune in the newly settled country west of the

Alleghenies. Circleville, Ohio, was his choice for a new home.

There he established himself in the practice of law, and it is

there that we leave him momentarily in order to glimpse his life

and activities "back East" in New England and New York.

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Atwater was born in the midst of the Revolutionary struggle,

and the haze of battle smoke must have been a part of his earliest

recollections. He doubtless heard much of Washington the General

and Washington as President of the new nation. Conversation

and discussion must have concerned itself with the fate of

America; should these United States become a younger and per-

haps a better England, as Hamilton and the Federalists envisioned

it, or should the dream of Jefferson and his fellow Republicans

materialize?

We are concerned here with the times of Caleb Atwater in

the East only in so far as they may furnish a background for

understanding his subsequent career in Ohio; that is to say, with

the four decades immediately following the Revolutionary war.

With the surrender of Cornwallis to Washington, the war had

ended, and in 1783 the Treaty of Peace was signed in Paris. In

1787 the Constitution of the United States was adopted, and two

years later the first Congress met in New York. In 1799, Gen-

eral Washington, after serving eight years as President, passed

to his reward. The federal census of 1800 showed a total popu-

lation of more than 5,000,000, an increase of 25 per cent since

the first census, ten years previously.

At the turn of the century, the seat of government was

removed from Philadelphia to the newly founded capital on the

Potomac; John Adams, after serving as the second President of

the United States, was succeeded by Thomas Jefferson, in 1801,

for a two-term incumbency. The decades which followed were

a time of unprecedented prosperity and cultural advancement for

the new Republic. They were marred, however, by the tragic

duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, in which the

latter was killed; and by the War of 1812, in which the city of

Washington was burned by the British.

Philadelphia, Penn's City of Brotherly Love, had been the

center of political and cultural activities, but with the removal of

the capital, this prestige gradually diffused to other centers.

New York City, in particular, was assuming more and more im-

portance as a mecca for art, the theatre, education and literature.

New England, in contrast to earlier and later times, was

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CALEB ATWATER                      81

 

strangely unproductive, except in matters of religion and law.

It had been remarked that, particularly in Connecticut, religion

was the "be-all and end-all" of public interest. As for the law,

a group of keen-witted and convivial lawyers, who were dubbed

"the Hartford Wits," had kept the legal profession in the public

mind.

Thus, while the vast area north and west of the Ohio River

was still little more than wilderness, the East had achieved a

century and a half of tradition, history and culture. Religious,

educational, artistic and literary institutions and activities were

well established. Periodicals, magazines and some books were

being published; and while there was little that could be classed

as American literature, a number of promising writers, among

them Irving and Cooper, were to make their appearances shortly

in very special roles. Distances between centers of interest were

not great, and many persons, despite the limited means of trans-

portation, were traveling to or from New England, New York,

Philadelphia and points south. Correspondence was voluminous,

and letter-writing had become a fine art. Most persons were in-

terested in agriculture and horticulture, while natural history was

a current vogue.

This hurried glimpse of the East during the time of At-

water's residence there perhaps is sufficient to account for his

subsequent accomplishments in Ohio. It may not be amiss, how-

ever, to refer to some of the factors which were definitely to in-

fluence his special interests--education, religion, law, history and

archaeology.

His attendance at Williams College, and his proximity to

Harvard, Yale and others of the older institutions of learning.

had fitted him for his subsequent interest in education. Religious

and legal precepts, as has been noted, were not lacking in New

England; and as to the latter, his sojourn in New York City

doubtless brought him into contact with Columbia's James Kent,

whose Commentaries he must have read sooner or later.

There was precedent, also, for Atwater's interest in history.

Jeremy Belknap had founded the Massachusetts Historical So-

ciety in 1794, and had written a history of New Hampshire;

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Jedediah Morse, father of the artist and inventor Samuel F. B

Morse, had published his noted Geography; Timothy Dwight of

Yale had written his Travels in New England; and there were,

of course, Jefferson's Notes on Virginia.

Atwater's predilection for natural history and antiquities was

shared by most of his contemporaries. Jefferson in his Notes had

reported the exploration of certain prehistoric burial mounds ad-

jacent to his Virginia estate; Bartrams Gardens, in Philadelphia,

were a widely known meeting place for botanists and naturalists;

the American Philosophical Society, founded by Franklin, and

Peale's famous museum, located for a time in rooms of that So-

ciety, attracted numerous scientists, naturalists and antiquarians.

