Editorialana. 331
Mrs .Tuttle is a writer of great merit,
being a lady of unusual cul-
ture and scholarship. Her husband was
the late Prof. Herbert Tuttle, the
distinguished historical writer and
lecturer at Cornell University. With
her husband Mrs. Tuttle spent some years
abroad and became proficient
as a linguist and an artist. She not
only writes in a delightful manner,
but wields the artist's brush, both in
portraiture and landscape, with
equal talent and charm. That she is
deeply interested in Ohio history is
most natural, for she is the
granddaughter of Governor Allen Trimble
and the great-granddaughter of Captain
James Trimble who participated
in the battle of Point Pleasant (1774)
and was a captain in the Revolution-
ary War. Mrs. Tuttle is a resident of
Hillsboro, Ohio, which was the
home of her illustrious grandfather.
FARRAR'S GROUNDHOG SPEECH.
We have been asked for information
concerning Captain Farrar's
famous groundhog oration. In reply we
reprint the following from the
pen of a writer in Cambridge, Ohio, who
contributed the readable account
to a recent daily publication:
Each groundhog day, whether the sun
shines or not, brings back to
the citizens of Cambridge, Ohio the old
story of how "Groundhog" Farrar
got his nickname.
Captain William H. Farrar, at one time a
leading lawyer in Eastern
Ohio, banker, philanthropist and several
times Mayor of Cambridge, was
sent to the Legislature back in the
seventies by the Republicans of Guern-
sey County. He was expected to make his
mark as a law maker, as he
had ability and was an eloquent speaker.
The following incident, what-
ever else he said or did while a member
of the lower House, gave him
newspaper notoriety from one end of the
land to the other:
One of the biennial sessions of the
Buckeye Legislature, somewhere
around 1884-87, was noted for what it
did not do. There seemed to be no
leader of either party, and, in fact,
there seemed to be no laws needed,
few changes in the existing laws and the
members, both of the Senate
and House of Representatives, were equal
to the occasion and loafed most
of the time.
One day, while the members of the House
were sitting around wait-
ing for some one to 'do something' or
move the usual adjournment, Cap-
tain Farrar arose and said:
"Mr. Speaker, I have a resolution
which I wish to offer and I ask as
a personal favor from my colleagues that
I be allowed to make some re-
marks before submitting the
measure."
The voice from old Guernsey was like a
bolt from a clear sky.
Weeks had passed without a set speech on
any subject and the eager-
ness of the members to 'hear something'
and to finally get to vote on a
*10 Vol. XII-3.
332 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
measure was expressed by many of them,
and the Speaker himself waived
any objection.
Captain Farrar began by setting forth
the duty of the members of the
body. He told of how each man was
violating the trust put in him by his
own people. He declared that the state
of Grant, Sherman, Sheridan,
Chase, Ewing, Hayes, Tom Corwin and a
hundred other brilliant men was
being made ridiculous by the House of
Representatives, and the people
who sent them to the Statehouse were
disgusted. He then gave a history
of the state in its territorial days;
the settlement at Marietta; the admis-
sion of Ohio to the Union in 1803; the
part the Buckeye State had taken in
national politics and what she had done
in the War of the Rebellion. By
this time he had spoken almost four
hours, and as he sat down he asked
leave to continue the following day.
Members approached him after his long
speech and asked him what
his object was. He only informed them
that he would not discuss his
speech.
The following day found every member in
his seat. The newspapers
had printed long accounts of the
splendid flow of oratory, and this drew
a crowd to the galleries. No one knew
what the Guernsey member had
up his sleeve, but they felt that
something was going to happen. The
Captain arose promptly, and, picking up
his historical talk of the day be-
fore, issued forth such a flow of
oratory as had seldom been heard in the
Capitol. His eloquence caused profound
silence, and there were no in-
terruptions from 'the other side.'
The second day's session was brought to
an end and the members
were as much at sea as on the previous
day. There was eloquence, but
no argument. What was Farrar driving at?
Were the Supreme Court
members to be impeached? Was there treason somewhere? No one
knew. There was no question brought up
which could call forth a denial
from
his opponents. There was a great mystery, and no one could
fathom it.
That night party leaders were summoned
from Cincinnati, from
Cleveland, Dayton and Toledo. A
delegation from Cambridge was hur-
ried to Columbus to find out what was
going to happen. Their repre-
sentative had talked for two days and had
not finished!
The third day found a great crowd in the
Assembly Hall. The Sen-
ate met and immediately adjourned. The
members crowded into the
House. The galleries were packed almost
to suffocation, and Captain Far-
rar arose.
Several long, uninteresting decisions by
the Supreme Court were
read; long lists of prices of coal,
wool, wheat, etc., were read. War stories
were told and sketches were given of
illustrious Americans. Weakened by
the awful strain and so hoarse he could
scarcely speak, he stopped for a
moment, then, taking his bill from his
inside coat pocket, concluded as
follows:
Editorialana. 333
"And now, Mr. Speaker, having
covered the points I think necessary,
I submit, for an immediate vote of the
House, a bill which urges that
Groundhog Day be set back from February
2d to January 2d, so that we
may have an earlier spring."
THE HEROES OF FORT MEIGS.
We cheerfully publish the circular sent
out by the "Wives and Daugh-
ters of the Boys in Blue," to the
soldiers of the United States, and all
others interested, in behalf of the
laudable purpose of purchasing and
preserving the remains of old Fort Meigs
and the graves of the hundreds
of heroes who fell in its memorable
seige. The circular is self-explanatory
and is as follows:
SOLDIERS OF THE UNITED STATES-The Wives
and Daughters of the
Boys in Blue, a band of patriotic women
of the Maumee Valley, are weld-
ing with loving hands a chain, with
which to encircle round about, and
encompass as with a bulwark of safety,
the neglected and unmarked graves
of 825 United States soldiers, who laid down
their lives for the country
which has forgotten them. Every link in
this chain of honor will be a sol-
dier's tribute.
Soldiers, if the history of the valor of
the heroes of Fort Meigs, and
the recital of their wrongs, appeals to
you, and you desire to assist in re-
claiming the historic battlefield, and
in preserving the graves of the sol-
diers from the desecration which
threatens them, send your name and ad-
dress, your regiment and company,
together with 10 cents, to the Society
of the Wives and Daughters of the Boys
in Blue, Perrysburg, Ohio, and
become a member of the Fort Meigs
Protective League.
This membership fee, although small,
will prove to be the nucleus of
a fund which will grow to mammoth
proportions, and eventually result in
the purchase of the fort, and the
erection of a monument to its heroes.
FORT MEIGS: - High above the river, it
stands in solemn loneliness,
although the picturesque city of Maumee
lies but a stone's throw beyond,
the beautiful village of Perrysburg a
mile to the east, and prosperous To-
ledo scarce ten miles away. As far as
the eye can see, in every direc-
tion, over hill, over dale, and along
the winding river's course, reaches out
scenery of unparalleled magnificence,
and from its breezy heights can be
discerned the battlefields of Fallen
Timbers, Fort Miami, and Fort In-
dustry.
Adown the slope, and binding the brow of
the hill, long lines of pit-
iful indentations mark the resting
places of the patient sleepers, patient in
awaiting justice-the justice of honored
recognition, and undisturbed re-
pose. The fort, through pitying nature,
is a gem of beauty in rarest
setting; through inhuman ingratitude,
cupidity, and neglect, it is a spot
over which to mourn.