370 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
MILITARY DAY.
The third day was Military day, and no
other county has
better right to commemorate the memory
of the soldier than
Jefferson, whether he be of the
Revolutionary war, of the Second
War for Independence, the Mexican war or
the War Between the
States. Jefferson county furnished
thousands of the bravest men
in the Federal army during the War
Between the States. It is
not necessary to mention their names -
the mere mention of this
awful conflict at arms between people of
the same blood, of the
same ancestry, brings before us the
names of men who were among
the bravest, whether in the line or
whether they were in com-
mand. Jefferson county is proud of her
military record. She
is proud to celebrate her prowess in war
as well as her greatness
in peace.
After an imposing military parade, the
addresses were deliv-
ered at La Belle park. Rev. J. A. Thrapp
presided and ex-Lieut.-
Gov. R. G. Richards was the secretary.
After the rendition of
"Marching Through Georgia,"
Rev. Dr. R. A. McKinley deliv-
ered an eloquent invocation, most
feelingly spoken.
Hon. L. Danford, the Congressman from
the Jefferson dis-
trict, delivered an address, reviewing
the war and its results, refer-
ring to the part taken by Jefferson
county in the conflict that
resulted in the freedom of the slave.
ADDRESS BY GEN. S. H. HURST.
Fellow Citizens of Jefferson County:
-
At the invitation of your committee, I
come with pleasure
to-day to join you in the impressive
ceremonies of your splendid
centennial, and to bear to you the
greetings of the people of the
Scioto valley and of old Chillicothe,
where, almost a hundred
years ago, the seat of government of our
great commonwealth
of Ohio was first established. In the
midst of your rejoicings
we tender you our warm congratulations
over your marvelous
growth and enrichment during the first
century of your life. A
hundred years in the history of a
people, spanning as it does the
average life of three generations of
men, must under any circum-
The Centennial of Jefferson
County. 371
stances embrace many events of such
interest and significance as
to make them worthy of commemoration in
after years.
But when that hundred years covers the
beginnings of things,
when in that period were laid the
foundations, and was built the
superstructure of the splendid life of a
free and intelligent people,
then indeed it must be crowded with
significant events, worthy
to be recorded for all time, and to be
commemorated and cele-
brated as the centuries go by.
And so it is most befitting that you
gather here in vast
assemblage in these centennial days, and
with song, and speech,
and story, with thundering cannon, and
waving banners, and
with the gladness of grateful and
patriotic hearts build here the
monument of your achievements, in the
century just closed, by
recounting those achievements to your
children and proclaiming
them to the world. In that hundred years
you have transformed
Jefferson county from a dark and
homeless forest to an Arcadia
of beauty-the happy home of fifty
thousand souls. You have
built here a home-life as sweet and
peaceful and charming as
the world affords. You have blended here
into a social life,
where the knightliness of manhood, and
the grace and charm
of woman have vied with each other to
ennoble and enrich-
to beautify and to hallow the cricle of
your broadened life. You
have planted here on every hill and in
every valley, the school
house and the school, where the
education, begun and continued
in the home, is enlarged and methodized,
and inspired and directed
until intelligent thought and ripening
scholarship have given you
an educational life of which you may be
proud.
You have builded here your churches and
your altars; have
treasured in your hearts and taught to
your children the faiths
of your fathers; have cherished a
sublime faith in the human
brotherhood of the race and the Divine
Fatherhood of God; in
the immortality of the soul, and in the
power of a pure religion
to transform and ennoble the spiritual
life of men.
You have carried forward great
industrial enterprises, util-
izing the soil, the forest, the mine and
all the resources and forces
of nature, within your reach, and with
skilled and educated labor,
as well as with intelligent operative
labor, have carried forward
the work of the farm, the mine, the
furnace, the forge, the mill
372 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
and the factory until within your
borders have grown many of
the industries of our advanced
civilization. You have exercised
all the rights of citizenship, organized
and administered local self-
government, furnished representative men
for state and national
responsibilities and honors, and have
been especially honored in
presenting to the nation the great war
secretary, Edwin M. Stan-
ton, who was the right hand of support
to Abraham Lincoln
during the four years' battle for the
nation's life. Thus in your
home life, in your social life, in your
educational life, in your
religious life, in your industrial life,
and in your political life you
have wrought well, and have ever been an
honored integral part
of this great central commonwealth of
Ohio, whose conservative
power, alike in peace and in war is felt
and recognized by the
whole Republic.
