Ohio History Journal

Editorialana.                       329

and that the meeting could then adjourn to such time or in such way

that it could be reconvened for the further business of the Annual

Meeting. After some discussion of this matter, a resolution was offered

that when the present meeting concludes such business as is necessary

for its present consideration and is prepared to recess, that it recess to

a second session which is to be called at such date and place as shall

be determined by the present President and Secretary of the Society,

and that at the recessed session the minutes and annual reports be read

and other regular business be transacted as shall pertain to the Annual

Meeting. This resolution was unanimously adopted.

After the presentation and consideration of certain matters of gen-

eral nature to the Society, and proper action thereon, the preliminary

session of the Annual Meeting was adjourned at 3:00 o'clock, subject

to the second session as provided for above.

BANQUET TO DR. VENABLE.

On the evening of Friday, April 26, (1912) men of learning from

all parts of Ohio assembled in the banquet hall of the Business Men's

Club, Cincinnati, to greet and do honor to Dr. William Henry Venable,

the leading author and educator, born and still resident in Ohio. The

occasion was the eve of the seventy-sixth birthday of the distinguished

guest. The banquet was under the auspices of the Ohio Valley His-

torical Society of which Dr. Venable has been a member since its

organization some five years ago.

The affair was presided over by Harry Brent Mackoy, who early

in the evening made an address eulogizing the works of the guest of

honor. In his opening remarks he referred to Dr. Venable as a maker

as well as a writer of history.

Dr. Venable in modest demeanor told how appreciative he was of

their tribute and expressed his deepest affections for his friends and

coworkers, who as well as he had so greatly added to the happiness

and advancement of their state.

When he had finished his address the guests arose and drank a

toast to him and wished that he might live many years to enjoy the

fruition of his life's endeavor.

Mr. Mackoy then introduced Charles T. Greve, who had charge

of the arrangement of the affair and who was to act as toastmaster.

Mr. Greve made a touching address in which he said that Dr. Venable

was one of the foremost Ohioans, and to be a foremost Ohioan was

to be a foremost American.

The first speaker he called on was Dr. Dabney, president of the

University of Cincinnati, who responded to the call of the toastmaster,

330        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

paying high tribute to the works of Dr. Venable. He expressed his

pride in being a member of a community in which the name of Venable

meant so much. Dr. Dabney told in what high regard the name Ven-

able was held down in Virginia, where he came from and where the

name was a synonym for greatness.

Toastmaster Greve read missives from men of letters from all

parts of the United States, including a glowing tribute to the honored

guest from James Whitcomb Riley.

Emilius O. Randall was the next speaker. He came from Colum-

bus to attend the banquet and declared that the life was richest that

had dealt most with literature. Like his predecessors, he paid tribute

to the work of Dr. Venable as historian and poet.

Several others made addresses. Among them     were Dr. Dyer,

superintendent of the public schools; Archer B. Hulbert, a professor in

the college at Marietta; Dr. Charles Frederic Goss, Frank P. Goodwin

and others. They all reminisced over this man's life, telling those in-

cidents which had endeared him to them.

Dr. Venable is a native of Warren county, 0., where he received

his education at the little red brick school, later finishing his work in

the National Normal University. He married Mary Ann Vater of

Indianapolis. He was for many years proprietor of the Chickering

institute of Cincinnati. He enjoys the distinction of having organized

the Society for Political Education. He was the first president of the

Teachers' Society of Ohio. He lives in Tusculum.

Among those present at the banquet were the following:

Alfred H. Allen, Dr. Sam E. Allen, W. Harvey Anderson, Harry

T. Atkins, Dr. S. C. Ayres, Albert Bettinger, Dr. E. R. Booth, Dr.

M. B. Brady, Prof. J. E. Bradford, Miami University; C. J Brooks,

Dr. J. D. Buck, P. J. Cadwalader, Dr. C. E. Caldwell, Ralph Caldwell,

Dr. Otis L. Cameron, Lawrence C. Carr, Dr. Arch. I. Carson, S. F.

Carey, Davis W. Clark, A. J. Conroy, O. T. Corson, Columbus, O.;

Rev. M. Crosley, Brooksville, Ind.; Dr. Chas. W. Dabney, Charles J.

Davis, Judge David Davis, Walter A. DeCamp, Dr. J. E. Douglas, Dr.

F. B. Dyer, Edward S. Ebbert, Challen B. Ellis, Richard P. Ernst, M.

J. Flannery, Hamilton, O.; F. L. Flinchbaugh, Wm. Lytle Foster, John

Gates, Frank P. Goodwin, Judge F. H. Gorman, T. W. Gosling, Dr.

Charles F. Goss, Charles T. Greve, Dr. E. E. Harcourt, A. S. Henshaw,

Alexander Hill, N. D. C. Hodges, Dr. C. R. Holmes, Lewis C. Hopkins,

Jerome B. Howard, W. T. Howe, Prof. Archer B. Hulbert, Marietta

college, Davis L. James, Simeon H. Johnson, Dr. Otto Juettner, John

S. Kidd, Leopold Kleybolte, Dr. Albert A. Kumler, John Ledyard Lin-

coln, Harry M. Levy, John Uri Lloyd, S. T. Logan, E. D. Lyon, E. F.

