BOOK REVIEWS
Guide to the Manuscript Collections
in the Library of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical
Society. By Elizabeth C. Biggert.
(Columbus,
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical
Society, 1953. x-153p.; index.
Paper, $1.50; cloth, $2.50.)
The social, economic, and political
history of Ohio is well represented in
the manuscript collections of the Ohio
State Archaeological and Historical
Society Library, which totals
approximately 1,500,000 separate pieces. This
library is the repository for certain
groups of the archives of the state of
Ohio, which include papers dealing with
the government of the Northwest
Territory and the correspondence of the
governors of Ohio.
The entries in this guide are arranged
in 'alphabetical order by the title of
the collection. A collection may be
represented by one piece or a number of
volumes or boxes. The term
"box" may include as few as five or six pieces,
or as many as two hundred pieces. This
varied method of designation results
in the listing of 1,128 manuscript
collections.
The descriptions are brief, giving
concise contents notes, often listing
special features of the collections, and
including pertinent biographical data.
Reference to published letters is made.
Miss Elizabeth C. Biggert, manuscripts
librarian, has given an excellent idea
of the contents of the collections. The
Preface states that details concerning
any collection may be procured from
the library's card catalog or from the
manuscripts librarian.
The Index is very complete, containing
entries for persons, places, and
subjects. Subheadings under the names of
counties and larger cities bring
together many topics relating to their
history and development. A special
feature of the Index is the listing of
material under both the name of the
county and that of the township. Another
feature is the completeness of the
subject entries, which include
references to courts, medicine, pioneer life,
railroads in Ohio, and religion in Ohio,
to mention only a few.
The collections described in this guide
are of particular importance to
students of Ohio's history. The
political history of the state is represented
by the papers of Ohio senators,
representatives in congress, Ohio governors,
and members of the Ohio General
Assembly. The institutional development
is found in the records of the various
churches and sects, of the courts and
schools. The history of business and
industry is included in collections
relating to small businesses and large
industries. The steady development
of internal improvements is well
represented by many collections relating
78 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
to roads, railroads, and accounts of
overland and river travel.
Of special interest are the papers of
several public figures whose influence
has extended beyond the geographical
boundaries of the state. Among these
collections are the papers of Joshua
Reed Giddings, noted Whig abolitionist;
of Thomas Worthington, leader in Ohio's
struggle for statehood; of John
Brown, the abolitionist; and of Jay
Cooke, Civil War financier.
While all periods of Ohio history are
included, the Civil War period is
especially well represented. There are
letters, diaries, poems, songs, and
reminiscences of participants in the
war.
This guide will be of great interest to
students of the history of the
Northwest Territory, the state of Ohio,
and the public figures and citizens
whose activities have contributed to its
growth and development.
Clements Library WILLIAM S. EWING
The Indian Tribes of North America. By ohn R.
Swanton. Bureau of
American Ethnology, Smithsonian
Institutio , Bulletin 145. (Washington,
United States Government Printing
Office, 1952. vi+726p., maps, bibli-
ography, and index. $3.50.)
From the time of the European discovery
of the New World to the present,
explorers, missionaries, government
agents, escaped captives, travelers, an-
thropologists, ethnologists, and
historians have accumulated and recorded
tremendous quantities of data on the
Amer can Indian. Some of this in-
formation is accurate and reliable, some
is so biased as to be of little value.
Some of the material is presented in
works dealing with the Indian as a sub-
ject, but a great deal of it is buried
in the obscurity or detail of works on
other subjects. Research-wise, this
means that the study of the American
Indian remains a gold mine.
One of the primary difficulties is the
vastness of the subject, a situation
which tends to discourage all but the
intensely interested scholar. By
prodigious and painstaking labors,
however, the field has been surveyed
and mapped. Almost a half century ago
Frederick W. Hodge compiled the
encyclopedic Handbook of American
Indians North of Mexico. Although
subsequent research has revised many of
its details, and although much of it
is now out of date, Hodge's work is
still regarded as the standard in the
field. Of a similar nature, but dealing
with a more restricted area, is the
Handbook of the Indians of California
by Alfred L. Kroeber, which ap-
peared in 1925.
Another landmark with a different
approach to the subject is Kroeber's
Book Reviews 79
Cultural and Natural Areas of Native
North America, published in 1939.
Kroeber, in this work, is concerned with
a division of the American Indian
into cultures and the effect of
historical events and environment on them.
In some respects the present volume is
basically a reshuffling of Hodge
and Kroeber to get a gazetteer-type
presentation. It is much more than this,
however. Swanton has added the knowledge
gained by a lifetime of fruit-
ful study and the findings of the
accumulated scholarship of others. Un-
fortunately, it includes very little of
the material published since he retired
from the Bureau of American Ethnology,
now perhaps a decade ago.
The subject matter of this volume is
treated by geographic divisions--
states of the United States, Alaska,
Canada, and so on. The sections on the
West Indies, Mexico, and Central America
are little more than listings of
tribes or bands with brief identifying
sentences. Under each geographic
division are listed the tribes
associated with it. Full treatment of a particular
tribe is made in the division in which
that tribe principally centered, with
the year 1650 as the general period of
reference. For example, the principal
entry for the Erie is given in the Ohio
section. A "see also" reference is
made to Indiana, New York, and
Pennsylvania. Under each of these three
states is an Erie entry which explains
briefly their location or role and a
"see Ohio" reference
indicating the location of the principal entry. (Since
Swanton has written this work "from
the point of view of the United States,"
some tribes with centers in Canada have
been treated under states. The main
entry for the Huron appears under Ohio.)
The principal entry for a tribe includes
the etymology of its name,
synonymy, linguistic family connection,
location (including names and lo-
cations of subdivisions, small bands,
and villages), history, population
statistics, historical prominence, and
present-day geographic names derived
from it.
Ohio readers will find principal entries
for the Erie, Mosopelea, and
Wyandot (Huron) under the Ohio division.
Brief entries explaining the
location and association with Ohio are
also made for the Chippewa, Dela-
ware, Honniasont, Illinois, Iroquois,
Kickapoo, Miami, Neutrals, Ottawa,
Potawatomi, Seneca, and Shawnee. Some of
these played major roles in
Ohio history; others merely occupied
fringe areas without making any
consequential contribution.
The Indian Tribes of North America will serve the layman as a ready
reference tool. For the scholar it is a
textual accompaniment to Swanton's
tribal map of North America. (The
continent is divided into four folded
maps which are rather awkwardly bound
into the volume at illogical places.)
80
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
Also of considerable value is the
forty-page bibliography of hundreds of
references from which the material was
obtained. Its limitation is that it
contains very few entries for the last
fifteen years. But this is not a serious
handicap to those working in the field.
Miami University DWIGHT L. SMITH
Papiers Contrecoeur et Autres
Documents Concernant le Conflit Anglo-
Francais sur l'Ohio de 1745 a 1756. Edites par Fernand Grenier. Universite
Laval, Publications des Archives du
Seminaire de Quebec, I. (Quebec,
Les Presses Universitaires Laval, 1952.
xxxiv+485p.; illustrations, end
maps, abbreviations, bibliography, and
index. $10.00.)
Scholars have long known of the
significant possibilities of French archival
materials in North American repositories
for the study of United States
history. Little has been done, however,
to utilize this valuable source. In fact,
the French side of the picture has often
been slighted in American history.
Language has not been the principal
barrier. Instead, other factors have dis-
couraged the use of these
documents--ignorance of existence and location,
inaccessibility, and inadequate
calendars or guides.
While repositories have always been
interested in purchasing, copying,
or acquiring by gift or legislative
enactment manuscript collections of his-
torical significance, curators and
scholars are frequently surprised to discover
unknown or forgotten documents of
considerable importance tucked in some
vault, basement, attic, or other storage
space, having gone unnoticed probably
since their acquisition. Then there are
considerable collections and bodies of
documentary material with restricted-usage
conditions placed upon them by
the donors or by the rules of the
institutiton in which they are deposited.
The third factor which discourages use
of the French documents on American
history is the general lack of calendars
or guides to these collections.
Combing through literally hundreds of
items is a time-consuming process
that should be accomplished in advance
by trained archival personnel rather
than by each harried scholar whose time
is usually at a premium and who
would like to determine the pertinence
of a collection to his project as
quickly as possible.
It is gratifying to note that these
difficulties are being surmounted in some
instances. For example, the Public
Archives of Canada has recently (1952)
issued a preliminary inventory, Fonds
des Manuscrits No 1, Archive
Nationales, Paris Archives des
Colonies, which is an annotated
bibliograph
of its vast holdings of transcripts from
French archives pertaining to th
French regime in America. It is now
possible to determine at a glance th
Book Reviews 81
scope of the archives' holdings in this
field, and to eliminate considerable
preliminary correspondence and effort
for the scholar who wishes to con-
sider the potentialities of this
institution to his research.
The volume of this review is even more
valuable. It represents the com-
bined efforts of the Archives du
Seminaire de Quebec, the Institut d'Histoire
et de Geographie de 1'Universite Laval,
the Pennsylvania Historical and
Museum Commission, and the Presses
Universitaires Laval, consisting of
edited documents concerning the last
stand of the French in the Ohio Valley
in mid-eighteenth century.
The manuscripts are selected from the
considerable holdings of two
French-Canadian Lyman C.
Drapers--Jacques Viger and l'abbe Hospice-
Anthelme Verreau. They consist primarily
of letters, journals, and council
proceedings, but also include military
orders, rosters, expense accounts, and
other miscellany. Of the over two
hundred documents, about three-fourths
are those received or sent by
Contrecoeur.
