ANNUAL ADDRESS OF F. C. SESSIONS, PRESI-
DENT OF THE SOCIETY.
Read in the Senate Chamber, at
the Fourth Annual Meeting, Thurs-
day Evening, January 31, 1889.
ALMOST one year ago, this Society went
to Marietta, O.,
to celebrate the one hundredth
anniversary of the settle-
ment, by Americans, of the Northwest
Territory, of which
Ohio is an integral part, and of which
she is the oldest
State, and one of the most powerful of
American common-
wealths. The settlement was hence the
first by Americans
in Ohio. The year has been one prolific
in events. We
have enjoyed the somewhat anomalous
distinction of hold-
ing four centennials commemorative of a
great, distinct
epoch in our history. Still these
celebrations, though unlike
in ideas and in detail, have been to
commemorate a
distinctive feature growing out of that
settlement, and the
principle under which it was planted
that April morning
in 1778.
These celebrations have borne good
fruit. They have
been beneficial in many ways. They have
aroused an
interest in our early history, and hence
a closer study into
the causes that led to the founding of
this nation, to its
struggles for national existence, to its
ultimate triumph,
and to the planting in what was then the
remote regions
of the West, of a colony under a system
of laws, such as
the world had never before seen, and
which it never can
forget. Nor has this commemorative work
been confined
to mature intellects. The children in
the public schools
have begun to ask the same questions,
and to search for
the same answers. Thus there has been
instilled into
the minds of thousands of Ohio youths, a
wholesome re-
gard, and a desire for the truths of
history. It is by a study
of the past that we learn how to shape
our course in the
future. Hence the lesson and its
solution by the pulpit,
548
Annual Address of F. C. Sessions,
President. 549
and in our schools for the last year,
will bear fruit after
we have gone from the scenes of active
and responsible life.
The boy and girl of to-day have learned
a truth, that in after
years will bring results when they stand
in society, and in the
State where we to-day stand.
It is not boasting to say that this
Society has performed
an important part in all this action. In
truth, if we go
to the fountain whence this stream of
work started, we
shall see that the first impulse given
to it, came from us.
Those of us present at the first
meeting, four years ago,
to discuss the organization of such a
society as this, will
remember the remark made by some one,
that three years
hence would see the first centennial of
historical import
in our State, whose celebration it would
be wise now to
consider. The fundamental idea of the
manner of such
celebration, and the lessons to be
learned and impressed
on the youth of the State were then
carefully considered,
and the policy outlined that afterward
was followed. We
can now look back to that evening, and
in the light of
what the year has done, weigh our words.
We think we
are not mistaken, when we say that the
people of Ohio
know more of their history, their
origin, and their
progress as a State and a people than
they knew two
years ago; and that this Society has
been the instrument
in starting movements that have brought
this about.
It is well also to cast a retrospective
glance over the
immediate work of the society for the
year now about closed.
What results has it attained, and what
specific work has it
done.
All the members can testify what has
been done in the
way of preserving history in printed
form. All have re-
ceived the QUARTERLY, and can
judge from the articles
therein printed what its work is. The
publication of the
first number of the year, June, 1888,
comprised the entire
proceedings, together with the addresses
at the celebration
of April 7, at Marietta. "There is
not a paper in that is-
sue," said one fully competent to
judge, "that is not
550 Ohio Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly.
worth a year's membership." There,
in compact, con-
venient form is a complete record of the
proceedings.
commemorative of not only the founding
of our State, but
also of the whole northwest part of the
Union, whose
history and relationship to the Nation
is akin to that of
New England. Succeeding numbers of the
society's periodi-
cal have been devoted to papers that
were necessarily
set aside for the June issue; and though
not so voluminous,
each contains within itself material
invaluable to the
student of our history. Of volume I of
this publication,
practically no numbers remain, and it is
only a question
of time when volume II will become
exhausted. Through
this publication many valuable works are
attained without
cost to the society, a factor that
should not be lost
when we consider the value the society
can be to the
State. The last Governor's message
contains excellent
suggestions concerning the preservation,
by printing, of
our State records. Already we have
commenced this work,
and the suggestion comes directly in
line with what
we have been advocating since our
beginning. There
are scattered throughout our public
archives valuable
documents which the remorseless tooth of
time is slowly
eating away. Some day future generations
will not hold
us guiltless for this neglect, and
acting as far as our means
and income will permit, we should
preserve such as we
can in the pages of our QUARTERLY. The
State should
come to our aid in this matter by
authorizing the proper
officers to do this work, and by giving
the means whereby it
can be done. We must use our influence to this end,
and we trust each will feel it to be a
personal matter and aid
in the effort.