Macke, Harry B. Mackoy, W. H. Mackoy, John H. Miller, Prof. P. V.

N. Myers, Rabbi David Philipson, John J. Piatt, North Bend; E. O.

Randall, Columbus, O.; C. D. Robertson, Caspar H. Rowe, Daniel J.

Editorialana.                       331

Ryan, Columbus, O.; C. E. Schenk, J. R. Schindel, Murray Seasongood,

Frank H. Schaffer, D. H. T. Smith, Rufus B. Smith, Dr. R. W. Stewart,

Thomas T. Swift, G. S. Sykes, Rev. Geo. A. Thayer, Bryant Venable,

Emerson Venable, R. O. Venable, Dr. Chas. E. Walton, J. W. Worth-

ington, F. B. Wiborg, J. O. White, Charles B. Wilby, Joseph Wilby,

John F. Winslow, Isidor Wise, Paul Wisenall, E. J. Wohlgemuth,

Everett I. Yowell.

MARTIN DEWEY FOLLETT.

Judge M. D. Follett, one of the organizers of the Ohio State

Archaeological and Historical Society, a life member and beginning

in 1895 for some ten years a trustee, died at his home in Marietta,

Ohio, August 22, 1911.

Concerning his distinguished life we quote from a memorial pub-

lished by the Washington County Bar Association of which for many

years he was a most eminent member.

Martin Dewey Follett was born in Enosburg, Franklin county,

Vermont, October 8, 1826, the son of Captain John Fassett Follett and

grandson of Martin Dewey Follett. Many members of his family had

risen to prominence in colonial and revolutionary times. In 1836 his

father, with his wife and nine children, came west and settled on a

farm in Licking county, Ohio, where the subject of our sketch grew

to manhood. Having taught school for several years, he entered Mari-

etta college and graduated, with highest honors, in the class of 1853-

having completed the required course in two years. He received the

degree of Bachelor of Arts; and three years later was further honored

by having conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. After

being graduated he taught for one year in the high school at Newark,

Ohio, and for two years in the academy and public schools at Marietta,

Ohio, and in 1856 was elected superintendent of the local schools, which

he served two years.

In 1856 he married Miss Harriet L. Shipman, of Marietta, Ohio,

to whom were born four children, all of whom are deceased except

Mr. Alfred Dewey Follett, a member of this bar. Judge Follett was

married a second time in 1875 to Miss Abbie M. Bailey, of Lowell,

Mass., to whom was born one son, Edward B. Follett, a judge of the

court of common pleas of this district.

Judge Follett was admitted to the bar in 1858, at the time of

his death being the oldest member of the bar association, in point of

service; Mr. R. M. Stimson having been admitted in 1849, but never

practiced; and R. K. Shaw, who was admitted in 1855 in New York,

but came to Marietta in 1860. At the October election in 1883, Judge

Follett was elected to the Supreme Court of Ohio and served there from

332        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

December 8, 1883, until February 9, 1888. While a member of the

Supreme Court he established a reputation for industry and judicial

ability which was recognized by the profession throughout the state.

His opinions are found in volumes 42, 43 and 44, Ohio State Reports.

He was associated upon the bench with such men as George W. Mc-

Ilvane, Selwyn N. Owen, John W. Okey and Franklin J. Dickman,

and at the end of his term with present Chief Justice William T. Spear,

who began his career upon the Supreme bench in 1885.

Politically, Judge Follett was a sincere and loyal member of the

Democratic party; in 1864 he served his party as delegate in the national

convention which nominated Gen. George B. McClellan for the presi-

dency; twice, in 1866 and 1868, he was the party nominee for congress-

man from   this district. He took much interest in matters of local

government and exerted wide influence upon its affairs.

He was distinctively a humanitarian. Since 1879, when Governor

Bishop sent him as a delegate from Ohio to the National Conference

of Charities at Chicago, and Governor Foster the following year to

Cleveland, he had devoted much time and study toward the improve-

ment of conditions for the criminal and insane. As a member of the

board of state charities, he has been largely instrumental in bringing

the penal, reformatory and charitable institutions of Ohio to the high

standard of present attainment. The new hospital to be erected at

Lima for the care of the criminal insane can be directly traced to the

influence which Judge Follett has wielded for many years upon the

state's policy of caring for its unfortunate. Surely, in this respect he

has aided in establishing the Kingdom through this modern expression

of the brotherhood of man.

In giving an estimate of the services of Judge Follett, we may

lay emphasis upon the fact that he was a true friend of education.

Himself educated, wisely informed, a teacher, he saw the importance

all along the line of lifting education above the bread and butter stand-

ard. He served on the board of trustees of Marietta college for many

years; and upon the local board of education; he was a charter member

of, and until his death a faithful attendant upon, the Marietta Reading

Club. Likewise, he conceived the law as a profession rather than a

business, and never lost interest in the meetings of the Ohio State

Bar Association and in the American Bar Association, of which he

was a member and to which, upon important committees, he rendered

valuable services.