Claude-Pierre Pecaudy de Contrecoeur
figured in the occupation of the
Ohio Valley, and in 1754 was made
commandant of all French posts on
the Ohio. It was under his direction
that the English were ousted from
the forks of the Ohio and that Fort
Duquesne was built upon the site. He
successfully resisted the English and
maintained French control of the
Ohio Valley. In ill health, he returned
to Montreal in 1756. The life and
death clash of France and Britain for
their colonial empires with the focus
on the struggle for control of the Ohio
Valley, to Braddock's defeat (1755),
in which Contrecoeur played an important
role, is the subject of this volume.
An amazing amount of information is
contained in the documents. The
French occupation of the Ohio Valley is
portrayed in intimate detail. There
is considerable material on the Indians
of the area. The documents are of
tremendous significance to the early
history of Ohio. Not the least valuable
part of the book is the annotated
bibliography, especially that of the source
materials. The editorial notes and
explanations of M. Grenier are quite
helpful and pertinent and give many
suggestions for further development of
deas.
Of even more importance than the
immediate contents of this book
is the fact that it represents a
cooperative venture of four organizations
whose mutual interests are in this
field. Otherwise, circumstances would have
precluded its accomplishment and
publication. It is hoped that other
endeavors materialize into such valuable
end-results. Historical scholarship
will be the better for such.
Miami University DWIGHT L.
SMITH
82 Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
A Catalogue of Manuscripts in the
Collection of Western Americana Founded
by William Robertson Coe, Yale
University Library. Compiled by Mary
C.
Withington. (New Haven, Yale University
Press, 1952. x+398p.; frontis-
piece, map, and index. $10.00.)
One of my favorite collectors, the late
O. Andreas Garson of Oak Park
Illinois, gathered an astonishingly fine
collection of great menus. Mr
Garson, as an autograph collector, was
interested especially in the signature
of the guests inscribed on the menus at
the times of the dinners. My
pleasure in the menus was vicariously
gastronomic. I used to come away
from a session with Mr. Garson's
collection placid with pleasure, dreaming
of the rich and wonderful foods which,
singly or in combination, could
induce a most delectable torpor.
The Coe Catalogue impressed me in
almost the same fashion. Reading the
descriptions of the various manuscripts
collected by Mr. Coe and the other
western Americana manuscripts owned by
Yale University was quite similar
to perusing menus of late nineteenth
century banquets. Such riches! Such
delicacies! Such an overpowering abundance!
Such indefatigable industry to
dig out and acquire those rarities! Why,
the eyes fairly smart to get at the
originals and revel in the thousands of
pages of original manuscripts de-
tailing the story of our westward
expansion. Surely no comparable collection
exists-nor, for that matter, could
another collection to equal this one ever
be brought together now. There is
scarcely a name among the legends or
facts about the country west of the
Mississippi that is not represented in
superb example. Much of the history of
our old West may now be re-
written by today's and tomorrow's
scholars with more certainty that facts
are provable than in former times. With
the Coe Collection to draw upon
there will be no necessity to guess
about what happened. We shall have
fewer "fine flights of fancy."
The Coe Catalogue, as a
bookmaking venture, is a fine piece of work. In
the first place, Carl P. Rollins
designed the volume, and that invariabe
means a distinguished product. In the
second place, Yale University Press
is the publisher, and that indicates
quality work. Miss Mary C. Withington
the compiler, approached the problem of
describing the 542 entries (in-
cluding single items and many
collections of large size) in a sensible
straightforward fashion. Miss Withington
did not follow current practice
nor did she use all of the accepted
terminology, in describing the individual
letters and manuscripts. Unfortunately,
the carefully devised manual in
the Library of Congress for descriptions
of manuscript collections at
Book Reviews 83
individual manuscripts was not available
when Miss Withington was com-
piling the catalog. Still, her
descriptions are clear, and the essential in-
formation is always present. Everyone
associated with this enterprise deserves
high praise.
Clements Library COLTON STORM
The Shaker Cook Book: Not by Bread
Alone. By Caroline B. Piercy. (New
York, Crown Publishers, 1953. 283p.;
end-paper map, illustrations, and
index. $3.00.)
Caroline B. Piercy has set down in
modern, usable form a fascinating
lot of recipes used in Shaker
communities from the late eighteenth century
to the present day which should make a
fine addition to any kitchen book-
shelf. But there is also a place for The
Shaker Cook Book: Not by Bread
Alone in the library of the historian or folklorist. For its
author has garnished
the publication of her collection with
age-old lore of the ingredients used
in the recipes. It is flavored with
authentic material of the people who
produced these ingredients, the
"Kitchen Sisters" who prepared them, and
those who partook of the Shakers' food
and drink when the communities
were at their height during the nineteenth
century. Today, those concerned
with modern developments in agriculture,
nutrition, hygiene, economics,
sociology, and even labor-saving devices
would find interest in Mrs. Piercy's
account of how these were furthered and
disseminated through Shaker
practices.
The ritual singing and dancing of the
Shakers was, in itself, true folk
art. It was these "exercises"
which caused these Believers in Christ's Second
Appearing to become commonly known as
"Shaking Quakers," or "Shakers."
Mrs. Piercy's end-paper map of the
nineteen Shaker communities--scattered
from New England to eastern Indiana in
the early 1800's--which influenced
early American cookery, includes the
four in Ohio. The first and parent
community of western Shakerdom was Union,
near Lebanon, established in
1805. Watervliet and Whitewater were
also in the southwestern part of the
state, and North Union, or "The
Valley of God's Pleasure," was near
Cleveland, now the site of Shaker
Heights. The cleanliness and peace of
the model democracies set up by these
kindly, honest, frugal, celibate folk,
attracted many converts at the turn of
the nineteenth century, partly in
reaction to the Great Kentucky Revival
and to other excesses of frontier
?ife. Whatever psychologists might make of
their beliefs and form of
worship, to many it proved a sincere
religious fulfilment. Considering the
84
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
fates of many Utopias, before and since,
it is amazing that the Shaker
strength continued so long. Before the
end of the century, however, the
religious dance had ceased, their hymns
conventionalized, and the western
communities had begun to be disbanded:
North Union in 1910; Union in
1912. In 1922, when the last remaining
western community, South Union,
Kentucky, popularly known as
"Shakertown," was disbanded, the survivors
who desired to, went to the parent
society at Mt. Lebanon, New York,
established by the founder of Shakerism,
Mother Ann Lee, in 1777.
The initial source and inspiration of
Carolyn Piercy's Shaker recipe col-
lection came from the little old
manuscript cookbook in which her mother
had written this tasty lore, learned
from frequent visits to North Union,
which was near her girlhood home. As
mother and daughter prepared these
recipes together, the mother would
reminisce about the community. Thus,
Mrs. Piercy writes that to the little
cookbook "I owe my interest in all
things Shaker." This interest
eventually led Carolyn Piercy to become one
of the originators and secretary of the
Shaker Historical Society and the
author of The Valley of God's
Pleasure and other books concerning the
Believers and their lore. She has also
collected and saved many pieces of
Shakerana, which she hopes someday to
have in a Shaker museum. In addi-
tion to her mother's collection, Mrs.
Piercy's source material for her cook-
book included other manuscript recipes:
rare books, such as The Shake??
Housekeeper, written by Eldress Mary Whitcher, who died in 1797;
Shaker
nineteenth-century publications, which
had frequent agricultural and cookery
notes; and recipes and lore given by
four Shaker sisters still living and
cooking in present-day eastern Shaker
communities.
In putting into practice the
establishing of "Heavens on Earth," th??
Believers became craftsmen of complete
honesty and great skill. Their
cleanliness and abhorrence of waste led
to canning and preserving practice
as well as to boiling vegetables in
peels and using "pot-licker" to good and
tasty advantage. The delicious meatless
recipes concocted by the "Kitche
Sisters" during a twelve-year meat
ban in the late 1830's, continued to be
enjoyed many years after the ban was
officially over. Always believers ??
temperance, the Shakers, through an
edict in 1828, finally even relegate?
their far-famed cider "to the vinegar
barrel, to be used in salads, sauc??
and pickles, or boiled down and bottled
for use on steam puddings or ??
making mincemeat or for
'applesass.'" And this was the time when hea??
drinking was taken as a matter of
course, particularly on the frontier, and
milk and water considered unsafe,
usually with good reason. But the Shak??
Brethren, who spent double the allotted
time in working out the road t??
Book Reviews 85
in order to be exempt from military
service, needed plenty of liquid re-
freshment. Hence cooling methods and
many tempting varieties of non-
alcoholic beverages were developed. Many
people were introduced to these,
as well as to green vegetables, fruits,
cereals, eggs, and dairy products, in
the days when heavy meat diets, salt
pork and corn, and whiskey were
accepted food and drink. The Shakers fed
many "World People," or
non-Shakers, as well as their own
members. Thousands of meals were
served during the period of the western
migration; orphans were sheltered,
raised, and taught in the communities;
and the poor and unemployed were
fed during financial depressions, such
as that of 1873. There was frequent
travel and interchange of administrative
personnel between the communities.
Shaker peddlers ranged far, and their
fine products even farther. Thus the
sect's methods of producing, preparing,
and preserving food and drink
became widely known.
Mrs. Piercy has scaled the recipes,
originally meant for a Shaker "family,"
or communal group, of from thirty to one
hundred hard workers, to the
modern family's needs, proportions, and
equipment. Standard measurements
were reached from such directions as
"butter the size of a walnut" or "a
large coffee cupfull." Temperatures
are stated for today's thermostatically
controlled ovens for baking done by the
Shakers in their huge and ingeniously
revolving ovens. One envies Mrs.
Piercy's family and guests, who have
been privileged to partake of the
immediate results of her kitchen laboratory
research. "New" approaches to
even such common favorites as boiled corn
produce exciting and delicious eating
when done the Shaker way.
Attractive illustrations of Shaker life
by Virginia Filsen Walsh are used
as chapter headings, as are several
choice old prints, an advertisement for
Shaker double-distilled rosewater, and
packet covers for the famous Shaker
seeds, including planting directions.