Alexander Wilson had published the first volume of his American

Ornithology, and only a little later the great Audubon made his

professional bow to a bird-loving public. The American Anti-

quarian Society, which had been founded at Worcester, Massa-

chusetts, two or three years prior to Atwater's departure for

Ohio, engaged his particular attention, and was destined to pub-

lish, in 1820, his first report on the antiquities of the western

country.

IN OHIO:

The transition of Caleb Atwater from the cosmopolitan East

to the newly settled West, in 1815, was a violent one. In con-

trast to sophisticated New York City, Circleville, Ohio, must

have impressed him as the opposite extreme.

Ohio had enjoyed its first permanent settlement, at Marietta,

as recently as 1788 and, after a spirited contest between the

Federalist sentiment of the Marietta pioneers and the Jeffersonian

convictions of the political leaders at Chillicothe, had achieved

statehood in 1803. Thomas Worthington was governor of the

State, and the capital, for the second time, was located in Chilli-

cothe, pending permanent establishment in Columbus in 1816.

The War of 1812 was just ending, and while Ohio had no

particular interest in "search and seizure" or "free trade," there

still was the threat of Indian depredations, and so the State had

played a prominent part in the contest. Attempted invasions of

Canada from Ohio by Generals Hull and Harrison, and Perry's

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CALEB ATWATER                      83

 

victory on Lake Erie, were to become a part of the history of

the second war against England.

Caleb Atwater devoted the first six years of his residence in

Circleville to the practice of law and, incidentally, to a study of

the prehistoric remains of the western country.  His innate

interest in antiquities was sharpened by the fact that Circleville

was located within one of the country's most impressive pre-

historic earthworks--circular in form--from which the town had

taken its name.

While Atwater's report to the American Antiquarian Society

on the prehistoric remains of the West, published as Volume I

of Archaeologia Americana, in 1820, was the most pretentious

and detailed study up to that time, he was not the first to write

on the subject. As early as 1772, the Rev. David Jones of New

Jersey, after a sojourn among the western Indians, had described,

among others, the very same prehistoric earthwork at Circleville,

within which Atwater was to live and work. Moreover, the im-

pressive earthworks at Marietta had been described and mapped

by several early writers, the most important of which was a de-

tailed map made by General Rufus Putnam for the Ohio Com-

pany. This venerable document, preserved in the library of

Marietta College, is regarded as a unique contribution to Ameri-

can archaeology.

The fact, however, that others had taken cognizance of one

or another of the Ohio antiquities only spurred Atwater to the

task of correlating what already had been done and of enlarging

the scope of investigation through his own efforts. When, a few

years later, Squier and Davis conducted extensive explorations

and wrote their classical volume, Ancient Monuments of the

Mississippi Valley, they were able to avail themselves of At-

water's pioneer efforts. To Caleb Atwater, and to Squier and

Davis, American archaeology is definitely indebted, since they

described and mapped many prehistoric remains which since have

been obliterated in part or in their entirety.

Caleb Atwater's ability as a lawyer and his interest in public

affairs led to his election, in 1821, to the Ohio legislature. It

was in this capacity that he made his most valuable contributions

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to his adopted State and to his fellow citizens. From the begin-

ning he was an aggressive advocate of internal improvements

and of an adequate public school system. In his opinion, the

construction of highways and canals were basic essentials in the

development of the State, and universal education was the only

means of securing for the people the enlightenment and happi-

ness to which they were entitled.

Perhaps no member of the legislature was so well informed

in matters of transportation and travel--highways and canals--

as was Atwater. He was living in New York at the time of

Fulton's first steamboat trip up the Hudson, and had enthused

over Clinton's canal project. Even after coming to Ohio, he had

kept in close touch with the construction of the "big ditch"

which was destined to connect the Great Lakes with the Atlantic

Ocean.

His advocacy of "good roads" was evidenced when, shortly

after his election to the legislature, he strongly opposed a pro-

posal to abandon the usual road tax for one year. "From such

legislation," he declared, "I devoutly pray to be delivered on this

and all other occasions."

