THE FOUNDING OF FRANKLINTON:
ITS SIGNIFICANCE TODAY1
by HAROLD J. GRIMM
Associate Professor of History, Ohio
State University
The citizens of Columbus owe a debt of
gratitude to the
Honorable James A. Rhodes, mayor of
Columbus, and his Frank-
linton Sesquicentennial Committee, under
the chairmanship of
Mr. Erwin C. Zepp, for setting aside
these two days in commemo-
ration of the founding of the village of
Franklinton. By inviting
us to pause in our busy, work-a-day
lives to give attention to the
faith, hope, and courage of our
illustrious predecessors, they have
made us aware of those qualities which
are indispensable not only
to the founding of nations and states,
but to preserving and de-
veloping them.
Just as our artists, writers, and
musicians make our lives
more fascinating by lifting out of what
is generally a common-
place existence this or that feature to
arouse our interest and help
us in our search for the meaning of
life, so our historians call our
attention to those rare and brilliant
moments in our history when
our leaders seem by some rare insight
and power to set us on a
new and bold venture and give us a
mission to fulfill; or they
encourage us to complete tasks of which
we may have grown
weary and arouse a sense of appreciation
and gratitude which im-
pel us to renewed activity.
The founding of Franklinton was no
isolated event. On the
contrary, it was at once the culmination
of a long and intense
struggle of the white men along the
Atlantic coast to make good
their claims to the lands beyond the
mountains and, at the same
time, the beginning of the planting of
the seeds of western civil-
ization in the Midwest. That is to say,
the laying out of Frank-
linton by Lucas Sullivant has as much
significance for us as it
had for the courageous first settlers,
including Joseph Dixon, Wil-
1 This is an address presented at the
sesquicentennial banquet commemorating
the founding of Franklinton, August 22, 1947.
323
324 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
liam Fleming, Joseph Foos, the
Deardurfs, Reverend James Hoge,
Reverend Seth Noble, and Dr. Lincoln
Goodale, descendants of
whom have honored us with their presence
this evening.
As the brilliant Italian philosopher and
historian Benedetto
Croce has stated, all history is
contemporary history. We have
chosen to make the history of our first
settlers our own history
because their vision, ambitions, and
labors were for our benefit
and for the promotion of the ideals for
which we stand. We will
honor these pioneers as they would have
had us do, not merely by
recording their names and setting up
memorials to their achieve-
ments, but by continuing the work which
they began with com-
parable faith, hope, and courage.
It is difficult to imagine that 150
years ago -- a relatively short
span of history -- this land on which we live was still a wilderness.
On the east side of the Scioto River
there was a dense forest,
broken only by creeks and a few small
clearings where Indians
had their camps. Only a few yards from
where we are now
gathered there was a large mound which
had been built by pre-
historic Indians who had long since
disappeared and which has
given its name to Mound Street, one of
our busy thoroughfares.
On the west side of the river were the
bottom lands, made fertile
and treeless by the frequent inundations
of the Scioto and the
Whetstone -- now the Olentangy --
rivers, and cultivated by the
Indian women of the Mingo tribe. From
the headwaters of these
rivers south to the Ohio stretched
Indian trails which had been
used by many tribes in journeys to the
hunting grounds of what
is today Kentucky, to engage in wars
with the tribes living to the
south, to attack the first white
settlers in Kentucky and along the
Ohio River, and to engage in their many
attempts to drive one
another out of this region.
Two years ago we celebrated the
sesquicentennial of the sign-
ing of the Treaty of Greene Ville, 1795.2 That was a year of
utmost significance in our history, for
it brought peace with the
Indians of the Northwest Territory and
opened the interior of the
2 For the significance of this treaty in the settlement
of the Ohio country see
Preston Slosson, "The Significance
of the Treaty of Greene Ville," in Ohio State Archae-
ological and Historical Quarterly, LV (1946), 1-11; Beverley W. Bond, Jr.,
The Founda-
tions of Ohio, Carl Wittke, ed., The History of the State of Ohio (Columbus, 1941-44),
I (1941), 348; Eugene H. Roseboom and
Francis P. Weisenburger, A History
of Ohio
(New York, 1934), 99.
