Ohio History Journal

GERALD S. GREENBERG

Literary Bequests in Early Ohio Wills

Introduction

It is not surprising that besides the family Bible, few books or libraries are

mentioned in early Ohio wills, for life on the frontier demanded that one devote

full attention to life's essentials. For most, this meant the acquisition of a piece

of land and the construction of a home. It is such proprietary bequests, there-

fore, that dominate early Ohio wills.

One does discover, however, that the early doctors and lawyers of Ohio fre-

quently made provision for the safekeeping of their medical and legal libraries,

transferring the intellectual tools of their trade to individuals or institutions fit

to preserve such an accumulated wealth of knowledge. One can also find the

family of a similarly prominent, early Ohioan who was the subject of a biogra-

pher's pen, seeking to will his published life story to posterity.

Less frequently, but perhaps more interestingly, early Ohioans whose indi-

vidual livelihoods did not involve the establishment of professional libraries

also occasionally mentioned private book collections in their wills, apparently

valuing such volumes among their most prized possessions. On the rarest of

occasions, one finds an individual or two who, when contemplating his immi-

nent demise, seeks to establish a library as a gift to his fellow man.

It is the purpose of this paper to examine those wills which contain literary

bequests and determine, if possible, the place which literature occupied in the

life of the bequeather. The possible influence or impact of such bequests upon

the community will also be noted.

Early Attorney/Politicians

Edward T. Denig, Red River Settlement of the North, British Possessions requests that

his son Alexander (Ean och she or Boy of Aone) be sent to English school at age 12,

while his daughter Sarah (Mock pe e dai or Firey Cloud) should continue to attend

school until age 15. The children are not to be taken to the U.S. to be educated nor taken

from their mother-better a private teacher, perhaps Rev. Bellecour. The wife is unac-

quainted with federal money so it should be paid to the Hudson Bay Company for use-

Gerald S. Greenberg is Reference Librarian at The Ohio State University's Undergraduate

Library.

Literary Bequests                                                 21

From will dated 12 Sept. 1856. Witnessed by Joseph Dorbescue, clerk, Hudson Bay

Company.1

While the excerpt above makes no mention of either books or libraries, it

bears witness to the value some pioneers placed on education, even on the

remote frontier, and it was this sentiment which would bring early book traders

and publishers to the west, providing literature to the region's pioneer doctors,

lawyers and clergymen, as well as the general public.

The fact that one's will is on file at an Ohio county courthouse does not

mean that its author is a state resident. Indeed, Edward T. Denig, whose con-

cern for the welfare of his native American wife and their children is evident in

the passage from his will above, died near Winnipeg, Canada, and identified his

original home as "Ft. Union of (the) Upper Missouri." Similarly, one discovers

the 1828 will of Thomas Monteagle Bayly (1775-1834), former congressional

representative from the state of Virginia, on file in Franklin County, Ohio. In

this instance, however, the reason becomes readily apparent when one reads

that Bayly owned ten thousand acres of land in Ohio which he willed to his son

Thomas Henry. Of greater relevance for our purposes, the elder Bayly indicates

that his son " . . is also to have my law books . . .2 Thomas M. Bayly of

Accomac County, Virginia, graduated Princeton College in 1794. After study-

ing law, he was admitted to the bar two years later, and practiced in his home

county. Politically prominent, Bayly was a member of the Virginia house of

delegates (1798-1801, 1819, 1820, 1828-1831) and the Virginia senate (1801-

1809) as well as a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1829 and

1830. From 1813-1815 he served in the House of Representatives of the

Thirteenth Congress. An early biographical directory of government figures

toasted Bayly's political success with the comment, "It was said of him that he

never lost an election."³

Thomas Henry Bayly (1810-1856) followed in his father's footsteps.

