Ohio History Journal

THE HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

OF OHIO: ITS RESOURCES

by LOUIS LEONARD TUCKER

PICTURE A VICTORIAN structure with

dingily lighted rooms which are filled with

antiquated display cases containing such

items as "Grandma Wiggins' dress of

1872"; a piece from the keelboat that

transported "Ebenezer Smith, our town's

first settler"; a fire helmet "worn by a

volunteer who fought our town's greatest

fire in 1867." Fill out this scene with

two or three woman curators of octogen-

arian vintage, who have an infinite capa-

city for mawkish gossip about person-

alities of the "good old days," and you

have the typical "local" historical society.

In a superficial physical sense, the His-

torical and Philosophical Society of Ohio

(hereafter referred to as the HPSO) gives

evidence of fitting the stereotyped con-

ception of the local society. Two display

cases in the corridor leading to the so-

ciety's quarters in the University of Cin-

cinnati Library contain the ubiquitous

party dress of c. 1872, a piece of a Ken-

tucky keelboat used by "Mad" Anthony

Wayne, fireman helmets of a bygone day,

and an assortment of like bric-a-brac

associated with Cincinnati's past; most of

these materials have been there since the

society moved its holdings into the library

in 1931. Upon entering the society's

reading room, one is confronted by a

scene that would have found favor with

Victoria herself. Air space is at a mini-

mum. The oil paintings and water colors

that line the walls, beautiful as they may

be, serve to emphasize the room's cluttered

character; the appearance of an adjoining

storage closet would strike terror even in

the heart of Fibber McGee. The furniture

of the reading room could best be de-

scribed as post-Jacksonian, and the bulk

of the office equipment, like Lincoln,

belongs to the ages. In extenuation of

society officials, it need be emphasized

COLLECTIONS AND EXHIBITS 255

that the physical appearance of the HPSO

quarters is not the result of design. The

society's basic needs are more space for

its fast-growing collection, and additional

finances for the purchase of modern

library and office equipment.

If the physical appearance of the so-

ciety harks back to the past, the personnel

of this institution bear a modern look.

Staff members are competent, courteous,

friendly, sprightly in movement, and un-

der eighty years of age. As for gossiping

with patrons, they are guided by Dr.

Samuel Johnson's maxim that "gentle-

men" (and ladies) talk about things,

while "servants" talk about people.

But the HPSO should not be judged

on the basis of physical appearance. What

is not known to the casual observer is that

tucked away in the stacks--and locked in

closets, cabinets, and cases--is one of the

most significant collections of historical

materials in Ohio--and the United States.

Before making a cursory analysis of these

materials, it would be proper to gener-

alize on the collection in toto.

The first point to be noted is that, in

the main, the society's materials are two-

dimensional rather than three-dimen-

sional. The core of the institution is a

library, not a museum. By this fact alone,

the HPSO is singularly unique among

local historical agencies. Since its incep-

tion, it has concentrated on collecting the

written and printed word, not artifacts.

A second notable feature of the collec-

tion is its largeness. Three factors may

be cited in this connection. Initially, the

Queen City's history, especially its nine-

teenth-century phase, is intrinsically rich;

few urban centers in the United States

can boast of a history of comparable

richness. It is studded with personalities,

events, and movements of regional, na-

tional, and, oftentimes, international sig-

nificance. John J. Audubon, Stephen Fos-

ter, William Henry Harrison, "Mad"

Anthony Wayne, Frances Trollope, the

Beecher family (including Harriet

Beecher Stowe), the McGuffey brothers,

the Taft family, Daniel Drake, the urban

reform movement of the progressive era,

the "Steamboat Age," the Cincinnati Red

Stockings, "Porkopolis"--these suggest

that Cincinnati's historical development

was not that of a typical "river city."

Many works have been written on the

history of Cincinnati, and as the publi-

cations appeared they were added to the

society's collection. Moreover, because

Cincinnati was a flourishing publishing

center during the nineteenth century, the

society acquired many local imprints.

This is not to say that the collection

is exclusively local in subject matter.

