Ohio History Journal

HISTORICAL NEWS

Historical Societies

 

ALLEN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Lima

Mrs. Harry B. Longsworth, Secretary

The society recently acquired the record book of the Lima

Recruiting Club for 1864. It contains bounty records for 1864

for Ottawa Township, which then included the town of Lima.

James A. MacDonell, president of the society, has donated a

Webster wire recorder. It will be used for recording talks and

lectures and in interviewing older people who find it difficult to

write their reminiscences. Recently John R. Bennett was inter-

viewed on his Civil War experiences, the interview being preserved

on the wire recorder.

 

CAMPUS MARTIUS MUSEUM, Marietta

Edith S. Reiter, Curator

Approximately 11,000 visitors were clocked at the museum

during July. They included persons from 41 states, Canada, Brazil,

and the Canal Zone.

 

CLARK COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Springfield

Orton G. Rust, President

A program has been developed to encourage school classes

to visit the society's museum. The membership campaign has pro-

ceeded satisfactorily, and many members have increased their

pledges. The society recently acquired a portrait of the late Judge

James Johnson, member of the Ohio Supreme Court, from the artist,

Mrs. Alice Sewell Johnson of Urbana.

Copies of the volume entitled Yesteryear in Clark County, the

first of a series on local history being published by the historical

society, are still available. Individuals, libraries, and historical

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groups wishing this volume of reminiscences of the period 1810-60

may acquire them from Mr. Rust.

 

DA.YTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY

ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Dayton

Roy G. Fitzgerald, President

Officers of these organizations are the same. They are Roy G.

Fitzgerald, president; Eugene S. Kennedy, vice president; Howard

P. Williamson, vice president; A. A. Keiser, secretary-treasurer;

and Mrs. Luther A. Devers, assistant secretary-treasurer.

 

FIRELANDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Norwalk

James E. Dixon, Curator

New officers of the society are Homer M. Beattie, president;

Sidney Frohman, vice president; Esther G. Powers, secretary;

James L. Wood, treasurer; James E. Dixon, curator; and Harriet

G. Lawton, assistant curator.

The society has a book on local history ready for publication

but has decided to hold it in the hope that publication costs will

come down.

 

HAYES MEMORAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM, Fremont

Watt P. Marchman, Director of Research

A special exhibit in connection with President Hayes' 126th

birthday celebration on October 4 has been planned. The summer

months featured an exhibit of original autograph letters written by

numerous literary figures and authors, including Emerson, Oliver

Wendell Holmes, Whittier, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Richard

H. Dana, Theodore Roosevelt, Francis Parkman, and George Ban-

croft.

Accessions to the collections include 13 original autograph

letters by R. B. Hayes, 7 original autograph letters to Hayes, and

8 miscellaneous autograph letters. In addition, photostatic copies

of 16 letters by President Hayes; of the returns for March 12,

1862, of the 1st Brigade, 3d Division, 23d Ohio Volunteers, com-

manded by Hayes; and of other items were received, together with

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HISTORICAL NEWS                    433

a number of photographs connected with the life of Hayes or the

history of Fremont and northern Ohio.

Mrs. Frances Hayes, daughter of the president, has added to

her many gifts a collection of writings concerning Mr. and Mrs.

Hayes. Miss Ora Millious of Fremont has presented daguerreo-

types, badges, and Civil War documents. Frank Lee Miesle of

Fremont has placed in the library a copy of his master's thesis,

entitled "A History of Opera House at Fremont, Ohio, from 1890

to 1900," completed at Bowling Green University in the spring

of 1948.

The director has published two articles recently: "The Ingra-

ham Everglades Exploring Expedition, 1892," in Tequesta (1947),

journal of the Historical Association of Southern Florida; and

"The Hayes Memorial Library," in State and Local History News

(May 1948), periodical of the American Association for State and

Local History.

 

HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NORTHWESTERN OHIO, Toledo

Randolph C. Downes, Executive Director

At the thirtieth annual meeting of the society, held at the

Toledo Public Library June 3, the following officers were elected:

Richard D. Logan, president; George D. Welles, vice president;

Carl B. Spitzer, secretary-treasurer; Mrs. Max Shepherst, librarian;

and Lehr Fess, Lyman Spitzer, Mr. Logan, and Mr. Welles, trus-

tees. Dr. Randolph C. Downes of the University of Toledo was

reappointed executive director. Professors G. Harrison Orians

and Jesse R. Long, also of the university, have been added to the

editorial board of the Northwest Ohio Quarterly.

The society received notice that the Lucas County board of

commissioners had appropriated to the society $4,900 for the pro-

motion of local historical research during the year. Reports at

the meeting showed that the membership had doubled during the

past year and that the society's financial condition was excellent.

