INFLUENCE OF PENNSYLVANIA ON OHIO.
BY W. H. HUNTER.
[The celebration of the
Centennial of the State has led to much dis-
cussion regarding the ethnological
history of Ohio. As a contribution to
this subject, we present the address
delivered by W. H. Hunter, of Chilli-
cothe, at a banquet given in
Philadelphia several years ago by the Penn-
sylvania Scotch-Irish society, which has
for its object the preservation of
historical data. - E. O. R.]
THE PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN: - While in
attendance at
the Harrisburg session of the
Scotch-Irish Society of America
last summer, I was thrilled by the
eloquence of your honorable
Past President, Dr. McCook, who then
delivered one of the most
impressive addresses I ever heard -
beautiful in diction, eloquent
in presentation--his subject being
"The Scotch-Irish Pioneer
Women." Among the accomplishments of those noble women
described was the manufacture of mush
and milk; or rather, I
should say, Pioneer Porridge, the piece
de resistance on the table
of the fathers. His panegyric was so
eloquent and his descrip-
tion of the process was so real one
could close his eyes and hear
the mush splutter as it was stirred in
the pot, could see the par-
ticles fly over the brim and smell the
odor of burning meal as
the globules fell upon the fire. When I
think back to the old
homestead in Eastern Ohio I run against
the fact that I did not
like mush and milk any more than I loved
the catechism, which
we had together at our house eight
evenings in the week. I
recall it now as the one cloud over the
sunshine of happy boyhood
days; but Dr. McCook's eloquence made
such an impression on
me that all my early repugnance for mush
and milk has left me;
I have never been so fortunate as to
hear him on the catechism.
Through the kindness of my good friend,
Colonel McIlhenney,
I am here to enjoy with you the food of
our ancestors. I prom-
ised him when he gave me the opportunity
to break mush and
milk with the Society, I would endeavor
to partly pay my way
with a story of the influence of the
Scotch-Irish of Pennsylvania
(287)
288 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
in Ohio. Just as I was about to plunge
into a mass of data in
preparation of an elaborate address, he
wrote me that I must
keep in mind that this being a
Scotch-Irish gathering, it would
a gabfest; that there would be a good
many folks waiting to make
speeches, and that no one would be
allowed to say all that was in
his mind. However, I feel that I should
make my contribution
to this interesting subject and if I
weary you pull my coat tail.
My great grandfathers having been among
the early settlers of
the western part of the state and the
founders of Old Unity, the
first Presbyterian church west of the
mountains, and one of them
in the disastrous Lochry expedition
during the Revolutionary
War, I feel strongly moved to the task.
My sainted mother also
was reared to young womanhood in this
city and it was through
her influence that Bishop Simpson, when
a young man in Ohio,
was induced to adopt the ministry as his
calling - the eloquent
bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church
who made Philadelphia
his seat and whose erudition, whose
fertile genius, wonderful per-
ception, and pushing enterprise gave his
church much of its
power in America.
When John Randolph said that
Pennsylvania had produced
but two great men -
Benjamin Franklin, of Massachusetts, and
Albert Gallatin, of Switzerland - he
possibly did not know that
the best blood of his own State was that
of the Scotch-Irish
people who went down from Pennsylvania
and settled in the
Valley. He likely did not know that the
great and good Dr.
Archibald Alexander, the founder of
Liberty Hall, now Washing-
ton and Lee University (so much loved by
Washington), the very
seat of culture and power of the
Shenandoah and James, the
greatest factor of the State's prowess,
was a Pennsylvanian. He
possibly did not know that Dr. Graham,
the first president of this
institution, was from Old Paxtang; that
many of the families
whose names are in the pantheon of Old
Dominion achievement,
the families that give Virginia her
prominence in the sisterhood
of States, had their American origin in
Pennsylvania- in the
Scotch-Irish reservoir of the Cumberland
Valley - the McDow-
ells, the Pattersons, the McCormacks,
Ewings, McCorcles, Pres-
tons, McCunes, Craigs, McColloughs,
Simpsons, Stewarts, Mof-
fats, Irwins, Hunters, Blairs, Elders,
Grahams, Finleys, Trim-
Influence of Pennsylvania on
Ohio. 289
bles, Rankins, and hundreds of others,
whose achievements mark
the pathway of the world's progress.
John Randolph possibly
did not know that the first Declaration
of Independence by the
American patriots was issued by the
members of Hanover Church
out there in Dauphin county, when on
June 4th, 1774, they de-
clared "that in the event of Great
Britain attempting to force
unjust laws upon us by the strength of
arms, our cause we leave
to heaven and our rifles." This
declaration was certainly carried
to Mecklenburg to give the sturdy people
of that region inspira-
tion for the strong document issued by
them a year later, and
which gave Jefferson a basis for the
Declaration of 1776. There
was much moving from Pennsylvania into
Virginia and North
Carolina before the Revolution, and
Hanover Presbytery in the
Valley was largely made up of people
from Pennsylvania, whose
petition of ten thousand names for a
free church in a free land,
made in 1785, was the force back of
Jefferson's bill for religious
tolerance, a triumph for freedom that
has always been considered
a Presbyterian victory by the
Scotch-Irish of America.
To him who has the inclination and the
time for the task,
there can be no more interesting and
instructive study than to
follow the trail of the Scotch-Irish
from Pennsylvania to Ohio
through Virginia, Tennessee, and
Kentucky; and had John Ran-
dolph taken up this task he would have
found men of Pennsyl-
vania blood, who, in scholarship, in
statesmanship, in patriotism,
in genius, in skill at arms, were as
great as the two who occurred
to his mind when he was sneering at the
position of the great
commonwealth.
We know that Dr. Sankey of Hanover
Church was a minis-
ter in Hanover Presbytery, and that he
was followed into Vir-
ginia by large numbers of the Hanover
congregation, who kept
up a constant stream into the Valley. By
the way, two settle-
ments were made by this congregation in
Ohio. Col. Rogers,
Gov. Bushnell's secretary, derives his
descent from them. The
population of North Carolina at the
outbreak of the Revolution
was largely made up of Scotch-Irish
immigrants from Pennsyl-
vania and the Virginia Valley who had a
public school system
before the war. These were the people
who stood with the Rev.