Food and cooking terms in general use
throughout pioneer times give an
authentic and sometimes amusing flavor
to the quality of the book.
All of which should inspire fresh
interest, practical to both laymen and
scholars, in the history and folkways of
the nineteenth century, as well as
in the lore of the Shakers. And, even in
these days of frozen foods, pressure
cookers, and ready-mixes, jaded appetites
may relish such culinary Shaker
heights as rosewater-flavored apple pie,
leg of lamb laved in hot butter with
a bunch of freshly plucked rosemary,
Eldress Clymena's blue flower omelet,
Sister Lisset's tea loaf, Shaker Johnny
Cake, or even Ohio lemon pie.
Columbus, Ohio ANNE GRIMES
86 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
Grant and His Generals. By Clarence Edward Macartney. (New York,
McBride Company, 1953. xiv+352p.;
illustrations, end-paper maps, bibli-
ography, and index, $5.00.)
To the recent rash of volumes dealing
with Civil War military history,
Clarence E. Macartney has added another.
In seeking to answer the ques-
tion of why Grant was successful in war,
after he had failed as an officer
in the old army, as a farmer, as a real
estate agent, and as he would later
fail as president, author Macartney
examines Grant's relations with his
fellow officers during the war. The
search for the key to Grant's military
success leads the author to declare
that, although he writes of battles and
campaigns, "my purpose, however,
has been to probe deeper." He adds,
quoting Plutarch, that "the most
glorious exploits do not always furnish
us with the clearest discoveries of
virtue and vice in man. Sometimes a
matter of lesser moment, an expression,
a jest, informs us better of their
characters and inclinations."
Giving a chapter to each, this volume
deals with thirteen of Grant's
generals: George H. Thomas, George G.
Meade, James B. McPherson,
John A. Rawlins, John A. Logan, Philip
H. Sheridan, James H. Wilson,
Henry W. Halleck, Benjamin F. Butler,
William F. ("Baldy")
Smith,
John A. McClernand, Ambrose E. Burnside,
and William T. Sherman. A
fourteenth chapter considers "Grant
and His Commander-in-Chief."
The coverage on each general is
extensive. Each chapter presents first the
pre-war career of the general under
consideration, followed by a play-by-play
account of the part that general played
in the war's campaigns and battles.
Sherman, Wilson, Sheridan, Smith, and
McPherson receive the author's
greatest praise for their contributions
to success. Understandably, Halleck,
Butler, and McClernand fall under the
severest criticism. Of special interest
to Ohio readers are the chapters on
Sherman, Sheridan, and McPherson.
The author is at his best in relating
intimate, personal stories illustrating
how each leader operated: Rawlins
smashing the bottles of liquor found at
Grant's tent; Butler browbeating Grant
into restoring Butler's command
during the campaign against Richmond;
and McClernand threatening Grant
with political retributiton. Of the many
quotations in the book, perhaps
the most revealing is O. O. Howard's
observation contrasting Grant and
Sherman: "Grant in command was . .
. habitually reticent. Sherman was
never so. Grant meditated . . .
withholding his opinion. . . . Sherman
quickly, brilliantly gave you half a
dozen. Grant appeared more inclined to
systematize and simplify; . . . take
promptly the offensive; follow up a
Book Reviews 87
victory. It made Grant the man for
campaign and battle. Sherman was
always at his best in campaign--in general
manoeuvres--better than in actual
battle."
Since the Civil War careers of these
generals were closely intertwined,
the book, organized as it is, contains
much repetition, backtracking, and
duplication. A more coherent result
might have been achieved had the
author chosen to follow Douglas Freeman's
example in Lee's Lieutenants.
In preparing this volume Macartney
appears to have searched widely in
such sources as government documents,
manuscripts, and newspapers, as
well as having talked personally with
Civil War survivors when he wrote
Lincoln and His Generals (Philadelphia, 1925). One previously unused
source tapped in this work is William
("Baldy") Smith's privately owned
papers and unfinished autobiography. The
author seems to have relied with
greater credence than prudence on
autobiographies and memoirs by the
leading participants, in some instances
quoting as fact items in memoirs
written twenty years after the event.
Unfortunately for the historian, the
book contains only thirty biblio-
graphical footnotes, leaving the sources
of many quotes and incidents
obscure. The reader might well wish for
more color and life in the de-
scriptions of active, robust men and
fewer extraneous diversions into material
giving no immediate connection with the
book's main theme.
How well has the author achieved his
purpose? If his purpose had been
simply to relate enlightening incidents
and to trace military careers, he
would have been eminently successful.
But having set himself the task to
probe deeper" to account for
Grant's military success, he forces the reader
to
concur with Sherman's view: "Yet to me, he [Grant] is a mystery,
and
believe he is a mystery to
himself."
Baldwin-Wallace College DAVID LINDSEY
Paddlewheeler Saga: A Chronicle of
Steamboating. By Ralph Nading Hill.
(New York, Rinehart & Company, 1953.
xii+342p.; illustrations, bibliog-
raphy, and index. $5.00.) '
Mr. Hill has produced an excellent book,
which, unfortunately, has a
misleading title.
When the average reader thinks of
steamboating, his thoughts are of
the craft which plied the Ohio, the
Mississippi, and, when sand bars and
snags permitted, the broad Missouri. He
expects a word of praise for Henry
Shreve, who made steamboating a practical
business, and a repetition, with
88 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
or without credit, of some of the
anecdotes Samuel Langhorne Clemens
first published in Life on the
Mississippi.
Neither the name of Capt. Shreve nor
that of Mr. Clemens appears in
the Index (the former, in the opinion of
this reviewer, being an omission
which shouldn't occur in any account of
the development of steamboat
transportation of freight and
passengers), and Mr. Hill has strayed far in
other ways from the pattern of most of
the many previous books on his
subject, good, indifferent, and not
infrequently very bad.
For, after half a dozen chapters on the
development of the steamboat,
in which the partisans of John Fitch
will find the sins of Robert Fulton
touched upon too lightly for their
taste, he takes up the development of
the ocean-going sidewheeler and gives
the reader something new, unhack-
neyed, and most interesting.
The doings of the shipping magnates who
introduced steam to the ports
of the world have been chronicled
before, but their activities have been
scattered through enough volumes of
biography and history to overflow
one of Dr. Eliot's celebrated five-foot
shelves. Mr. Hill has concentrated
their most important essence in this single
volume, from the first all-steam
crossing of the Atlantic by Junius Smith
in the chartered Sirius, through
the building of the elephantine (white)
British Great Eastern, to the
Ticonderoga, recently saved by public subscription for further
service or
Lake Champlain.
It's all very interesting, amply
illustrated, and documented in scholarly
style--but it should have had a
different title if Mr. Hill is to reap the
full benefit of his originality. The
appetite of many a reader, jaded by
rehashed Life on the Mississippi, which
has been served up so often, should
have been titillated by a title that
would help give the book a better chance
to receive the attention it well
deserves.
Crawfordsville, Indiana R. E. BANTA
The People Called Shakers: A Search
for the Perfect Society. By Edward
Deming Andrews. (New York, Oxford
University Press, 1953. xvi+
309p.; illustrations, appendices,
bibliography, and index. $6.00.)
It is most timely that Edward Andrews'
book, The People Called Shaker
reaches us here in Ohio during the
sesquicentennial, for within its pages we
are made keenly aware of the valuable
contributions this socio-religious sect
made in the building of our state and
our republic. It was in the log-cabin
wilderness on the Ohio frontier that the
first theological work on Shaker's
Book Reviews 89
often referred to as the Shaker Bible, The
Testimony of Christ's Second
Appearance, was written in 1806. Here in the crude meetinghouse at
Turtle
Creek (Lebanon) Richard McNemar, a noted
preacher and classical scholar,
became the father of Shaker hymnology
and song. This unique gospel of
"hands to work and hearts to
God" took root among our pioneers when
our state was but two years old.
Mr. Andrews has compiled out of the vast
literature, both by and about
the Shakers, a comprehensive and
definitive account of this unique sect.
With the aid of three fellowships given
him for that purpose, he has over
the span of more than twenty-five years
carried on a thorough research on
every phase of Shaker life. This
interest was awakened when he was
temporary curator of the New York State
Museum at a time when certain
of the Shaker communities of that state
were being dismantled. A large
amount of material was painstakingly
studied by him. He avows his in-
debtedness to the Believers themselves,
many of whom he has known
throughout his years of research.
On the origin of the Shaking-Quakers and
the early life of their leader,
Ann Lee, a cotton-mill worker of
Manchester, England, he has thrown
new light which helps us to better
understand this remarkable woman, who,
though so illiterate that she signed her
marriage bans with a cross, possessed
a rare intelligence and remarkable
spiritual power that made her the effective
and inspired leader of a new religious
sect. She and seven of her followers
arrived on these hostile shores not long
after the Boston Tea Party.
Realizing it was not the time to preach
a new religion, they withdrew to
the Niskeyuna wilderness, just above
Albany. Here in 1780 during the
Eastern Revival, those who failed to
find salvation in other religious move-
ments eagerly turned to Shakerism.
Mr. Andrews points out that it was not
until after Mother Ann Lee's
death in 1784, only a decade after her
arrival, that the converts themselves--
good Americans, many of whom had helped
win the Revolutionary War--
formed into these socio-religious
communities. He makes it clear that among
the many strange experiments in communal
life which developed in our
young nation, the Shaker experiment was
unique and the most successful.
It greatly differed from many, such as
the Labadist, Ephrata, Zoar, Amana,
Harmony, and others, who came to our
shores as organized old world
groups, where they settled in some
secluded nook and carried on their old
world customs, traditions, and language.
This was not the case with the
Shakers, who were Yankees inspired by
Mother Ann's zeal to establish the
"Perfect Society."
90 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
The feature which made Shakerism
distinct from the many other social
experiments in our land was celibacy.