When the society was first organized in

the 1830's, members were urged to de-

posit materials "relating to the civil and

natural history of the State and of the

several counties thereof." Some of the

members obviously brought in materials

that extended beyond the "State" and the

"several counties thereof." In 1844 the

Cincinnati Historical Society, a prede-

cessor of the HPSO, issued a broadside

which stated that its principal object was

to collect the "Historical Records of the

West." The men who founded the HPSO

may have manifested provincial tenden-

cies in many of their activities and atti-

tudes, but there was certainly nothing

provincial about their collecting policies

for the library. Since they came from

New England and the Middle Atlantic

states, they developed a book collection

bearing upon their points of origin. Since

they were imbued with sectional loyalties,

they procured, either through gift or do-

nation, a sizable collection of materials

on the "West." Now, the "West" was a

highly ambiguous expression in the nine-

teenth century. It conjured up the Ohio

Valley to one man, Michigan to another,

and Oregon to still another. Rather than

256 OHIO HISTORY

debate the semantical niceties of the term,

these early HPSO literary scavengers

took the all-inclusive approach. If they

were preoccupied with the task of collect-

ing documents, maps, pamphlets, and

books relating to the local scene, they

were, on the other hand, not disinclined

to accept materials that had relevance to

Massachusetts or Michigan. As a result

of this "promiscuous" collecting activity,

the society today finds itself with a sub-

stantial body of materials which have

little or no relationship to its constitu-

tionally avowed areas of concentration,

which are "the state of Ohio, and the

Ohio River and its tributaries, with par-

ticular reference to the Miami Purchase,

Southwestern Ohio, south of Columbus,

west of the Scioto River, east of Indiana

and north of Kentucky." As will be noted

shortly, in each category of materials

there are items which have a regional or

national, rather than local, import. It is,

then, incorrect to state that the HPSO

collection is bound by geographical limi-

tations. In recent years, however, the

society has followed the practice of limit-

ing its collecting to those areas specified

by the constitution. Even so, if the direc-

tor were offered, for example, a bundle

of Thomas Jefferson letters, the chances

are that he would readily accept these

documents and wrestle with the constitu-

tion--and his conscience--at another

time.

The society's general book collection

consists of some 40,000 titles, many of

which bear nineteenth-century publica-

tion dates. While the collection has a

decided regional emphasis, as noted ear-

lier, many works relate to other sections

of the country. New England, in particu-

lar, is well represented. The society's

collection of "standard" New England

accounts (for example, county histories

and early works on the settlement of

Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay) is as

formidable as that possessed by some of

the more reputable libraries in the East.

There is a reason for such a concentra-

tion. In 1854 an organization known as

the New England Society in Cincinnati

(the title explains its composition) de-

posited its collection of over three hun-

dred works on early New England history

in the HPSO; many of these now rank

as rare books.

Two special book collections are de-

serving of mention. In 1891 the society

purchased from Peter G. Thomson 796

books and 1,182 pamphlets, all of which

relate either to the state of Ohio, the

Northwest Territory, or the "West."

These materials range through a multi-

tude of regional topics, from accounts

of the Indians of the Northwest Terri-

tory to such an unlikely subject as "My

first fourteen months in the Ohio Peni-

tentiary with Prison Musings"--written

by a convict, of course. The Thomson

collection is, without question, one of the

finest of its type in the United States.

Practically every "classic" of Ohio and

midwest history can be found in this col-

lection, from Abbott's History of the State

of Ohio to David Zeisberger's Diary.

Another special collection revolves

around William Henry Harrison, a Vir-

ginian by birth and education but now

claimed by Cincinnati as a "native son."

In 1948, James Albert Green, an eminent

Cincinnati newspaperman, financier, and

bibliophile, who served as president of

the board of the Public Library of Cin-

cinnati and Hamilton County for fifty-

some years, presented the HPSO with his

collection of Harrison materials. The

holdings included 1,200 books relating

either to Harrison, his family, or his

period of history; pictorial materials;

manuscripts; and an assortment of Har-

rison memorabilia ("log cabin" cam-

paign badges and the like). The James

Albert Green-William Henry Harrison

COLLECTIONS AND EXHIBITS 257

collection is one of the society's prized

holdings.

The society is equally proud of its

outstanding array of travel accounts of

the late eighteenth and early nineteenth

centuries, some of which are in French,

German, or Latin. A few sample titles

are: Marquis de Chabert, Voyage fait...

1750 el 1751 dans l'Amerique Septen-

trionale . . ., Paris, 1753; Jonathan Car-

ver, Travels Through the Interior Parts

of North America, London, 1778; Wil-

liam Bartram, Travels Through North

and South Carolina . . ., Philadelphia,

1792; Thomas Hutchins, A Topographi-

cal Description of Virginia, London,

1778; John Gottlieb Ernestus Hecke-

welder, Reise von Bethlehem in Pensil-

vanien bis zum Wabashfluss, Halle,

1797. These examples suggest the far-

reaching scope of this collection; in no

sense of the word is it "regional." For

reasons too obvious to merit extended

discussion, most of the travel accounts

are housed in the society's rare-book

cases. To earn "rare book" status in the

society, a work must have an extraordi-

nary value.