David Caldwell on the banks of the
Alamance May 16th, 1771,
290 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
and received the first volley of shot
fired in the contest for inde-
pendence. This same blood coursed the
veins of the patriot
army with Lewis at Point Pleasant, the
first battle of the Revolu-
tionary War, fought October 11, 1774,
Lord Dunmore having no
doubt planned the attack by the Indians
to discourage the Amer-
icans from further agitation of the then
pending demand for fair
treatment of the American Colonies at
the hands of Great Brit-
ain. It was this blood that coursed the
veins of those courageous
people who, having survived the Kerr's
creek massacre, were
carried to a Shawnese village in Ohio,
and on being bantered
to sing by the Indians in their cruel
sport, sang Rouse's version
of one of the Psalms. "Unappalled
by the bloody scene," says
the Augusta historian, "through
which they had already passed,
and the fearful tortures awaiting them,
within the dark wilderness
of forest, when all hope of rescue
seemed forbidden; undaunted
by the fiendish revelings of their
savage captors, they sang aloud
with the most pious fervor-
"On Babel's stream we sat and wept
when Zion we thought on,
In midst thereof we hanged our harps the
willow trees among,
For then a song required they who did us
captive bring,
Our spoilers called for mirth and said,
a song of Zion sing."
It was this blood that fought the battle
of King's Mountain,
which victory gave the patriots the
courage that is always in
hope; it was the winning force at
Cowpens, at Guilford, where
Rev. Samuel Houston discharged his rifle
fourteen times, once
for each ten minutes of the battle.
These brave hearts were in
every battle of the Revolution, from
Point Pleasant in 1774 to the
victory of Wayne at the Maumee Rapids
twenty years later, for
the War of Independence continued in the
Ohio country after the
treaty of peace. And yet, after all this
awful struggle to gain
and hold for America the very heart of
the Republic, one of the
gentlemen referred to by Mr. Randolph
wrote pamphlets in which
he derided as murderers the courageous
settlers of our blood on
the occasions they felt it necessary to
"remove" Indians with their
long rifles. After all the struggle, he
too would have made an
arrangement with England by which the
Ohio river would have
been the boundary line.
Influence of Pennsylvania on
Ohio. 291
There were giants along that
trail-physical and mental
giants. The pioneer fathers were men of
force and enterprise,
and it is to these characteristics that
we are indebted for the
results that came to us as a heritage.
They were not cradled in
the lap of luxury, hence a physical
prowess that was never bent
by enervation; a sterling quality of
mind that was ever alert, made
keen by the exigencies met on every
hand. They were broadened
in mental scope and disciplined in
habits of action and thought
by the responsibilities of home making,
not only for themselves
but an empire of homes for posterity.
Their traits of manhood
were of the highest order of God's
creation. They were without
physical fear. They had no fear save
that of God, for religion
was their strongest impulse. They were
self-reliant, having won-
derful perception and continuity of
purpose withal, the distin-
guishing traits that mark their
descendants, who are ever in the
forerank of the army whose triumph is
the advancement of the
world's civilization.
Did it ever occur to you, Mr. President
and gentlemen, that
the brave men of the South who met death
in the awful Bloody
Angle at Gettysburg died almost within
sight of the graves of
their ancestors in the church yards of
the Valley? Only recently
I was shown by Dr. Egle in Old Paxtang
Cemetery the stone
that marks the last earthly resting
place of the forebears of
Gen. J. E. B. Stewart, whose cavalry was
largely composed of
descendants of others whose dust lies in
the Pennsylvania church
yards. The men with Pickett from
Virginia, from North Car-
olina, from Tennessee and Kentucky, in
that stubborn charge
across the open plain and up the
mountain displayed the physical
courage of their Pennsylvania
Scotch-Irish ancestors, who never
faltered on the field of carnage.
I spoke of Rev. Mr. Sanky, who went from
Hanover Church
into Hanover Presbytery in the Virginia
Valley in 1760. He
taught and preached, and the boys of his
congregation after
going through his blessed hands were
sent to Liberty Hall and
from there into the West and South in
after years, where they
founded the families that give character
to many states, filling
the highest stations of usefulness and
fame. The prominent
families of Tennessee, Kentucky and of
Ohio had their origin
292 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
in the Scotch-Irish reservoirs of the
Cumberland and Virginia
Valleys. The father of Ephraim McDowell
went from Penn-
sylvania to Virginia and peopled
Burden's grant with Scotch-
Irish from Pennsylvania. Dr. McDowell
was the greatest of
the pioneer surgeons, being the first
surgeon in the world to
undertake ovariotomy, which successful
operation distinguished
him in Europe as in America. Many of the
trustees of Liberty
Hall were from Pennsylvania, including
Rev. Carrick, Samuel
Houston, and James Mitchell. President
Junkins of Washing-
ton and Lee was also a Pennsylvanian,
having established schools
in this state before going into
Virginia; and he followed the
trail of the fathers into Ohio, where
for years he was president
of the Miami University, which has given
to Ohio many of its
brightest minds. He wrote a pamphlet in
defense of slavery
which John C. Calhoun, whose father went
to North Carolina
from Pennsylvania, characterized as the
ablest defense of the
institution he had ever read. George
Rogers Clark, who won
the Northwest Territory and gave to the
Republic the five states
of Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana
and Michigan, drew from
the Valley the men with the fortitude
arid endurance, bravery
and patriotism, all men of Scotch-Irish
Pennsylvania blood, to
undertake and carry to success the
complete conquest of the
Northwest. George Rogers Clark may well
be called the Han-
nibal of the West. President Thompson
told us to-night that
Anthony Wayne is neglected by the
historian. George Rogers
Clark, too, is neglected. While every
schoolboy knows of
Wayne's achievements, not one in a
hundred ever heard of
George Rogers Clark. This being true in
Ohio what must be
the knowledge of Clark in Massachusetts!
