BOOK REVIEWS
Frontier Ohio, 1788-1803. By Randolph Chandler Downes. Ohio
Historical Collections, III. (Columbus, Ohio, The Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society,
1935. 280p. maps.
$2.50.)
Students of Ohio history will be
grateful to the author for
presenting this vivid and accurate
account of the origins of the
Commonwealth. Professor Randolph
Chandler Downes has ex-
amined and cited, in a wealth of
footnotes, a great variety of
widely scattered manuscript collections,
as well as the available
printed records; unique documents, long
hidden from public
view, are frequently disclosed.
The significant topics which receive
detailed treatment relate
to the conquest of the land from the
Indians, the origins and
character of the people, the problem of
trade, the character of the
administrations of Governor Arthur St.
Clair and Acting Gov-
ernor Winthrop Sargent, the movement for
political reform, the
statehood contest, and the final
establishment of the State.
The policy of the United States
Government towards the
Indians of the Ohio Valley and the
Northwest was exemplified by
a series of steps which finally opened
the greater portion of the
present State of Ohio to white
settlement. The question of a
boundary line, an old problem which
vexed British and colonial
statesmen, settlers and Indians in an
earlier day, was the primary
issue which both the Confederation and
the National Government
sought to settle by negotiations, backed
by force. Whether the
Ohio River or the Muskingum, which the
Indians demanded, or
a more northerly one should be fixed
upon was ultimately de-
termined by the arbitrament of war. The
Treaties of Fort Har-
mar, forced upon a minority of Indian
representatives, proved
unacceptable to the mass of the Indians.
The failure of subse-
quent conferences to procure a treaty
favorable to the American
(397)
398 OHIO
ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
view and acceptable to the Indians left
as the only alternative,
according to the view of the United
States Government, military
intervention. After a succession of
defeats in the early stages of
the conflict, the Americans succeeded in
crushing the savage
forces and in imposing upon them the
Treaty of Greenville. Thus
the way was cleared for white
settlement, and for the building
of the Commonwealth.
Settlement on the right bank of the Ohio
had already begun,
antecedent to the opening of the
negotiations mentioned, as an
extension of the Pennsylvania, Virginia
and Kentucky frontiers.
There followed the founding of such
settlements as Marietta,
Columbia, Cincinnati and other centers,
peopled largely from
New England, New Jersey and Virginia.
The "station" or com-
pact settlement method, as illustrated
by the Ohio Company and
the Symmes experiments, which
represented the principle of con-
trolled settlement, was effective only
so long as dangers from
Indian attacks were imminent. With the
passing of the danger
in question, "settlers spread out
fanlike into the interior to take
new locations." The principle of
scattered locations was thus
forced upon proprietors and Government
alike. One of the po-
litical results of such a population
movement are observed in the
emergence of rival political factions
which profoundly affected
numerous issues connected with
statehood. Its economic reper-
cussion was felt in Congress, and
resulted in the passage of legis-
lation providing for the sale of public
lands.
In the meantime frontiersmen were also
concerned with
trade, involving not only the disposal
of a surplus of products,
but the purchase of necessities and
luxuries. The early notion of
promoters of settlements and of roads
that a substantial com-
mercial connection would be made with
the East proved illusory.
Trade was bound to go down-stream. This
was a repetition of
the defeated purposes of the British in
the West during pre-
Revolutionary days. And so New Orleans
became, as of old, the
destination of most of the farmers'
surplus flour, pork, beef and
other products.
With the disappearance of dangers from
the Indians, and
BOOK REVIEW 399
with a growing population which was
becoming economically
self-sufficient, the emphasis from about
1795 was upon political
reform and eventual statehood. Political
reform, and judicial as
well, was induced by the results of the
application of some of the
harsh features of the Ordinance of 1787,
which had placed large
powers in the hands of the central
territorial administration. With
the advent of the second stage of
government, which permitted
the people to petition for the
relaxation of certain restrictions,
there came, gradually, reform in county
and township admin-
istration and in the judicial structure
of these local units; at the
same time the creation of new counties
and townships brought
the people nearer to the seats of local
government and of justice.