From the time that the initial canal bill was introduced in the

legislature, in 1821, until the final bill was passed, in 1825, At-

water was untiring in his efforts to overcome opposition to its

adoption. He argued in the legislative sessions, met and dis-

cussed the situation with opposition leaders, and wrote freely in

the press, until one more of his aspirations became reality. Since

his account of the turning of the first spadefuls of earth by

Governors Clinton and Morrow for the construction of the Ohio

canal is the best existing report, there can be little doubt that he

was a witness to that historic event.  This occurred on that

memorable July 4, 1825, at the Licking Summit, just south of

the (then) town of Newark; and, by coincidence, it was on this

same day that the extension of the National Road westward

through Ohio, was begun just across the Ohio River from

Wheeling! Evidence of Atwater's remarkable prevision is had

in the fact that only a few years later (1829) he foresaw the ulti-

mate passing of the canals, and remarked: "When locomotive

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CALEB ATWATER                      85

engines are brought to the perfection . . . goods and passengers

can pass between the two seas in ten days." Like Jules Verne,

he was over-modest in his prediction.

The creation of an adequate public school system for Ohio

was a part of the broad campaign for internal improvements, in

all of which--highways, canals and schools--Atwater was a fore-

most proponent. But before an acceptable school system could

be provided, certain abuses which had grown up around the ad-

ministration of school lands had to be corrected. By provision

of the Ordinance of 1785 and subsequent congressional grants,

one thirty-sixth of all public lands, amounting eventually to some

700,000 acres, were reserved for the support of public schools.

Control of these school lands rested with local officials, but were

subject to regulation by the General Assembly. Almost from

the beginning of statehood, up until 1825, when the creation and

support of a school system came to be accepted as a State obliga-

tion, much of the time and energies of the General Assembly

were devoted to school land legislation of a questionable nature.

It was said that certain members of the Assembly had secured

the use of such lands on terms which were most favorable to

themselves.  Atwater himself asserted that one State senator

had used his office to obtain possession of no less than seven sec-

tions.  Innumerable "squatters" on these lands had come to

think of themselves as actual owners, and rentals due the State

were not infrequently ridiculously low and too often were left

unpaid. To avert the temptation of corrupt practice, the policy

of leasing eventually was abandoned in favor of direct sale, and

the proceeds were loaned to the State for financing canal con-

struction.

Credit for the establishment of Ohio's school system is due

largely to three men: Ephraim Cutler, of Washington County,

who sponsored the first legislation; Caleb Atwater, chairman of

the Commission which drafted the bill which was enacted into

law; and Nathan Guilford of Cincinnati, who ably looked after

publicity. These three and their associates worked tirelessly over

a period of several years in overcoming opposition to a tax-sup-

ported school system. Their efforts were rewarded when, in the

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86    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

election of October, 1824, the voters cleared the legislature of

much erstwhile opposition by electing delegates who favored the

proposed school system. The Act of February 5, 1825, not only

consummated the basic steps in Ohio's public school system, but

the General Assembly of 1824-1825 was long to be remembered

for its progressive accomplishments. In Atwater's own words,

"That Legislature was the ablest. . .that we ever had in the

State. They gave us a system of education for common schools;

changed the mode of taxation; created a Board of fund com-

missioners who were authorized to issue stock and borrow money

on it, wherewith to make canals. They passed many other wise,

moral, healthful and useful acts."

In 1829, Caleb Atwater was appointed by President Jackson

as one of three commissioners to treat with the Winnebago In-

dians of Wisconsin. While this mission was of immense im-

portance from a federal point of view, it is of passing interest to

Ohio, and will be referred to only briefly at this point. En route

to Prairie du Chien, Atwater comments freely on Cincinnati, the

Ohio River, the trip up the Mississippi, the character of the

country and the people whom he met. That he once more saw

into the future is indicated in his report of the journey. He

wrote: "The mind of the patriot is lost in wonder and admira-

tion when he looks through the vista of futurity at the wealth,

the grandeur and glory that certainly awaits our posterity."

Atwater and his associate commissioners effected a satisfac-

tory treaty with the Indians. On his return, he submitted the

treaty to President Jackson. While awaiting the convening of the

Senate, he made a side trip to Philadelphia where he renewed

his acquaintance with the East. Later in the year he returned

to Washington and was present when the Senate enthusiastically

adopted his treaty.