Our noble state, of whose grand manhood
and noble record
we are so justly proud, is doubtless the
most completely repre-
sentative of American life and character
of any of the great sister-
hood of states. Into her young life, a
hundred years ago, as
she grew up to, and into statehood, came
the blood and brain
and brawn, came the spirit and ambition
and hopefulness, came
the best manhood and noblest womanhood
of thirteen states lying
east of us. These lines of western
migration, taking in all the
coast states from New England to the
Carolinas, ran converging
into the new territory and state beyond
the Ohio river, and Jef-
ferson county was among the first places
where these lines cen-
ered, and where these noble pioneers
determined to locate, to
build their homes, and to aid in laying
the foundations of the life
of the new Republic of Ohio. Into this
formative society, these
early pioneers brought the diverse
thought, and habits and faiths,
nd industries of the sections from which
they came, and here
in the cabin homes, in the log
school-houses, in the churches,
in the social circle, and public
assemblage, these ideas and faiths,
habits and principles were sifted and
smelted, and wrought into
new amalgam of life, out of which
ultimately came that splendid
product of modern civilization known as
"the Ohio man." Then
when the young state had been fairly
established, the march of
empire started westward again, and then
all the lines of migration
diverged from Ohio, just as they had
converged into it, diverged
The Centennial of Jefferson
County. 373
into all the western, northwestern and
southwestern settlements,
until now our blood and brains have made
their impress upon
every state that has been formed west of
us. And so I say we are
closely and deeply akin to all the east,
and to all the west, and
are pre-eminently the representative
state of the great sisterhood,
and I am inclined to believe that
Jefferson county is the rep-
resentative county of this great
representative state.
For many years I have been going over
our state, some-
what every year; have been meeting the
farmers and soldiers
and citizens generally, and I have
noticed with much interest
that the lines of migration which used
to be distinctly marked
across the state, are gradually but
certainly fading out, and we
are becoming a great homogeneous people.
And with another
fact I have been impressed, especially
as I have studied our rural
life and agricultural interests, and
that is that the typical, or ideal,
American farm-life comes as near finding
its realization in Jef-
ferson county and some of her adjoining
counties as can be found
anywhere in the state or country. You
have comparatively very
little non-resident land ownership;
almost all your practical farm-
ers own the land they live upon. They
are attached to it, and
take good care of it, and it takes good
care of them. You have
not many farmers who live in town and
farm in the country,
and still fewer, I apprehend, who live
in the country and farm
in town. But I should not farther pursue
these lines of thought.
The facts relating to your growth and
prosperity, and the recol-
lections of your early and latter
history and achievements have
been the themes of the past two days,
and it has been a rare
banquet indeed to listen to the eloquent
words in which the story
of your life has been so beautifully
told. This day, however,
is set apart for a somewhat different
line of thought. To-day
is "Military" or
"Soldiers' day," and the themes for our thought
and reflection are, I apprehend, the
love of country and the
love of liberty, and of justice, and of
political righteous-
ness, and the unselfish and heroic
elements in manhood
which inspire men to stand by country
and liberty and defend
them, if need be, to the death. There
has rarely been a finer
exhibition of devotion to principle than
was shown in the spirit
of the men who first planned the
colonization of the "Ohio coun-
374 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
try." When the men who formed the
Ohio company were about
consummating their deal for so many
million acres of this virgin
soil, there was some opposition to the
passage of the ordinance of
1787, dedicating all this northwestern
territory forever to free-
dom. But no dream of fortune, or of
empire, could blind those
men of New England as to the path of
duty, nor bribe them to
depart from that path, and so they
frankly said to the committee
of Congress, with whom the negotiations
were being carried on,
"We will not buy your land unless
slavery is forever prohibited
in that territory." And so it came
about that this nation and the
world is indebted to those brave
Puritans who were to have the
public lands in consideration for
military service, for which the
government had no money to pay, were
also in that new land
to have free homes, "where the
blight of slavery could never
come." Thus had the spirit of the
Revolution made men strong
for duty in defense of liberty, whenever
the exercise of that cour-
age was demanded.