The collection of library works has gone
steadily for-
ward. Though no effort has been made to
accumulate a
library for the reason that we have no
safe place to keep
one, yet many valuable works come
gratuitously. Such
are cared for by the Secretary as best
he can. He should
not be charged with the duty of
preserving them and
Annual Address of F. C. Sessions,
President. 551
caring for them in his own house; a
place should be pro-
vided for them and for all that are
offered. This leads
me to speak of the proposed merging of
our library into
that of the State, and also of the
museum collection.
That such a step should be taken, no one
who has consid-
ered the matter will for a moment deny.
That it will
result in adding many valuable works to
the library, and
thus be a saving financially, is also
apparent. Two libraries
should not be built up in the
Capitol. Both the State
and the society pursue often the same
line of research,
and hence accumulate the same material.
The accumulation
of one in the same line of thought is
sufficient, and
hence the energies should be so directed
that though both
pursue the same policy, each should be
so divided and
managed that each will bring a different
result, equally
of interest and benefit to the library.
It is not only desirable,
but preferable, that the united
collection be kept in one
depository in the State-house and be
under one manage-
ment. Two museums and two libraries
should not be
created.
The State Library was established early
in the history
of the State by the General Assembly.
Originally, many
law books were kept in the library, but
as room became
scarce by the collections of years, and
the courts of the
State grew in importance and labor, the
law books be-
came a library to themselves, and now,
as they should,
form an independent library, under the
control of the
Supreme Conrt, whose members elect the
officers. Hence
a uniform and wise policy has followed
the selection of
books for this library, a policy it is
now hoped to establish in
the library of miscellaneous books.
The gathering and make-up of a library
and museum
is essentially the work of a State
Historical Society. Such
a society, composed of members in all
parts of the com-
monwealth, continually secures works
that bear on the
political, historical, material, social
and economical ques-
tions of the day, and hence receives the
friendly aid of
552
0hio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
hundreds of citizens, who could not, in
any other way, be
interested. The collection of the society
becomes the
property of the state, and hence it is
always giving more than
it receives.
The best example of any State is that of
Wisconsin.
About ten years ago, the influence of
the State Historical
Society, of Wisconsin, was secured, and
by the help of
generous aid on the part of the State,
judiciously man-
aged under a system not subject to
political or other
changes, there is now in Madison, a
library and museum,
the equal of which cannot be found
anywhere. Kansas
has shown great advancement under a
somewhat similar
system. Just what should be done in
Ohio, is a point to
consider. The influence of this Society,
with its extended
membership, can be made an important
factor, and one
of great usefulness. A well-defined
policy should be adopted
subject to no hasty changes, and those
only after mature and
careful consideration.
In Wisconsin there is a remarkable
collection of pamphlets
relating to the late civil war, hardly
equalled in the
country, and is comprised in many bound
volumes, each
carefully indexed. We also hear there
has been placed
in this library a complete collection of
pamphlets, books,
and newspaper clippings relating to the
"tariff ques-
tion" - a complete tariff library,
so to speak. Such
collections show wise fore - thought, and preserve the
very essence of current literature,
embodying the eco-
nomical, historical, and political
questions of the day.
The report of the Kansas Society's work
in the
library for the year 1887, shows:
"periodicals, 1,007;
single newspapers and newspaper
cuttings, containing
special historical material, 269; maps,
atlases, etc., 60;
manuscripts, 228; pictures, 170;
miscellaneous contribu-
tions, 51; script, currency, etc., 5.
Thus it will be seen
that the library additions of books,
pamphlets, and news-
paper files during the year number 3413
volumes. But
Annual Address of F. C. Sessions,
President. 553
note, of these 3188 have been procured
by gift, and but 225
by purchase."l
An examination of the report shows less
than ten per
cent. purchased, and over ninety per
cent. donation and
exchange. All this in addition to
valuable museum do-
nations. In our own State the donation
is hardly twenty
per cent. Somehow people will give to a society.
It
should also be said here that the Ohio
Society is prepared
to do what no other Society can do, or
has done. It now
maintains an excellent periodical,
issued quarterly, which
it can exchange free of expense for
every periodical
worthy a place on the library shelves.
Thus it not only
offers free to the State, an exchange
list worth hundreds
of dollars annually, all of which is now
an outlay of
money. Further, through this
publication, many valuable
and expensive books can be obtained
free. It can thus,
and will, save annually, through this
medium alone, hundreds
of dollars' worth of books annually more
than is now
obtained.