This tenet is often wrongly attributed
as the chief factor in the decline of
the order. The fact is clear that celibacy
was the chief tenet that held the order
together and made their communal
effort succeed. By this rule family
competition and cupidity were eliminated
and each celibate gave forth his full
and best effort for the good of the
larger family-the Shaker community.
Mr. Andrews has richly documented this
valuable contribution to American
history by reviewing the bitterly
adverse and biased opinion of the dis-
satisfied apostate and critic as well as
that of the consecrated member of
the order. He has also given countless
excerpts from manuscripts--just
commonplace records of Shaker daily
life. "Only by the honest treatment
of all data may the heritage of the
order be most clearly revealed," we
read in the Introduction.
The Millennial Laws of the sect, which
have never before been pub-
lished, are included, and although many
of them may sound ridiculous and
trivial, they emphasize the fact that to
the Believer who was constantly
striving to establish God's kingdom on
earth, nothing was too trivial to
do in the best possible way. The
illustrations from old prints are numerous
and give us delightful glimpses into the
well-ordered routine of Shaker
life. It was left to the genius of Edward
Andrews to discover that the works
of Shaker hands were
"animated" and "make us aware of the kinship
between the spirit of these people and
the quality of their craft." To the
student of American history he has given
a most worthwhile book.
Cleveland, Ohio CAROLINE B. PIERCY
Economic Geography of Ohio. By Alfred J. Wright. Division of Geological
Survey, Fourth Series, Bulletin 50.
(Columbus, Ohio State Archaeological
and Historical Society, 1953. xi+217p.;
bibliography and index. $1.00.)
Ever since the little volume entitled Geography
of Ohio by Roderick
Peattie appeared as Bulletin 27 of the
fourth series of publications of the
Geological Survey of Ohio in 1923, there
has been published no satisfactory
over-all survey of the geography of the
state except geographical material
compiled for the publication of Ohio--An
Empire Within an Empire. The
present volume by Dr. Wright of the
department of geography of Ohio
State University therefore meets a very
important need in presenting current
geographic conditions in Ohio. The
writer has particularly welcomed this
volume because he has been teaching a
course in the geography of Ohio, and
Book Reviews 91
there has been no up-to-date text for
college students until it appeared.
After an Introduction in which surface
features, climate, original surveys,
early settlement, and similar materials
are presented, Dr. Wright has pro-
vided a chapter on Ohio agriculture,
including descriptions of soil types,
type-of-farming areas, farm income,
crops, and animal husbandry. Dr.
Wright would be the first to admit that
the treatment of this subject is far
from complete, but there are advantages
in having the material in compact
form. He writes concisely and the
student should be prepared to read much
between lines in order to obtain a
comprehensive view of our farm resources.
Almost every page contains at least one
map and these are thoroughly
legible.
The contents of Chapter 3 concern the
mineral industries, and here again
the maps and diagrams provide a wealth
of material, making it unnecessary
to burden the reader with a mass of
statistical detail. The fourth chapter
is somewhat longer than the preceding
and deals with Ohio's manufactures.
Here Dr. Wright brings his excellent
background of historical geography to
bear, and throughout the discussion he
makes clear Ohio's past and present
industrial life. Ohio's progress in
commerce and transportation is covered
at some length, with particular
attention to conditions prevailing in the
state since the close of the war in
1945. Railways, airways, and highways
are all given their fair share of
attention, and at this point the first part
of the book comes to an end.
Succeeding chapters deal with regional
aspects of our geography. Data
were based upon county statistics, and
hence Dr. Wright's division of
the state into a group of southwestern
counties ("The Miami Valley"),
northeastern Ohio (all of the Western
Reserve plus Columbiana, Stark,
Wayne, Holmes, Ashland, and Richland
counties), southeastern Ohio, and
northwestern and central Ohio, fails to
conform to any real regional design.
As a geographer, the reviewer is
disappointed that Dr. Wright has used the
expression "Miami Valley" for
one of these chapters and then has failed to
follow through with such divisions as
Scioto Valley, Maumee Valley,
Muskingum Valley, and the like.
Certain shortcomings are apparent
throughout the book, and it is hoped
that some discrepancies will be
corrected in future printings. Figure 19,
showing the sales of vegetable crops in $1,000
values, fails to indicate what
years the figures cover, and whether
these figures include the production of
greenhouse crops. Figure 24, Acreage in
Tenant-Operated Farms, omits the
figure for Pike County entirely. The
discussion of manufacturing in Mansfield
appears in the chapter on northeastern
Ohio, but the map of northwestern
92 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
Ohio shows Mansfield within that region.
These and other points are
little more than minor quibbling in view
of the monumental task of
synthesizing the statistical material.
The appearance of the volume is
attractive, and it has been my experience
that students take to its use as a text
very readily, with particular appre-
ciation for the large amount of tabular
and cartographic material that has
been included. The author and the
publishers are to be congratulated on
this volume and deserve the thanks of
all residents of Ohio for the work
done in preparing this over-all view of
the geography of our economic life.
Kent State University H. F. RAUP
Royal Bob: The Life of Robert G.
Ingersoll. By C. H. Cramer.
(Indianapolis,
Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1952. 314p.;
bibliography and index. $3.75.)
Easily the most captivating figure in
that convulsive nineteenth-century
struggle between science and religion
was Robert G. Ingersoll. Thousands
of believers, non-believers, and
unclassified, paid thousands of dollars to
hear the "Great Agnostic"
ridicule the Bible, flay the clergy, and scold the
public. Slightly over the average in
height, fluctuating between 200-280
pounds in weight, Ingersoll cut a
striking figure on the platform. Standing
alone, speaking without notes, he hit
hard, biting and humorous, mocking
and sarcastic. In this readable,
informative, and highly entertaining study,
Professor Cramer of Western Reserve
University has restored "Royal Bob"
(President Garfield was responsible for
the appellation) to his proper place
on the history bookshelf.
Ingersoll pursued three careers--he was
a lecturer, a lawyer, and a
Republican. His lecturing was devoted
principally to debunking the Bible,
a pastime which involved him in magazine
debates with a variety of clergy-
men, in addition to two lawsuits. His
most famous legal case occurred in
1882-83, when he defended Stephen Dorsey,
the A-1 conspirator in the
notorious Star Route Frauds. His
stump-speaking contributions to the Re-
publican party were considerable until
1884. He might have swung New
York to Blaine in that year by a single
appearance had he not been alienated
from his former friend.
While the book has great merit, it lacks
critical and interpretive values
Ingersoll's wild fulminations of 1876
are only mechanically denounced
and his defense of the Star Routers is
passed over without comment, it
is his receipt of a ranch in New Mexico
from his client Dorsey. Not near
Book Reviews 93
enough is said about the glaring
inconsistencies in Ingersoll's own thought
and behavior. Whereas he was true to his
principles with regard to religion
and family, he had no principles in his
political activity. Ingersoll con-
sidered himself, and he was, a defender
of the downtrodden, but at the
same time he was a corporation lawyer,
militant protectionist, and outspoken
imperialist. When rejected by Blaine he
took up with Henry George on the
rebound. He came out fighting for gold
in 1896, missing the deeper mean-
ing of Bryanism. These contradictions go
unnoticed.
One minor factual error. Speaking of the
Mulligan Letters, the author
twice on page 78 refers to Blaine's ties
with the Fort Worth and Little Rock
Railroad. This, of course, should have
read the Little Rock and Fort Smith
Railroad. In spite of its limitations,
the book is well worth one's while and
should be read by all students of the
period.
Rio Grande College EUGENE C. MURDOCK
History of Lake Shore Ohio. By Randolph C. Downes. Three volumes. (New
York, Lewis Publishing Company, 1953.
xv+432p.; 432p.; 570p.; illus-
trations and indexes. $25.00.)
These volumes, like many local histories
of former years, have apparently
been financed in large part by the
familiar device of devoting the last volume
to biographical sketches of successful
individuals in the region. The author,
however, unlike many who have undertaken
similar ventures in the past,
is a trained historian. Director of the
Historical Society of Northwestern
Ohio, editor of that society's
quarterly, member of the history faculty of the
University of Toledo, Dr. Downes is also
the author of various meritorious
historical works, including a history of
Lucas County, Ohio, now in process
of publication and eventually to be
complete in six volumes.
The author has earnestly endeavored to
present a balanced account of
the political, social, economic, and
cultural development of the region from
the earliest times to the present day.
Interest for the reader may be stimulated
by the use of paragraph headings
followed by rather brief treatment of
topics not always intimately related to
each other. Considerable attention has
been given to newspaper sources to
ascertain local reactions to events and
trends of historical importance during
various decades.
The area, including Toledo and
Cleveland, embraces of course one of the
highly industrialized sections of the
country, and the importance of iron and
steel and a host of industries related
to the modern mechanized age is
94 Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
properly emphasized. Included also are
rather extensive sections on the
problems of American imperialism,
neutrality, war, and international co-
operation since 1898, with pertinent
comment from newspapers of the
Ohio lake shore region.
Certain difficulties were inherent in
the project, including that of con-
sistently following a concept as to the
distance that the lake shore region
extends into the interior. Accurate
information, moreover, is available for
some periods to a greater degree than
for others, as is illustrated by the fact
that the political developments of the
last forty years (not yet carefully
analyzed by scholars) are treated with noticeable
brevity.
The maps and illustrations have been
selected with discrimination, though
the map of the War of 1812 (I, p. 66)
locates Ft. Wayne very inexactly.
In the text, other minor errors will be
noted. Ft. Defiance was hardly
"rebuilt" as Ft. Winchester
during the War of 1812 (I, p. 160), for it was
located some little distance away. To
term a "total loss" the sums that had
been received by Ohio under the federal
deposit act of 1836 and loaned in
part to the counties (I, p. 146) is not
correct. (See E. L. Bogart, Internal
Improvements and State Debt in Ohio, New York, 1924, p. 167.)