As a man, Judge Follett possessed an interesting and strong per-

sonality; as a citizen, he was ever willing to assume his full share of

the burden of public service; as a lawyer, he was successful, always

faithful to his client, and honorable; and as a Christian, a faithful at-

tendant upon the services of the First Congregational Church and in

his daily life loyal to his religious convictions.

Editorialana.                        333

ROBERT WHITE McFARLAND.

The Faculty of the Ohio State University, as a mark of respect,

and wishing to preserve in some permanent form a simple record of the

life of its late member and associate, Robert White McFarland, who

died at his home, Oxford, Ohio, October 23, 1910, prepared the follow-

ing memorial:

Professor McFarland was born in Champaign county, Ohio, June

16, 1825, and was a descendant of Simon Kenton. He graduated from

Ohio Wesleyan University in 1847, and for four years thereafter taught

in schools and academies. Mathematics was his favorite study, but he

also excelled in languages and he not only taught Latin and Greek,

but in his young manhood, prepared and published text books in these

languages.

In all his later years as teacher he was interested in pure mathe-

matics, astronomy and civil engineering. From 1851 to 1856 he taught

in Madison College at Antrim, Ohio. He was then elected to the chair

of mathematics in Miami University at Oxford, which he held until the

University was closed in 1873. Just at that time the State University,

then called the "Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College," was estab-

lished, Professor McFarland was called to the chair of mathematics

and engineering, and remained there continuously until 1885, returning

to Miami University as its president when it was reopened in that year.

Three years later he retired from educational work, and there-

after devoted his time to engineering. While at the State University

he held, from 1881 to 1885, the position of engineer inspector of rail-

roads under the late Commissioner of Railroads, Hylas Sabine, exam-

ining bridges and other structures as to their safety.

When the Civil War broke out he organized a company among

the students of Miami University, of which he became the captain, this

company was attached to the Eighty-sixth O. V. I., in which regiment

he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. It was because of this military

service and experience that he was made the first instructor in military

science and tactics in the State University.

Professor McFarland was a born teacher, and had an unwearying

love for the work of instruction. Trained in the military habit, his

plans of work were clear and detailed, his decisions quick and firm,

his manner and speech gentle but authoritative.

As a teacher he was respected and revered by all students who

were there to do good work. He had an unusual faculty of making the

subject he was teaching interesting, and that necessary quality in a good

teacher-the ability to get and hold the attention of his students.

In his work he insisted on brevity and accuracy, and many a stu-

dent has demonstrated a proposition by a long method and train of

334        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

reasoning, in his class room, only to be shown at the close how he

could have reached the same result by a much shorter process.

Professor McFarland was a man of royal parts. An enthusiast

by nature, he had the wisdom of a man of affairs. His genial temper,

his promptness in action, together with a certain dignity of manner,

and a genuine manliness of character, won the respect and esteem of

all who knew him.

As an associate, his cordial sympathy and unfailing courtesy were

always evident. Although impelled by definite convictions he was broad

minded and tolerant. He believed that "above all sects is truth" and

"above all nations is humanity."

In all the relations of life he moved upon a high plane, and not

only experienced but exemplified the better qualities of our nature.

Of him it may well be said that his life is a record of generous deeds

and useful service.              Signed,

WILLIAM RANE LAZENBY,

JOSIAH R. SMITH,

Committee.

Professor McFarland was one of the earliest life members of the

Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and took an ever

increasing interest and active part in its work and growth. His life

reached back into personal touch with many who were associated with

the events of pioneer Ohio history. No one of his cotemporaries was

so versed in the Indian lore of the state, and there appeared in the

pages of the Society's publications many most valuable articles con-

cerning the first settlers of the state and its historic incidents con-

nected therewith. He possessed a marvelous and accurate memory and

especially delighted in reviewing the historical productions of others

and in correcting their errors and in putting on record data that other-

wise would have been lost to the present and future generations. Pro-

fessor McFarland was widely read in general literature, a writer with

a scholastic style and the author of many productions of a permanent

nature. When a young man he published an annotated edition of the

six books of Virgil. As a student of astronomy he took high rank and

computed the perihelion and eccentricity of the earth's orbit for a

period of 4,520,000.

EDWIN    McMASTERS STANTON.

Joseph B. Doyle of Steubenville, Ohio, is the author of a volume of

some four hundred pages of the Life and Work of that distinguished son

of Ohio, Edwin M. Stanton, whose fame will continue side by side with

that of the martyr President Abraham Lincoln, whose secretary of war

Editorialana.                       335

and right arm, the iron-willed Stanton was. Extensive and almost ex-

haustive biographies of Stanton have already appeared, such as those by

H. C. Gorham and Frank A. Flower, respectively. This latest brief biography

of Stanton, as Mr. Doyle states, was "prepared in connection with the

dedication of the first statue to his memory." Edwin M. Stanton was

born in Steubenville, December 19, 1814, was United States Attorney

General, 1860-1861; Secretary of War, 1862-1868; Justice of United

States Supreme Court, 1869; died in Washington, D. C., December 24,

1869, only a month after his appointment by President Grant to the

supreme court and before he was permitted to take his seat in that great-

est of tribunals.