The character and magnitude of
the work undertaken,
and being carried forward by the Ohio
Society is peculiar
and almost anomalous. Hence duties
imposed upon the
Society, and the privileges conferred
upon it have not
been so well understood by the public,
and by members
Since this address was delivered the
"Sixth Biennial Report" of the
Kansas Historical Society, whose library
is the "State Library," has
been issued. This report shows the
following remarkable statement:
"During the period covered by this
report-1887 and 1888-there have
been added to the Library, bound
volumes, 1,619; unbound volumes
and pamphlets, 9,250; volumes of
newspapers and periodicals, 1,995;
single newspapers, 1,734. Maps, atlases
and charts, 116; manuscripts,
662; pictures and works of art, 275;
scrip currency, coins and medals,
32; war relics, 12; miscellaneous, 229.
The Library additions, not in-
cluding duplicates, number 12,864; of
these, 12,001 have been procured
by gift, and 863 by purchase. The Kansas State Library is under control
of a Board of Trustees, modeled somewhat
on the Wisconsin plan,
managed in part by the Historical
Society. It was founded in 1876.
and now contains 48,305 volumes. Its
growth is sufficient evidence
of the value of the system.
554
Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
of the Legislature, as they should be.
The Wisconsin
Historical Society affords the model
upon which our
work, in its incipiency, is planned, and
in the main is
what we wish to accomplish. Both
Societies are volun-
tary associations. Their members are private citizens.
Their officers are private citizens,
elected by the members
of the Societies. Their mode of work has
been devised,
and is being carried forward by plans,
rules, and regula-
tions, made by their members and
officers. Yet their
relation to the State, is such as is
essential to the existence
of the Societies, and so far as there
has been any experience
in such work in any State, it is a
relation best calculated
to secure the accomplishent of such
work, a work which it is
everywhere conceded every State should
have done, and
the neglect of which has been greatly
deplored where it has
been left undone.
Considering the relation of a State to
an association of
its private citizens, it is not
surprising that the duties
thus imposed by the State, and the
compensation given
for performing them, should not for a
time be properly
adjusted. The Society has not been in
the habit of com-
plaining of lack of appreciation; for
the appreciation has
everywhere been made manifest, and the
Society has
always been confident that the lack of
adequate means
for carrying on its work would prove to
be but temporary.
The membership of the Society now
extends to every
county in the State, and to many parts
of the United
States.
It is in the preservation of the
materials of the history
of the present growth and development of
Ohio, in
which our friends in the East so much
rejoice, that the
work of the society is most complete and
comprehensive.
Before our society had begun its work,
the printed mate-
rials of history of the earlier days had
in large part been
dissipated and destroyed. The materials
of the present day,
as they are daily and weekly being
evolved from more
than a thousand busy printing presses,
can all be saved in
the library. In this growth and
development, Ohio has
Annual Address of F. C. Sessions,
President. 555
gone forward until it has reached, with
all the appliances
of the best civilization the world has
ever known, the re-
motest boundaries of our State; and now
are to be found
printing presses in every county. Within
the bounds of
the eighty-eight counties forming the
State are being pub-
lished over 800 newspapers. These papers
make a record,
week by week, of all the events
occurring in the growth
of these counties, and complete files of the princi-
pal ones can be secured and preserved in
the library,
many the gift of their generous and
thoughtful pub-
lishers.
It might be asked, and coming from
persons who may
have given the subject no special
attention, they might
seem proper questions, What is the
necessity of a State
Historical Society and a State
Historical Library? Why
has the Historical Society grown up at
all? To these
questions it might be answered in brief
that the State of
Ohio has done very little toward gathering
the materials
and memorials of a peculiarly
interesting and eventful
pioneer history; a work which the
intelligence of the
present age pronounces as worthy of
being done by any
State, no matter how eventful and
commonplace may have
been its founding-a work, indeed, which
all intelligent
citizens deplore the omission as a
calamitous loss. And it
is a work which all experience shows is
never likely to be
well performed except through a
voluntary organization
especially made for the subject, and
composed of that class
of appreciative citizens, who, whether
prompted by pride
of their own doings, or by a desire to
do something for
the benefit of future generations, are
willing to supple-
ment whatever the State may do in this
behalf with no
little gratuitous labor and sacrifice on
their part. And, as
we have shown, the making of a library
is an appropriate
and essential work of a historical
society.
The lessons of our history, both as a
State and part of
the old Northwest Territory, can be
traced in many opera-
tions conspicuous in the life of our
Nation. They should
556 Ohio Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly.
not be lost to posterity, which will not
hold us blameless
for the neglect. Beginning with the
passage of the "Or-
dinance of 1787" down through the
century until now
can be traced an eventful national life.