The author, relying on the studies of
Wellington G. Fordyce in the Ohio
State Archaeological and Historical
Quarterly, states that the Jews,
number-
ing about 125,000 in 1936, constitute
probably the largest group of foreign
origin in Cleveland, Yet, Fordyce (ibid.,
XLV, 324) states that first and
second-generation Germans numbered about
250,000 in 1936. Many of
these no doubt are fairly well separated
from the cultural traditions of their
fathers, but this is also true of many
Jews.
The proofreading has been carefully
done, though Presbyterian is mis-
spelled in Volume II, page 483.
The third volume, comprising largely
biographical accounts of successful
business leaders of recent decades,
gives much information which may be
helpful for future students of local
affairs. Incidentally, a perusal of these
sketches points strikingly to the wide
prevalence during the past generation
in the homes of the financially
successful of the two-child family, which,
according to experts, is hardly large
enough for the replacement of such
groups.
Finally, in spite of the limitations
indicated, this work has much t??
commend it to the student of
middlewestern American history.
Ohio State University FRANCIS P. WEISENBURGER
Book Reviews 95
Artists and Illustrators of the Old
West: 1850-1900. By Robert Taft. (New
York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1953.
xvii+400p.; illustrations, bibliog-
raphy, and index. $8.50.)
In the publication of Artists and
Illustrators of the Old West: 1850-1900
Dr. Robert Taft, professor of chemistry
at the University of Kansas, has not
only revived the interest in the old
American frontiers, but also created
new frontiers in the study of American
art. The author's previous con-
tribution of the excellent Photography
and the American Scene is now
surpassed in literary interest and
documentation of the thrilling expansion
of the West during the latter half of
the nineteenth century. Although a
few careful studies have been and are
being made of individual artists who
contributed to this American epic, Dr.
Taft for the first time, to the reviewer's
knowledge, has performed the laborious
and exacting research necessary to
provide a reliable resume of this
colorful era as seen through the eyes of
the adventurous men with their
sketchpads who did so much to give the
visual impression of the Old West with
its native Indians and invading
pioneers.
The authority of original pencil and water-color
sketches, together with
wood-engravings, lithographs, and oil
paintings made from the field sketches,
is substantiated by the extensive
collection of anecdotal text from letters,
diaries, and autobiographies of the
artists. It is a timely task, as so many
of the names are in danger of
disappearing with the original sketches. Of
the forty-odd men presented by Dr. Taft,
hardly one, with the possible
exception of Frederic Remington, has
rated more than a passing mention
in the annals of American art. The
argument may well be that they were
not great artists, merely illustrators
of the passing scene, quickly supplanted
by the photographer. It is the old
question of what constitutes art, and who
is entitled to the title of artist.
There is no question but that these painters
and draftsmen had to master the exacting
techniques of their craft; that they
held their reflecting mirrors up to
nature and recorded what they saw with
sincerity and truth occasionally colored
with romanticism. Without the
paintings of Hays, Mathews, Graham,
Zogbaum, Farny, Schreyvogel, Leigh,
to name but a select few, how dull would
be the recordings of the Old West.
Nearly half of the substantial volume is
devoted to well arranged and
amply documented notes and sources with
illustrations of typical works of
thirty-five of the artists, and an
excellent index. This section in itself with
the volumes of such magazines as Harper's
Weekly, Frank Leslie's Illustrated
Magazine, and the other publications whose pages were enlivened
and
96 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
enriched by the illustrators, provides a
gold mine for further search. Last,
but not least, the scholarly
presentation that Dr. Taft has made of Artists
and Illustrators of the Old West has not kept his text from being en-
tertaining reading.
Ohio State University RALPH FANNING
The Negro in the Civil War. By Benjamin Quarles. (Boston, Little, Brown
and Company, 1953. xviii+379p.;
illustrations, bibliography, and index.
$5.00.)
In producing this scholarly account of The
Negro in the Civil War, Dr.
Benjamin Quarles, professor of history
at Morgan State College, Baltimore,
Maryland, has bridged another gap in the
construction of the history of
Negro-Americans, and has made an
important addition to a growing body
of literature about them. The author in
telling this story has developed a
lucid and interesting account, and his
book is a valuable addition to American
history.
Professor Quarles has approached his
subject from the point of view of
the North and the South, and he has also
presented the role of Negroes who
make a falsehood of the southern
tradition of their loyalty to the Confederate
South. He shows that while they became,
at first, teamsters, orderlies, and
laborers who constructed breastworks and
forts, dug intrenchments, and
erected fortifications for artillery,
they later deserted and fled to the Union
lines, where they became
"contrabands," and also acted as guides, pilots,
spies, and workers. They welcomed the
Union troops in their advances, as
they learned that these advances would
lead to freedom. It is important
to know the attitudes, reactions, and
experiences of the Negro people,
especially in the northern states, who
had participated in the Negro con-
vention movement, the abolition crusade,
and the economic transition to
freedom, and particularly of many
thousands who had never been slaves,
who were heralding the new day in our
democratic experience.
Professor Quarles' title to his book is
somewhat misleading, because his
book is not so much a volume on the
Negro in the Civil War as it is a
study of the Negro soldier in the Civil
War. Historical conditions affecting
the Negro population receive some attention,
but the emphasis is on the
problems of war. Picturesque and
dramatic titles characterize the chapter
headings: "So Nigh Is
Grandeur," "They Also Serve," "No More Driver's
Lash," "I Can't Stay
Behind," "Rehearsal for Freedom," "A High Day
in Zion," "The Tortoise Gets a
Move On," "Sixty-three Is the Jubilee,"
Book Reviews 97
"Do You Think I'll Make a
Soldier," "Anselmas Reports to God," "Home
Front: Group Portrait in Sepia,"
"Toll de Bell," "Badges of Freedom,"
"Jubilee--Jubilanus--Jubilatum,"
"Where Sleep Our Kindred Dead."
The census of 1860 reported 488,070 free
Negroes in the United States,
and 52.9 percent had found residence in
the North. This population group
had been schooled in the meaning of
freedom by the conditions under which
they lived as well as by the voices of
democracy. Scarcely had the war opened
with the firing of the first guns, when
Negroes began to strike their blows
for freedom.
As Dr. Quarles writes, when April 12,
1861, came, "the Negro was
ready. This is a record of that
readiness." He found that "from the ranks
of the former slaves came the bulk of
the 180,000 Negroes who enlisted
in the Army and the more than 29,000 who
manned Union ships." There
were fifty-two military encounters in
which Negroes participated. Dr.
Quarles gives highlights to five of
these battles; two of them, Battery
Wagner in South Carolina and Port Hudson
in Louisiana, were fought by
free Negro soldiers. The other three
battles, Melliken's Bend, Nashville,
and Petersburg, were fought by ex-slaves
from Mississippi, Tennessee,
Maryland, and Virginia. Negroes served
also as scouts, spies, and nurses;
they were in activities of the
Underground Railroad; and they were home
defenders.
Ohio's Negroes played important parts in
this drama of war for freedom.
The author quotes the Rev. William
Waring, pastor of Toledo's Negro
Baptist Church, as saying that,
"from the hour of the uprising, the Negro
was a new man." In Cleveland,
Negroes resolved that, "today, as in the
times of '76 and in the days of 1812, we
are ready to go forth and do
battle in the common cause of our
country." In another Ohio town, Albany,
a military company of Negroes was formed
and was named "Attucks
Guards," after Crispus Attucks, the
Negro who was one of the first martyrs
of the American Revolution. Yet, with
these and other evidences of
loyalty, the state attorney general, H.
B. Carrington, had to inform the
Negroes of Ohio that the Ohio
Constitution did not permit him to issue
an order for their enlistment. Negroes
of Ohio had never been called upon
officially by the state to perform
military service, but Ohio had been a
recruiting ground for the Massachusetts
55th Regiment, the first of the
Negro regiments.
In the early days of the war neither congress
nor the northern state legis-
latures were willing to announce or
admit that the Negro was a factor
in the cause of the war or its
prosecution. They were as unwilling to con-
98 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
sider Negro enlistments until induced by
the events of war and the difficulties
northern governors were having in
raising their quota of troops. Never-
theless, Negroes wanted to serve in this
war for freedom. A Negro of Toledo
wrote the Toledo Blade that he
was willing to serve "as cook, waiter or
in any other way."
In 1863 Ohio began the recruiting of
Negro troops. John Mercer Langston,
a graduate of Oberlin College and later
a Negro member of congress, was
one of the recruiting agents. The 5th
United States Colored Troops, with
Colonel G. W. Shurtliff commanding, was
recruited almost exclusively from
Ohio. Governor David Tod and his
predecessor, William Dennison, were
chief speakers at the flag presentation
ceremonies for this company.
The author has based his study upon
extensive use of collections of
books and manuscripts. He has had a
leave of absence from teaching duties
in order to prepare the book and has had
the opportunity to travel through
grants-in-aid. There are no footnotes
but instead copious quotations are
used. The reported reliability of some
quotations of statements of dialect
by Negroes may well be questioned. Some
are amusing, but are they also
accurately reported?
The volume has an informal style, with
realistic details, and is quite
readable. This history of Negroes, by a
Negro, somehow denies classification
as "Negro History." It is a
distinct contribution to American history. A
bibliography, arranged by chapters, but
also accurately complete, appears at
the end of the volume. The great value
of the book, however, is in the total
story which it tells of what
Negro-Americans did for themselves in the heroic
struggle for our freedom--all of which
makes a contrast with the traditional
story of how Lincoln and the Union
armies brought freedom to them. Of one
thing we can be sure, textbook writers
on the Civil War will not be com-
piling the complete story unless they
give attention to this well-written and
important study, which will remain for a
long time as a basic volume on
this subject.
Central State College CHARLES H. WESLEY
A History of Miami County, Ohio. By Leonard U. Hill and others. (Piqua,
Miami County Ohio Sesquicentennial
Committee, 1953. xii+403p.; illus-
trations. $2.50.)