A movement toward the erection of a fitting monument, at his

birthplace, was inaugurated in Steubenville at the Jefferson County Cen-

tennial Anniversary, August 25, 1897. This laudable purpose met its

accomplishment on September 7, 1911, when after three days' preliminary

exercises the ceremony of the unveiling of the statue was completed.

The statue is a massive bronze figure of the great war secretary, stand-

ing upon a granite pedestal. The sculptor is another distinguished son

of Ohio, Mr. Alexander Doyle of Steubenville, creative artist of many

famous statues, among them that of Margaret Haughry, New Orleans,

the first statue to a woman erected in this country.

Mr. Joseph B. Doyle was eminently qualified by residence, mental

attainments and sympathetic tendencies to write the life and work of his

fellow-townsman, and admirably has he performed his task, herculean

and exacting though it may have been. The author's scholarly knowledge

of American history, his discriminating judgment of men, enabled him

to produce the environment and "stage settings" for the life and action

of his hero, with unusual vividness and interest. It is a most readable

book and one enjoyable both by the elder generation, whose members look

back upon the scenes of a great epoch, and by the youth of our state

and country, who can know the immortal figures of the Civil War period,

as they only knew the figures of ancient days, that is through the pages

of history.

Stanton came from Quaker stock and William Dean Howells, who

was for a time his boyhood schoolmate, says he was "delicate physically,

grave and studious, with a religious disposition." His father died in

1827, leaving the boy, then just entering his teens, to not only make his

own way in the wide world, but aid his widowed mother, whose only

inheritance was four small children and few worldly goods. How bravely

the boy Edwin made the fight of life for himself under the untoward

auspices, Mr. Doyle entertainingly relates. By dint of sacrifice and hard

work, Edwin entered Kenyon College and worked his way for two years,

when the necessities of his mother and her three younger children, de-

manded the aid of the college boy. His initiation into politics was in

the Adams-Jackson presidential contest (1824-5). Stanton "went over

336       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

to Jackson," and until he took his seat in Lincoln's cabinet was "con-

spicuous as an uncompromising Democrat." It was a strange political

affiliation for Stanton's ancestry, temperament and training were "abo-

litionistic." The formative period of Stanton's political proclivities is

examined with interesting detail by the author, and his second chapter,

entitled: "Professional Career," presents an excellent summary of the

history of political strife in the north, leading up to the pre-war years.

Then come "Secession Clouds" and the "Beginning of the Conflict," and

the position of Stanton, the lawyer, therein. Of Stanton's first meeting

with Lincoln, at Cincinnati, in the famous McCormick patent case, Mr.

Doyle says:

"We have referred to this case as the first meeting of Stanton

and Lincoln. When the attorneys came together at the Burnett

House in Cincinnati for consultation Stanton was not favorably im-

pressed with the long, lanky, not to say, uncouth attorney from Illi-

nois, and did not hesitate to make his contempt apparent, and dur-

ing the progress of the case, in court and out, he appeared to be

highly appreciative of Mr. Lincoln's blue cotton umbrella, and his

illfitting garments. He curtly ruled him out from arguing the case,

but, as we have said, this did not prevent Mr. Lincoln from remain-

ing and listening to the suit, after which he gave Stanton his full

meed of praise. But shortly before the final submission of the case,

Mr. Lincoln called at the room of their associated counsel, one of

whom is authority for this additional history not hitherto published,

and said to him: 'You must have noticed that Mr. Stanton is

determined that I shall not make an argument in this case. I think

I should have the courage to insist upon doing so if I were satisfied

that the interests of our clients required it. I think, however, that

they do not for the reason that I have here reduced to writing the

substance of all that I would say, and possibly, it is better said here.'

"This gentleman read the argument and concluded that it was

the most masterful review and condensation of the whole case that

was possible, and passed it up to the court with the other papers.

He says, that according to his recollection of the paper it contained

the bone and sinews of the opinion of the court delivered in this

case. In March, 1861, this same gentleman was in Washington City

on professional business and was stopping at Willard's Hotel. When

Mr. Lincoln came there to be inaugurated he hesitated about calling

on him lest it might bring back unpleasant recollections of the Cin-

cinnati episode. He had about concluded not to call, when he re-

ceived a note from Mr. Lincoln, who had in some way learned that

he was at the hotel, inviting him to his room. When he arrived

there he had a conversation with Mr. Lincoln, who addressed him

substantially as follows: 'I am about to do that for which I seem

Vol. XXI. - 22.

Editorialana.                       337

to owe an explanation to all the people of the United States. I can

make it to no one but you. Mr. Stanton, as you know; has been

serving conspicuously in the cabinet of Mr. Buchanan, faithful

among the faithless. There is a common appreciation of his ability

and fidelity, and a common expectation that I will take him into

my cabinet, but you know that I could not possibly, consistently

with my selfrespect, pursue that course in view of his personal treat-

ment of me at Cincinnati.' About a year later this same attorney

met Mr. Lincoln in Washington, when the latter said to him: 'I

am about to do an act for which I owe no explanation to any man,

woman or child in the United States except you. You know the

War Department has demonstrated the great necessity for a Secre-

tary of Mr. Stanton's great ability, and I have made up my mind

to sit down on all my pride, it may be a portion of my selfrespect,

and appoint him to the place.'"

