352 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
a demand that would have overcome his
indifference to
display and publicity. Three of his sons were promi-
nent in their day: Rev. B. F. Morris,
the author of his
life; Jonathan D. Morris, who served
two terms as
congressman from Ohio; Isaac N. Morris,
who served
two terms as congressman from Illinois
and was ap-
pointed by President Grant commissioner
for the Union
Pacific Railway in 1869. If a
daguerreotype or paint-
ing of the Senator is in the possession
of any of the
descendants of these sons, it may yet
be found. If it
should be discovered, it will be
interesting to note how
nearly it corresponds with the picture
on the walls of
the memory of the veteran physician,
Dr. Thompson
of Bethel, which has been reproduced by
the pen of
Richard M. Brand.
GRANT MEMORIAL HIGHWAY
Judge Hugh L. Nichols, Chairman of the
Grant
Centenary Committee, sends us the
following statement
in regard to this Highway:
"The Grant Memorial Road,
so-called, is that part of the
Ohio River Road running between New
Richmond on the west
and Point Pleasant on the east, a
distance of five miles. The
road to New Richmond from Cincinnati is
in good condition and
in order to make the birthplace of
General Grant accessible it is
the purpose of the Committee to build a
highway from New
Richmond to Point Pleasant so that the
public may have the
benefit of it.
"Congress, in February last,
passed a special bill authorizing
the coinage of 10,000 gold dollars
and 250,000 silver half-dollars,
the gold dollars now selling for $3.00
a piece and the silver
halves for $1.00 each. A great many of
these coins have already
been sold and it is the purpose of the
Committee in charge to
devote, in a large measure, the premium
to the building of this
road. Of course we expect direct
Federal and State aid in the
matter and from this three-fold source
we are confident within
Reviews, Notes and Comments 353
a year we will have a highway of a splendid character, and when
the highway has been built the argument
that was made in the
State Senate last year against the
removal of the house in which
Grant was born, from the State Fair
Grounds to its original
foundation, will be entirely
dissipated."
The foregoing is a succinct and
informing state-
ment of fact, so far as the road is
concerned, supple-
mented by a prophecy in regard to the
dissipation of
the "argument made in the State
Senate." The matter
of the removal of the Grant cottage will
probably be up
again before the General Assembly at its
coming session.
DEATH OF BASIL MEEK
Basil Meek, veteran local historian,
life member of
the Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Society
and one of the oldest practicing lawyers
in the State
of Ohio, died in his home city, Fremont,
April 16, four
days before he was ninety-three. He contributed a
number of articles to the QUARTERLY,
his last appear-
ing in the April number shortly before
his death. He
made some corrections in the proof after
he was con-
fined to the hospital in his last
illness. A sketch of his
life together with an autographed
portrait was pub-
lished with his contribution and will be
found on page
129 of the April QUARTERLY. A number of sketches
from the Fremont and other northern Ohio
papers are
before us, all bearing testimony to his
high character,
his long and useful life and the regard
in which he
was held by all who knew him. He had long been
Secretary of the Sandusky County Pioneer
Historical
Association, a position which he held at
the time of his
death.
Mr. Meek is survived by a daughter, four
Vol. XXXJ-23.