This is another county history to come
out of the Ohio sesquicentennial
celebration and one that will be used to
supplement courses in American
history in the city and county schools
of Miami County. In the preparation
Book Reviews 99
of many county sesquicentennial
histories the time element was vital, and
as is the case of the Miami volume, it
was necessary to enlist the help of
many native authors and researchers to
meet the deadline. Thus we are con-
fronted with a book containing a
delightful variety of writing styles as
well as varied approaches to the many
facets in the realm of local history.
Editor Hill has done an admirable job of
organization of historical
material, particularly in the early
section of the book wherein the pre-
history is described. Excavations of a
mound situated southeast of Forest
Hill Cemetery in Piqua revealed a
sacrificial altar made of clay burned red
and covered with ashes, charcoal, and
burned bone pressed solid covered
with clay. As far back as Indian
tradition extends, the Miami tribe in-
habited this entire region. Although no
detailed prehistory is related, it
gives the volume a good start, and this
continues through the telling of
Indian activity in the county. The
following chapter recounts the formation
of Miami County, which was established
by an act of the state legislature
passed January 16, 1807. The histories
of each township are given midway
through the book and are listed
alphabetically. In addition, the fifty-seven
illustrations, which include maps, line
drawings, and old and modern photo-
graphs, do much to increase the overall
value of the history.
The book is most absorbing, however,
when it deals with such subjects as
the early home life in the county and
the development of the canal system.
Here the writers create a vivid sense of
reality that often eludes the pen
of the professional historian. The
younger reader will not remember dates
and boundaries as well as he will recall
names, scenes, and situations.
And on the local history level,
re-creation of the early scene--the whole
pattern of pioneer life--should be well
planted in the minds of the beginner.
Anne Rayner Wilson, author of the
chapter Homes and Home Life, has
done a commendable job of telling the
story of a day in the life of a pioneer
family. She begins with the pioneer
cabin and recounts the method of con-
struction. "A day was appointed for
the cabin raising and the neighbors
came for miles around for the sociable
time that went with all working
together. Early in the day entire
families arrived. The women prepared food
and the accustomed whiskey or brandy was
provided by the host." From the
building of the cabin, Mrs. Wilson goes
into the kind of food that
nourished the pioneer and then into the
early recipes. "The corn dodger
was the meal, water and salt made into dough
and baked. Corn pone was
made with meal, yeast and milk. The 'hoe
cake' or 'Johnny Cake' was
made with meal, shortening of bear's
grease or hog's grease mixed with
water and made into a dough which was
placed on a clapboard of maple
100 Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
three feet long and six or eight inches
wide. The dough was spread on about
an inch thick and baked in front of the
fire and was quite appetizing."
Clothes and customs are described in the
following pages, creating again
for the reader, young or old, a feeling
of "knowing" what the pioneer did,
how he did it, and so forth. It is the
purpose in such county histories, it
seems to me, to familiarize the reader
with each event through simple
description. The dates and statistics,
while important to the teacher, are
not dwelled upon by the average reader
or untrained historian.
A chapter on "The Canal" by L.
S. Pearson is another that re-creates the
early day. In 1850 there were, according
to Mr. Pearson, some four hundred
line and packet boats on the Miami and
Erie Canal. A line boat carried
merchandise, grain, lumber, and other
articles, while the popular packet
boat was a combination passenger, diner,
sleeper, smoker, and mail boat,
and usually had a bar. The packets were
gaily painted, had silk curtains,
served fine meals, and were built for
speed. An advertisement in an 1850
paper stated that a boat left Piqua at 8
A.M. and got into Cincinnati in time
for breakfast the next morning. The beds
were stretched canvas shelves three
feet wide that hung from the wall and
ceiling and could be taken down in
the daytime. Men usually removed their
shoes, coats, and vests to retire,
and in cases of overcrowding, they slept
on and under tables. Miami
County's interest in the early canals is
great, since Piqua was head of
navigation on the canal for seven
years--from 1837 to 1844.
The History of Miami County is
best when it reflects upon its early home-
steads, its canals, its early
transportation, and its people. For herein it pre-
serves a "folksy" reality that
was, and is today, a part of the people who
reside in all of our Ohio communities.
Franklin County Historical Society DANIEL F. PRUGH
Letters of Sherwood Anderson. Selected and edited with an Introduction and
Notes by Howard Mumford Jones in
association with Walter B. Rideout.
(Boston, Little, Brown and Company,
1953. xxix+479p.; illustrations
and index. $6.00.)
Sherwood Anderson, of Camden, Clyde,
Springfield, Cleveland, and
Elyria, lived twenty-seven of his
sixty-one years in Ohio, but there is little
about his native state in this book of
four hundred letters spanning the period
1916-41. They add nothing, therefore, to
what we learn of Anderson's Ohio
years from the unpublished dissertations
of William Sutton and William
Phillips. After he suffered his nervous
breakdown in Elyria in 1912 and
Book Reviews 101
moved to Chicago, he felt no compulsion
even to revisit the region from
which he mined half his books.
Nevertheless, he carried his Ohio ex-
perience with him wherever he went
thereafter, whether it was to Chicago,
New York, the South, or Europe; and he
seems to have been most at home,
after 1925, in a Virginia village which
resembled the pre-industrial Clyde
of his boyhood. When Anderson wrote
Dreiser, in 1936, from his home
in Marion, Virginia, that "the
small town is like a goldfish bowl. You can
look and see. And I do see often the
most sensitive ones breaking down,
becoming drunkards, going all to pieces
because of the terrible [loneliness]
and dullness," he was declaring his
belief that Clyde, like Mark Twain's
Hannibal, was everywhere. When he wrote
of Sinclair Lewis, "I've been
laying for that bird ever since he wrote
Main Street," he was implying a
partial truth: that whereas Main
Street is a story about a region, Winesburg,
Ohio is a story about people.
The letters are of considerable
biographical importance, for Anderson's
memory was as unreliable as Poe's, and
his numerous memoirs and semi-
autobiographical works are not to be
trusted in matters of fact. The letters
are of equal importance for the literary
historian, for Anderson was at the
center of the cultural renaissance of
1914-30, and his correspondents in-
cluded Dreiser, Van Wyck Brooks, Alfred
Steiglitz, Edmund Wilson,
Gertrude Stein, Waldo Frank, and Paul
Rosenfeld. (The editors, for
obvious reasons, have made little use of
the other side of the correspondence,
and we shall probably have to wait a
long time before it gets into print.)
Chiefly, however, the letters concern
the craft of writing--Anderson's
writing--and to the literary student
they reveal his strength and expose his
weakness. One cannot read them without
realizing that Anderson was a
perennial amateur who hated making a living
(and a poor living it was,
in spite of his fame) from his books.
Writing for him was an intense
excitement, dependent upon mood rather
than upon steady application at
the desk. Incapable of careful planning,
he would write and destroy several
successive versions of a novel before
discovering that he had a subject but
no predicate. His subjects were many and
complex--small towns, big
towns, the machine--worker, the Negro,
the loves and family life of the
middle class--and to them he brought all
his great capacity for generous
sympathy. But his object was always to feel
the subject which engrossed his
imagination, never to understand it with
the aid of a theory, a process of
thought, or an accumulation of fact. As
he wrote Dreiser, the "general
notion of the writer being also thinker,
philosopher, etc. is . . . wet."
Inevitably, his strength was not in the
novel but in the short story, which,
102 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
in modern practice and partly because of
Anderson's influence, has become
a noun without a verb.
The letters make lively reading. They
are the record of a man perpetually
seeking to find himself, and, again and
again, feeling dismay at what he
finds. They are well edited, and
Professor Jones's introduction is both
illuminating and sympathetic.
Ohio State University WILLIAM CHARVAT
The Army Air Forces in World War II. Edited by Wesley F. Craven and
James L. Cate. Vol. V, The Pacific:
Matterhorn to Nagasaki, June 1944
to August 1945. (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1953. xxxvii+
878p.; maps and charts, illustrations, and index. $8.50.)
This volume takes for its topic those
varied and widespread operations of
the army air forces in the Pacific in
the final phase of the Pacific War.
The defensive maneuvers had been
completed for the most part, and the
offense begun. It is a glowing story of
the defeats and victories, the failures
and successes of air power in a
scattered theater of operations. It is the tale
of expediency and diverse command, of
trial and error.
All military histories of the late war
are somewhat difficult to judge in
point of accuracy. The layman has not
yet had an opportunity to study the
reports and documents which speeded the
various services of the nation to
victory. Yet this volume, like its
predecessors, seems to be not only com-
prehensive, but fair and equitable. It
is neither a propaganda piece in praise
of air power, nor a critical essay upon
the shortcomings of man's military
might in the air. Rather, it appears to
present an unbiased, straightforward
account of the situation as it existed.
It deals with the personalities as well
as the aircraft involved, sometimes
harshly, sometimes with sincere respect.
It pulls no punches in relating the
history of the intercommand rivalries
which often reduced the military
effectiveness of the airplane, as well as
the ground and sea forces.
The history of the army air forces in
the Pacific from June 1944 to
victory in 1945 is concise and to the
point. Whereas the various authors
(some eight in number) do not pass
direct judgment upon the men and
materials involved, the verdicts are
included by implication and weight
of fact.
Perhaps more than anything else, this
volume gives the reader an idea
of the magnitude of the Pacific air war.
It points out vividly and clearly
the mass of men and materiel which must
be coordinated and organized
Book Reviews 103
in order that an air command may be put
on an operational basis. Even
more, it questions, by innuendo, the
idea of a divided command among
sea, ground, and air units. There is no
doubt left in the reader's mind that
misunderstanding and personal ideas of
feasible military tactics brought on
costly, sometimes even disastrous,
mistakes. Yet, in the final analysis, the
army air forces contributed greatly to
the defeat of the Japanese, long
before the bombings of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. A statement in the final
chapter seems to summarize the element
of success: "It was the versatility
of the AAF, rather than its
accomplishments in any one department, which
deserves principal emphasis in a review
of its contribution to the defeat of
Japan." Bombing, mining, supplying,
rescue work, reconnaissance, and
communications were all part and parcel
of the work of the army air
forces in the Pacific, and this volume
does much toward giving each of
these phases of operation just credit.