Inheriting the entire family estate, Mount Custis, along with his father's law

books (his brother William, receiving no part of the estate, was directed instead

to be sent to trade school in Massachusetts), he graduated from the University

of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1829, studied law, was admitted to the bar in

1830, and practiced also in Accomac County. His political career was even

more distinguished than his father's, as he served in the Virginia house of dele-

gates from 1836 to 1842, and was elected judge of the superior court of law and

chancery before moving on to the House of Representatives where he served

1. Blanche Tipton Rings, Franklin County, Ohio Wills, unpublished manuscript, copied 1955, 29.

2. Rings, Wills, 8.

3. Charles Lanman, Biographical Annals of the Civil Government of the United States During

its First Century (Washington, D.C., 1876), 25.

22                                                      OHIO HISTORY

for twelve years, from 1844 until his death in 1856. He chaired the House

Committees on Ways and Means and Foreign Affairs at different times during

his congressional tenure.⁴

The will of Mrs. Eleanor W. Campbell, signed on 6 March 1862, bequeaths

to nephews Mitchell C. and William B. Lilley (and their families), and to the

American Colonization Society and the Boards of Foreign and Domestic

Missions of the Presbyterian Church, one hundred copies each of The Life of

John W. Campbell,⁵ her deceased husband and late Judge of the District Court

of the United States from 1829 to 1833. John W. Campbell (1782-1833) grew

up near Miller's Iron Works in Augusta County, an area of Virginia quite dif-

ferent from that inhabited by Thomas Monteagle Bayly. Yet, he was destined

for a life intimately connected to libraries and learning. Physically unsuited for

farm labor and desirous of an education from an early age, Campbell prevailed

upon his parents, who were of limited means, to send him to a series of Latin

school teachers-first in Bourbon County, Kentucky, then in Highland County,

Ohio, as his family relocated.⁶ Because his father could not afford the price of

books or tuition, John Campbell worked before and after school clearing

ground to pay expenses. In time, Campbell became well-versed in Latin,

learned some Greek, and taught the classics as well.

Seeking greater challenges, Campbell moved to Morgantown, Virginia (in

modem West Virginia), in order to study law with his uncle Thomas Wilson,

who was an attorney there. After admission to the bar in 1808, Campbell served

as prosecuting attorney of Adams and Highland counties. In 1811, he married

Eleanor Doak of Augusta County, Virginia, who was to conscientiously com-

pile and publish his papers posthumously more than two decades later. After an

unsuccessful run for the state legislature in 1812, he won election in 1813 and

again in 1815.⁷ Campbell captured a seat in the House of Representatives in 1816

which he occupied for the next ten years. He proved to be a moderate supporter

of Andrew Jackson, studiously avoiding the vituperative partisanship which char-

acterized many congressional sessions of those years.

While not among the most vociferous of congressmen, John W. Campbell

had occasion during his tenure of office to participate in more than one debate

concerning access to written information. In these instances, Rep. Campbell

consistently championed the cause of informational freedom.

4. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1777-1989 (Washington, D.C., 1989),

592.

5. Rings, Wills, 19.

6. See John Wilson Campbell, Biographical Sketches: With Other Literary Remains of the Late

John Campbell (Columbus, Ohio, 1838), 1-13. The collection of articles was compiled by

Campbell's widow.

7. Dictionary of American Biography, vol. II (New York, 1964), 459-60.

24                                                     OHIO HISTORY

Attempting to impress upon Rep. Little the seriousness of the matter, Campbell

stated that he had taken the trouble to inspect the document in question. It was a

letter from one W. R. Dickinson, cashier of the bank of Steubenville (in

Campbell's home state, though not his district). While there was no way of

knowing whether the information was suppressed inadvertently or by design,

"It was due to all who could be suspected of this suppression, that it should be

inquired into."⁹ In addition, Campbell characterized as "shameful" any attempt

to defraud the House of Representatives in such a manner. (After further discus-

sion, an investigatory committee was formed with Henry Dwight as a member.)

