CHARLES BURLEIGH GALBREATH *
BY HENRY C. SHETRONE
Charles Burleigh Galbreath--1858-1934.
A simple
statement this, of itself; but on
second thought it be-
comes much more than a mere epitaph.
For a human life to span three-quarters
of a century
is sufficiently unusual; but when the
life of a Charles
Burleigh Galbreath parallels the most
remarkable three-
quarter century period the world has
known, the result
is epochal. Time of itself, like an
unheard sound in the
wilderness, means nothing; but when
time is coupled
with human activity, we have history.
In view of these facts one is tempted,
in preparing
a sketch of the life of our lamented
friend, to exceed
the justification of the present
occasion. The tempta-
tion is to essay an evaluation of the
man with respect
to the times in which he lived; in
other words, to write
a history of the period extending from
1858 to 1934.
Needless to say this undertaking lies
entirely outside the
ability of your speaker and the scope
of this paper, and
therefore is left to the historian and
the biographer.
The salient facts regarding the life of
Professor Gal-
breath are matters of record in several
appropriate pub-
lications, and need not be repeated
here. However, as
a matter of record for the Kit-Kat
Club,?? they are ap-
pended to this sketch. In the end,
then, I shall content
myself with offering to this small
circle of friends of
* Read before the Kit-Kat Club, April
17, 1934.
?? They appear on pages 115-122 of this
number of the QUARTERLY.
(123)
124
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
our departed fellow-member a few random
observations
and reminiscences of my own and of
others who have
known him longer and more intimately.
Recalling the list of Professor
Galbreath's activities
and interests, we find that among other
accomplishments
he ranked high as a scholar, teacher,
librarian, historian,
poet, and--humanitarian. Without
attempting to com-
ment on all of his activities but
speaking entirely at ran-
dom, I shall set down whatever thoughts
present them-
selves and when the allotted space is
exhausted I shall
desist.
During the course of our daily
association as co-
workers; seated together at noonday
luncheon (when
breakfast cereal and a bottle of milk
were invariably
adjuncts of his menu); seeing him
walking apprecia-
tively among the flowers of my garden,
or in his own
as he improvised shelters for the
rabbits which nibbled
his cabbages and enlarged openings
above his doorframe
so that vagrant bees and birds might
share his domicile;
I came to know "C. B." as we
affectionately called him,
as well perhaps as any other friend of
his later years.
As we sometimes will, we came
unconsciously to accept
him as something permanent, so virile
in mind and body
he seemed, so calm and philosophic in
the midst of life's
limitations and uncertainties; his
unhurried manner, his
resonant voice and his many mannerisms
(as the boyish
scratching of the head in perplexity)
seeming to defy or
rather to ignore change and the passing
of time. And
then
"One morn I missed him on the
'customed hill
Along the heath, and near his fav'rite
tree;
Another came, nor yet beside the rill,
Nor up the lawn, nor in the wood was
he."
Charles Burleigh Galbreath 125
Born under most favorable auspices with
respect to
time, place and family heritage, and
richly endowed by
nature both physically and mentally, no
individual of
any generation other than his own has
participated more
fully in the filming of the moving
picture of human
history. Arriving at the age of
consciousness of self
and surroundings, of men and movements,
he often
reminisced at length on his personal
recollections of the
War` of the Rebellion and on
impressions received from
immediate participants in that
struggle. Coming from
a section of Ohio noted for its
abolition activities he was
particularly concerned, even in his
later years, with the
anti-slavery movement, John Brown's
raid, the Under-
ground Railroad, or with any and
everything pertain-
ing to the freeing of the negro slaves.
One of the hap-
piest days of his life was when he
discovered, secured
and triumphantly brought to the Museum
the quaint old
wooden coffin in which Edwin Coppock,
young Ohio
member of Brown's raiders, was buried
following his
official execution. To the amusement of
the Museum
staff, "C. B." never lost an
opportunity of proudly con-
ducting visitors to this exhibit,
material evidence of the
romantic John Brown's raid.
Professor Galbreath observed and
interpreted the
kaleidoscopic events of that remarkable
period of recon-
struction and development following the
Civil War dur-
ing which he saw the world of his
boyhood completely
change. Then before the first quarter
of a new century
had passed he experienced the throes
and anxieties of
the first World War, in which were a
son, several pro-
teges and numerous friends and
acquaintances. Natu-
rally his sympathies toward the
participants were bound-
126 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications
less, in keeping with his broad
capabilities, as is evi-
denced by his "In Flanders
Fields--An Answer" and
numerous other patriotic contributions
included in his
published poems. And once more, in his
later years, he
witnessed his familiar world undergoing
complete meta-
morphosis. For a time, contrary to his
usual optimism,
he was outspokenly pessimistic as to
the fate of human
civilization, feeling that the balance
between world wel-
fare and destruction was very
delicate. During the
past year, I am glad to record, he was
greatly encour-
aged by the prospective situation.
While the teaching profession
(successively as
teacher, college professor and college
president) en-
gaged Professor Galbreath's early
mature years, peda-
gogy as such could not for long suffice
as a satisfactory
vehicle for his versatile mind.
Nevertheless throughout
his life, to those who knew him best,
he remained at
heart and instinctively a teacher.
Throughout the years
and to the time of his passing he
continued to make it
possible for deserving boys and girls,
lacking necessary
funds, to find their way through school
and college. A
specific instance is the cherished
recollection of those
associated with him as State Librarian.