I have thus, in this rambling way, tried
to establish that
the Virginia Scotch-Irish were from
Pennsylvania, with a view
to impressing the fact that the Scotch-Irish
who were among
the first settlers of Ohio were of
Pennsylvania blood, no matter
whether they came into the state
from the South or directly
through the gateway to the boundless
West at the meeting of
the rivers. The establishment of this
claim is more important
than many appreciate. There are Virginia
Scotch-Irish in a
certain part of Ohio who lay great store
in the belief that be-
Influence of Pennsylvania on
Ohio. 293
cause their forefathers came from
Virginia they descended from
the Cavaliers.
The Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish came into
Ohio in parts of
congregations and in families, many of
them previous to Wayne's
treaty with the Indians at Greenville in
1795, up to which time
no progress had been made by the
settlers. No one was safe
from the outrages of the Indians,
incited as they were to the
most diabolical deeds by the British,
who continued the war in
the Ohio country through their savage
allies with hope of forc-
ing the settlers to give up all attempts
to hold the territory
won by Clark, and thus rid the country
of the sturdy men,
already discouraged in the fact that it
seemed almost impossible
to erect a home in peace. The British
inflamed the Indians
with liquor and furnished them with arms
with the hope that
the continued outrages of the savages
would force final aban-
donment of the Republic's claim to the
treaty boundary. It
was well that the pioneers were
characterized by unyielding
firmness, for the East, not having
proper appreciation of the
importance of the boundary or else being
jealous of the power
that might be divided by increase of
territory, was willing to
give up the contest for the Clark claim;
but strong petitions
from the sturdy women whose children had
been torn from
their breasts and murdered before their
eyes by the savages,
brought the East to a realization of the
awful condition of the
settlers. Then came Anthony Wayne, the
historian tells us,
crashing through the forest like a
behemoth. The achievement
of Clark and the victory of Wayne mark
the two most notable
epochs in the annals of the West.
While it is true that the first
settlement noted in the his-
tories was made by forty-eight Puritans
at Marietta, in 1788,
there were Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish
settlements previous to
that time, notably at the mouth of the
Scioto river in 1785 by
four families from the Redstone
Presbytery, while at the same
time there was a larger settlement at
what is now called Mar-
tins Ferry, a few miles above Wheeling,
where a government
had been organized with two justices in
office. The father of
John McDonald, the famous Indian
fighter, and companion of
Clark, Simon Kenton, Duncan McArthur and
J. B. Finley, whose
294 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
historical notes preserve the brave
deeds of daring times, with
his stalwart sons from Northumberland
county, settled on the
Mingo bottom previous to 1780. The great
majority of the
Indian fighters who fought and suffered
as no men in history
fought and suffered before, that the
Ohio country might be made
a home of peace and plenty, were from
Pennsylvania and of
the royal blood-Generals Wilkinson,
Butler, Irvine, Findley,
Hickson, Finley, John and Thomas
McDonald, the Lewises, the
McCulloughs, Col. Richard Johnson, who
killed Tecumseh; Col.
Crawford, whose awful death at the stake
fills one with horror
even to this day when the mind reverts
to it; Col. Robert Pat-
terson, one of the founders of
Cincinnati; Col. Williamson, of
Gnadenhutten fame; Samuel Brady, the
Marion of the West;
and Andrew and Adam Poe, who killed the
big Indian, and
Simon Girty-you all know without me
telling you that Simon
Girty, the renegade, was contributed to
Ohio by Pennsylvania,
likewise McGee and Elliot, all traitors.
As wicked as Simon
Girty was, as hated as he was, because
of his diabolical char-
acter, he did one good turn for the
pioneer settlers of Ohio
-he saved the life of Simon Kenton when
this life was needed,
which he could not have done had he not
been with and of
the Indians; and if we are good
Presbyterians we must believe
that he was a renegade for this very
purpose. The Pennsyl-
vania Scotch-Irish Indian fighters were
very much in evidence
in the Ohio country, and their daring
exploits are the most
thrilling chapters in the history of the
Northwest Territory.
They were men of iron frame, whose
resolution never winced
at danger, and with the endurance to bear
pain with the forti-
tude of stoics. These men were created,
and no one who fol-
lows the trail of blood that is the
pathway to their achieve-
ment, can believe otherwise, to found
this great empire of the
Northwest. They have never been given
the full measure of
honor due them, nor do those who enjoy
the fruits of their
victories appreciate the sacrifices they
made and the hardships
they endured. It is well that there were
giants in those days.
There is a disposition among the people
of the present
day to even cast the reproach of murder
upon the brave hearts
whose every movement was constantly
filled with apprehension
Influence of Pennsylvania on
Ohio. 295
of awful outrages by Indians. General Williamson and his
Scotch-Irish soldiers from Pennsylvania
have had their mem-
ories clouded by even those who should
defend, or at least ex-
cuse, the massacre of the Moravian
Indians at Gnadenhutten on
the Tuscarawas, and I take it as a
privilege on this occasion
to declare, and this fact should be
borne in mind, that the
British were wholly responsible for this
massacre; in fact they
planned the scheme at Detroit. The
hostile Indians who were
the allies of the British, had captured
the missionaries having
in charge the Moravian Indians, and with
the Christian In-
dians had taken them to Sandusky on a
trumped-up charge.