The movement for statehood was motivated
by several forces
and was given propulsion by committees
of correspondence, of
ancient origin, which served as vehicles
for keeping the issue
in a state of agitation until the object
was achieved. The attempted
gerrymandering of the Territory, to the
end that there might be
two states, ended in defeat for its
chief author, St. Clair. The
democratic forces, particularly those in
the back country,
triumphed in the Constitutional
Convention of 1802, and in the
election for State officials which
followed.
The foregoing outline is obviously
inadequate to indicate all
that is of significance in this book,
which, though compactly
written, overflows with interest. It is
a substantial contribution
to the history of Ohio and of the
frontier in general. With the
author's main conclusions the reviewer
could register little dissent.
There may be those who will think that
the characterizations of
St. Clair are a bit harsh, and there may
also be readers who will
feel that the attitude expressed with
regard to the Indians is too
sentimental. The reviewer feels that
occasional references to
British experience in dealing with
similar problems would have
enhanced the value of the book to some
extent.
There is an extensive bibliography, and
a series of six maps,
the most interesting of which is one
illustating the various division
schemes for the Territory. The book is
also indexed.
CLARENCE E. CARTER,
Washington, D. C.
400
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Robert Hamilton Bishop. By James H. Rodabaugh, Ohio His-
torical Collections, IV. (Columbus, Ohio, The Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical
Society. 1935. 216p. illus.
$2.50.)
James H. Rodabaugh has told more than
the story of the
life of Robert Hamilton Bishop in this
volume of 216 pages in-
cluding seventeen pages of bibliography
and six pages of index.
With the exception of one tedious
chapter the story sweeps along
easily, is simply told, and is written
in a manner which justifies
the reviewer in encouraging the author
to continue his researches.
Bishop was a crude Scottish lad, whose
ancestors were tenants
on the estate of the profligate Lord
Polkemmet near Edinburgh.
Young Bishop was brought up in the
"Secession Church" and
studied at the University of Edinburgh
where he was greatly in-
fluenced by John Playfair, Andrew
Dalzel, and others. Very
early he became a liberal--a
semi-radical conservative--probably
a result of the influence of his
Edinburgh teachers and the Spec-
ulative and Academical Societies (p.
18). He studied for the
ministry in Hall Seminary in Selkirk. In
1802 he was licensed
to preach, married Ann Ireland, and
sailed for the United States
as a missionary. After a brief
experience as a circuit-rider in
Ohio he settled as a minister in Mercer
County, Kentucky (1803).
Continuing to preach, he became a
professor in Transylvania
University in Lexington in 1804. Bishop
was not a noisy evan-
gelist, but as an avowed church
reformist he soon stirred the ire
of the Rankinites, who attempted to
bring about his suspension
from the ministry. For a while he
assisted in the direction of
Transylvania University and after years
of valuable service he
was called to the presidency of Miami
University (1823). Un-
der his leadership this new State
university became the "Yale of
the West," expanding rapidly in
enrollment and departments of
learning and extending its influence
throughout the United States.
Bishop was probably the ablest of all
the Western pioneer edu-
cators. He believed sincerely in student
self-government and was
greatly loved by his students. He stood
for the abolition of
slavery and the unification of the
Presbyterian Church, influenc-
BOOK REVIEWS 401
ing many of his students to take the
same stand. During the
Bishop regime Miami University became
the home of fraternities
and a center for training missionaries,
possessed unusual library
facilities, and established a
commendable school of medicine under
the direction of Daniel Drake in
Cincinnati. Bishop lost the
presidency of Miami University because
of his liberalism and
was demoted to professorial rank,
holding the Chair of History
and Political Economy in his own
institution. In 1845 he was
forced to leave Miami, though in that
same year he accepted a
call to Farmers' College at College
Hill, Ohio, where in 1855 he
died and was buried.
Bishop was the first in this region to
see the value of social
studies, to perceive that history was
the story of the masses--the
record of all that man has thought,
hoped, and done. The sagacity
and breadth of his views, the kindliness
of his manner, and the
sweetness of his temper endeared him to
the liberals who made
the West an empire and helped to save
the Union.
This study is the fourth volume of a
series by the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society.