The society issued a volume in local history, entitled The Con-

quest (Lucas County Historical Series, Vol. I), during the year.

A second volume, called Canal Days, is scheduled to appear in

December. These books are being written by Dr. Downes.

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The society sponsored its first annual history-writing contest

for city and county schools in the spring. Thirty-six winners-12

for each of the senior, junior, and sophomore grades-were awarded

prizes for biographies of local figures.

The summer issue of the Northwest Ohio Quarterly carried the

following articles: "Francis Ellingwood Abbot; Free Religionist,"

by Gardner Williams, and "David Ross Locke; The Post-War

Years," by Jack Clifford Ransome.

 

MEDINA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Medina

Florence Phillips, President

The society recently published a History of Medina County, a

collaborative work. Printed by the Gray Company of Fostoria, it

went on sale July 24 at a price of $3.00.

 

SENECA COUNTY HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, Tiffin

A. C. Shuman, Curator

The museum has recently acquired over sixty pieces from the

Philippine Islands, captured during the Spanish-American War.

They were donated by Major General L. D. Gasser, Washing-

ton, D. C.

A beautiful set of 100 pieces of pink and copper lustre ware

has been put on display by Mrs. Arthur L. Peters, Fostoria, Ohio.

 

SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF PIONEER RIVERMEN, Marietta

Frederick Way, Jr., President

The annual meeting of the organization was held in the River-

view Room of the Lafayette Hotel, Marietta, September 18. After

the afternoon session a reception was held at Campus Martius

Museum, followed by a banquet at the hotel.

The Esso Standard Oil Company has presented the organization

with an oil portrait of Peter Sprague, builder of the world's largest

stern-wheel river towboat, the Sprague. This vessel was dismantled

during 1948.

President Way has published a volume listing all present ves-

sels in operation on the Mississippi River system. It is entitled

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HISTORICAL NEWS                   435

 

Inland River Record-1948, contains 224 pages, and is cloth bound.

It may be obtained by writing Captain Way, 121 River Avenue,

Sewickley, Pennsylvania.

 

STARK COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Canton.

Edward T. Heald, Secretary-Treasurer

During the early summer members of the society completed

copying and tabulating 2,874 cemetery markers and monuments in

nine cemeteries and began work on a tenth cemetery.

In June a volume entitled Bezaleel Wells, Founder of Canton

and Steubenville, Ohio, written by Edward T. Heald, was published

by the society. It is a significant contribution to the history of

Ohio in the territorial period and in the first years of statehood.

 

SUMMIT COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Akron

Carl H. Pockrandt, President

Officers of the society are Carl H. Pockrandt, president; Oliver

H. Wolcott, vice president; Dr. E. J. Cauffield, vice president;

Robert E. Mohler, secretary; Amelia H. Schultz, treasurer; William

G. Meyers, curator; and Arthur H. Blower, historian.

Historic buildings now owned and operated as museums by

the society are the Perkins Mansion at the northwest corner of

Copley and Diagonal roads, the John Brown Home at the south-

west corner of Copley and Diagonal roads, and the Old Stone

School at the corner of South Broadway and Buchtel Avenue.

 

WARREN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Lebanon

Mary Lincoln, Secretary

Work has begun on the gathering of materials for the publica-

tion of the history of Warren County in World War II. College

students were employed during the summer to copy records and

do some of the research.

A committee composed of teachers is preparing a history of

Warren County for use in the fifth and sixth grades of the local

schools.

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WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Cleveland

Russell H. Anderson, Director

The society has made some important accessions to its col-

lections, among them documents signed by Peter the Great and

Catherine the Great; the Bohning manuscripts relating to New-

burgh, Ohio; the Chapman manuscripts; the Coffinberry manu-

scripts; two diaries of the Gold Rush; the J. H. Wade manuscripts;

and a collection of documents relating to the Virginia Military Dis-

trict.

The Bohning collection includes the Newburgh Hamlet Rec-

ords, 4 vols., 1815-1903; the Poor Book, 1895-99; school records

and journal, 1838-99; poll books; 39 maps; and miscellaneous

manuscripts, contracts, and petitions. Among the Chapman manu-

scripts are records of the Wayne, Medina, and Cuyahoga Turnpike

Company, 1824-54; the record book of the New Harbour Company,

Ohio City, 1835-41; and letters from John Sherman, William Mc-

Kinley, and John Hay.