Ohio has borne
her full share in this work, and we hope
to see the record
preserved, and that without delay.
Ohio has a noble record, beginning with
a veritable
magna charter, which the Constitution of
the United States
did not catch up to for three-quarters
of a century. For
about fifty years I have been in the
State, and Ohio
has ranked, during that time, third
among the States.
Ohio has been so prolific of great men
and women that
the list is almost embarrassing to one
who would avoid
everything in the way of bragging. It
has sent three of
her most distinguished men to the White
House-Grant,
Hayes and Garfield; has had two Chief
Justices-Chase
and Waite; three of her generals were
selected by Con-
gress for high honors conferred on no
other military men
since Washington-Grant, Sherman and
Sheridan. What
citizen of Ohio can think of these men
and speak their
names without a throb of State pride
thrilling through
him?
The recent National Convention emphasized the
Ohio idea more than ever in nominating
for President
a distinguished citizen, a native of
Ohio, who has since
been elected; I refer to General
Benjamin Harrison.
And the other convention nominated one
of our most
distinguished citizens for Vice
President, an honest man
of great ability and of national
reputation, Judge Thur-
man.
Ohio has more school teachers than any
other State
excepting one. She is first in the value
of farming lands
and in the number of farms of less than
one hundred acres
each. She is first in the number of
sheep and wool pro-
duction; in the manufacture of farm
implements; in the
number of brick and tile establishments,
and in the value
of quarry products. She is second in
dairy interests; in
iron and steel in the mining of
bituminous coal, and in
Annual Address of F. C. Sessions,
President. 557
slaughtering and meat packing. In
petroleum and natural
gas she is in the front. From her clays
are made one-
third of the stone and earthen-ware
produced in the
United States. Mr. Black says: "If
we find the causes
which have contributed to the increase
and prosperity of
Ohio cities, we must first turn to the
splendid natural
resources of the State. The rocky floor
of the valley,
which the geologists tell us belongs to
the paleozoic age,
is unbroken by a single evidence of
volcanic irritation.
Over the beautiful stone level is spread
a soil so fertile as
to have tempted the farmer upon its
earlier discovery, and
to have given Ohio, in logical sequence,
a foremost position
among agricultural States. Of the two
great slopes, one
shedding to the lake, the other to the
Ohio, the north-
ern is better for grazing and the dairy,
while grain
thrives easier on the southern slope.
But upon the sur-
face is only the beginning of Ohio's
riches." I remember
of asking of the late President I. W.
Andrews, of Marietta
College, why Ohio was so distinguished a
mother of
great men. He replied: "The
pioneers of Ohio, a hundred
years ago, were men and women of brains
and pluck, well
developed physically, morally and
intellectually; and their
sons and daughters could not help taking
prominent positions
in the nation."
The collections made in the Society's
museum, embrac-
ing both archaeology and history, have
been very gratifying.
All accessions have been by donations.
The commissioners
in charge of the Ohio Exhibit, at
Cincinnati, during the
Centennial Exposition held in that city,
gave the Society
twenty-nine framed charts, made by
competent artists,
and under the eyes of those skilled in
the subject, repre-
senting the archaeological earth-works
conspicuous in our
State. They also gave two plaster-casts,
one of the famous
Serpent Mound in Adams county, and one
of Fort Hill, in
Highland county. These charts and casts
are of great value,
and the Society is under obligations to
the gentlemen who so
kindly gave them.
558 Ohio
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
The Exposition at Columbus afforded
another excellent
opportunity to increase our collection.
The department
devoted to history and archeology, was
under the care of
the Secretary of the Society, who
improved the chance
thus given to secure many articles. All
these, with those
already owned by the Society, have, by
the courtesy of
the State officials, been removed to a
room in the Capitol,
where properly arranged in their several
classes, in glass
cases, they may be seen by all who care
to study them.
In time this collection will be one of
the most compre-
hensive in Ohio. It is not the aim of
the Society to
simply acquire a large collection. It is rather to secure
a representative one, where all articles
illustrating our history,
from its earliest period may be seen.
The collection will thus
become an object lesson, whose value
increases the more it is
seen and studied.
All this work involves continuous, well
applied labor.
So far it has been done practically
free, but this cannot
long continue. One man must devote his
entire, undivided
time to the work, and such an one
deserves continued support
and encouragement. It is sincerely to be
hoped that this
meeting will not disperse until that
question is settled
satisfactorily.
I have called your attention thus in
outline to our work, to
our prospects, and to our aims, and with
the hope that the
coaling year will see our work still
advancing, I leave the
matter in your hands.