We cannot follow the pages of Mr. Doyle in close review as they

deserve. From the entrance of Stanton into Lincoln's cabinet, his career

is inseparably entwined with that of the great martyr president. It is

well known history, but Mr. Doyle's contribution thereto is worthy of

perusal, and no more faithful account is known to us. The analysis of

Stanton's character and portrayal of his characteristics, and the contrasts

of the latter with those of Lincoln form fascinating reading. Nowhere

in American history is there the equal of the relations of these two in-

tellectual giants, their differences and diplomatic handling of each other;

the iron and merciless firmness of the one and gentle, peace-seeking ten-

derness of the other in constant foil; they complemented one another,

each was necessary to the other, and their association at the head of the

government in the time of its greatest crisis was providential. Stanton

who had been at the outset a severe critic of the president, gradually

learned to appreciate his great qualities of mind and heart, and the last

scene in which they both took part was that at the death-bed of the im-

mortal Lincoln; says Mr. Doyle:

"At 7:22 on the morning of the 15th the spirit of the martyred

President took its flight, and Stanton as he drew the blinds uttered

these memorable words: 'He now belongs to the ages.' Col. A. F.

Rockwell, one of the spectators of the closing scene, says:

'During the twenty minutes preceding the death of the Pres-

ident, Mr. Stanton stood quite motionless, leaning his chin upon his

left hand, his right hand holding his hat and supporting his left

elbow, the tears falling continually."

Mr. Doyle's work is published under the auspices of The Stanton

Monument Association, and printed by The Herald Printing Company,

Steubenville, Ohio.

338        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

DANIEL DRAKE AND HIS FOLLOWERS.

Dr. Otto Juettner, a physician of high standing, author of "Modern

Physio-therapy" and editor of "Songs of the University of Cincinnati,"

has put forth a pretentious volume on 'Daniel Drake and His Followers."

It is a valuable contribution to the bibliographical and historical literature

of Ohio. The author in his Foreword announces: "This book contains

the story of some of the great architects of yesterday, who laid the

foundation of and helped to build the stately edifice of Western med-

icine. A few years ago I picked up Mansfield's 'Memoirs of Daniel

Drake,' and was completely fascinated by the character and the life of

Drake. Posterity has done nothing for this great man. He seems to be

entirely forgotten. To hold up the mirror of the past to the present gen-

eration was the motive which primarily suggested the writing of this

book."

And right well has the author held up the mirror.

Daniel Drake was an eminent physician, a prolific writer and ver-

satile genius. Daniel Drake was born in New Jersey, October 20, 1785.

Some two and a half years later, the parents with the boy, moved to the

new settlement of Mayslick, Kentucky, and here "it was that Daniel grew

up in the bosom of nature, the child of simple and pure-minded country

folk." The boyhood life of Daniel in the western wild is the oft-told

story of privation, struggle with nature and the aboriginal inhabitants, a

story always tinged with tragedy, romance and adventure. It was a life

of hard labor, clearing the forest and coaxing a meagre livelihood from

the soil. Daniel had the intellectual propensity, which could not be stifled,

and he picked up such slight "larnin'" as his environment afforded: "His

Alma Mater was the forest, his teacher nature, his classmates birds,

squirrels and wild flowers." At the age of thirteen the boy "made up his

mind" to become a doctor. On December 16, 1800, accompanied by his

father he slowly rode horseback to Cincinnati, where he was placed in the

home of Dr. William Goforth, who was to be his preceptor. Dr. Goforth

was then a leading physician of the infant city -having 750 inhabitants

-and one of the distinguished pioneers of his day, the first physician in

the West to practice vaccination; he received cow-pock from England

in 1800, the year of Daniel's arrival as a student, and Daniel was the first

one in Cincinnati who submitted to vaccination. Drake served his four

years' apprenticeship under Dr. Goforth who in the summer of 1805 pre-

sented his successful pupil with a "diploma," the "first issued west of the

Alleghenies on any student of medicine." After a few months' attend-

ance upon lectures in Philadelphia, the young doctor began his practice

in Cincinnati and "soon acquired the patronage of the best families in the

town," becoming, says Dr. Juettner, "the most liberal of all her benefac-

tors, the most brilliant of her gifted sons, the one really great man she

has produced." In 1810 Daniel Drake appeared as an author, publishing

a booklet setting forth his observations under the title of "Notices of

Editorialana.                        339

Cincinnati, its Topography, Climate and Diseases." This was followed

five years later by that little volume so rare and so prized by the book

collectors, the "Natural and Statistical View or Picture of Cincinnati and

the Miami Country, illustrated by maps, with an appendix containing

observations on the late earthquakes, the Aurora Borealis and southwest

wind." It was the first book written by a Cincinnatian. This book "ex-

cited a great deal of interest in the East and even on the Continent of

Europe, where parts of it were translated for the benefit of people who

contemplated emigrating to America."

