Laying Corner Stone of the Society's
Building. 427
that shall be carried on in this
building and outside of the build-
ding and that it will, in the years to
come, add very greatly to the
distinction of our commonwealth.
I congratulate the people, of Ohio, I
congratulate the Uni-
versity, I congratulate the State upon
this happy hour and the
prospect of this building.
MR. RANDALL: Prof. B. F. Prince of Wittenberg Uni-
versity, Springfield, Ohio, and one of
our most loyal trustees will
now speak.
ADDRESS OF PROF. B. F. PRINCE.
Mr. President: At many of the meetings
held in this City
we discussed the question of a location,
a place, in which to put
our collection. We thought for a long
time it ought to be down
in the City, but that seemed impossible.
Next there was offered
to us ground here upon the State
University Campus, and we
are pleased to know now that we accepted
that proposition, and
that we are here located so favorably on
this ground.
I am sure that every member of the
Directorship of this
Association feels grateful to the State
of Ohio and to the Ohio
State University for this privilege of
locating at this point. I am
sure that as time passes there will be
greater pleasure come to
the trustees as they see what
opportunities and privileges have
been accorded to this Society. There are
a great many things
that helped to contribute to the growth
and prosperity of this
Society. Peoples of long ages past have
laid up relics for us.
They have scattered them all over the
State of Ohio; put them in
mounds where they are being found from
time to time and are
being transported to this place for the
inspection of the people of
today, and in the days to come. The
State of Ohio, or what is
now Ohio, has long been to my mind a
battle field-a battle
ground-a pleasant place, too, in which
to live. People in her
historic times have left their
monuments. After them came
the Indians into this Country. No matter
what their origin they
were here, and they have come down to
us-their memory-in
historic times. They struggled for this
country. We read in
history that the Algonquins and the
Iroquois fought for this
land until they made it a desert; for
almost a hundred years no
428 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
wigwam dared to be raised upon its soil
on account of danger
of some enemy. A little later the
Algonquin, as well as the Iro-
quois, returned to this country in small
tribes and grew, but there
was another enemy rising up against
them, the English and the
French particularly the English. For about twenty years
they struggled for the occupation of
this territory, and the
English finally succeeded, but the
Indian was determined to
hold it, and really not until after the
war of 1812 was this country
held by the white men in security. Now
all these people have laid
up great things for us to learn.
Historically we want to collect
all the information we can and place
them in this building where
they shall be of interest and usefulness
to the generations that
are to come. I am sure that the trustees
are all interested in this
work, and that as the years go by and
new trustees come, they will
find it a pleasure to inspect what we
have done and shall add
more and more to the benefit and to the
honor of this State.
We are thankful for this afternoon; we
are thankful that this
hour has come when the foundation of a
grand building is being
laid and when the efforts that are to
tell for the future in this
society can be carried on with a greater
degree of success than
we have been able to do in the past.
This I say again is a happy
and auspicious day and we are glad for
it.
MR. RANDALL: One of the principal
accomplishments of the
history of our Society has been the
holding at various times
throughout the State historical
celebrations, and the first of
those was held in Marietta in 1888, at
the One Hundredth Anni-
versary of its settlement, at which many
distinguished men of the
nation took part and spoke. One of the
gentlemen here today
was an orator on that occasion. Mr. D.
K. Watson will now ad-
dress you.
ADDRESS OF HON. D. K. WATSON.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, I
have lived long
enough to know that a man never knows
when he is going to get
into trouble. Standing on this platform,
together with other
gentlemen here a few moments ago, my
distinguished friend, Mr.
Randall, stepped up to me and asked if I
wouldn't say a few
words. I said I didn't know what to talk
about and he said just