The three great wars that have tested
the quality of American
courage and patriotism, and demonstrated
the soldierly possi-
bilities of American manhood have on our
part been singularly
free from passion or from military
ambitions. Our fathers did
not begin the fight for independence
because George Washington
wanted to be the president of a new
republic, or the ruler of
a new empire in America. Nor did they
begin the fight with a
storm of blind and rebellious passion -
seeking to break down
established forms and inaugurate the
reign of the red-shirted
mob. Many of our colonial leaders were
statesmen of rare cul-
ture and character, whose nobility would
have honored any par-
liament in Europe or the world. Our
colonial life of a hundred
and fifty years had been a great school
of liberty, where all the
questions of human right had been
thoroughly discussed and
were intelligently understood. Our
people were calm and peace-
ful and loyal. They were not ambitious
or warlike, but they had
studied the gospel of liberty, and
enjoyed the blessings of colonial
liberty in a high degree, and they were
determined there should
be no encroachments nor usurpations
limiting, or robbing them
of the rights they had so long enjoyed.
And again and again
they pledged their loyalty to the mother
country, if King George
The Centennial of Jefferson
County. 375
should abandon and disavow his
encroachments on our rights.
This he would not do, however, and at
once prepared to enforce
our complete subjection. But when
petitions were unavailing,
when there was no longer hope of
enjoying a rational degree
of freedom under the protectorate of the
British government,
then they struck for independence, as
well as liberty, then the
Puritans of the north and the Huguenots
of the south, standing
together with clasped hands, pledged to
each other "life and
property and sacred honor," for
liberty and independence, and
with a courage that commanded the
admiration of the civilized
world, in a bitter fight of seven weary
years, won the first great
battle for human rights fought in the
western world. It would
be trite indeed for me to attempt a
eulogy of the soldiers of the
Revolution. Their fame is as wide as
human civilization.
It is sung by our children and voiced by
statesmen and
poets wherever the English language is
spoken. All alike
delight to do them honor, and I am sure
it is, as it ought to be,
a matter of great and honest pride to
many who join in this
centennial celebration- citizens of
Jefferson county,-that you
are the direct descendants of these
soldiers of the Revolution,
and that the blood of such immortal
heroes thrills through your
veins. With great wisdom the infant
republic was guided through
four decades of her young life; she had
now taken a place among
the nations. But England was jealous of
her prosperity, was
haughty and insolent, chary of granting
us the rights that were
accorded to other governments by the law
of nations. She cap-
tured our vessels, searched our ships,
and impressed our seamen
at her pleasure, denying the right of
expatriation to seamen who
were English born. Vainly we protested
against the perpetra-
tion of these wrongs and outrages. Her
replies were renewed
insults, and there was no redress left
us but a resort to arms.
The issue was one of international
rights. But the principles
involved we could not ignore, and so the
nation bravely took
up the gage of battle. Two years of
active war on land and
sea brought England to realize her great
mistake. The courage
and spirit of our American soldiery
again commanded the respect
of the world, and the concession of
England practically to all
we claimed vindicated not only the
righteousness of our cause
376 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
but also our ability to enforce the
recognition of our rights by
the leading nations of the earth. Every
part of the state con-
tributed its quota of citizen soldiers
in the prosecution of this
war, and though the armies were not
large, nor the contest very
direful, much military, naval and
mercantile significance was
attached to the two years' struggle.
The repeated outbreaks of border warfare
with the Indian
tribes of our western territories developed
along our frontier
a quality of soldiery among the hardy
pioneer settlers, and in
our small standing army stationed there,
capable of coping with
the wily and treacherous savages with
whom they had to deal,
and although there were serious
outbreaks and massacres, still
they were generally held well in check,
and the tides of emigration
poured steadily westward, planting and
building state after state,
and rapidly developing the marvelous
resources of the great Mis-
sissippi valley.
The war with Mexico, though creating at
the time great
political and military interest, was in
fact scarcely a test of the
quality of our soldiery, since the enemy
we were engaged with
was incapable of meeting a daring and
skillful foe. And so our
marches to the capital of that country
were a succession of almost
unbroken triumphs.