On 3 February 1823, Campbell introduced a joint resolution calling for dis-

tribution of the Digest of the Returns of the Manufactures and Manufacturing

Establishments of the United States which had been commissioned by the

Secretary of State.10  The matter was not taken up until February 7 when

Campbell proposed to amend the original resolution by providing that the

digest be added to the Library of Congress. At this point Robert Wright of

Maryland took the opportunity to attack the digest itself as inaccurate and mis-

leading, an opinion seconded by both Francis Baylies of Massachusetts and

John Cocke of Tennessee, who felt that the manufacturing strength of their

respective districts was not reflected in the digest. Campbell, supported by

Timothy Fuller of Massachusetts, maintained that any inaccuracies were

attributable to the refusal of some manufacturers to respond to the survey.

Furthermore, Campbell contended, in a statement supporting the sentiments of

John Taylor of New York, that, "If there is any information in it (the digest), let

us send it out."¹² Wright and Cocke, however, were joined by Walter Patterson

of New York and Thomas Mitchell of South Carolina in further decrying the

shortcomings of the digest. Consequently, the resolution urging its distribution

(1,500 copies had already been printed) was tabled.¹³

After leaving Congress in 1827, Campbell moved from his home in West

Union, Adams County, to a farm in neighboring Brown County in southwest-

ern Ohio. During his period of residence in Brown County, Campbell became

involved in the issue of public education. In an article he wrote entitled

"Common Schools,"¹⁴ Campbell countered several arguments made by those

who found reason to oppose the public schools. To those older citizens with no

school-age children who balked at supporting schools for others, Campbell

stated that, "The whole Republic is deeply interested in the education of every

son and daughter . . ." Some citizens maintained that children were needed at

9. Annals, 655.

10. Annals, 794.

11. Annals, 888.

12. Annals, 889.

13. Annals, 889.

14. Campbell, Biographical Sketches, 188-91.

Literary Bequests                                                  25

home to help with the chores. Campbell urged that all children should "be

taught to read at the earliest day possible, when their services at home are of lit-

tle account .. ," adding that "To restrain a child from going to school until he

is ten or twelve, is an act of cruelty scarcely pardonable," because he will feel

distinctly out-of-place among younger, but educationally more advanced

students.

Indeed, a friend, writing about Campbell after his death, emphasized his

commitment to the common schools as well as his plan for a public lyceum

(ultimately unrealized).¹⁵ Campbell, whose published life story would be men-

tioned among his widow's most valued possessions in her will, was a man

whose life was built around books and learning, and he did all he could to

improve other's access to the same. It is ironic that, after being named District

Judge of the United States for the state of Ohio in 1829, Campbell was to move

to Columbus in order to have ready access "to the State and other libraries, in

the prosecution of his literary studies"^16--a move which was to result in his

death (following soon after that of his adopted daughter) during the great

cholera epidemic of 1833. (Joseph N. Campbell, John's brother, and a county

judge, also died of cholera that summer.)¹⁷

Library Builders

A mere twelve days before Eleanor Doak Campbell signed her will, one

James Simpson of Hamilton County completed his. Simpson, an inmate at the

Ohio Penitentiary, willed half his worldly wealth to the Children's Aid Society

in order to help the children of the destitute by providing them with suitable

homes where they could be raised according to Christian and moral doctrine.

The other half was to be used to "benefit in some small degree . . my fellow

men confined with me in prison" by purchasing books for a circulating library,

providing the legislature matched his donation.¹⁸ Should the legislature refuse

to do so, the money should be given to the Orphan's Home or the Protestant

Society for support of orphan children in Columbus. Simpson firmly believed

that the proverbial ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure: ". . the ways