In the Coffinberry collection are 72 letters from Henry Cof-

finberry, a member of the naval force on the Mississippi River

1861-65, and 27 replies. Other papers include 72 Gordius Hall

letters, plats, and documents; 31 James Hampson pieces, includ-

ing 3 items on the National Road west of Zanesville; Col. George

Morgan letters and an extract of his journal; General George W.

Morgan's military papers, orders, and letters; and miscellaneous

letters of John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, Th. L. Hamer (re the

"Coon" convention at Columbus, 1840), Samuel Houston, Thomas

W. Knox, John Sherman, Edwin M. Stanton, Clement S. Vallan-

digham, and Lew Wallace.

The Wade papers contain some 500 documents and letters con-

cerning the formation of the Western Union Telegraph Company.

The Virginia Military District papers include 6 volumes of original

entries, 5 packages of several thousand original surveys and copies

of surveys, and 42 land warrants.

On July 30 the society received by formal transfer the Harper

Homestead of Shandy Hall, one mile east of Unionville in Ashta-

bula County. It is a gift of Laurence H. and Robert C. Norton

and their sister, Mrs. Fred White. The house was built in 1815

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HISTORICAL NEWS                    437

by Col. Robert Harper and occupied continuously by the family

until 1935. It is furnished with furniture and other objects used

by the family.

 

OHIO POETRY DAY ASSOCIATION, Columbus

Tessa Sweazy Webb, Honorary President

Ohio Poetry Day will be observed at a meeting in the Southern

Hotel, Columbus, on Friday evening, October 51. Prof. William

H. Tauesch of Wooster College will be the speaker of the occasion,

and Carr Liggett, Cleveland, the master of ceremonies. The 1948

Anthology of Ohio Verse, prepared by the state department of

education, which contains 288 poems written by school pupils in

the state, will be on display. The meeting is open to the public.

Members of the committee of the association which planned

the observance include O. B. Kirk, president, Scott High School,

Toledo; Howard E. Hamlin and R. M. Eyman, state department of

education; Dr. J. L. King, Denison University; Miss Marie Dren-

nan, Ohio Wesleyan University; Evan Lodge, supervisor of English,

Cleveland public schools; Miss Gale Wickwire, Shaker Heights

High School; Mrs. Helen Crile Bauer, Starling Junior High School,

Columbus; Dr. Tom Burns Haber and Dr. Virginia Sanderson,

Ohio State University; and Tessa Sweazy Webb, Columbus.

 

About Historians

Frederick Herbert Jackson has been appointed instructor in

the history department at Marietta College. He replaces Howard

Braverman, who has resigned to return to graduate study at Duke

University.

 

Dr. Clara G. Roe, associate professor of history at Akron

University, is making an extensive tour of Europe, including Great

Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

 

Two graduate assistants in the department of history at Ohio

State University have resigned to accept teaching positions else-

where. They are Donald G. Sahli, who will go to Milligan Col-

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lege, Tennessee, and Robert S. Cope, who will go to Thiel College,

Greenville, Pennsylvania. Mr. Cope was Ohio History Fellow of

the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society for 1947-48.

Dr. Lawrence F. Hill has been named acting chairman of

the department for the coming year.

 

Dr. Dorsey T. Walker, a graduate of the University of Michi-

gan, has been appointed chairman of the department of history of

the College of Education and Industrial Arts at Wilberforce.

 

Members of the department of history and political science at

Defiance College are Dr. Erwin J. Urch, professor of history, and

C. W. Knollman, professor of political science. Dr. Urch is author

of the volume entitled Scaling the Centuries (Boston, 1939 and

1942) and of numerous articles in the Classical Journal, the Clas-

sical Weekly, the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society,

the United States Law Review, and other periodicals.

 

Professor Harold Hancock has returned to Otterbein College

after a year in England.

Phi Alpha Theta, national honorary history fraternity, has in-

stalled a chapter at Otterbein.

 

Dr. Carl Gustavson of Ohio University has been promoted to

the rank of associate professor in the departmnet of history.

Frederick D. Kershner, Jr., spent the summer in research in the

libraries of Indianapolis.

Dr. Thomas P. Martin, formerly assistant chief of the manu-

scripts division of the Library of Congress, has been appointed

visiting professor of history at Ohio University.

 

Dr. Harvey Wish of Western Reserve University was visiting

professor for the summer term at the University of Southern Cali-

fornia. Dr. Richard O. Cummings of the University of California

at Los Angeles taught at Reserve during the summer.

 

The new president of Ashland College is Dr. Glenn L. Clayton,

who received his Ph.D. in history from Ohio State University.

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HISTORICAL NEWS                    439

Dr. Raymond W. Bixler, professor of history, will be on leave

of absence during the coming year for special study with Samuel

F. Bemis at Yale University.

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