There are two obvious drawbacks to this
history. First, it is so detailed
and those details are nearly impossible
to check by the lay historian, and,
secondly, the chapters, written by
different individuals, vary in degree of
clarity and effective presentation. A
still longer history with fewer confusing
abbreviations and more interpretation
might have been merited. Chrono-
logical aberrations are explained
satisfactorily, and the organization of the
volume, as a whole, is worthy of praise,
for here has been presented in one
volume the story of the military careers
of thousands of aircraft and still
more thousands of men. Illustrations are
quite effectively used, and together
with maps, aid in the documentation of
the work. Undoubtedly better
military histories are yet to be
written, but as an early and comprehensive
effort, this primary attempt is above
reproach.
Anthony Wayne Parkway Board RICHARD C. KNOPF
This Is Ohio: Ohio's 88 Counties in
Words and Pictures. By Grace Goulder
Izant. (Cleveland, World Publishing
Company, 1953. 264p.; illustrations,
map, list of Ohio colleges and
universities, bibliography, and index.
$2.75.)
Grace Goulder Izant, well known for her
"Ohio Scenes and Citizens" in
the Sunday Pictorial Magazine of the Cleveland
Plain Dealer, has assembled
eighty-eight short sketches (one for
each of Ohio's counties), added ninety-
nine well-chosen pictures, and called
the result This Is Ohio. Based prin-
cipally on her researches in connection
with her ten-year-old Plain Dealer
series, the contents of this little
volume are aimed by Mrs. Izant and the
104 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
publisher at meeting the demand of
Ohioans for more information re-
specting the history of their state in
its sesquicentennial year.
The author deservedly enjoys the
reputation of an entertaining writer,
and she has done a good job in
"making the reader want to turn the page."
She has succeeded in obtaining needed
cohesion, a most difficult task when
you consider the number and diversity of
background of Ohio's counties,
by subdividing the state into nine
geographical-historical units, presenting
an introduction to each, and then
following with sketches of the counties
making up that unit.
However, with two or three interesting
anecdotes, plus a smattering of
facts and figures and a picture or two,
making up the sketch of each county,
it is obvious that the book is primarily
intended for popular consumption
and not to meet the needs of the
historian. Indeed, the latter will find little
"new" information in its pages
and will doubtless take exception to its
abbreviated index, its uncritical
bibliography, the total absence of footnotes,
and the numerous errors which have crept
into its pages. For example, on
page 23 we are told that the battle of
Buffington Island was a "mild
skirmish" which resulted in the
surrender of Morgan, though he managed
to escape with a number of his soldiers
at night. Joshua Reed Giddings is
described as a "senator" on
page 32, as is Clement L. Vallandigham on
page 210. On page 48 Mark Hanna is
described as becoming a power in
Republican politics and the
"mentor" of President McKinley after he became
a senator. Killbuck is pictured as the
site of "Fort Fizzle" on page 85,
while Waverly is credited with being the
location of the atomic energy plant
on pages 173 and 189.
In describing the surrender of white
captives by the Delawares and
Shawnees to Colonel Henry Bouquet on
page 88, Mrs. Izant states that
"tribal leaders . . . paddled in
with more than two hundred white prisoners,
eighty of them women and children."
Actually, all but eighty were women
and children. On page 91 we are told
that the Gnadenhutten massacre
was conducted by a "corps of
Virginia militia, . . . bent on retaliation against
Indians for depredations in the
South." The United States Geographer
Thomas Hutchins is pictured on page 94
as beginning "a survey of lands
east of the Ohio River called the Seven
Ranges," while on page 102
we are informed that "the country's
first six ships, the Constitution among
them, were commissioned by Congress in
1794 to fight the Barbary pirates."
Historians of the Civil War will be
interested to learn on page 139 that
General James B. McPherson was
"killed at thirty-five near Atlanta in 1834."
Urbana Junior College is called a
"university" on page 161, while the
Book Reviews 105
year of reorganization of the colleges
at Wilberforce is given as 1951 on
page 213. On page 183 the Mingo chief
Logan is pictured as killed by
"irresponsible whites."
President George Washington, when first learning
of the news of the terrible defeat of
St. Clair, is described as breaking into
"a fury of denunciation of his old
friend" on page 222. The battle of
Fallen Timbers is depicted as taking
place in November on pages 236 and
248, while Michigan is referred to as a
"state" at the time of the Toledo
boundary "war" of 1835, this
on page 246. Even its chamber of commerce
will be surprised to learn that "by
mid-nineteenth century Toledo was the
'glass capital' of the world"--page
247.
Mrs. Izant experiences considerable
difficulty in her handling of the subject
of the Greene Ville Treaty. On page 195
we are told that in the treaty the
Indians "gave up a great part of
what is now southwestern Ohio," while
on page 219 it is mentioned that the
Indians "still lingered in the Ohio
northwest despite the Greenville
Treaty." Page 217 proceeds to describe the
treaty line as "running south and
west from Cleveland to today's Mercer
County, and south along the Ohio
boundary line to the Ohio River."
Occasionally the author is given to
exceptionally vivid (even if historically
inaccurate) bits of picturization.
Ponder for a moment on this excerpt
from page 225:
. . . the important Indian village,
Pickawalliny [sic], the home of the Miami tribe
and the leather-faced tricky chief, Old
Britain. His town was wiped out later by a
posse of hot-headed Canadians who
galloped into the beautiful valley, buckskin jackets
flying and rifles cocked.
Some bits of additional humor have been
injected into the body of the
book through the carelessness of the
proofreader. For example, on page 50
a "statute of Moses
Cleaveland" is described as standing on Cleveland's
Public Square. Paulding is portrayed on
page 234 as a "pleasant rural
trading center with a leading factory
making break linings."
But the most glaring error of all was
committed by the one who drew the
map of Ohio for the end papers. Here the
Western Reserve was shown as
including the river counties of Gallia,
Meigs, Athens, and Washington,
while the Ohio Company lands were
pictured as encompassing the north
central counties of Lucas, Ottawa,
Sandusky, Seneca, Hancock, Wyandot,
Crawford, Hardin, and Marion.
Fortunately, a second printing has come
out that has corrected this map.
It is regrettable that at the time of
this correction the numerous other errors
which appear in the body of the book
were not eliminated.
Kent State University PHILLIP
R. SHRIVER
106 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
Encyclopedia of American History. Edited by Richard B. Morris. (New York,
Harper & Brothers, 1953. xv+776p.;
maps, charts, and index. $6.00.)
The reference literature on American
history has been immensely en-
riched by the appearance of the Encyclopedia
of American History. Columbia
University professor Richard B. Morris
in his capacity as editor has ac-
complished on a national basis what William
L. Langer did more com-
prehensively in his noted Encyclopedia
of World History. The result is a
scholarly, readable volume which merits
a place on the shelves of every
library, every historian, and anyone
else seeking verification of historical
facts or capsular presentation of
American history.
Dr. Morris, an established teacher and
author (The Era of the American
Revolution, Government and Labor in
Early America, Studies in the History
of American Law, and Fair Trial), has successfully welded together
the
original contributions of an outstanding
group of consultant editors headed
by Professor Henry Steele Commager. His
colleagues, all of whom deserve
mention, were William Duncan Strong,
Thomas C. Cochran, Ray Allen
Billington, J. Bartlet Brebner, Talbot
Hamlin, Sumner Welles, James D.
Hart, the Rev. Dr. Anson Phelps Stokes,
and William L. Laurence. It is
regrettable indeed that space
limitations do not permit the naming of every
individual who participated in one phase
or another of the work.
Both a chronological and a topical
approach have been employed. In the
first of three principal divisions,
approximately 400 pages are devoted pri-
marily to the major political and
military events in the nation's history.
Attention is given to such important
background topics as the original
peopling of the Americas, the
exploration of the western hemisphere, and
the colonization period, but the bulk of
the section deals with the years since
the Seven Years' War. Beginning with 1763,
each year is treated separately,
varying in length from a short paragraph
to several pages. Within specific
periods, however, topical treatment is
often used, as in "The United States
and World Reconstruction Since
1945," which is subdivided into relief
and reconstruction; peace settlements;
negotiations, conferences, and treaties;
cold war; aggression in Korea; domestic
issues; and national politics.
Coverage extends through the election of
1952 and President-elect Eisen-
hower's trip to Korea.
In the second major division six
principal subjects are accorded a total
of 216 pages. These include "The
Expansion of the Nation," "Population
and Immigration," "The
Constitution and the Supreme Court," "The Amer-
ican Economy," "Science and
Invention," and "Thought and Culture," each
Book Reviews 107
of which embraces several specific
topics. For example, under the last-
named heading, religion is traced from
the establishment of the Church
of England in Virginia in 1609 to the
Revised Standard Version of the
Bible in 1952; the theater and motion
pictures range from Ye Bare and Ye
Cubb in 1665, the first English play known to have been
performed in the
colonies, to Cinerama in 1952; and
twenty-two pages on literature are
studded with names of authors and their
works, including a list of best-
sellers for each period. Education,
newspapers and periodicals, music, and
fine arts and architecture receive
comparable attention in this section.
Brief biographies of 300 eminent
Americans and an extensive Index
round out the Encyclopedia. Ohioans
will perhaps be interested to note
that the subjects of some twenty of the
biographical sketches (well above the
average) were natives of the Buckeye
state, besides a considerable number
who, though born elsewhere, achieved
fame while residents of Ohio. The
Index, a valuable adjunct to the book,
includes approximately 6,000 subjects,
enabling the reader to locate most
information with relative ease.