But the war of the Rebellion, or the
late Civil War, that
from '61 to '65 menaced the life of the
republic, constitutes a
chapter in our military and civic
history which utterly overshad-
ows, dwarfs and belittles all that had
gone before. That great
battle of four years was a struggle of
such magnitude, of such
bitterness, of such determined purpose -
on the one side to de-
stroy, and on the other side to save the
great Republic--it
was so deeply and cruelly direful in its
character, and its results
were so immeasurably important to the
American people and
to the whole civilized world, aye, to
the whole human race, that
it seems as if all our history, and all
that was possible to us
of suffering, of peril, of disaster and
defeat, of agony and despair,
as well as of courage and hope and
triumph and destiny, were
crowded into those fearful years. And
yet it came to us so sud-
denly and unexpectedly-we were so
utterly unprepared to meet
the causeless revolt - it was so out of
the realms of human reason
The Centennial of Jefferson
County. 377
to think that it would come, that it was
many times more direful
than it could have been had we known it
was coming. It defied
credulity that such an attack could come
to us from our own
brothers, under our own roof-tree, to
despoil our common her-
itage, to spread the blighting curse of
slavery, and supplant the
Republic of Washington by the slave
empire of Jefferson Davis.
We put from us the belief that the South
would make war
upon us. It was so unnatural, and we
refused to prepare even
for defense, lest we should fan the
fires of passion, and provoke
them to hostilities. We were on our
knees praying God for peace
and brotherhood, while they were
drilling and preparing for the
conflict. They had every power of the
government in their hands.
They had the President, and had inspired
him to believe and
to say that there was no power in the
government to conserve its
life. They had Congress, where they met
the arguments of our
Senators with brutal and cowardly
assault. They had the Su-
preme Court from whose chief they had
just heard the doctrine of
the Dred Scott decision. They had the
Secretary of War, who
submitted to the seizure of our southern
forts and arsenals and of
large quantities of arms and army
stores. They had the Secretary
of the Navy, who had sent our little
navy to the ends of the earth.
They had the Secretary of the Treasury,
who had bankrupted not
only the treasury, but our credit also.
They had control of the
foreign diplomacy so that they could
misrepresent to the nations
the spirit and purpose of our American
political life and institu-
tions. They had the commander-in-chief
of the army, who, like
the President, was mainly distinguished
for his age and imbe-
cility. They had everything in their own
hands, and they had
used all these offices and opportunities
to plot and organize
treason against the Republic, even while
the oath of allegiance
to the old government was upon their
souls. And all through
the winter of 60-61, during the five
months intervening between
the election and inauguration of Abraham
Lincoln, they had
promoted the rebellion with all the
power they could command.
Seven states had gone through the
pretended form of seceding
from the Union, and had set up a
confederate government at
Montgomery, Alabama, and the only things
necessary to put the
revolt on its feet were the organization
and equipment of a south-
378 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
ern army and the firing of the southern
heart. And to these two
things the fire-eating Southerners
devoted all their energies. The
new confederate government was active in
voting men and money
and in collecting supplies and material
of war for the conflict
which they defiantly invited. But our
own Government would
do nothing lest a conflict might be
precipitated.
The first month of Mr. Lincoln's service
was passed in the
same way, he hoping against hope that
better counsels might
prevail, and waiting till the sleeping
patriotism of the north awak-
ened to assert itself in case decisive
action became necessary. The
attack upon and capture of Fort Sumter
at Charleston Harbor,
brought on the crisis. It awakened the
whole Nation, north and
south, to the startling fact that war
was upon us, and was actually
begun.
The war spirit now swept over the north
as it had over the
south, like wildfire. The time had come
for action. Mr. Lincoln
called for 75,000 men, and 300,000
responded. The south had
constantly asserted that northerners
were cowards, and would not
fight. Now the spirit of our northern
manhood was awakened,
as we shall see. Still everything was
for the time against us;
we had neither organization, discipline,
nor drill. We had poor
arms, and inefficient officers, and were
really incapable of doing
efficient service. But we were there, we
answered to the roll call,
and were ready for any duty that came to
us in defense of the
Republic.
Our successes in western Virginia during
the summer of '61
led many to think the struggle would be
short. But the sicken-
ing disaster at First Bull Run dispelled
that hope entirely. And
now we were compelled to look the matter
squarely in the face,
and to recognize the fact that the war
might last for years, des-
perate and direful as it afterwards
proved to be. And now for
the first time we began to appreciate
the character and magnitude
of the work before us.