In 1817 Drake became a medical teacher in the Transylvania Uni-

versity at Lexington, Ky., a town then known as the "Athens of the

West."

In 1818 Dr. Drake was the protagonist of a plan to establish the

Medical College of Ohio, at Cincinnati. It was duly inaugurated and Dr.

Drake was made president of the Faculty. But we cannot follow in

detail the forceful and fruitful career of this accomplished man, who

became so conspicuous as a physician and an author. After a most event-

ful and interesting career, Dr. Daniel Drake died, at Cincinnati, Decem-

ber 16, 1852. His life and its-achievements are worthily related in the de-

lightful pages of Dr. Juettner's book, which also contains the biographical

sketches of many of the leading Ohio physicians.

The work, which will be especially valuable and interesting to mem-

bers of the medical profession, is amply illustrated. It is from the press

of the Harvey Publishing Company, Cincinnati.

A NEW LIFE OF TECUMSEH.

Benjamin Drake, brother of Daniel Drake, whose biography by Dr.

Juettner is noticed in the preceding pages of this Quarterly, was the

first one to make an extensive study of the life of Tecumseh, the

greatest member of the Shawnee tribe and perhaps, all things con-

sidered, the greatest of his race. Benjamin Drake, a resident of Cin-

cinnati for many years, previous to 1830 began gathering material rela-

tive to the life of Tecumseh. Drake visited the scenes of Tecumseh's

activities and conversed with many whose lives at that time reached

back into the days of the great chief. Drake's life is therefore not

only the earliest but the standard authority in this subject. The hun-

dreds of letters and documents collected by Drake, concerning the Indian

chief, are now carefully preserved and easily accessible to students,

in the Draper Manuscripts of the Wisconsin Historical Society Library,

at Madison, Wis., where they were examined by the editor of this

Quarterly while preparing his monograph on Tecumseh, published in

Volume XV of the Society Annuals. Benjamin Drake's Tecumseh was

first issued from the press in 1841, in Cincinnati, and is a book eagerly

340        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

sought by collectors of Ohioana. The only other pretentious writing

on this theme is the very exhaustive essay on "Tecumseh" in the

volume entitled "Heroes of Defeat," by Colonel William J. Armstrong,

published some seven years past.   Mr. Armstrong is known as the

"artist historian" and his Tecumseh essay is a brilliant and scenic account

of the incomparable chief.

We are now favored with a new publication on this historic sub-

ject by Norman S. Gurd of Sarnia, Canada. This volume of some two

hundred pages, from the press of William Briggs, Toronto, is entitled

the "Story of Tecumseh," and is one of a number of similar works in

the "Canadian Heroes Series." Mr. Gurd, a barrister and solicitor at

law, has entered upon his task with evident enthusiasm and at the same

time with a thorough appreciation of the difficulties in obtaining the

definite data required for a strictly accurate accomplishment of his

purpose. Mr. Gurd has devoted some three years of labor upon this

volume and the result is a justification of his efforts. Besides the ma-

terial easily obtained, as mentioned above, Mr. Gurd had the use of

some original data, particularly in the official Canadian archives. The

book is written for popular reading rather than for critical scholars,

indeed it is primarily prepared for the younger reader and the author

is happy in his style and treatment of material for that class of patrons.

This production has an interest peculiarly its own as the author con-

templates his subject from the British point of view. Mr. Gurd enter-

tainingly follows the early childhood and youth of Tecumseh, dwelling

upon his forest education for the duties of peace and the exigencies

of war. His descriptions of the customs and life of the Indian are

especially explicit and picturesque. Tecumseh was early initiated into

the bloody scenes, on the Scioto and Miamis, that characterized the

racial war for the possession of the Ohio country. The Shawnee ap-

pears, as the aid of Little Turtle, in the Indian resistance to the expe-

ditions of Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne. At the battle of Fallen Tim-

bers the Shawnee led his tribal contingent, some 350 strong, and was

one of the last to yield the field. He would not acquiesce in the Treaty

of Greenville, which he ever after hated and denounced. During the

period between the Greenville Treaty, marking the close of the Ohio

war, and the preliminary events of the War of 1812, Tecumseh wandered

far amid the forest tribes, visiting the wigwam centers, from the banks

of the Missouri to the Everglades of Florida. Everywhere he was

greeted with audiences of the braves who were stirred by his oratory

in which he denounced the encroachments of the whites and urged uni-

versal and simultaneous warfare upon the white settlements. Mr. Gurd

graphically portrays "The Council at Old Vincennes," when, in 1810,

General Harrison, then Governor of the Indiana Territory, gave audience

to Tecumseh and his accompanying braves, that they might explain.

the menacing gatherings at the headquarters of the Prophet at Green-

ville, the scene of the famous treaty.  It was on this occasion that

Editorialana.                       341

the pleadings of Tecumseh for the rights of his people, and the bold

denunciations of wrong inflicted by the whites, reached the highest

altitude of aboriginal sentiment and rhetoric. This speech ranks with

the finest efforts of Red Jacket. Then came the battle of Tippecanoe

and the disgraceful defeat of the Prophet in the absence of the warrior

Tecumseh. The omens of the War of 1812 gave Tecumseh fresh hope

that the Americans might yet be driven from the Ohio country. While

he was doubtful of the outcome there was no alternative but to ally

himself with the Great Father across the seas. Again he went forth

to the tribes north, west and south and pleaded for a final concerted

action against the Long Knives-the enemies of the Great Father.