of the transgressor is <sic> hard and .. the effort to save children from the

haunts of wickedness are far more efficacious than any effort can possibly be to

reform those already steeped in its iniquity."19

In actuality, there was a prison library in the Ohio Penitentiary as early as

1851, under the supervision of the prison chaplain.²⁰ Its condition, however,

15. Campbell, Biographical Sketches, 272-73.

16. Campbell, Biographical Sketches, 8.

17. Campbell, Biographical Sketches, 275-79.

18. Rings, Wills 104.

19. Rings, Wills, 104.

20. The following account of the prison library is based on George Cole, "A History of the

26                                                        OHIO HISTORY

was abysmal. In 1852, the library circulated eight hundred nearly-worn-out vol-

umes-all of a religious or didactic nature. The state legislature appropriated

three hundred dollars in 1855, helping to boost the library holdings to 6,600

books. The books themselves, unfortunately, remained pedantic. For the next

eight years the prison library languished. Eighty-five percent of the library's

books deteriorated to the point where they were unfit for circulation. James

Simpson's bequest of 1862 accurately reflected the serious need to revitalize

and upgrade the library. One year after Simpson's death the Ohio General

Assembly appropriated seven hundred dollars for new books. Simpson's will

may not have prompted the legislative action, but it certainly highlighted a gen-

uine problem. Sadly, the cycle was to repeat itself in future years. A sudden

infusion of funds would improve the collection one year, only to see the situa-

tion deteriorate due to neglect in the following years. Some gradual improve-

ments did occur as popular magazines and newspapers were added to the

collection by the 1880s, and a librarian was placed in charge of the library

when the position of chaplain was abolished in 1885.21

Early Ohio physicians, as well as attorneys, were more likely than the aver-

age citizen to possess and bequeath a collection of books. On June 4, 1872, one

William Yantis, of New Albany in Franklin County, bequeathed to his daugh-

ter, Elizabeth Wilder, his personal property which consisted "in part of one

cupboard, one chest, two boxes of saddles and harness makers <sic> tools and

one small trunk full of books, and also such surgical instruments that is <sic> in

the chest above mentioned."²² Similarly, John S. Metzger's will of 30

November 1880 bequeaths his library to his wife Eliza.²³

Born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, John S. Metzger became one of Columbiana

County's leading physicians.²⁴ Paul Metzger, John's paternal grandfather, emi-

grated to America from Germany. Jacob, John's father, was one of Hanover's

prominent merchants. John studied medicine under Professor James Miller of

Baltimore, Maryland, graduating from Baltimore Medical College in 1827. He

practiced medicine in Huntingdon and Hanover before moving to Columbiana

County in 1851. Before giving up his practice due to ill health several years

before his death, Metzger "ranked second to none" in his field. He was also rec-

ognized as one of the founding fathers of Columbiana County's early develop-

ment.²⁵

Ohio Penitentiary From 1850 to 1900." (M.A. thesis, Ohio State University, 1941), 66-69.

21. Cole, "Ohio Penitentiary," 69.

22. Ohio Daughters of the American Revolution, "Ohio Wills." Unpublished collection of eight

wills, 1977, 2.

23. Carol Willsey Bell, Columbiana County, Ohio Record of Wills, vol.⁶ (Youngstown, Ohio,

1984), 20. Metzger's name appears as "Metzgar" in copy of will, but as "Metzger" in county history.

24. The following account is from William B. McCord, ed., History of Columbiana County,

Ohio and Representative Citizens (Chicago, 1905), 687-88.

25. McCord, Columbiana County, 688.

Literary Bequests                                                  27

The estate of Aaron M. Church of Coshocton County was disposed of not by

will but by public auction held on 3 July 1815. A well-educated lawyer from

New England and early settler of Coshocton County, Aaron Church might con-

ceivably have risen to political office or the judiciary as did Thomas Bayly and

John Campbell; however "dissipation and neglect of business reduced him to a

needy condition."²⁶ He died in the spring of 1816 of "cold plague," vacating

the office of prosecuting attorney. Coshocton went without a resident lawyer

for five years until William G. Carhart opened a practice in 1821.

The bill of sale filed with the Coshocton County clerk's office by Samuel Lee,

administrator of Aaron Church's estate, reveals that the most valuable items

proved to be two manuscript volumes bought by one Wright Warner for six dol-

lars.²⁷ Next in value were two pair of silk stockings, a violin and a flannel coat.