And yet there was nothing else to do but
to fight. There was
no answer to the gage of battle but
battle. And if we were not
able to move upon the enemies of our
country in aggressive fight,
then we must assume the defensive, until
we were ready to fight
them in open field. Our statesmen had beaten
them in argument
The Centennial of Jefferson
County. 379
in Congress and in the Senate; and when
they could not answer
our great Senator with words and
arguments they answered him
with the bludgeon of a bully.
We had beaten them at the ballot-box and
when they had
no answer to that they said, "We
can whip you," and we said,
"Maybe, but so long as you make war
upon our country and its
flag, we'll fight you to the
death." Deep in our hearts we had
unquestioning faith in the righteousness
of our cause, and al-
though the triumph was postponed, still
we had the men and we
had boundless resources. Skill in arms
and genius in leader-
ship, ability to fight a disciplined foe
would come with time and
discipline and experience. And so with a
deep conviction of the
sacredness of our cause, and an abiding
faith in its ultimate tri-
umph, we pledged our lives and loyalty
to God and the country
"for three years or during the
war." Young men, most of us,
just entering the fair fields of life.
Joyful and hopeful in the
bright dream of the future, happy in our
surroundings and our
homes, we were-yet what could we do but
answer to the drum
beat when the country called us to duty.
And so without a tear
we laid our lives upon the altar, almost
without a pang we gave
up home and friends and loved
ones-almost without a regret we
severed the tenderest and holiest ties
of life for duty. What else
could we do? Could the great battle of
the ages for free man-
hood and free government, and free
civilization in this western
world be fought and we not there? No,
no, we had to go; all
that was heroic in our natures, all that
was noble and true within
our souls bade us go; and answering to
that heroic inspiration,
you, and you, and you, gave up
everything for duty. Out of the
hills and villages of Jefferson county,
out of the homes that crown
your hills and gem your valleys you came
by hundreds and by
thousands, answering the call of duty.
Oh, if the grand old Puri-
tan heroes whose blood flows through
your veins, could have seen
you muster to God's grand army of
freemen, or could have seen
you fight for what they had bequeathed
you, every hero, living
or dying, would have heard their proud
commendation, "soldier,
well done! well done!"
And it ought to be a matter of deep
pride to you, my com-
rades, that in the providence of God it
was your privilege to be
380
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
a soldier in the grand army of free
civilization and to have done
battle for liberty that shall bear fruit
not only in this country, but
throughout the world. Have you ever
attempted to grasp the real
magnitude of the great struggle? Have
you, in imagination even,
rode along its picket and army lines
from the mouth of the Poto-
mac to the Rio Grande? Have you counted
a million and a half
of men on duty at a given time, or more
than four million in the
grand aggregate of the two armies during
the fight? Have you
seen ten thousand cannon wheeling into
battery along that line,
or observed the hills and valleys of a
dozen states ribbed with rifle
pits as though some great plowshare of
nature had torn them up?
Or have you seen those armies moving
southward over vast areas
as the victorious armies of the Union
bore down upon the foe
and drove them toward the gulf? If you
have seen all these you
can yet have only an approximate idea of
the vastness of the
struggle. We had now thirty-four states.
Three were border
states torn and divided in sentiment.
Eleven states with twelve
million people were in revolt and twenty
states with twenty mil-
lion people stood by the flag; while all
the energies and resources
of both sides were devoted to the
business of making war, the
one side to destroy and the other to
defend the Republic. But
if the contest was grand in its physical
proportions, how much
grander, how infinitely grander it was
in the interest involved,
and in the far-reaching significance of
its results. Not from the
Potomac to the Rio Grande alone, but
from the Klondyke to
Cape Horn, nay, wherever men are now
struggling for a freer life
and a nobler manhood, our triumph was
felt as a mighty inspira-
tion and will continue to be an
inspiration of hope while our proud
flag floats upon the breeze.
The fact that both armies were composed
of men of heroic
blood, made the combat as direful and
costly in human life as it
was vast in proportions.