The winter following was a very severe
one, and provisions ran
short, and about one hundred of the
Christian Indians were given
permission to return to the Tuscarawas
river to gather corn left
standing in the field when they were
taken away. At the same
time warriors were sent to murder the
whites in the Ohio Val-
ley to incense the Americans against the
Indians, the British
knowing they would organize and make
cause against the Mo-
ravians on the Tuscarawas, and in doing
so would be reproached
by the civilized world. These red
warriors crossed the Ohio
about fifty miles below Fort Pitt, and
committed all sorts of
awful depredations, among them the
murder of Mrs. Wallace
and her babe. Col. Williamson and his
men marched to the
Moravian village, and finding the
Indians there and in posses-
sion of Mrs. Wallace's bloody garments,
naturally supposed that
the Christian Indians were at least in
part responsible for her
death, just as the British at Detroit
had anticipated. There has
been much written about Colonel
Williamson, "the murderer of
Christian Indians," just as there
has been much written against
the Paxtang boys in Pennsylvania; but
those who would cloud
the memories of Colonel Williamson and
the Paxtang boys do
not appreciate the conditions then
obtaining. The pioneer to
whom we owe everything is entitled to
every doubt. He knew
the treacherous nature of the Indians as
well as the diabolical
character of the British who carried on
the warfare in the West,
and it was natural to suspect every
Indian and trust none,
Christian or otherwise; the British were
of a Christian nation,
so called, and they could not be
trusted. Why should a savage
296 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
under the British flag be trusted simply
because he professed
Christianity? As matters turned out, the
massacre of those
Christian Indians was a great wrong, but
I do not call it a
crime except as I charge it against the
British. Rather than
blacken the memory of those pioneer
soldiers with the charge of
murder, I would erect a monument on
every hill and in every
valley where they shed their blood. On
these occasions when
we celebrate the wonderful achievements
of the fathers we
should rejoice in the fact that they
were men of stern stuff.
They were wonderful men, the like of
whom we shall never see
more. There was no emotional sentiment
manifested by them
when an Indian's head was seen peeping
from behind a tree.
They "left their cause with
heaven" and kept their powder dry.
They were cool, deliberate
Presbyterians.
The Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish and not
the Puritans from
New England were and are now the great
factors in the pro-
gress of Ohio; I care not from what
point we view progress,
whether religious, educational,
industrial or commercial, I make
the claim for the Pennsylvania
Scotch-Irish, after the most
careful search possible, using the
various county histories for
data. Pennsylvania gave to Ohio no less
than a dozen Gover-
nors, ten of them Scotch-Irish. Ten of
our counties were named
for Pennsylvania Scotch-Irishmen, and
they are abiding monu-
ments to some of the bravest men of
pioneer days-Wayne,
Logan, Ross, Mercer, Darke, Crawford,
Butler, Fulton, Allen,
and Morrow. Pennsylvania gave to Ohio
its ablest statesmen,
its most eloquent orators, its ablest
jurists, its most noted edu-
cators, and a look through the
directories of many of the coun-
ties allows me to say that the great
majority of the officers of
the financial institutions and those who
manage the great in-
dustrial and commercial enterprises are
of this blood and either
from Pennsylvania or are descendants of
the pioneers from
your state.
The Presbyterians as well as other
ministers came to Ohio
from Pennsylvania; and I should mention
here that in my re-
search I find that in most countries the
first church erected was
of the Presbyterian communion. This
alone gives a strong sug-
gestion as to the influence of the
Scotch-Irish in Ohio. Had
Influence of Pennsylvania on
Ohio. 297
the Puritans been the great factor in
the settlement of the state
the first churches would have been of
another communion-
the Puritans burned the first
Presbyterian church built in Mas-
sachusetts. In the city, where I lived
for twenty-five years,
founded by your Senator Ross, six of the
seven Presbyterian
ministers are natives of Pennsylvania,
and the seventh a de-
scendant of a Pennsylvanian. John
Rankin, whose ancestors
settled in Pennsylvania one
hundred and sixty years ago, and
whose father was a soldier of the
Revolution, came to Ohio
through Virginia, Tennessee and
Kentucky, founded the Free
Presbyterian church, and was one of the
finest specimens of
physical manhood that ever blessed the
earth. He came to Ohio
after the Virginia ordinance of cession
was adopted, to get away
from the environments of slavery, as did
also Francis McCor-
mack, the founder of one of the first
Methodist churches in the
Territory. It was from this stock that
the abolition sentiment
got its spirit, its abiding force. While
the handful of Puri-
tans who settled Marietta have been
given the credit in history,
the truth is, the Scotch-Irish from the
Virginia Valley gave the
abolition movement its men of
steadfastness of purpose--men
who never gave up the fight until the
victory was won. Pres-
ident Ruffner, of Washington and Lee
university, wrote one of
the first pamphlets issued advocating
abolition of slavery. It
was John Rankin's home that gave succor
to George Harris,
made famous by Mrs. Stowe, and it was
John Rankin who or-
ganized the underground railroad by
which many slaves escaped
to Canada and to liberty. As I have
said, Bishop Simpson was
of the same blood; so was that other
powerful Methodist
divine, Dr. William Hunter, whose sweet
songs of praise are
in nearly all the church hymnals. So was
Alexander Campbell,
the founder of the Disciples church,
which has exerted vast in-
fluence in the Ohio country, and of
which communion Pres-
ident Garfield was a distinguished
member. The college founded
by Dr. Campbell is a West Virginia, Ohio
and Pennsylvania in-
stitution, so near the lines that all
can enjoy its influence, as
all three states enjoy the influence of
Washington and Jeffer-
son. Alexander Clark, the most noted
minister of the Metho-
dist Protestant church, the founder of
the first magazine for chil-
298 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
dren, The Schoolday Visitor, which
afterwards became The St.
Nicholas; for years editor of the
Methodist Recorder at Pitts-
burg, the author of books that are a
part of the nation's most
interesting and instructive literature,
was of the same virile
strain.
The Scotch-Irish ministers of the Gospel are not all
Presbyterian, but very few Presbyterian
ministers are of other
breeds. I must not neglect to mention
here Rev. Joseph Hughes,
who was born in Washington county, and
in 181O established
the first Presbyterian church in
Delaware county, Ohio. He
was not a characteristic Presbyterian
minister, although some
folks would say he had many of the
traits that distinguish our
blood. He would pitch quoits for the
grog, play the fiddle for
the dance, and preach as long a sermon
as any minister in the
Presbytery, and when brought before the
church court he made
such an able defense that he was
permitted to go on with his
long sermons, quoit pitching, grog and
fiddling.