An immigrant
Greek lad of eight visited the State
House as a news-
boy. Shy, diffident, he knew only
enough English to
announce his paper and its cost.
"C. B." became inter-
ested in the prospective American
citizen and day after
day sat with him at his desk teaching
him additional
English words. Thus encouraged and with
added con-
fidence, the boy grew to useful young
manhood, always
retaining a niche in the hospitable
Galbreath home. He
went to the great war. Some time later
his name ap-
Charles Burleigh Galbreath 127
peared in the list of those fallen on
the field of battle.
The Galbreaths mourned him as dead. And
then later,
as recounted recently in the local
press, there came a
knock at the door of the
Galbreath residence. It was
the erstwhile Greek newsboy. His death
had been
"greatly exaggerated."
While the teaching profession long ago
has been
absolved from the absent-minded
professor myth, the
following incident, related by a close
friend of the fam-
ily, is characteristic of the subject
of this sketch. The
late William Jackson Armstrong who, I
believe, was
consul general to Europe under Grant,
visited in Co-
lumbus and was a guest in the Galbreath
home. An
ardent outdoor enthusiast, the general
prevailed upon
"C. B." to accompany him on a
fishing trip to Buckeye
Lake. They boarded a traction car,
intending to dis-
mount at Hebron; but so busily engaged
in discussion
were they that presently they found
themselves in Zanes-
ville, the end of the division. Undismayed,
they boarded
a return car for Hebron; but when again
their thoughts
descended from Olympic heights, they
were back in the
Capital city.. But always, they
reasoned, there must be
a way out. There was. It was not until
a week later
that General Armstrong, ending his
visit, found himself
weighed down by a guilty conscience. He
confessed to
his hostess that the fishes delivered
to her had been pur-
chased at the local fish market.
It seems almost sacrilege to neglect to
comment on
Professor Galbreath as an historian, a
poet and an
authority on political, legislative and
parliamentary pro-
cedure; of the long line of notables, state and
national,
128 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
who were his friends, consultants and confidants. But
one could continue endlessly on any one
of these themes.
It will be noted that this sketch is
frankly eulogistic
and, in the very nature of things could
hardly be any-
thing less. Certainly Professor Galbreath possessed
what commonly are termed faults, since
he was pre-
eminently human; but these so pale into
insignificance
alongside his many virtues as to be
negligible. More-
over, since the Bard of Avon has
declared that "The
evil that men do lives after them; the
good is oft interred
with their bones," it behooves us
to eulogize our friends;
otherwise, the evil element being so
decidedly lacking,
the future might well hold for them
nothing but oblivion.
In closing, I quote briefly from a
description of
Greenlawn Cemetery written some years
ago by the sub-
ject of this sketch. The quotation not
only is an ex-
ample of the impressive literary style
of its author, but,
as his friends will perceive, it
contains something strik-
ingly suggestive of his own funeral
obsequies and con-
ditions prevailing at the time. Had
Charles Burleigh
Galbreath written his own epitaph and
in it attempted
to voice his personal philosophy he
could not, it appears
to me, have done better.
"Beautiful in winter, when the
earth is robed in white; beau-
tiful in the springtime, when the grass
comes creeping everywhere,
when buds open, and the robin and the
bluebird are heard among
the trees; beautiful in the summer
twilight, when the foliage is
dense and green, when the katydid in the
treetop in staccato song
answers to the chirp of the cricket
below, when the well--kept
mounds are decked with flowers, 'sweet
prophecies of the resur-
rection'; and beautiful in the autumn
sunshine, when the circuit
of the seasons is complete, when earth
and sky seem to rest from
their labors, when unseen hands release
the October-tinted leaves
and scatter them silently and tenderly
above the graves;--yes,
beautiful the whole year round is Green
Lawn, the silent city,
Charles Burleigh Galbreath 129
where strivings end, where peace is
perpetual, and where mortals
on their way to a better estate find a
fitting abode for the night
in this many-chambered mansion of rest.
"Hither have come the
representatives of every walk of life.
Among them are those once eminent in the
affairs of the city, the
state and the Republic. Of these it were
superfluous to speak.
Their deeds have been recorded. Their
place in local history at
least is secure. * * *"
"To live in hearts we leave behind
is not to die."
TRIBUTE1
The Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Society
wishes to express its sense of deep
loss in the passing of
its Secretary, Charles Burleigh
Galbreath, who was also
Editor and Librarian of the Society.
His life among us
has been for years a quiet and
unobtrusive, but positive
and uplifting influence. He has stood
for loyalty to the
Society and all its best purposes. He
has walked with
us in a spirit of simple sincerity. We
shall miss the in-
spiration of his presence, but his
memory will remain
with us as a benediction.
Be It Resolved By The Ohio State
Archaeological
and Historical Society, That we express our apprecia-
tion of his earnest and effective
service to this institu-
tion, and that we cherish the memory of
his brave, help-
ful and manly life.
Resolved, That we extend to his wife, son and other
surviving relatives the assurance of
our sincere sym-
pathy in their bereavement.
Resolved, That these Resolutions be inscribed in the
official minutes of the Annual Meeting
of The Ohio
State Archaeological and Historical
Society, held April
1 Resolutions authorized at the annual
meeting of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society, held
April 24, 1934.
Vol. XLIII--9