And to-day, my comrades, as we gather
here in this great
reunion, it is a deep delight that we
may look back over those
years of battle, and suffering, and
triumph, and feel that we were
right, and know that God was with us,
and crowned our courage
with success. Aye, and a deep delight,
too, to look out over our
great free country, to-day, and know
that this great American
The Centennial of Jefferson
County. 381
Republic-built of fifty-five
Republics,-is the grandest nation
and the first power of the earth. It was
but the other day that
England's grandest statesman, the
"old man eloquent," Lord
Gladstone, declared in a public speech,
"Now and henceforth
America leads the world." And so,
my comrades, we shall count
it the glory of our lives to have lived
in the most eventful age
of the world, and to have shared in the
labor, and suffering, and
manly devotion to patriotic duty, that
saved the nation's life,
brought liberty to millions and
happiness to untold millions more.
And now in conclusion, let me say that I
recall with pride and
joy, every influence, every agency,
every effort, every consecra-
tion and every sacrifice, that
contributed to this marvelous ad-
vancement of free civilization in our
own times, and made the out-
look for the future brighter and more
hopeful for the whole hu-
man race. I remember how in those
perilous days at the be-
ginning of the struggle our hearts ached
with suspense and anx-
iety. How the people met together by
communities and counties
and states and pledged to each other
their devotion to the Union.
It was inspiring indeed to attend those
union meetings and warm
your heart in their patriotic fires. But
I recall the fact that there
was one great union convention that was
grander than all the
rest-grander because vaster-and more
far-reaching in its scope.
In that great union meeting the Rocky
Mountains presided, and
New England was "orator of the
day." At the opening, Niagara
thundered her mighty solos till she
wakened the echoing con-
tinent. Then the Mississippi with her
thousand murmuring
voices sang that beautiful chant,
"E Pluribus Unum," "many in
one," "many in one,"
"many in one." The oration, full of patri-
otic sentiment and heroic fire, thrilled
every heart with the story
of Plymouth Rock and Lexington and
Bunker Hill. Then the
Savannah and Etowah sang "Marching
Through Georgia." The
hills and prairies and lakes were the
committee on resolutions,
and when they brought in their report
they simply said, "Re-
solved, That we are one; one and
indivisible; now and forever;
and what God hath joined together let no
man put asunder."
And when the vote was taken every
mountain and every hill,
every river and every lake, every
prairie and every plain in all
the land voted, "Aye, aye, we are
one, we are one."
382 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Thursday was closed, as was also
Wednesday, by a magnifi-
cent display of fireworks.
STEUBENVILLE AND JEFFERSON COUNTY
AFTER A HUNDRED YEARS.
Steubenville to-day is one of the most
beautiful of Ohio
cities. It is a city of beautiful homes,
and while there are no
wealthy people living in Steubenville
there are very few paupers.
The homes are mostly owned by those who
occupy them, a con-
dition that speaks volumes for the
thrift of the residents. The
streets are all paved with fire brick
and the drainage is complete,
there being no disease resulting from
miasma. The sidewalks
are lined with magnificent shade trees,
most of which were planted
in 1879-80 by W. H. Mooney, W. H. Hunter
and A. F. Matlack,
who formed a self-constituted committee
known at the time as the
Tree Commission. The city is most
favorably located on the
second bank of the Ohio river, the
streets being at right angles
connecting with an excellent system of
McAdam roads leading in
every direction. The business houses are
substantially built,
many of them being elegant in
architecture and massive in con-
struction, while the school houses are
commodious and church
buildings magnificent. The manufacturing
consists of iron, pa-
per, glass, pottery, brick, flour, while
the surrounding country
is fertile and peopled with industrious
farmers, who produce
wheat, corn, oats, garden vegetables,
fruit, live stock, wool, etc.
The city's population is about fifteen
thousand, while that of the
county is about forty-three thousand.
There are many towns in
the county, the most populous of which
are Toronto, Mingo,
Dillonvale, Mt. Pleasant, Smithfield,
Irondale, Brilliant. There
is much coal mined in the southern part
of the county and Dillon-
vale has grown to a large town as a
result of this industry. One
of the principal industries of the
county is the manufacture of the
products of fire clay along the Ohio
river. The towns on the
river above the city, including Toronto,
have become noted for
the manufacture of paving brick, fine
building brick, sewer pipe
and architectural terra cotta, the clay
industry being now perhaps
the most important in the county, while
a few years ago iron
took the lead in importance; that is to
say that more factories are
The Centennial of Jefferson
County. 383
engaged in this line than in any other
and it is also likely true
that more people are employed in the
terra cotta works, includ-
ing clay mining, than in glass or iron.
The transportation facili-
ties are ample by rail or water.