The materials in the rare-book cases

do have such a value. Pamphlets of the

1740's by, and pertaining to, George

Whitefield, the celebrated English revival-

ist, are not common commodities. Nor

does the conventional library possess

Quaker tracts of the eighteenth century;

the New Testament in Cherokee (1860);

or Anthony Benezet's well-known pam-

phlet of 1767 which cautioned Great

Britain and her colonies on their slave

policies. Certainly one is not surprised

to find in the rare-book cases such staple

items as Daniel Drake's Notices Con-

cerning Cincinnati (1810) ; or John

Filson's The Discovery, Settlement and

Present State of Kentucke (1784) ; or the

Laws of the Territory of the United States

North-West of the Ohio (1796, often re-

ferred to as "Maxwell's Code"). These

and many other regional classics make

the rare-book cases the bibliophile's

paradise.

The inclusion of pamphlets in a rare-

book case underscores the fact that the

HPSO has a remarkable collection of

such material, both in terms of size and

quality of content. There are about 35,000

The library lounge in

the new quarters of the

Historical and Philo-

sophical Society of

Ohio. It was given by

Cornelius J. Hauck

of Cincinnati in mem-

ory of hiis mother and

father, Friieda and

Louis J. Hauck.

258 OHIO HISTORY

pamphlets among the holdings, and many

of these are of book size. They scan

every conceivable subject involving Cin-

cinnati's past. There are addresses by

Lane Seminary officials, tracts by the

Beecher family, accounts of floods, items

on the Southern Railway, and so forth.

This collection is especially useful for

the subjects of slavery, temperance, trans-

portation development in Ohio (especially

railroads and canals), and religion. Many

of these pamphlets are contemporaneous

with the subjects they discuss, a fact

which accentuates their value as source

materials.

Once again, a striking proportion of

the pamphlets relate to subjects which

are not of a local nature. Aside from the

Whitefield material cited earlier, there

are works on the African slave trade and

the alien and sedition acts, and accounts

of such Civil War battles as Antietam,

Atlanta, Bull Run, Corinth, and Lookout

Mountain. In sum, one can find among

the works of the collection a wide assort-

ment of non-Cincinnati subject matter,

from the constitution of the Aaron Burr

Association to a sketch of the life and

labors of Brigham Young.

Also of no mean value to researchers

is the society's extensive newspaper col-

lection. Beginning with the Centinel of

the North-Western Territory (1793), the

file of originals extends to about 1930,

at which point space limitations dictated

a need for microfilm. As is well known,

nineteenth-century Cincinnati was a

highly literate community, and it was

during this period that a tradition of an

active press developed. A spate of news-

papers were born--and died--in the

course of the century. While they pirated

a goodly portion of their material from

eastern journals and paid little heed to

the precept to print "all the news that's

fit to print," each had a singular charac-

ter and a distinctive point of view. There

is, for example, no mistaking how flinty

Moses Dawson, editor of the Cincinnati

Advertiser from 1822 to 1841, felt about

the controversial Andrew Jackson; Daw-

son staunchly stood by "Old Hickory"

and his policies. In addition to Cincinnati

journals, the society has runs of a num-

ber of newspapers of the tri-state area

(Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana).

The society's English-printed newspap-

ers have been extensively used by re-

searchers, but surprisingly, its holdings

of nineteenth-century German newspapers

have been scarcely touched. The Chris-

tliche Apologete, the Hochwachter, and

the Volksblatt, to cite three examples, are

exceptionally fine source materials. The

fact that a number of learned Germans

were associated with these newspapers,

either as contributors or editors (for ex-

ample, Friedrich Hassaurek, Heinrich

Ratterman, and Heinrich Roedter), par-

tially explains why these journals exhibit

a higher literary quality than their Eng-

lish-printed competitors. The significance

of these newspapers stems from the his-

torical importance of the Germans them-

selves. Whatever the researcher's topic,

whether it be the subjects of nativism

and the Germans, Cincinnati's cultural

developments and the Germans, the eco-

nomic, political, and social effects of the

Germans on Ohio, the religious and in-

tellectual divisions within the Cincinnati

German community ("freethinkers" ver-

sus pietistic Methodists, for example),

the German newspapers are certain to be

a helpful source. And since these news-

papers made an effort to keep their read-

ers informed of the activities of Germans

in other midwestern cities (Indianapolis,

St. Louis, Louisville, and Milwaukee, for

example) they have a regional, if not

national, value.