Two years later, in 1831, Atwater published an account of

his mission to the Winnebagos, together with a discussion of the

relations of the government to the Indians. In a volume entitled

the Writings of Caleb Atwater, published in 1833, he included his

earlier report on the Antiquities of Ohio and other States, the

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CALEB ATWATER                      87

 

account of his journey to Prairie du Chien and thence to Wash-

ington, and an article on Franklinton and Columbus.

His most pretentious literary product, A History of the State

of Ohio, Natural and Civil, came from the press in 1838. It was

this volume which won for him the title of Ohio's first historian.

His travels over the State and his observation and study of its

geology, geography, flora and fauna, had fitted him well for a

report on the natural history of the area, while his active partici-

pation in civic affairs left little to be desired in preparing him

for the task of recording Ohio's civil history up to that time.

His final literary contribution was An Essay on Education,

published in 1841. At this time, while the Ohio school system

had been definitely established, there remained obvious need of

improvement. The Essay was a plea for efficiency. It demanded

better school buildings, better teachers, better text books and

broader curricula, and it championed co-education. Its concep-

tion of education was not only as a cultural but as a utilitarian

asset, particularly as regards the needs of the foreign-born immi-

grants who at the time were finding their way into Ohio and the

Middle West. The Essay is considered by many as the best of

Atwater's writings.  Certainly here, as in everything that he

wrote, he showed his remarkable ability in anticipating future

needs and developments. He was in very truth one of the intel-

lectual pioneers of the West.

The Atwater Genealogy, compiled by Francis Atwater, shows

that Caleb Atwater of Circleville was of the fifth generation of

the family in America, and that at least five others preceding him

had borne the same given name. Nor was Atwater of Circleville,

the first member of the family to settle in Ohio, and to leave

the Atwater imprint on the history of the State. In the History

of Portage County, Ohio, it is recorded (p. 152) that a Captain

Caleb Atwater was one of the original proprietors of the West-

ern Reserve, and that in April, 1799, he came to Portage County

and established Atwater Township.  In addition to this town-

ship, the family name is perpetuated by the towns of Atwater

and Atwater Center, midway between Akron and Youngstown.

In the same publication (p. 226) there is an account of one Amzi

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88    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Atwater who, in 1787, was a surveyor of the Western Reserve

for the Connecticut Land Company. In 1800, in company with

his brother Jotham, he made a permanent settlement at Mantua,

where he lived until his death. Amzi served as judge of the

Court of Common Pleas, and was a writer of poetry. However,

it is not the purpose of this paper to pursue Atwater genealogy,

intriguing though it may be. According to the genealogy of the

family, there have been in all some 8,000 persons bearing the

family name in America, while the family genealogy carries back

to the 13th century in England.

To Caleb Atwater and his wife, Belinda Butler Atwater

there were born six sons and three daughters. As early as 1905,

all these had died, with the exception of a daughter, Mrs. Lucy

Brown, of Indianapolis.      No further report of the immediate

family is at hand.

Caleb Atwater was destined to die, as he had lived, with but

little accumulation of worldly goods. His whole concern had been

given to the advancement of science and human welfare, rather

than the making of money. He was unfortunate, perhaps, in

having outlived his time and to have been forgotten by his con-

temporaries a full decade before his death. He passed to his

reward in his Circleville home in March, 1867, at the age of 88.

That it may not be said of Caleb Atwater that he is "unwept,

unhonored and unsung," this brief re-appraisal is submitted.*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Author's Note: The data for the period of Atwater's residence in the East are

of historic record and require no special references. For the sketch of his life in Ohio,

the following sources have been consulted:

Francis Atwater, comp., Atwater History and Genealogy (Meriden, Conn., 1901).

William McAlpine, "The Origin of Public Education in Ohio," in Ohio State

Archaeological and Historical Quarterly (Columbus), XXXVIII (1929),

409-47.

Dumas Malone, ed., Dictionary of American Biography (New York, 1928-37), 1,

415-16.

Clement L. Martzolff, "Caleb Atwater," in Ohio State Archaeological and Historical

Quarterly, XIV (1905), 247-71.

History of Portage County, Ohio (Chicago, 1885).

Charles Whittlesey, Early History of Cleveland (Cleveland, 1867).

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