The first church built in Cincinnati,
the metropolis of the
State, founded by men of the strong
force of character of
Colonel Patterson, who was with Clark,
and given its name
by General St. Clair, whose remains lie
out there in the Greens-
burg Cemetery, was of this communion,
and on the subscription
list I find the names of Dr. Allison,
surgeon of General St. Clair's
and General Wayne's armies, Captains
Ford, Elliott, and Peters,
and General Wilkinson, the roll being
dated 1792. Among the
first settlers of Cincinnati was John
Filson, a pioneer school
teacher, who was born in the Cumberland
Valley. He wrote the
first history of the Western country,
which was published as
early as 1784. He also published a
history of Kentucky and
made a map of that State, being among
the first surveyors to
venture among the Indians, and he met
death at their hands near
Cincinnati.
The Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish looked
upon education as the
strongest factor that moved the world
along the way of progress,
and the school house was one of the
first buildings erected in a
settlement. The Scotch-Irish
schoolmaster was ever abroad in
the land. The annals of Ohio are filled
with incidents of the
pioneer schoolmaster, who always had a
standing in the com-
munity next to that of the minister
himself, who was always held
Influence of Pennsylvania on
Ohio. 299
in the highest reverence. The father of
Dr. Jeffers, of the West-
ern Theological Seminary, was one of the
early itinerant school
teachers in Eastern Ohio. His
eccentricity of pronunciation in-
variably stumped the pupil, for he would
not know whether the
word given out to be spelled was
"beet" or "bait," whether "floor"
or "fleur," but Jeffers would
explain that "bait" was a "red root,"
and "fleur" was a
"boord" to walk on; and through the influence
of the good man's erudition and hickory
gad, the sons and daugh-
ters of the settlers waxed strong in
knowledge. Dr. John Mc-
Millen founded several colleges in Ohio,
one of them, Franklin,
in Harrison county, settled by
Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish, which
is still a flourishing institution, and
in its years of usefulness gave
to America many statesmen and jurists,
among them men of
Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish blood, your
Senator Cowan, John A.
Bingham, Judges Welch and Lawrence,
while hundreds of Pres-
byterian ministers have been taught
within its walls, among them
Dr. J. H. Sharp, of your city. Athens
county, in which the State
University is located, the first college
in the State, was settled
by our people, and Thomas Ewing and John
Hunter were the
first graduates, being the first
collegiate alumni in the West.
Thomas Ewing was one of the greatest
statesmen Ohio ever pro-
duced - strong, sincere, intellectual to
the highest degree. It
was in his family that the Shermans were
reared. Of the Athens
University W. H. McGuffy, the noted
author of school books
still widely in use in the public
schools, was the president for
years. He was also a professor in the
Miami University, another
Scotch-Irish college, and of the
Virginia University. He was
born in Pennsylvania in 1800; a man
whose sterling qualities of
mind and heart marked him as a teacher
of power and influence.
Joseph Ray, the author of mathematical
works, as an educator
displayed a scope of mind force that was
an honor to his race.
Rev. George Buchanan, in whose academy
the great War Sec-
retary, Edwin M. Stonton, received his
classical education, was
born in the "Barrens," so
prolific of men prominent in the affairs
of the Republic. Col. John Johnson, one
of the founders of
Kenyon College, one of the most noted of
the Protestant Epis-
copal institutions of learning in the
land, was reared in Penn-
8 Vol. XII-3
300 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
sylvania. He was the first president of
the Ohio Historical and
Philosophical Society, and the author of
the "Indian Tribes of
Ohio," a standard work published by
the United States Govern-
ment. He possessed those intellectual
qualities to which all pay
homage, and his influence had a wide
scope of power. The
father of Professor Sloane, of Columbia,
was a Pennsylvania
Scotch-Irishman who taught in a
Scotch-Irish academy in Jeff-
erson county--Professor Sloane is the
author of the ablest
"Life of Napoleon" ever
written. Dr. C. C. Beatty, whose muni-
ficent gift made possible the union of
Washington and Jefferson
Colleges, founded at Steubenville, Ohio,
the first distinctive sem-
inary for the higher education of women
west of the mountains,
which institution was conducted for many
years by Dr. A. M.
Reid, a native of Beaver county, and
to-day a trustee of the
Western Theological Seminary and of
Washington and Jeffer-
son. Dr. Reid's trained mind and scope
for usefulness have not
been without influence in Ohio; his
influence has been much
wider. The noble women who have gone out
from the sacred
precincts of the old seminary are in
every missionary field, home
and foreign. This institution is still
being conducted by a Penn-
sylvanian, Miss Stewart, whose
Scotch-Irish blood gives assur-
ance that the power of the school will
continue a factor of pro-
gress. Francis Glass, of Londonderry
stock, came from Penn-
sylvania to Ohio in 1817, and taught one
of the first classical
schools. His building was a primitive
one, a log college to be
sure - clapboard roof, windows of oiled
paper, benches of hewn
timber; but notwithstanding all this
lack of conveniences, like
the Tennants of sacred memory, he sent
out into the world boys
well equipped for contests in the
intellectual arena. He had forty
pupils in the backwoods settlement, and
whenever an additional
pupil "knocked at his door for
admission to his classes, he would
be so rejoiced that his whole soul
appeared to beam from his
countenance," writes a former
pupil. Such was the intense in-
terest in the work, such the benevolence
of the Scotch-Irish
schoolmaster of the pioneer days, to
whom our fathers owe so
much and to whom we owe more. Glass
published a two hun-
dred and twenty-three page "Life of
Washington" in Latin, and
that such a work in Latin should have
been written in the back-
Influence of Pennsylvania on
Ohio. 301
woods by a schoolmaster was for years a
marvel to those who
did not know of the scholastic
attainments of the Scotch-Irish
boys even of pioneer days. Rev. J. B.