There are few pages, if any, more romantic in history, than the events

of the War of 1812 in the northwest section of Ohio, on or adjacent

to the Detroit river. In June, (1812), Tecumseh offered his services,

at Amherstburg, to the British authorities. They were accepted and

thereafter to the final scene, October 5, 1813, at Thamesville, Tecum-

seh's activities are inseparably connected with the land events of that

war. Bravely and with a desperate intensity and loyalty the chief

battled for the cause for which he had enlisted.

Mr. Gurd, at times, allows his British sympathies to color his

opinions, though the truth of his statements are usually well founded;

he alludes to Duncan McArthur as a "freebooter who penetrated as far

east as Moraviantown, robbing the settlers of provisions, blankets and

cattle" and scores the Ohio colonel for confiscating a "flock of fine sheep

which the Earl of Selkirk had imported from the Old Country." It is

not unusual for  contending armies to confiscate the property of the

enemy.

In the early events of the conflict, Tecumseh and his tribal fol-

lowers were most conspicuous, especially in the incidents along the

river Raisin. It was Tecumseh and his command that ambuscaded

Major Van Horne and a party of two hundred who were hastening to

the rescue of Captain Brush on his way with supplies for the relief

of Hull at Detroit.

Tecumseh was witness to the disgraceful surrender of Hull, when

2,500 American soldiers became prisoners of war. Tecumseh had been

for some time previous the close companion and adviser of General

Brock and together the two entered the surrendered fort. Brock, turn-

ing to Tecumseh, asked him to protect the Americans from the Indians.

"We Indians," said Tecumseh, "despise the Long Knives too much to

touch them." Mr. Gurd gives due credit to Tecumseh by saying: "there

can be little question that Brock would have been unsuccessful in his

bold attempt on Detroit had it not been for the presence and active

co-operation of Tecumseh and his braves." Rapidly succeeding events

more and more gave Tecumseh prominence and honor in the war.

Brock in August was shifted to the events in the east on the Niagara

frontier. General Procter succeeded to the British command on the

342        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

Detroit. This latter officer was cowardly in character and incompetent

in fitness. The scenes are transferred to the Maumee. Harrison builds

Fort Meigs and the two sieges follow, in both of which Tecumseh and

Procter are the leading commanders. The siege of Fort Stephenson,

August 1, was the highwater mark of Tecumseh's daring and general-

ship. No incident in American history surpasses it for thrilling action

and surprising results.  George Croghan, the boy with 160 Kentucky

backwoodsmen, repulses Procter and his army of trained troops and

Tecumseh with 1,000 braves. Gurd does not due full justice to this

event, so honorable to American arms and bravery.

From now on the story is one of British failure. Procter begins

his retreat across the Detroit and up the Thames. Tecumseh has lost

his faith in the ability and even honor of Procter and foresees the

triumph of the Long Knives, but refuses to retreat further and com-

pels Procter to take a stand "where McGregor's creek empties into the

Thames." But on a pretext, Procter continued his retreat, followed by

Tecumseh.   Harrison and the Americans finally overtook the allies

at the Indian village of Moraviantown, on the banks of the Thames.

Here the curtain fell on the dramatic life of Tecumseh, who at this

time was a brigadier in the British army. Followed by some of the

lesser chiefs, at the head of a thousand braves, the Shawnee dressed

in his usual costume of deer skin, passed down the lines to note the

disposition of the troops. "Round his head was wound a white silk

handkerchief, from which floated a white ostrich plume." He fell early

in the encounter. Mr. Gurd does not enter into the controversy as to

who killed Tecumseh. "His mighty war cry resounded high above the

noise of battle. Suddenly he was seen to stagger and fall. Swiftly

the words, 'Tecumseh is dead,' passed down the line.    Overwhelmed

by this crowning calamity, the Indians turned and fled. The faithful

body guard of the great chief carried the body of their dead leader

deep into the recesses of the enshrouding woods. Down the dim forest

aislesthey bore him and so he passes from the scene."

Mr. Gurd has produced a faithful portrait of the great chieftain

and pays splendid and worthy tribute to the nobility of his nature and

to his patriotic service in behalf of his race.

COLONEL ORLANDO J. HODGE.

Colonel Orlando J. Hodge, one of the prominent figures in Ohio

history during the present generation, passed away at Cleveland, Ohio,

on the evening of April 16, 1912. On the evening of the day in ques-

tion he had been invited to address the members of the Cleveland

Chamber of Commerce, who on that evening held their annual meet-

ing. He delivered a very interesting and impressive speech, at the

close of which he said: "When you men of the Cleveland Chamber

Editorialana.                       343

of Commerce answer to the last call and come before Saint Peter, if

you will tell him that you are members of the Chamber of Commerce

of Cleveland, I am sure that he will call upon his best angels to sing

their sweetest songs for you." The applause which greeted the venerable

speaker's remarks, as he sat down, was long and loud. President-Elect

Charles E. Adams complimented the speaker and expressed the hope

that Colonel Hodge might live to attend many more annual meetings

of the Chamber. A recess of fifteen minutes was taken by the assembly

previous to continuing the program, during which intermission Colonel

Hodge was suddenly stricken with fatal illness, borne to an adjoining

room, where he lapsed into unconsciousness and died in a few moments.