FOUNDING OF FRANKLINTON 325
Ohio country to settlement by the white
man. The Indian tribes
who had united under British
encouragement to keep out the
settlers had been decisively defeated by
Major General Anthony
Wayne at the battle of Fallen Timbers on
the Maumee River and
had learned of the Jay Treaty between
the United States and Great
Britain according to the terms of which
the British were to sur-
render their border posts to the
Americans. Realizing that further
struggle would be hopeless, they agreed
to bury the hatchet.
Meanwhile Lucas Sullivant, a deputy
surveyor under Colonel
Richard Anderson, who had a land office
near the site of Louis-
ville, Kentucky, had become familiar
with the Virginia Military
District, lying between the Scioto and
the Little Miami rivers.
He and his surveying parties had twice
been driven back into
Kentucky by the Indians. But he had
meanwhile discovered the
spot which he wished to own and on which
he hoped to build a
settlement, that is, the site just below
the forks of the Scioto and
Olentangy rivers. Early in 1797
he purchased survey entry 1393
and in August of that year laid out the
town of Franklinton.
That fall Joseph Dixon and his family
established their home
there, thereby becoming the first
residents of Franklinton and
Columbus.
Following that first year, many settlers
came to Franklinton,
either to settle permanently or to
remain there while buying farms
or making plans for moving farther west.
Although Sullivant
helped many people build their log
cabins in the new village, he
did not settle there until shortly after
his marriage to Sarah Star-
ling in Kentucky in 1800, when they
moved into their luxurious
new brick home, which still stands on
the southwest corner of
Broad, then Franklin, and Sandusky, then
Washington, streets.
Despite the fact that the details of the
story of the settlement
of Franklinton, its part in the War of
1812, and the role of its
leaders in bringing the capital of Ohio
to the "High Banks" on
the east side of the Scioto are
fascinating and deserve frequent
repetition, I shall confine myself to
those phases of this history
which have a particular bearing upon our
own day and to those
interests and motives which Charles A.
Beard calls "the inner
dynamic of history." Those who want
the details, presented in
326 OHIO
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
a spirited fashion by one of our
contemporaries and a descendant
of Lucas Sullivant, should read Andrew
D. Rodgers' "Noble
Fellow,"3 a biography of William Starling Sullivant, son of Lucas
and the leading bryologist of his day.
If one examines those interests which
motivated Lucas Sulli-
vant and other pioneer leaders during
Ohio's infancy, and which
enabled their successors to bring this
region to that state of political
and cultural maturity which it enjoys in
our day, one will find
that the following stand out: an
impelling desire for gain and
material security; a strong sense of
social obligation and political
realism; a faith in a simple, practical
religion; a zeal for education;
and an appreciation of cultural values.
Lucas Sullivant had a good business
sense, chose the site of
his village with an eye for profit,
invested his savings in a variety
of enterprises, and became the
wealthiest man in this part of the
State. His purpose in doing this was to
provide his sons with
the best education available and give
his family that security which
he had lacked as a young man in Virginia
and Kentucky during
the turbulent days of the American
Revolution and Indian Wars.
The accumulation of wealth was for
Sullivant not an end in
itself. Like most Virginians in his day,
he felt that the holding
of land carried with it the obligation
of public service, a fact
which partially explains the presence in
that colony and state of
so many statesmen of high character and
ability in the early years
of its history. The knowledge and
experience acquired by our
pioneer leaders in colonial times aided
them in setting up their
local and state governments and
developing political forms and
theories which constitute young
America's surest claim to fame.
Since these forms and theories have
enabled us to meet the exigen-
cies of a great variety of crises for
more than a century and a half
without sacrificing those basic rights
for which we had contended
in the American Revolution, Europeans no
longer speak of us in
a patronizing manner as they did when
Dickens visited Ohio about
the middle of the nineteenth century.