Finley, the Indian fighter
and itinerant Methodist preacher, was an
educated man, although
we often hear stated in derision of the
Methodist Church that
her early ministers were illiterate. He
studied Greek and Latin
in his father's academies in North
Carolina and Kentucky, estab-
lished on his trail from Pennsylvania to
Ohio. When his father's
congregation settled Chillicothe, the
first capital of the State, he
was a Presbyterian and a member of his
father's church, but he
"became converted" and was for
years the most noted itinerant
preacher of the country, and exerted
more influence for good in
the Ohio region than any other man in
the State. He preached
in every county and organized churches
everywhere. He founded
the Indian schools and mission at
Wyandott, the site of which
institution is marked by a memorial
church erected by the Meth-
odist Episcopal Conference on ground
given for the purpose by
the United States Government. His
autobiography is a record of
pioneer times, and to its pages the
historian must turn for data of
the achievement of the early settlers.
John Stewart was the first
to preach the gospel-bearing tidings of
peace and goodwill to the
Wyandotts. Allen Trimble, Acting
Governor one term and Gov-
ernor two terms, while Acting Governor
appointed the commis-
sion, a majority of whose members were
of Pennsylvania stock,
including Judge William Johnson, that
formulated the public
school system that is the brightest star
in our diadem, which sys-
tem was afterwards perfected by Samuel
Galloway, born at Get-
tysburg of Revolutionary stock, a
teacher, jurist, statesman, upon
whose advice and opinion Lincoln set
high value. The Trimbles
came to Ohio from Augusta county,
Virginia, Allen having been
carried in his mother's arms while she
rode horseback through the
trackless forest. There is a tradition
in the family that the farm
occupied by them in the Virginia Valley
was shown their ancestor
by an Indian in return for a favor shown
him in the woods of
Pennsylvania. Gen. O. M. Mitchell,
teacher, astronomer, sol-
dier, was of the Virginia-Kentucky stock
which I have shown
had its origin in Pennsylvania. We could
rest our honors on
his achievement and still be sure of an
abiding place in the mem-
302 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
ory of those who instruct the youth of
the land. While Mitchell
explored the heavens, Jeremiah Reynolds
explored the earth be-
neath, his expedition to the South Pole
being one of the notable
events of the early days. John Cleves
Symmes, nephew of the
founder of the first settlement of the
Miami Valley, a New Jersey
Scotchman, promulgated the theory of
concentric spheres, hold-
ing that the earth is hollow,
inhabitable within and widely
open at the poles. Reynolds undertook
the expedition with a
view of proving the Symmes theory.
Adams' administration
fitted out a ship for the expedition,
but Jackson coming in as
President, Government aid was withheld;
but Reynolds, un-
daunted by this turn of affairs, started
on a private expedition,
reaching within eight degrees of the
pole. Mordecai Bartley, a
native of Fayette county, who succeeded
his son as Governor of
Ohio, and who represented Ohio for three
terms in Congress,
was the first man to propose the
conversion of land grants into
a permanent school fund. The father of
C. L. Vallandingham,
whose fight for freedom of speech is a
part of the nation's his-
tory, was a Washington county
Scotch-Irish Huguenot and a
Presbyterian preacher, to whose
classical academy we are largely
indebted for the foundation of the
scholarship of the justly cel-
ebrated McCook family also of
Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish blood.
Inasmuch as the greatest measure of
influence is exerted in a
community through efforts along
educational lines, I have spoken
at length on this point of my subject.
And there is much more
that might be recorded here to show the
high place held by
Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish in the
educational history of Ohio.
I might omit all I have said and be able
to record other achieve-
ments along educational lines and still
show that our blood stands
out in bolder relief than the Puritan as
a factor of education
in Ohio; yet the Puritan is given the
credit for the moral and
material progress of our people, and all
because forty-eight Pur-
itans settled at Marietta and made so
much fuss about it that
the advertising done then is still
alive. But the town did not
grow in a hundred years after the
settlement in 1788, and then
took a spurt as result of the discovery
of oil by Pennsylvania
Scotch-Irish.
Influence of Pennsylvania on
Ohio. 303
The Pennsylvanian has served Ohio in
both branches of
Congress, the first territorial delegate
being William McMil-
len, and the first State Representative
Jeremiah Morrow; the
first Governor was Arthur St. Clair, the
first Judge Jeremiah
Dunlavy. The Pennsylvania
Scotch-Irishman has been on the
Supreme Bench; he has gone from Ohio to
the President's
Cabinet. It is said that in 1817 a
majority of the Lower House
of the State Legislature were natives of
Washington county, and
I believe it, for my investigations have
disclosed the fact that
the Pennsylvanian is apt to hold office,
especially if he gets
into Ohio from Washington county and he
also be a Scotch-
Irishmen. As late as 1846 one-fourth of
the members of the Slate
Legislature were from Pennsylvania. We
all know that one
of the warmest gubernatorial contests in
the state's history was
when Governor Vance and Governor Shannon
were pitted against
each other in 1836, one a native of
Washington county and
the other's father from that county.
Vance's father was the
first settler of Champaign county and
Shannon's father one of
the first settlers of Belmont, the son
being the first native of
Ohio to hold the office of Governor.
Vance and Shannon held
the office two terms each. I think I am
safe in making the
claim that one or more Pennsylvania
Scotch-Irishmen are now
holding office in each courthouse in
Ohio. The two greatest law-
yers of the pioneer west were Judge
Jacob Burnett and Judge
John McLean, who were born just over the
river here, and
near enough to be counted in the family.
Their influence had
a wide scope and it still goes on. The
wife of McLean was
a daughter of Charlotte Chambers, one of
the foremost women
of the Cumberland Valley. President
Harrison was born in
Ohio, but his mother was a Pennsylvania
Scotch-Irish woman.
Vice President Hendricks, although
credited to Indiana, was a
native of Ohio, but his people were of
Westmoreland Scotch-
Irish stock, and he was a cousin of my
father. President Mc-
Kinley was of Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish
blood; so is Senator
Hanna, his Warwick.
