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)
290 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
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
BOOK REVIEWS 291
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.
292 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
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
BOOK REVIEWS 293
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
294 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
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
BOOK REVIEWS 295
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.
296 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
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
BOOK REVIEWS 297
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.
298
OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
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
BOOK REVIEWS 299
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,"
300
OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
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."
BOOK REVIEWS 301
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.
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
BOOK REVIEWS 303
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,
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,
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
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
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-
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.