The usefulness of the volume has been
further increased by the inclusion
of a table naming each president's
cabinet members, a list of all the United
States Supreme Court justices with their
years of service, a fourteen-page
summary of leading court decisions, and
thirty-two maps and charts.
There is little to criticize in the Encyclopedia.
The most serious de-
ficiency noted by this reviewer after
rather intensive examination is the
apparent failure to state (except to a
limited degree by indirect reference)
the provisions of the Articles of
Confederation. The infrequent typo-
graphical errors do not materially
detract from the highly professional
character of the book nor do they as a
rule alter the sense of the text. It
could be confusing, however, to read on
page 398 that "after UN forces
(Apr.-May) hurled back two Red attacks,
true [for truce] negotiations
began at Kaesong, 10 July 1951."
The Encyclopedia will
unquestionably answer a definite need. There would
still seem, on the other hand, to be
room for a single-volume dictionary of
American history without narrative text,
a type of volume which has not
been essayed successfully in recent
years. The format of the Encyclopedia
is attractive, and the printing in
general measures up to the high standard
of workmanship otherwise achieved. The
publisher is also to be commended
for putting so low a price on this
splendid volume.
Ohio State Archaeological JOHN S. STILL
and Historical Society
108
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
The Antioch Review Anthology: Essays,
Fiction, Poetry, and Reviews from
The Antioch Review. Edited by Paul
Bixler. (Cleveland, World Publishing
Company, 1953. ix+470p. $6.00.)
Here is as good a showing as one could
find--and keep for reference
later-of what appears in a contemporary
serious magazine. Of forty-six
contributors, more than half are college
teachers. There are seven essays
grouped as "The Political
Animal," five more under "Patterns of Belief,"
and six under "Patterns of
Living." The remaining twenty-eight items are
short stories (some very good ones),
poems, and reviews of other books.
The Review itself is only twelve
years old. That fact, added to the note
just made that half the contributors are
teachers, means that the Anthology
is a short course in contemporary social
science. Collaterally, it is a weather
map of the last twelve years as drawn by
the segment of our people known
as the intellectual left (a term of
honor in this reviewer's mind rather than
a complaint) or, again a troublesome
word, liberals. A good portion of the
essay material is used in defining
liberalism, with and without the upper-
case "L." One who would like
to call himself a liberal if only he could
define it, will not attempt to do so
here. There is no satisfactory agreement
among the Anthology essayists on
the point, for that matter.
Two observations concerning the essays
are proper in the very brief
treatment of this review. One is quite
arresting, though certainly not new.
There is prevailing among these social
scientists (as among intellectuals
generally and professional writers
particularly) a refusal to include God
in the working of the world. Now and
then one finds an express declaration
against the Hutchins and Dewey thesis
that education of the proper (scien-
tific and humanistic) kind can solve all
our problems, but more often there
is a faith that man can solve his
problems alone. It is a curious thing that
Christian faith can be denied as
unscientific and unintellectual by these
writers, when they demonstrate a faith,
equally spiritual and unscientific,
in the power of mens' minds alone,
unaided by God.
The second observation is that there is
a notable similarity in style among
the essays and to a lesser degree among
the reviews. There is a passion for
tags--one is not obscure, he is guilty
of obscurantism, and so on. To say
it ponderously is to say it well. This
is the academic English about which
so much fun has been had for twenty
years.
This is not to say that tired ideas are
festooned with useless words, for
that would be far from true. There is
stimulating inquiry and examination
in these essays that is found only in
the college and university reviews and
Book Reviews 109
the little magazines. The contributors
fulfill the function of thinkers and
teachers, and it is only a minor
annoyance that they fall into jargon in
setting forth what they have to say.
The Antioch Review has maintained
a high level of serious concern for
contemporary problems during its life.
The Anthology is an excellent and
full sampling, and the volume certainly
has permanent value.
Cincinnati, Ohio NORMAN L. SPELMAN
Epidemics in Colonial America. By John Duffy. (Baton Rouge, Louisiana
State University Press, 1953. xi+274p.;
illustrations, bibliography, and
index. $4.50.)
One of the most dramatic achievements of
modern medical science is the
conquest of epidemic diseases spread by
contaminated food and water and
transmitted by insects and rodents, an
achievement that has added twenty-
five years to the average life-span
during the past century and has made
the once dreaded terror of uncontrolled
epidemics a thing of the past.
Fortunately, the present generation of
Americans on the whole has not
witnessed the grim experiences and dread
forebodings occasioned by out-
breaks of such epidemics as smallpox,
diphtheria, typhoid fever, cholera,
yellow fever, and "bloody
flux," although memories of some of these
scourges still linger in the minds of
older generations.
This book depicts epidemics in colonial
America as real and tangible
menaces to the populace; it treats
chronologically the periodic waves of
major contagions, the duration of the
outbreaks, the virulence of the in-
fection, the number of casualties, and
the effect of epidemics on social
and economic life during that era. It is
well documented, the source
materials being diaries, journals,
correspondence, manuscripts, and official
records. This reviewer was particularly
impressed with the huge amount of
research conducted by the author for the
preparation of this account. As
a matter of fact, the average reader
will doubtless find the book rather
tedious reading because it includes so
many dates and statistics.
The author devotes ninety-five pages to
a discussion of smallpox, including
methods employed by the colonists to
control it, such as the practice of
variolation, the passage of quarantine
laws, and the recourse to pesthouses;
popular prejudice toward the practice of
inoculation, which was the precursor
of vaccination, is well depicted, and
the effect of the disease on the Indian
population is clearly outlined.
Doubtless the most interesting and
illuminating part of the book to
110 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
the average lay reader is the author's
conclusions. He is of the opinion
that in spite of the devastation caused
by such contagions as smallpox,
yellow fever, and diphtheria and of the
consternation they aroused among
the colonists, nevertheless epidemics of
dysentery and malaria, although
less alarming, proved far more costly
both in terms of economics and human
suffering and, therefore, rank first
among epidemic disorders affecting the
colonists; respiratory diseases--colds,
influenza, pleurisy, and pneumonia--
he thinks should be placed next as
causes of human suffering and death;
diphtheria and scarlet fever, although
taking a heavy toll among children,
he believes did not cause much
disruption of economic and social life. He
also claims that measles, whooping
cough, and mumps proved neither ex-
tensive nor especially fatal and that
typhus fever was negligible in the
colonies.
As to the effect of epidemic diseases
upon colonial development, Mr.
Duffy confesses that it is by no means
clear. He maintains that many his-
torians have overrated their importance
as hindrances to colonial develop-
ment and he points out that despite their
destructive effects the population
grew steadily and wealth increased.
Ohio State University LINDEN F. EDWARDS
The People's Health: A History of
Public Health in Minnesota to 1948.
By Philip D. Jordan. (Saint Paul,
Minnesota Historical Society, 1953.
xii+524p.; illustrations and index.
$5.00.)
It is probably a tactical error to ask
one in public health to write a
critical review of this book. However
dedicated to and absorbed in his
chosen line of work, yet the public
health worker is aware of his obscure
lot and of the ignorance of the general
public concerning the role he plays.
Throughout his career, as a consequence,
he dreams of finding a fluent
champion, one who has the public ear and
who has understanding and appre-
ciation of the flavor and attraction of
this relatively unsung public service.
Lo, here is such a one.
The story opens with a review of the
climate, the topography, and the
population of the early years in
Minnesota. All of these factors were of
major influence on the health of the
first settlers and thereby on the course
of empire in the North Star state.
Contrary to the rosy picture painted by
those seeking to attract northward the
custom already devoted to Florida, the
rigorous winters, the low-lying swamps,
the immigrants fresh from the con-
taminations of the old passenger ships
and the transportation centers of the
Book Reviews 111
East made this no disease-free paradise.
Health problems indeed there were
from the earliest days, calling for
devoted minds to solve them.
The father of organized health work in
Minnesota was Dr. Charles N.
Hewitt. Coming out of New York state by
way of distinguished service in
the Union army, Dr. Hewitt combined an
amazing energy with a profound
belief in the value of preventive
medicine. He pursued a vigorous practice,
worked for years for the establishment
of a state board of health, and served
as its first secretary for twenty-five
years. He was also a prime mover in the
campaign to establish a state medical
licensing board and subsequently
a college of medicine at the University
of Minnesota. He worked for the
development of a uniform and
comprehensive system for the collection of
vital statistics. The breadth and depth
of his interests were unbelievable.
Ultimately he was replaced, but the
stability of the state board of health
had been established, and from its
organization in 1872 until the present,
it has had only four secretaries.
Hewitt's successor, Dr. H. M. Bracken,
had as his job to modernize and expand
the program so well begun. Minne-
sota's public health program as the
century turned was on its way.
The author devotes the bulk of his
volume to tracing the history of the
various specific programs in public
health: pure water, sewage treatment,
food sanitation, communicable disease
control, including tuberculosis and
the venereal diseases, occupational
health, maternal and child health, mental
health, and health for the aging. Here
is displayed the understanding of the
philosophy of public health, passed on
to the reader by the unfolding of
the various campaigns from inception to
modernity.
While like most historical compends, the
volume is well footnoted with
references to original sources, it is
not an inventory of archive material. It
has come alive in the author's hands and
is absorbing not only to those in
public health, not only to Minnesotans,
but to all readers interested in the
growth of peoples and ideas.
Mr. Jordan is no stranger to Ohioans. He
has written a number of books
on the development of America, not least
of which is Ohio Comes of Age,
for which he received the Ohioana
Library Award for the best book about
Ohio written in 1943. This present book
can only enhance Mr. Jordan's
excellent reputation and should gain him
a wide new field of readers.
Public health people especially will be
grateful for a sympathetic portrait.
Ohio Department of
Health JOHN D. PORTERFIELD