The impact of the frontier on religion
has become a matter
3 Published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New
York, 1940. See also Henry Howe,
Historical Collections of Ohio (Cincinnati, 1848), 166-169; William T. Martin, History
of Franklin County (Columbus, 1858); S. A. Fitzpatrick and U. S. Morris, History
of
Columbus Celebration, Franklinton
Centennial (Columbus, 1897).
FOUNDING OF FRANKLINTON 327
of interest and research. When Lucas
Sullivant and his neigh-
bors organized the first church in
Franklin County in 1805 and
later called the young Presbyterian
missionary James Hoge to
serve it part time, they helped fill the
great need of the pioneers
for a simple, direct, and practical
religion as well as for a means
of social intercourse. Many of the
settlers had become dissatisfied
with the more formal established
churches in some of the colonies
and young states on the seaboard and had
long resented the taxes
which they had been compelled to pay for
their upkeep. As Rev-
erend Hoge and other frontier pastors
lived and worked among
their parishioners and shared their
privations, there developed a
close personal and social relationship
between clergy and laity.
And Christianity became more than a
faith and a comfort -- it be-
came a practical set of standards,
regulating the relatively simple
life of the frontier and impelling men
to take seriously the com-
mand to "love thy brother as
thyself."
However, nothing would be more absurd
than to assume that
every frontier community in the young
State became "a kingdom
of God on earth." For then as at
all times there were those who
refused to accept the standards of the
community. This is attested
by the fact that Sullivant built a jail
before he built a church, and
that Lyne Starling and his associates
built in young Columbus a
penitentiary before they built a state
capitol.
Evidence of the importance attached to
education by the
leaders of our pioneer settlements can
be found in the erection of
log schoolhouses and the maintenance of
subscription schools in
every small center of population.
Franklinton was no exception,
and its first schoolhouse was built by
Lucas Sullivant as a gift to
the community about 1805. But the
settlers in this region were
not satisfied with having their children
taught only the barest es-
sentials, and they soon set up academies
and colleges in which the
young men and women were educated in the
classical tradition
and for the various professions.
Professor Harlan Hatcher, dean
of the college of arts and sciences at
the Ohio State University,
has pointed out the interesting fact
that a person can today travel
from Painesville on Lake Erie, through
Cleveland and Columbus,
to Cincinnati without ever being more
than twenty miles from a
328
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
college or university.4 To be
sure, many of these institutions
served primarily sectarian interests and
some were short-lived. But
several of them eventually became
thriving centers of a broad,
liberal education and sound training.
It is particularly significant that the
people of Franklinton
and the rest of Ohio very early took a
pride in their state institu-
tions of learning, realizing that a
thorough education in practical
subjects of value to the population as a
whole was as important
as a purely classical learning. The
widespread support which is
today given our state universities
illustrates the popular recogni-
tion of their value in a democracy. The
spirit of the frontier
breathes there where the gifted poor can
be educated with the
gifted rich and all can aspire to become
leaders in their fields of
interest.
While our first settlers struggled with
the wilderness -- while
tree stumps still stood in such
thoroughfares as Broad and High
streets in Columbus in the early years
of the nineteenth century --
there was little time for cultural
pursuits. Yet one is surprised
to learn of the great hunger for good
literature, art, and music.
Since transportation was still in its
primitive stages, people could
bring across the mountains or on the
river flatboats little more
than the barest necessities of life.
Despite this, the Deshlers, for
example, brought with them books,
including a sixteenth-century
edition of Martin Luther's translation
of the Bible, printed in
Wittenberg, and an eighteenth-century
piano made in Germany.
The settlers frequently banded together
for the purchase of books
and the organization of reading clubs.
The best known collection
of books made in this way was the
Coonskin Library, paid for by
a subscription of coonskins among the
people of Ames, Ohio, in
1804. This library is now preserved in
our Ohio State Archae-
ological and Historical Museum. The people of Ohio, under
capable leadership, have made a notable
beginning of preserving
the cultural heritage of our ancestors.
Large quantities of fas-
cinating materials await research
students and enable our scholars
to interpret our culture to the rest of
the world.
The life and work of William S.
Sullivant best illustrate the
4 Harlan Hatcher, The Buckeye Country
(New York, 1940), 226.