Its format is attractive
and the mechanics are good. Its value
lies in the information on
(1) frontier education and early
educators, (2) frontier religion,
(3) the Scottish educators in America,
(4) William Holmes
McGuffey (ch. 4), (5) abolition and the
American Colonization
Society (ch. 7), (6) Transylvania
University (ch. 2), and (7)
Miami University. Original sources
hitherto unused are heavily
drawn upon and the volume is fully and
accurately footnoted
throughout. It is to be hoped that the
editors may continue to
find means to publish other volumes as
valuable as this one.
"Walder" should be Walden (pp.
188, 216). An excellent re-
production of a portrait of Bishop by
Horace Harding is used
for the frontispiece and a picture of
the Hiram Powers bust of
Bishop may be found on page 80. The
Miami University of 1838
is pictured facing page 56.
WILLIAM E. SMITH,
Miami University.
402
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Old Chillicothe; Shawnee and Pioneer
History; Conflicts and
Romances in the Northwest Territory. By William Albert
Galloway. (Xenia, Ohio, The Buckeye
Press, 1934. 336p.
illus. $3.00.)
The late William Albert Galloway's Old
Chillicothe contains
a Foreword by Charles Burleigh
Galbreath, former secretary
and librarian of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical
Society, in which the fitness of the
author for the subject is set
forth. Galloway was a direct descendant
of a member of Gen-
eral George Rogers Clark's expedition
against the Indian towns
in 1782,
who afterwards made the region his home,
and whose
family became intimately acquainted with
the noble Tecumtha
(Tecumseh), Shawnee chieftain.
The book is introduced by Thomas Wildcat
Alford, great
grand-son of Tecumtha, head committeeman
and custodian of the
tribal records of the absentee Shawnees,
who, having been con-
sulted in the writing of every detail of
the book, assures the reader
that the record is authentic. He writes:
. . . many of my nation's traditions
have been given a first oppor-
tunity to become written history. It is
a matter of great satisfaction that
its author came to us to obtain our
traditions of the place, and our part in
the stirring events of the story, and
that at a time when the old traditions
of our people are fast disappearing,
owing to influences of civilization;
and that he has faithfully interpreted them.
Having paid his respects to Clark, Simon
Kenton and Daniel
Boone, the author gives in detail the
history of the Shawnee with
pertinent information of their primitive
life and customs, and
then relates at length extremely
interesting stories of their chiefs
and notable braves, with particular
attention paid to the life of
Tecumtha, who is described as "a
hunter, warrior, orator and
Indian statesman. A true son of his
Spartan race, he was undis-
mayed, unfaltering and uncompromising in
the final years of the
struggle of his people to retain the
heritage of their fathers."
Dramatic incidents in the lives of the
pioneers associated
with Chillicothe, which is now the name
of an Ohio city, but
which was originally the name of a tribe
of the Shawnee and
was given to several of the localities
where their towns were built,
are retold or published for the first
time, furnishing a valuable
BOOK REVIEWS 403
reservoir for historians, authors,
teachers, and others to draw
upon.
To the book is appended three
vocabularies of the Shawnee
language made at different times; an
account of the Alford trans-
lation of the four Gospels into the
Shawnee tongue; a genealogy
of the decendants of Tecumtha, and a
list of Authorities Quoted
with an Index which might have been more
detailed and therefore
more valuable. The documentation is
adequate. C. L. W.
Journal of Capt. Daniel Bradley: An
Epic of the Ohio Frontier,
with Copious Comment. By Frazer E. Wilson. (Greenville,
Ohio, Frank H. Jobes and Son, 1935. 76p.
illus. $.50).
Mr. Frazer Wilson of Greenville, Ohio,
who has been in-
terested for years in the history of
Greenville and the surround-
ing region, has rendered a service to
history by securing and edit-
ing this Journal of Captain Bradley who
was engaged in the mili-
tary expeditions of St. Clair and Wayne
against the Indians in
western Ohio from 1791 to 1794. Captain
Bradley's Journal be-
gins with August 22, 1791. The
journey described started from
southwestern Connecticut to Fort Pitt,
then down the Ohio River
to Fort Washington at Cincinnati, from
Fort Washington north
through western Ohio to the Maumee River
and return by way of
Fort Wayne and Greenville to Fort
Washington, and then through
Lexington, Kentucky, and Cumberland Gap
to Philadelphia and
Connecticut, a total distance of
approximately two thousand miles.
Mr. Wilson's accompanying notes are of
much value in illu-
minating the text of the Journal.
H. L.