Perhaps future researchers might discover the nature of the two manuscript vol-

umes, or, even more interestingly, how a promising, well-educated, frontier

lawyer could meet such a quick and untimely end.

In a will dated 14 January 1856, Charles E. Perigo, late of "Vistula

Addition," Toledo, bequeathed to his brother, Lorin Perigo of Cincinnati, his

"double barrel fowling piece with case, flask pouch . . . also such books as he

may select from my library."²⁸ If for no other reason, Charles Perigo's will is

noteworthy because its author was neither an attorney nor a physician (nor, for

that matter, a prisoner), but rather, a nurseryman. Charles Perigo operated a

nursery along with partners A.W. Maddocks and Fred Prentice on the east side

of the Maumee River.²⁹ The business, originally begun as Maddocks + Son in

1845 (the first exclusive nursery business on the Maumee), was built on land

owned by Prentice. They raised and sold apple and pear trees as well as orna-

mentals, vegetables and other plants.

In an interesting aside, apparently Perigo's will was penned well in advance

of his demise, for one discovers a Charles E. Perigo of Toledo presiding as sec-

retary at the Friends of Temperance in Fulton and Lucas Counties convention

held at Swanton on 15 September 1863.³⁰ (There is no indication whether the

Perigo library consisted primarily of horticultural and/or temperance volumes,

or other literature.)

The will of William Augustus White, signed 2 January 1864, found its way

to Lucas County by virtue of land owned by its author in Toledo. A manufac-

26. N.N. Hill, Jr. History of Coshocton County, Ohio: 1740-1881, Its Past and Present

(Newark, Ohio, 1881), 309.

27. Helen Meredith, "Coshocton County, Ohio Marriages 1811-1837 and Wills 1811-1852."

Unpublished, undated collection, 33.

28. Harry S. Blaine, et al., Abstracts of Lucas County, Ohio Wills 1836-1874 (Toledo, 1954), 52.

29. Clark Waggoner, ed., History of the City of Toledo and Lucas County (New York, 1888),

709.

30. Waggoner, Toledo and Lucas County, 799.

28                                                      OHIO HISTORY

turer of hatters' furs, White also owned land in the New York City boroughs of

Manhattan and Brooklyn (where he resided), Chicago, St. Louis, Philadelphia,

Mobile and Danbury, Connecticut (his native city). White's loyalty to his

hometown brings him to the attention of this study, for it is expressed in the

form of a ten thousand dollar bequest earmarked for the establishment of a

library to serve the citizens of Danbury.³1

White's posthumous gift was the first in a series of philanthropic acts by the

White family over a period of fourteen years which resulted in the establish-

ment, construction, and furbishing of the Danbury Library. After receipt of

William Augustus White's ten thousand dollar bequest five years after his

death (as specified in his will), the Connecticut legislature formally incorporat-

ed the Danbury Library in 1869.32 The next year, Alexander Moss White,

brother of the deceased, gave to the library the White family home on Main

Street as well as a plot of land upon which to erect a new library building. At

the same time, Alexander and a third brother, George Granville White, each

donated five thousand dollars toward construction of the new library building.

Alexander also pledged five hundred dollars toward repair and furnishing of the

family home for library purposes. An additional five hundred dollars was

donated by Alexander in 1871 for the purchase of books.

Between 1876 and 1878 the White brothers contributed nearly forty thou-

sand dollars more in order to establish the Danbury Library in its new home.

Completed in 1879 from plans provided by Lamb & Wheeler of Newark, New

Jersey, the library was opened to subscribers who paid $1.50 each for its use. In

1893, Alexander White and his children enabled the library to become free to

the public by donating an additional forty-four thousand dollars for a third

building. The number of library patrons increased from 320 to 2300 within the

year.