When analyzing the society's news-

paper collection, it is possible to speak

with a degree of assurance, since these

COLLECTIONS AND EXHIBITS 259

bound volumes are in full view and lend

themselves readily to a rapid sampling.

The manuscript holdings seemingly defy

analysis. Card catalogs and calendars pro-

vide some information, but, as every re-

searcher knows, the only way to learn the

contents of a collection of letters is to

examine them page by page. To attempt

such a meticulous examination of the

society's manuscript holdings would tax

even a Hercules. In 1956 it was estimated

that there were over 50,000 items in the

manuscript collection. Since that date the

society has acquired additional thou-

sands, many of which have never been

exposed to the human eye since their

acquisition. These treasures are now in

storage, awaiting processing.

Among the manuscript holdings there

are certain bodies of papers which have

acquired the designation of "bread and

butter" collections--that is, they contain

basic information on the settlement and

development of Cincinnati, or of Ohio,

or of the Northwest Territory, and there-

by complement the society's prescribed

areas of focus. Some representative ex-

amples are the papers of John Cleves

Symmes (1742-1814), which provide,

among other things, information on the

founding of Cincinnati; the papers of

John Gano (1766-1883), which are a

prime source for the history of the

Northwest Territory; the papers of Rob-

ert Clarke, the well-known Cincinnati

printer and publisher, which deal with

the settlement of the Miami Purchase and

Indiana, and the War of 1812 in the

West; the papers of Joseph B. Foraker

(1846-1917), United States Senator and

governor of Ohio, which are a treasure

trove for the political history of the state

and nation in the late nineteenth and

early twentieth centuries; the papers of

William Greene (1797-1883), which bear

upon political and cultural history of

southwest Ohio; the papers of Murat

Halstead (1829-1908), the perceptive

Cincinnati newspaperman, which provide

information on politics during the 1870's

and 1880's; the papers of John Johnston

(1775-1861), the Indian agent of Piqua,

which relate to Indian affairs in Ohio

from 1815 to 1830; the papers of the

Lytle family (William, 1770-1831; Rob-

ert Todd, 1804-1839; William Haines,

1826-1863), which contain information

on virtually every facet of Cincinnati his-

tory; the Torrence papers, which are

especially useful for the period of settle-

ment; the papers of Hiram Powers (1805-

1873), the sculptor, which contain cor-

respondence with such notables as Sal-

mon P. Chase, Daniel Drake, Nicholas

Longworth, and George H. Pendleton.

Some collections have no affinity with

Cincinnati, Ohio, or the Midwest. The

Joseph Pitcairn letters, for example,

contain a segment of the diplomatic

correspondence of John Quincy Adams,

Thomas B. Adams (John Quincy's

younger brother and secretary), Rufus

King, William Vans Murray, Robert R.

Livingston, and Alexandre Lameth. These

letters, most of which were written in

Europe, pertain to American affairs with

France and England during the critical

early national period. How did such ex-

traneous material find its way into the

society's holdings? Cincinnati's Rufus

King, who was the grandson of the emi-

nent Rufus King of the Revolutionary

era, purchased them in 1891, and his

widow subsequently donated them to the

HPSO in 1898. Incidentally, the society

also has, among the three-volume Rufus

King papers, a number of letters by the

original Rufus King, and these also have

no relevance to Cincinnati.

King is but one of a host of illustrious

Americans who are represented in the

society's manuscript collection. Research-

ers and compilers of the papers of promi-

nent Americans should take note of this

partial list: Abigail Adams; Charles

Francis Adams; John Adams; John Q.

Adams; Amos Bronson Alcott; Louisa

May Alcott; Fisher Ames; George Arn-

old; John J. Audubon; Irving Babbitt;

George Bancroft; Phineas T. Barnum;

Henry Ward Beecher; Lyman Beecher;

Henry Brackenridge; William Cullen

Bryant; John C. Calhoun; William Ellery

Channing; William Henry Channing;

Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain); Richard

Henry Dana, Jr.; Edward Eggleston;

Ralph Waldo Emerson; Edward Everett;

Stephen C. Foster; Benjamin Franklin;

Horace Greeley; Alexander Hamilton;

Oliver Wendell Holmes; William Dean

Howells; Washington Irving; Thomas

Jefferson; Abraham Lincoln; Henry

Wadsworth Longfellow; Benson J. Loss-

ing; James Russell Lowell; James Madi-

son; Horace Mann; Herman Melville;

Robert Dale Owen; John Palfrey; Theo-

dore Parker; Francis Parkman; Wendell

Phillips; James Whitcomb Riley; David

Rittenhouse; Theodore Roosevelt; Ben-

jamin Rush; Lydia Sigourney; Charles

Sumner; George Ticknor; George Wash-

ington; Daniel Webster; John Greenleaf

Whittier.