Governor Jeremiah Morrow was a native of
Gettysburg,
and without doubt impressed himself on
the progress of Ohio
more than any other man holding office
in the gift of the people.
304 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
He was a characteristic Scotch-Irishman,
mentally, physically
and religiously. He was the father of
the national pike and
other internal improvements that gave
Ohio her first impetus in
industrial progress. He was Congressman,
Senator, Governor,
and of him Henry Clay said, "His
influence was greater than
that of any of his contemporaries, for
his integrity was so fully
recognized and appreciated that every
one had faith in any
measure he brought before
Congress." A prominent Pennsyl-
vanian, a few years ago, in referring to
a newspaper article I
had written on Governor Morrow, said
that he was the finest
example of the statesman of the old
school with whom he had
ever come in contact, noble, honest and
brave. I have been
greatly gratified to meet in this
assemblage to-night a relative of
Governor Morrow, Mr. T. Elliott
Patterson, of your city, and I
want to say that he may well be proud of
the blood that courses
his veins. Morrow's successor in the
Senate in 1819 was Wil-
liam A. Trimble, of the same royal
Pennsylvania blood.
It is a fact shown by the census that
there are to-day more
natives of Pennsylvania in three-fourths
of the Ohio counties
than natives of any other state, Ohio
excepted, and in this list
I include counties on the western border
as well as Washing-
ton county, the first county settled by
the New England Puri-
tans; I include the Western Reserve,
first settled by the Yankees
of Connecticut, which settlement was
made thirty-three years
before a church was built, though a
whisky distillery was in
operation all those years. This can
never be said of the Scotch-
Irish settlers, no matter whence they
came. Our forefathers
had their weakness for distilleries,
too, but they always had
the church in operation before the
distillery was built; yet
there are those who place great store in
Mayflower blood and
sneer at us because our forefathers had
a little trouble with
the revenue collector over in Washington
county away back in
the last century. I admit that on
occasions even to this day there
are Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish in Ohio
who will take a drink of
mountain dew, but never without an
excuse. One of them
said to me the other day that he had
"the iron in his soul,"
and he took a little liquor to mix with
it for a tonic.
Influence of Pennsylvania on
Ohio. 305
The claims made for the Puritan
settlement at Marietta give
us an example of Puritan audacity; the
New England settle-
ments on the Western Reserve give us
examples of Yankee
ingenuity. In Connecticut he made
nutmegs of wood; in Ohio
he makes maple molasses of glucose and
hickory bark. In New
England the Puritan bored the Quaker
tongue with red-hot
poker; in Ohio he dearly loves to roast
Democrats. The Re-
serve was the home of crankisms. Joseph
Smith started the
Mormon Church in Lake county. And there
were others, some
of whom the Northern Ohio emigrant took
with him to Kansas.
In the graveyard on the hill above
Chillicothe lie the re-
mains of four Governors, two of them
Pennsylvania Scotch-
Irishmen-one the noble William Allen, a
strong man from every
point of view, whose every
distinguishing trait was Scotch-Irish,
a very Jackson; but because his people
went from Pennsylvania
into North Carolina they were said to be
Quakers, which calls
to mind the fact that when I was a boy
all Pennsylvanians were
either Quaker or Dutch. In several of
the county histories I
also find the statement that the early
settlers were "Quakers and
Germans from Pennsylvania," but in
the list of settlers given
the "Macs" predominate.
Achilles Pugh, the first publisher of
an abolition paper in Ohio, came from
Pennsylvania and was
called a Quaker, but who ever heard of a
Quaker giving that
name to his son? The other Scotch-Irish
Governor buried in
the Chillicothe cemetery was Duncan
McArthur, who, although
not a native of our State, was reared to
manhood in the old Com-
monwealth, and became one of the most
notable figures in Ohio
-soldier, surveyor, Indian fighter,
statesman, Governor. Wil-
liam Allen's sister was the mother of
Allen G. Thurman, the
noblest Roman of them all, and Allen's
wife was a daughter
of McArthur.
In literature and journalism the
Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish
have always held a prominent place in
Ohio. Dr. McCook has
already told of the fact that Foster,
the greatest American song
writer, lived in Ohio, and no one of his
nobility of character and
intellectual attainments could go in and
out among a people with-
out exerting influence. General Lytle,
the author of
306 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
"I am dying, Egypt, dying;
Crimson flows the ebbing tide,"
one of the most beautiful poems in the
English language, was
the grandson of Gen. Lytle, born at
Cumberland, Pa., whose
Spartan-like conduct at Grant's defeat
in Indiana in the War
of 1812 is a part of history.
James Buchanan Reed, the author
of "Sheridan's Ride," which
has become an American classic,
was a Pennsylvania Scotch-Irishman.
James McBride, the his-
torian and archaeologist, supplying much
of the manuscript and
drawings for the "Ancient Monuments
of the Mississippi Val-
ley," a very important work, was
born at Newcastle. He was
a careful historian, and to him we are
greatly indebted for much
of the early history preserved in book
form. In journalism
our blood has been pre-eminent in the
Ohio field, the first paper
in the state having been launched by
William Maxwell in 1793.
Colonel Miller, who is noted as the
commander of the sortie
from Fort Meigs during the war of 1812,
one of the most dar-
ing acts of that war, when he rushed out
under fire and spiked
the British cannon with files and won
the battle, was a jour-
nalist, having started a paper in
Steubenville in 1806. Colonel
Miller came into Ohio by the way of the
Virginia Valley. His
successor, James Wilson, the grandfather
of President Woodrow
Wilson of Princeton, was a pupil of
Duane, of The Aurora.
Samuel Medary, one of the most prominent
Ohio editors, es-
pecially during the exciting war period,
his journal, the Co-
lumbus Crisis, being a very strong
advocate of peace, married
a daughter of James Wilson. M.
Halstead's ancestors came to
Ohio from Pennsylvania, and our blood
has every reason to be
proud of his achievements as an editor.
The McLeans, who
for two generations have held the
throttle of that great engine,
the Cincinnati Enquirer; S. G.