Alexander White's son, given the same name as his uncle, William

Augustus, would ensure that his family's relationship to the world of libraries

and literature would not be only philanthropic in nature. Born in 1843, the

younger William Augustus, after a Harvard education, joined the family busi-

ness, eventually becoming a trustee of the Washington Water Power Company

in 1897. It is, however, as an internationally-known bibliophile that William

Augustus, the younger, built upon the civic accomplishments initiated by his

namesake.³³ While the generosity of the uncle would ultimately render accessi-

ble to the local community the world of literature, the nephew became a schol-

arly, private collector of rare Elizabethan literary manuscripts. Among his

holdings were the First Quartos of Shakespeare's Love's Labour Lost (1598),

31. Blaine, Wills, 75.

32. "The Danbury Library," unpublished, undated factsheet furnished by the library.

33. National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. 34, 421.

Literary Bequests                                                  29

Troilus and Cressida (1609), Othello (1622), and the Sonnets (1609). His col-

lection also included works by Marlowe, Jonson, Milton and Blake. In Europe

as well as America White's opinions concerning rare volumes were considered

authoritative.

In the fall of 1915, as the 300th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death

approached, W.A. White suggested to Henrietta C. Bartlett, cataloger of his pri-

vate collection, that an exhibition of books by and about the great dramatist

might be arranged to commemorate the occasion.³⁴ White's own collection, as

well as the New York Public Library's, formed the heart of the exhibition

which was held from 2 April until 15 July 1916 and drew over 66,000 visitors.

Because the British Museum's Shakespeare collection (the world's best) and

most other British collections are publicly owned, and therefore could not be

loaned, the New York exhibition was believed to be "the finest collection of

books relating to Shakespeare which was ever brought together in one place."³⁵

In 1926, one year before White's death, Pynson Printers of New York pub-

lished the Catalogue of Early English Books, Chiefly of the Elizabethan Period,

collected by William Augustus White and cataloged by Henrietta C. Bartlett.

Both Harvard and Princeton universities received parts of this collection fol-

lowing White's death in 1927. Harvard, White's alma mater (class of 1863),

received eighty-eight volumes valued then at $420,000.00, the most precious of

which were a 1599 second edition of Romeo and Juliet (twelve copies known

to exist); the 1598 edition of Love's Labour Lost (eleven copies known); and a

1600 edition of Much Ado About Nothing (sixteen copies known). Princeton

received a fine first folio of Shakespeare known as the Ives copy.

Doctor Abraham Simon Wolf Rosenbach selected the volumes for Harvard,

choosing those which were most needed to further enhance the university's

already substantial research capabilities. Rosenbach characterized White's

holdings as the last great Shakespeare collection in private hands.³⁶ The addi-

tion of White's volumes allowed Harvard to claim ownership of more than half

of Shakespeare's earlier (pre-1640) plays, and over three quarters of those

issued between 1640 and 1703. In addition, the university now owned enough

plays by John Dryden, Nahum Tate and other playwrights who based their

works on Shakespeare to support advanced scholarship in that area of drama.

Rosenbach also noted that a set of drawings by William Blake illustrating

Edward Young's Night Thoughts was to be presented by the White estate to the

34. Henrietta C. Bartlett, Mr. William Shakespeare: Original and Early Editions of His Quartos

and Folios His Source Books and Those Containing Contemporary Notices (New Haven, 1922),

xiii.

35. Bartlett, Mr. William Shakespeare, xxiii.

36. "Guns Guard Books on Way to Harvard," New York Times, June 22, 1928, 1.

30                                                     OHIO HISTORY

British Museum. He considered this to be the greatest literary/artistic gift ever

made by an American to a British institution.

Princeton University President John Grier Hibben, whose institution award-

ed White an honorary Litt.D. degree in 1926, noted that generosity such as

White's was rare among collectors. Hibben lauded the manner in which White

opened his collection "with a liberal hand to the use of scholars, young and

old." White's contributions to learning, stated Hibben, "had helped to spread

about that culture of the mind and taste without which our vast accumulation of

wealth and power will be but vanity and vexation of spirit."³⁷

Generosity is a term appropriately applied to both William Augustus White

the elder, whose bequest made the world of literature available to thousands of

residents in his native city of Danbury, Connecticut, as well as his nephew and

namesake, William Augustus White the younger, whose rare collected volumes

were rendered accessible to future generations of scholarly researchers. The

White's benevolence serve the interests of both the general reading public and

the literary specialist, as both gifts keep on giving. The Danville Library contin-

ues to serve new members of the community, while literary scholars proceed to

research and write, adding to our existing knowledge of Elizabethan drama.

