346
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
became captain of Company C of that
regiment. He
served with distinction through the
Civil War and at-
tained the rank of lieutenant colonel.
He was again
in the Legislature in 1867-1868 and was
Speaker in the
latter year. In 1876 he was elected United States sen-
ator and twice afterward
re-elected. He died in 1891
before the close of his third term.
His life history, as presented by
Connelley in this
volume, is an inspiration to every
healthy, ambitious
American boy who desires to rise
through his own effort
to honorable distinction in the service
of his country.
COLONEL S. K. DONAVAN.
Colonel Simpson K. Donavan was born at
Shippens-
burg, Pennsylvania, in March, 1831, and
died after a
brief illness in Columbus August 12,
1902. His parents
were from Virginia and sympathized with
the people of
their native state and the institution
of slavery. He
early learned the printing trade, afterwards
taught
school for a time and then entered upon
a journalistic
career in the city of Baltimore. He was there at the
time of the John Brown raid at Harper's
Ferry. In
conversation with the writer a few
years before his
death he said in substance:
"I was the first correspondent on
the ground after the raid at
Harper's Ferry began. I went there in
thorough sympathy with
the attitude of the people of Virginia
and Maryland in their hos-
tility to the raiders. I was startled at
the news of the attack
and puzzled at the mystery which for a
time clouded its purpose.
Soon after the capture of the engine
house I learned from the
lips of John Brown that it was a
movement against the institution
of slavery.
"I was in Harper's Ferry until the
prisoners were moved to
Charlestown and from that place I
reported the news for my
Reviews, Notes and Comments 347
paper until after the execution of John
Brown. I attempted, as
in all my reportorial work, to give an
account of what occurred
from time to time without bias or
comment. Finally I noticed
that my reports were not published in
full and some of them
were materially changed. On my return to
Baltimore one eve-
ning I asked why this was done. The
answer was to the effect
that it was not to the interest of the
paper to publish some of
the material that I sent in. I insisted
that I had simply reported
the facts. I was told that this was
probably true from my point
of view but that my communications bore
evidence of sympathy
with the prisoners at Charlestown. I was
disposed to deny this
somewhat vigorously but upon a little
reflection I concluded that
the publishers of my paper were correct
and said very little in
reply to the charge. I was afterwards
somewhat careful not to
invite a repetition of this experience,
but my sympathy with John
Brown grew until the day of his
execution. When he ascended
the scaffold I was a John Brown
man."
In the Civil War when Carlisle,
Pennsylvania, was
threatened by the Confederates, Colonel
Donovan was
placed in the command of a regiment of
Pennsylvania
troops and thus received his military
title. In 1868 he
came to Delaware, Ohio, which he
afterward considered
his home. For about twenty years he
spent most of his
time in Columbus in newspaper work. For
a time he
was engaged in insurance business but
drifted into
politics and became prominent in the
councils of the
Democratic party. He was an assistant
sergeant-at-arms
in the national House of
Representatives. In 1883 he
became editor of the Columbus
Times. Later he con-
tributed to the Cincinnati Enquirer and
to the end of his
life was a close personal friend of
John R. McLean, the
proprietor of that paper. He was the
author of a book,
Led in Strange Paths. For
the last twenty-five years
of his life he had a large circle of
acquaintances and
friends in Ohio. He is survived by his sister, Miss
Sallie Donovan of Delaware, Ohio.