OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE:
PROCEEDINGS 145
known. Entrust the future to them. Teach
them ideals of service and of
Christian citizenship. They'll not fail
us. Throw them the lighted torches
and these will grow brighter as they
climb the heights to endless day.
Said our beloved poet:
"The thoughts of youth are long,
long thoughts."
and Emerson,
"So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
So near is God to man,
When duty whispers low, 'Thou must,'
The youth replies, 'I can.'"
The second speaker of the morning was
Mrs. Helen C. Hill
Sloan of Marietta, Ohio.
THE LURE OF THE PIONEER
By MRS. HELEN C. HILL SLOAN
PRESIDENT LIVINGSTON, MEMBERS OF THE
COLUMBUS GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
AND FRIENDS:
I bring you greetings from the little
settlement at the confluence of
the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers. There for
over one hundred and fifty
years we have carried on our New England
traditions, under the giant elms
and maples, which our pioneer
forefathers, and successive generations, have
planted and cared for.
We hope you will all drive down to
Marietta this spring, the red-bud,
and dog-wood along the way will be
beautiful. Summer or fall, we will
have many things that will interest you,
historically and genealogically.
I have been asked to tell of some phases
of my work in Washington
County. As historian and genealogist for
the Marietta chapter, Daughters
of the American Revolution, and member
of the State Historical Activities
Committee of the Colonial Dames of
America, it has been my duty to
acquaint myself with the various sources
of information available in this
section.
Our court and church records date from
the beginning of the settle-
ment in 1788. Local histories, private
collections of manuscripts, letters, and
genealogies, including the journals of
Rufus Putnam and the proceedings of
the Ohio Company, furnish accurate data
and enable us to go back beyond
the Revolution to early colonial times.
It has been my especial interest to
collate the lines of descent of these
early pioneers, in order that their
names and deeds may be preserved and
their pedigrees established, and made
available back to the immigrant ances-
146 OHIO
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
tor who first established the family in
America. Sometimes I have to fur-
nish a wife or husband and often I give
them a dozen children.
"Throughout the fabrick that has
been weaving in the loom of time
there is a pattern. The shuttle in
ceaseless routine moves; with bright
colors: with the drab of
uneventfulness, sometimes with the black of war,
with its deepening shadows of disaster
and despair. Ever present though,
through all the ages, has been and will
be, outstanding in the weaving pat-
tern, an undertone of values, eternal
and supreme--the blending harmonies
of continuing family life."
I like the thought, recently attributed
to Kaiser Wilhelm, that: "A
nation is created by families, a
religion, traditions. It is made up of the
hearts of mothers, the wisdom of
fathers, and the joyous laughter of
children."
If it be true, that the environment and
experiences of our parents, and
of their parents, and earlier
parents--uncounted--has come unerringly, in
some degree, to be a part of us, then,
unless the role of indifference be
assumed, there must be wholesome concern
in everyone, over the question:
Who were these people whose names we
bear, whose stature we acquire,
whose complexion we share, and whose countenance
our mirrors reflect?
By identifying those whose blood we
share, we each may find a place
in the ever-weaving pattern. The shuttle
thread of history thus becomes
to each of us a personal thing.
"History is a Painter
Her pictures fill the land
Unfailing is her genius
Unceasing is her hand."
Let us then look backward and see the
picture portrayed and the part
our forebears had in the developing of
this new world.
In 1620 our Pilgrim forefathers
left their homes in old England and
established a New England here in
America. In 1788 our pioneer fore-
fathers left this same New England to
begin life anew in the Ohio country.
What was the lure of this new
country--why did men and women
leave home and dear ones, friends and
the comforts of an established com-
munity ?
If one is to think of the pioneers of
Ohio of 1788 and the following
years, when there was a steady flow of
emigration from the New England
states--one must inevitably think of
1620. I venture the assertion that
there were few--if any--of the early
settlements in Ohio, that did not
number their Mayflower descendants--in
accordance to the ratio of their
New England population.
We are familiar with the Mayflower
Compact, we know why the
Pilgrims came to America and we have
acquainted ourselves with the con-
OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE:
PROCEEDINGS 147
tributing factors which resulted in the
forming of the Ohio Company and
the establishing of civil government in
the Northwest Territory--but what
of the children of old England, and what
of the mothers and families here
in Ohio?
We are prone to think of our pioneer
Ohio families and our Revo-
lutionary heroes as being from New
England--but were they? The more
we study the facts, the more are we convinced
that
"No one can live unto himself
alone, . . .
A separate path no one can quite
pursue--
We work together, though we know it
not."
Shall we look for a moment across the
ocean? If I seem to ramble
about inanely, please bear with me,
concentrate on the names I give and I
hope you can follow my line of thought.
First we will visit an English garden.
The shy, lonely lad is Bill
Bradford--his parents are dead.