McClure, of the Columbus Jour-
nal; and Morrow, late of the Cleveland Leader, all
among the
foremost journals in America, are of the
same stock.
The first woolen mills west of the
mountains were estab-
lished just after the second war for
Independence at Steubenville,
by your Senator James Ross, and it was
in these mills that the
first broadcloth ever made in America
was produced. James
Ross and his partner, Mr. Dickinson,
whom I believe to have
Influence of Pennsylvania on
Ohio. 307
been of the same royal stock, introduced
into America the Span-
ish sheep that were the foundation of
the great wool-growing
industry of Eastern Ohio and Western
Pennsylvania. John
Campbell invented the hot blast employed
in iron furnaces, and
James Means erected the first iron
furnace north of the Ohio.
The first furnace west of the mountains
was erected by a Grant
near the Virginia-Pennsylvania-Ohio
line, and the cannon balls
used by Perry in the battle of Lake Erie
were made in this fur-
nace and carried on the backs of horses
to the lake shore. And,
by the way, Perry's mother was
Scotch-Irish and, for years after
fought, the battle of Lake Erie was
called Mrs. Perry's victory
by the people of Rhode Island who
appreciated her force of
character. It may not be amiss to say in
this connection that some
of the men who gave the New Englanders
basis for their claims
as to Ohio got their forceful
characteristics from the Scotch-
Irish blood of their mothers, notably
bluff Ben Wade - born in
Massachusetts, was educated by his
mother, his father being with-
out means, and coming to Ohio, settled
in the Western Reserve,
and ever since has been in the galaxy of
Puritan greatness. Chief
Justice Chase was born in Vermont, his
mother being Scotch, but
his achievements have been placed to the
glorification of the Puri-
tan blood. Joshua Reid Giddings, who
gave the Reserve its
greatest renown as the producer of great
men, was a native of
Pennsylvania, his birthplace being
Athens. I do not claim him
as a Scotch-Irishman, but he had all the
distinguishing traits,
and his name will ever shine as one of
the brightest stars in the
Buckeye diadem. If Pennsylvania had
given birth to but one
man, and that man Joshua Reid Giddings,
her place in the pan-
theon where we celebrate immortals would
be assured. James
Geddes and Samuel Forrer, the pioneer
engineers, who did much
to develop Ohio and give her her proper
place in the progress of
nations, were natives of the Keystone
state. The father of J. Q.
A. Ward, America's most noted sculptor,
was a pioneer, coming
from the great commonwealth.
The most notable events that mark epochs
in the history of
Ohio are monuments of Pennsylvania
Scotch-Irishmen: The
first settlement at the mouth of the
Scioto; Wayne's treaty with
the Indians; adoption of the
Constitution; the building of the first
308 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
steamboat on the Ohio river by Fulton;
the building of the
National pike and the canals; the
formation of a public school
system; and, coming down to the present,
the nomination and
election of a President by Mark Hanna.
McKinley was a Scotch-
Irishman with the sign of the Keystone
blown on his front; and
Mark Hanna - I made an effort to
discover that he was a de-
scendant of Judge Hanna of Hanna's town,
but was discouraged
by running against the fact that the old
gentleman never had
a son. Pennsylvania may not be the
mother of presidents, but
she holds a higher position in the
sisterhood - she is the grand-
mother of the Ohio man. General Grant
was born in Ohio, but
his mother was a Bucks county Simpson.
And however strange
it may appear to us, Jefferson Davis was
one of the same family
of Simpsons! The generals Ohio gave to
command Federal
troops in the war of the Rebellion were
largely of the royal fam-
ily. I have mentioned Grant, the
greatest captain of the age; and
there is General Porter, his companion
and commander of the
Ohio division; he was a native of the
Juniata Valley, and has
been selected by the President to
represent our country as ambas-
sador to France. There were the
McDowells, the Gilmours, the
brilliant Steedman, the hero of
Chicamauga -he was born in
Northumberland county; George W. Morgan,
the hero of two
wars, was a Washington county product;
and as further evidence
that blood will tell, I need only
mention the fact that Major Daniel
and Dr. John McCook, the fathers of nine
commissioned officers
in the army, were born in Washington
county. And how appro-
priate it all was that Gen. George B.
McClelland should be placed
in command of the Ohio troops! General
Harmar, who procured
Grant's admission to West Point, was a
Pennsylvanian, but I am
not certain as to his race. And John
Randolph said that Penn-
sylvania produced but two great men, one
from Massachusetts,
the other from Switzerland!
But I should not close without giving
credit to the Palatinate
German for the introduction of the long
rifle, which made possible
the settlement of Ohio by the
Scotch-Irish of Pennsylvania.
The long rifle was brought to the
interior of your state by
German immigrants; it was a true weapon,
and with it the Indian
fighters became marksmen. When a pioneer
went out with a
Influence of Pennsylvania on
Ohio. 309
long rifle and a dozen charges he
returned with that number of
game or the unused bullets. It was with
this weapon that the
sharpshooters of the Revolutionary war
were armed, and these
sharpshooters were largely Pennsylvania
Scotch-Irish pioneers;
although without the German rifle they
would have been ineffec-
tive. The rifle was not in use at
tide-water; it was unknown in
New England. Had the brave men at Bunker
Hill possessed these
weapons instead of muskets, it would not
have been necessary
for them to await the sight of the
whites of the British eyes.
Had it not been for the long rifle, Ohio
never could have been
settled.
The authorities consulted are-
The Scotch-Irish in Augusta; Col.
Boliver Christian's Notes;
Caldwell's History of Belmont and
Jefferson Counties; Path-
finders of Jefferson County (Hunter's);
J. B. Finley's Autobiog-
raphy; Dr. Morgan's Biography of Col.
John McDonald; Dr.
Perry, Williams College; Dr. Alexander
White's Presidents of
Washington and Lee; Howe's Historical
Collections; Rev.
Thomas Robbins' Dairy; Hildreth's
Pioneer History; Scotch-
Irish in America.