Library Vaults

On 3 October 1845, over seventeen years before his death on 7 January

1863, Elisha Whittlesey of Canfield Township, Mahoning County, willed his

public documents and newspapers to Western Reserve College in Hudson,

Ohio. Whittlesey, who served in the House of Representatives for fifteen years,

was afraid his papers might be scattered and misplaced if deposited in a private

library. He also sought to benefit posterity "under a full conviction that the

want of intelligence among the rising generations, of the political history of the

country and the theory of this government endangers the union of the states."³⁸

Elisha Whittlesey, prominent pioneer statesman of northern Ohio, was born

in Washington, Connecticut, 9 October 1783. He was educated in the law in

Danbury, and practiced as an attorney in Fairfield County. Moving to Ohio in

1806, Whittlesey became prosecuting attorney of Mahoning County. He served

under General William Henry Harrison during the War of 1812, rising to the

rank of major. Entering politics, he served in the Ohio house of representatives

in 1820 and 1821; in Congress as representative from Ohio from 1823 to 1838

where he chaired the Committee on Claims; as Sixth Auditor of the Treasury

from 1841 until 1843; and as Controller of the Treasury under Presidents

Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore and Abraham Lincoln.

37. "William A. White of Brooklyn Dead," New York Times, May 7, 1927. 17.

38. Blaine, Wills, 76.

32                                                     OHIO HISTORY

late in 1899 that the Whittlesey vault was brought to the attention of historians.

On December 5 C.H. Gallup of the Firelands Historical Society and Dr.

Jackson Truesdale, a Mahoning County contemporary of Elisha Whittlesey

with an historic interest in the papers, examined the collection. They found it

mildewed and dusty but ordered. Gallup selected almost three hundred papers

for addition to the Firelands Historical Society collection. In 1908 Wallace H.

Cathcart and A.M. Dyer of the Western Reserve Historical Society learned of

the existence of the Whittlesey papers. After protracted investigation, they

located the collection in a Cleveland warehouse. George Whittlesey, Elisha's

grandson, had taken possession of the papers, protecting them against possible

destruction (reportedly suggested by other relatives); George's death trans-

ferred control of the collection to his widow who, glad to be rid of the papers as

well as the associated insurance and storage fees, turned it over to Cathcart.

The Western Reserve Historical Society began examining the collection in

1922. It consists of fifteen cartons, each containing an average of 3,500

manuscripts. Account books, maps, newspaper clippings, treasury records, war

documents and letters can be found in the collection. Additional scattered

Whittlesey manuscripts are held in other Ohio locales as well as New York and

Washington D.C. The Ohio Historical Society collection in Columbus contains

eight Whittlesey letters of a political nature spanning the years 1815-1860.

Elisha Whittlesey was a meticulous chronicler of his times, conscientiously

devoted to exactness in record keeping. He regularly purchased books at shops

and auctions to add to his library, and history was a passion of his.⁴⁰ As a trea-

sury official Whittlesey was diligent in exposing government wastefulness

which cost the taxpayers money. In a published letter he derided senators

whose continuous, unnecessary adjournments scandalously shortened their

workday. Such behavior, to Whittlesey, was a travesty, comparable to outright

bribery.⁴¹ The public would undoubtedly benefit if there were more Whittleseys

watching over the government coffers. Similarly, future researchers of nine-

teenth century American government will be thankful for Whittlesey's thorough

documentation of his era, much of which, in the end, was preserved, though the

preservation process was a bit more circuitous than Whittlesey would have

wished.