The writings of many of the person-

alities cited above are contained in the

society's unique Albert Whelpley collec-

tion, which consists of about 1,000 items,

mostly autographed letters signed.

Oftentimes the letter of an obscure per-

sonality has more intrinsic historical

worth than a document written by an

Olympian. Consider the Blinn papers.

Here is a collection of letters (twelve

volumes) of a family that did not dis-

tinguish itself in any conspicuous way.

The letters cover the period 1787-1947,

virtually the entire span of Cincinnati

history. What do the letters contain?

There is assuredly an abundance of con-

ventional family gossip and like trivia.

Yet these documents become the stuff of

history when they urge a more humane

treatment of the "poor Indian" during

the War of 1812; or compare Lyman

Beecher and Daniel Drake as speakers;

or characterize a steamboat captain; or

comment on the destructive force of lo-

custs in California during the gold rush;

or criticize Uncle Tom's Cabin; or de-

scribe camp life during the Civil War;

or relate the reaction of the citizenry

to Lincoln's conscription act; or discuss

Billy Sunday or missionary work in

Syria. Implicit in each letter is a point

of view, an "angle of vision." The ana-

lytical judgment of the researcher is

COLLECTIONS AND EXHIBITS 261

tested with each document. Here is his-

tory in the rough. Here is the research-

er's delight.

In recent years, with the advent of

television and the growing popularity of

displays having historical themes, icono-

graphic materials have become an in-

creasingly important source. The society

has long maintained a picture collection,

but in the recent past it has been enlarged

many-fold and systematized. One part of

the collection consists of unframed pic-

tures which concentrate on Cincinnati.

The file is divided into such subjects

as Cincinnati views; public buildings;

churches; scenes of floods; political cele-

brations; industrial concerns; suburbs;

parks; street scenes; and so forth. There

are also files on ancillary non-Cincinnati

subjects (for example, the Indians of

Ohio, slavery, temperance).

Among the society's collection of

framed pictures there are some oil paint-

ings that could be displayed with pride

by any museum director in the country.

Visiting art authorities seem to derive a

vicarious thrill from gazing at such works

as: a large primitive depicting the cap-

ture of Jemima Boone and the Callaway

girls by Indians in 1776 (artist un-

known); an Underground Railroad scene

on the Lane Seminary grounds (by C.

T. Webber) ; a striking portrait of Robert

Owen of New Harmony fame (artist un-

known) ; portraits of prominent Cincin-

natians (for example, Jacob and Isaac

Burnet); a scene of the Cincinnati Canal

Market in 1860 (by Henry Mosler); and

a view of Cincinnati from Covington,

Kentucky (attributed to Robert S. Dun-

canson, the accomplished nineteenth-

century mulatto artist). Because of spatial

limitations it has become necessary to

store the framed pictures in a concen-

trated manner, and thereby these mate-

rials are not readily available for inspec-

tion. Furthermore, card catalogs do not

provide sufficient data for a full appraisal.

From the evidence at hand it would ap-

pear that the society possesses a number

of first-rate art works. Some of Hiram

Powers' busts, which are on display at

the society, offer tangible proof of the

richness of the society's holdings in this

area. However, not until the entire col-

lection is studied will its true worth be

known.

That day may soon be at hand. As

noted earlier, the society has had a press-

ing need for new quarters, especially dur-

ing the past fifteen years, when there has

been a dramatic rise in membership and

a corresponding growth of activities and

holdings. New quarters are now under

construction. If the building schedule is

met, in the spring of 1964 the society will

be housed in a ground-floor section of a

three-story wing being added to the Cin-

cinnati Art Museum. In addition to ade-

quate stack and storage areas, the new

quarters will contain a modern reading

room, staff offices and work rooms, a

special memorial lounge in which will be

housed Cornelius J. Hauck's collection

of botanical works (possibly one of the

best private collections in the world), and

studies for visiting research scholars. The

society's holdings and patrons alike will

benefit from such modern conveniences

as air conditioning and humidity control.

The sylvan character of Eden Park

should further enhance the society's new

home.

There is a strong possibility that the

Cincinnati Art Museum will provide the

society with space for a periodic exhibi-

tion of its varied holdings. If such an

arrangement materializes, one fact is cer-

tain--the HPSO display cases will not

contain a dress of 1872, a piece from a

keelboat, or a fire helmet of yesteryear!

THE AUTHOR: Louis Leonard Tucker is

the director of the Historical and Philosophical

Society of Ohio.