We reproduce the following sketch of Colonel Hodge, from The

Cleveland Plain Dealer of April 17 (1912);

A soldier of the Mexican war, first clerk of the Cleveland police

court, president of the Connecticut senate, president of the Cleveland

city council, speaker of the Ohio house of representatives, editor and

newspaper owner for a decade, president of the Early Settlers' associa-

tion, president of the New England society, president of the Sons of

the American Revolution, vice president of the Western Reserve Histori-

cal society, a qualified member of the bar, a large owner and dealer

in real estate and president of various business corporations-these are

milestones in the varied and useful career of Orlando J. Hodge of

Cleveland who died yesterday in his eighty-fourth year.

He was one of the few men living who had been an active Re-

publican from the founding of the party, and who had voted for Lincoln

and every Republican candidate since. For many years he had also

been a leader both in humane activities and legislation. The big Humane

society of Cleveland he founded nearly forty years ago, and up to 1910

was its president. He had done much in the making of history himself

and was widely known in the literary field, both as an investigator and

a contributor.

Mr. Hodge came of pioneer Connecticut stock, the reputed founder

of the family in America being John Hodge, who was born March 4,

1643, or 1644, and who was married Aug. 12, 1666, to Susanna Denslow,

born Sept. 3, 1646. Alfred, the father of Orlando J., was born March

9, 1795.

Alfred Hodge married Miss Sophia English, daughter of Abel and

Anna (Caulkins) English and one of her grandfathers in the fourth

generation back was Josua Dewey, Admiral Dewey's grandfather in the

sixth generation. The father, Alfred Hodge, who was a farmer, served

in the war of 1812, and died July 11, 1832. His wife was born in Leb-

anon, Ct., April 12, 1795, and died Jan. 13, 1846 in Cleveland.

Orlando J. Hodge is a native of Hamburg, a town adjoining

Buffalo, N. Y., and was born in a log house Nov. 25, 1828. Orlando

became a permanent resident of Cleveland in 1842. He was first em-

344        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

ployed in a printing office at $1 a week and his board, his chief duty

being to keep the forms properly inked with a big hand roller while

the presswork was in progress.   In 1847 he was a volunteer in the

Mexican war.   On the way to the scene of operations by way of

New York, the Atlantic and the gulf, the vessel in which he sailed

was wrecked and lost, but he was rescued by a passing ship, taken to

Cuba and then to Mexico.

For sixteen months the youth carried an old flint musket and then

returned to Cleveland with a good record.  As the forcible reminder

of the Mexican war and a complete bar to further military duty on

his part, he carried until his death two wounds in his leg. His next

serious business was completing his education, for which purpose he

attended the Geauga, O., seminary in 1849 to 1851, during a portion of

this period having as classmates James A. Garfield and the latter's future

wife, Miss Lucretia Rudolph. Two years afterwards he was elected

first clerk of the Cleveland police court by the largest vote for any

candidate for any office cast at that election.

In 1860, Col. Hodge went to Litchfield county, Connecticut, on busi-

ness regarding the settlement of an estate and what he planned as a

temporary stay was lengthened into a residence of seven years, crowded

with important events. In 1862 he was elected to the lower house of the

Connecticut legislature and to the senate in 1864 and 1865, serving as

president of the upper house in the latter years, although he was the

youngest member of the body. And the significance of the selection

was doubly emphasized by the unanimous vote that placed him in the

chair.

In 1867, Col. Hodge returned to Cleveland, and a few years later

was again called to serve the public. Three times he was elected to the

city council (1871 to 1877), being made president in 1876, and a fourth

term in 1885 and 1886, being again honored with the presidency. His

career as a state legislator in Ohio began in 1873 with his election to

the Ohio house of representatives. There he served four terms, being

speaker pro tem. in 1875 and 1876 and speaker in 1882 and 1883.

Col. Hodge's journalistic career extended from 1878 to 1889, dur-

ing which period he was editor and chief owner of the Sun and Voice.

In 1890 he published the Hodge genealogy, and in 1892 "Reminiscenses."

He had been identified with the Chamber of Commerce from its be-

ginning, being one of the members of the board of trade organized

July 7, 1848.

On Oct. 15, 1855, Col. Hodge married Miss Lydia R. Doan, who

died Sept. 13, 1879, and their only child, Clark R. Hodge, was born

July 16, 1857, died Nov. 29, 1880. He wedded his second wife, Vir-

ginia Shedd Clark, on April 25, 1882. Mrs. Hodge was a daughter

of Edmond Earl and Aurelia Edna (Thompson) Shedd, her father be-

ing the oldest and leading wholesale grocer of Columbus.