FOUNDING OF FRANKLINTON 329
early interest of our pioneers in
cultural matters. His father sent
him to Yale University and gave him
every opportunity to further
his interest in botany. While still a
relatively young man, William
retired from an active and successful
business career to devote
all his time and resources to the
collection of mosses, the best and
most complete of his day. He spent much
of his time with the
leading botanists of his day, including
Doctor Asa Gray of New
York and Leo Lesquereux, the Swiss
botanist who became a resi-
dent of Franklinton and Columbus.
Joseph Sullivant, another son of Lucas,
belonged to a number
of active historical and literary
societies, served for many years
as president of the Columbus Board of
Education, and was a
trustee and secretary of the college
which became the Ohio State
University. Every five years the
university awards in his honor
the Joseph Sullivant Medal to an alumnus
who has attained un-
usual distinction in the "Liberal,
the Fine, or the Mechanical
Arts, the pure or applied Sciences,
including the various branches
of Engineering."
Although most of the first cultural
leaders of our State went
to the eastern seaboard or Europe in
search of themes, inspiration,
and recognition, William and Joseph
Sullivant remained in Frank-
linton and Columbus. Today our writers,
artists, musicians, and
educators are returning to or remaining
in increasingly large num-
bers on their native soil where they find
in its history, cultural
heritage, and variety of activities
hitherto undreamed-of opportu-
nities for developing their genius and
bringing it to bear upon
our contemporary world. Moreover, the
people of Ohio have be-
come aware of the fact that their sons
and daughters have grown
to cultural maturity. The two
devastating world wars of our
generation, which originated in Europe
and almost destroyed the
western European nations, have taught
them to appreciate the
fruits of the labors of the early
settlers.
The seeds planted at Franklinton in 1797
have been well
cultivated. It is our right and duty to
cherish the fruits. But
our loyalty to the institutions and
culture which constitute our
rich heritage will make Columbus a
better place in which to live
and a more potent influence for good in
the future only if it is an
330
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
intelligent loyalty, conscious of
obligations that transcend provin-
cialism and selfishness. If we bear this
in mind, the founding of
Franklinton can be of greater
significance tomorrow than it is
today.5
5 For a scholarly and provocative
treatment of American patriotism see Merle
Curti, The Roots of American Loyalty (New York,
1946).
THE FOUNDING OF FRANKLINTON:
ITS SIGNIFICANCE TODAY1
by HAROLD J. GRIMM
Associate Professor of History, Ohio
State University
The citizens of Columbus owe a debt of
gratitude to the
Honorable James A. Rhodes, mayor of
Columbus, and his Frank-
linton Sesquicentennial Committee, under
the chairmanship of
Mr. Erwin C. Zepp, for setting aside
these two days in commemo-
ration of the founding of the village of
Franklinton. By inviting
us to pause in our busy, work-a-day
lives to give attention to the
faith, hope, and courage of our
illustrious predecessors, they have
made us aware of those qualities which
are indispensable not only
to the founding of nations and states,
but to preserving and de-
veloping them.
Just as our artists, writers, and
musicians make our lives
more fascinating by lifting out of what
is generally a common-
place existence this or that feature to
arouse our interest and help
us in our search for the meaning of
life, so our historians call our
attention to those rare and brilliant
moments in our history when
our leaders seem by some rare insight
and power to set us on a
new and bold venture and give us a
mission to fulfill; or they
encourage us to complete tasks of which
we may have grown
weary and arouse a sense of appreciation
and gratitude which im-
pel us to renewed activity.
The founding of Franklinton was no
isolated event. On the
contrary, it was at once the culmination
of a long and intense
struggle of the white men along the
Atlantic coast to make good
their claims to the lands beyond the
mountains and, at the same
time, the beginning of the planting of
the seeds of western civil-
ization in the Midwest. That is to say,
the laying out of Frank-
linton by Lucas Sullivant has as much
significance for us as it
had for the courageous first settlers,
including Joseph Dixon, Wil-
1 This is an address presented at the
sesquicentennial banquet commemorating
the founding of Franklinton, August 22, 1947.
323