Sometimes his grandparents allow him to
play with the six little Carpenter
girls. "Let's play stage coach," suggested
Bridget. "Let's go far, far away,
maybe clear to London," said Alice. "I
could never leave Mother," said
prim little Mary. And little did they dream
that soon the Carpenters would flee to
Holland, and never had they even
heard of America.
Many things happened and at last the
Carpenters returned to England.
Alice was quite a big girl and grew very
fond of young Bill Bradford, but
the proud parents soon put an end to the
budding romance. Poor Bill left,
for no one knew where--so it was
probably just as well.
The years flew by, and how amused they
were, those six Carpenter
girls, when someone suggested they might
go to America. "Why, how
silly, who ever heard of such a thing?
Sister Alice is going to be mar-
ried next month to a very fine
gentleman. We think Agnes likes Sam
Fuller, and everyone knows that Julia
will marry George Morton, and live
in York."
As for Bill Bradford, no one had seen
him for ever so long. It was
rumored that he had gone to Leyden and
married Dorothy--well, Dorothy
somebody.
Probably Alice Carpenter had forgotten
all about him. She was busy
with her two babies--and then her
husband died.
Once in a while word would come from
America. Massachusetts was
quite a colony and they were very proud
of the new house for the
Governor.
Letters were an exciting event in those
days and Mrs. Southworth
wondered who could be writing to her.
Such a strange post-mark, and it
looked as though the letter had come a
long way. I peeked over her
shoulder, and this is what I saw:
"I am not that Bill Bradford I once was.
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OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
I am now Governor of the Colony, a
widower, and if you will come to
America, I am at your service."
Yes, I think we were mistaken--perhaps
Alice Carpenter Southworth
had not quite forgotten her boyish
lover. (Children sometimes don't--even
when their parents tell them to.)
It took a lot of courage, but sister
Bridget said she would go along
and help with the children. They sailed
on the good ship Ann, and on the
fourteenth of August, 1623, Alice
Carpenter married Bill Bradford, and
went to live in the Governor's mansion.
No, I have not forgotten about the other
Carpenter girls. Of course
no one called them girls over here. They
were very "well thought of," and
their husbands were important men in the
colony. Priscilla married
William Wright. Julia was Mrs. Morton,
and Bridget had just become
Mrs. Fuller. "But, I thought you
said Agnes--" Yes, I did, but you
see
poor Agnes died and was buried under St.
Peter's in old Leyden town, and
then Dr. Fuller came to America on the Mayflower.
You know Bridget
came over with her sister Alice in 1623,
and after a time Dr. Fuller asked
her to be his wife. Do you remember
little Mary saying she could never
leave her mother? Well, she never did. She took such loving
care of
her, but, after her mother's death, then
Mary came over and made her
home with Governor and Alice Bradford.
The records say she was "A
Godly old maid, never married,"
died at Plymouth, March 19, 1667, aged
about eighty years.
Here are "bits" from the
letter which "prim little Mary Carpenter"
received, inviting and urging her to
"come over to us" in America.
"We are grown old and the country
here more unsettled than ever,
by reason of the great changes . . . and
what will further be the Lord only
knows: which makes many think of
removing their habitation, and sunderies
of our ministers (hearing of the peace
and liberty now in England and
Ireland) begin to leave us, and it is
feared many more will follow. . . .
With our love remembered unto you we
take leave and rest,
Your loving brother and sister,
PLYMOUTH WILLIAM BRADFORD."
August 19, 1664.
Less than eight miles from where the
Carpenters used to live, is the
village of Bristol, where a little girl
played with her dolls and carefully
mended their broken heads and arms.
The homes of northern England, were
filled with sturdy youths, who
often went with their fathers to the
fishing banks--sometimes as far as the
Great Banks. The Lakes were famous
fishermen, and at last Archibald
was allowed to go. "He's much too
young," growled his father.
Were you ever in Scotland? The Earl of
Selkirk used to have a
beautiful garden up in
Kircudbrightshire. The gardener's little son often
OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS 149
watched his father, and thought that he
too would work in the garden,
just as soon as he grew up. But like
many little boys he changed his
mind, and went to sea in the American
and West India Trade. Frequently
he saw Abe Whipple, who came over from
the colony in Rhode Island.
Trade was good and soon John Paul, the
gardener's son, grew wealthy
and settled in Virginia. I have heard
that he joined with the colonists
against the British in the War and
helped quite a lot in the Revolution.
Mary Bird grew up and put her dolls
away, for she was going to be
married and go to the Great Banks with
Archibald Lake, the boy from
northern England.
Over in Rhode Island, Abe Whipple had
been pretty busy, fighting in
the French and Indian War, and after
that he had some fun commanding a
"privateer." He married Sarah Hopkins, sister of Governor
Hopkins.
They were very wealthy and had a fine
house in Providence, and a farm
"out Cranston way."
Things were not going so well with the
Lakes. The French were
causing trouble about the fishing and so
Archibald and Mary came to New
York, where Mr. Lake found work in the
ship-yards.
It is too bad about young Whipple, we
heard that he was to have been
hung, for some mischief he got into.