One prominent early Ohioan specifically requested the type of protection for

his library that was later afforded Elisha Whittlesey's. While Whittlesey want-

ed his papers deposited directly in the Western Reserve College Library, John

A. Fulton, pioneer surveyor and early mayor of Chillicothe, preferred the

approach adopted by Whittlesey's family. In a will dated 15 November 1840,

Fulton asked his executors "to remove a small frame house standing on lot

40. Davidson, "Forgotten Ohioan," 192-93.

41. New York Times, Dec. 10, 1856, 1.

Literary Bequests                                                  33

#162 . .and fit it for reception of my books which are to be kept for family

use.⁴² Anticipating the possible movement of his family to Fayette County,

Fulton further specified that, should the move occur, a building should be erect-

ed at the new location to house his collection.

A native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Fulton moved to Chillicothe

with his wife Lavinia in 1802. He worked as a surveyor in the Virginia Military

District, covering several Ohio counties. Some of his work was to have historic

significance: his surveying formed the basis of the lines drawn in the Greenville

Treaty with the Indians, as well as the boundary between the states of Ohio and

Indiana.⁴³ In addition to serving as mayor of Chillicothe (1828-'29, '31-'32),

Fulton was active in education as chairman of the Scioto Township school

directors.⁴⁴ Unfortunately, there is no indication whether Fulton's executors

honored the request regarding his library.

While most of the persons discussed above were citizens of local or national

prominence, literary bequests were not limited solely to those whose status

enabled them to acquire their own libraries. In fact, we have seen that two of

the previous ten bequests examined were attempts to establish for others that

which they themselves did not possess-a library. If we accept in the present

study those bequests which mention family record books and bibles as well as

educational and literary-related items, our sample broadens appreciably to

include Lt. William S. Bush of the U.S. Frigate Constitution, Chesapeake Bay.

In a will dated 12 July 1812, Lt. Bush bequeathed to his friend and mess mate,

Lt. John Conte, his portable writing desk.⁴⁵ We might also mention John Sharp

of Madison Township. Sharp's will of I May 1863 speaks of his daughter

Huldah who died in childbirth, but whose child, Mary Adaline, lived to be

recorded in his family book.⁴⁶

Religious works, commonly mentioned in early Ohio wills, attest to the faith

of the midwestern pioneer. John Starr of Montgomery Township, in a will

signed 30 October 1834, bequeathed to each of his eleven children one bible

and one Presbyterian Church confession of faith.⁴⁷ Similarly, Edward Murry of

Columbiana County, on 7 July 1880, willed his bible and one hundred dollars

to one Frank Sheehan.⁴⁸ Early Ross County citizens John Winder and Clarina

Backus also mentioned spiritual literature in their wills. Winder left his daugh-

ter, Sarah Kerns, the family bible in his will dated 22 February 1819,⁴⁹ while

42. Abstract of Wills, Ross County, Ohio, unpublished manuscript, undated manuscript, 611

(hereafter cited as AWRCO).

43. Ross County Ohio Families (Chillicothe, 1976), 85.

44. The Scioto Gazette, Feb. 7, 1828, 1, carried Fulton's call for a meeting of directors of all

common schools to be held at the Chillicothe Court House.

45. Rings, Wills, 17.

46. Rings, Wills, 101.

47. Rings, Wills, 112.

48. Bell, Columbiana County, 1.

49. AWRCO, 125.

34                                                     OHIO HISTORY

Backus provided for a donation to be made to the American Bible Society in

her will dated 24 June 1831.⁵0

A few other literary bequests may be found while scanning will collections,

but they are scattered and not very different in kind from those already dis-

cussed. All the bequests encountered raised natural questions: What sort of per-

son made this bequest? Why was the bequest made? What effect did the

bequest have? In attempting to answer these and related questions, the

researcher is taken in many different directions. As the original investigation

expands, a biographical and social history unfolds which inevitably raises new

questions for further research. In the end, the literary bequest proves an inter-

esting entry point for examination of an era's cultural history.

50. AWRCO, 307.