Let us return to Marietta. I want to
tell you a little about our ceme-
teries. There is something that tugs at
the heart strings, and a fascination
about these scattered God's Acres. Their
soft grey sandstones are the
markers, left between the pages when our
forefathers laid down the great
"book of time." It is
surprising how much can be read between the lines
and the discoveries that may be made.
In the little cemetery at Cedarville,
below Belpre, Ohio, may be found
the grave of Major Robert Bradford, and
in the church-yard at Newport,
a shaft bears this inscription:
"Captain Nathaniel Little, died
November 20, 1808,
The first interment in this
cemetery"
and on the same stone:
"Pamela, wife of Nathaniel Little,
died October 30, 1822,
aged 59 years."
I turn to the old family Bible, the one
they had in "Farmer's Castle"
during the Indian War, and read:
"Nathaniel Little and Pamela Bradford
was married February ye 16th,
1792."
On the west bank of the Muskingum, seven
miles above Marietta, we
find another pioneer cemetery, with many
interesting names. May I call
your attention to the one with the
bronze tablet, which informs us that
Mary Bird Lake taught the first Sunday-school in the Northwest
Territory
(some say in the United States) and was
Matron of the General Army
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OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Hospitals during the Revolutionary War?
Her husband, Archibald Lake,
also has a bronze tablet telling of his
services in the War. If we look in
the early histories we will find many
pages devoted to this remarkable
woman. Mrs. Lake was many times
personally thanked by General Wash-
ington, for her "tender, vigilant,
and unremitting care of the sick and
wounded soldiers."
It has often been stated that there are
more Revolutionary officers
of high rank, buried in Mound
Cemetery, than in any other one burial
ground in the United States. One has
only to read the names, Putnam,
Tupper, Hildreth, Parsons, and on down
the line to recognize the im-
portant part these men played in the war
against Britain, and later in the
establishment of the Northwest
Territory.
Over by the moat, near the Big Mound, is
a simple white shaft. Per-
haps, some of you have leaned over the
iron railing, trying to decipher the
unusual epitaph, have wondered about the
man: who he was, and what
he had done.
"1733 - 1819
Sacred
to the memory of
COMMODORE ABRAHAM WHIPPLE
whose name, skill, and courage
will ever remain the pride and
boast of his country.
In the late Revolution he was the
first on the seas to hurl defiance at
proud Britain,
gallantly leading the way to wrest from
the mistress of the ocean her scepter,
and there to wave the star-spangled
banner.
He also conducted to the sea
the first square-rigged vessel ever
built on the Ohio,
opening to commerce
resources beyond calculation."
" the pride and boast of his
country."
" the first to hurl defiance at
proud Britain."
" the first to conduct ships down
the Ohio."
" opening up commercial resources
beyond calculation."
Does it not intrigue the imagination?
Let us turn to the encyclopedia
and see what we may find. Strange is it
not, that no mention is made of
Commodore Whipple? We are told that John
Paul Jones, of Virginia,
rendered valuable service and has been
regarded as chief among the naval
heroes of the American Revolution. His
remains were brought in 1905
OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE: PROCEEDINGS 151
from Paris to America where he was
buried in the Naval Academy grounds
at Annapolis.
If we turn to colonial histories we will
find much about Whipple's
daring service in the French and Indian
War, and of his exploits as com-
mander of a privateer. Arnold tells of
the burning of the Gaspe. Learning
that Captain Whipple had been in command
of the men from Providence,
who burned this ship, a message was sent:
"You, ABRAHAM WHIPPLE,
on the 10th of June, 1772, burned your
Majesties vessel, the Gaspe, and I
will hang you at the Yard-arm,"
signed "JAMES WALLACE." To which the
terse reply was: "To SIR JAMES
WALLACE: Always catch a man before
you hang him. ABRAHAM WHIPPLE."
Historians generally consider the
burning of the Gaspe, the first overt
act of the Revolution. This was eighteen months prior to
the Boston Tea
Party, and three years before the battle
of Lexington.
Rhode Island was the first of the
Colonies to renounce allegiance to
the British Crown, and the first to send
to sea under legislative authority,
vessels of war. Rhode Island purchased,
equipped and manned two sloops--
the Washington and Katy. These
were placed under the command of Abra-
ham Whipple with the rank of Commodore.
Whipple was ordered to clear
the bay of British ships. June 15, 1775,
Whipple sailed down the Narra-
ganset, routed the British, cleared the
bay, and thus gained the honor of
having fired the first shot--"the
shot that was heard around the world."
Such was the commencement of our first
American Navy, and that
was the Navy's first cruise. This
was two days before the battle of Bunker
Hill.
Whipple was credited with having
captured more British prizes than
any other naval officer of the
Revolution. It was Commodore Whipple who
was intrusted with the important papers
that must be gotten to our Com-
missioners in France, when it seemed
impossible for any one to run the
British blockade. It was Whipple who was
sent to raise the siege of
Charleston. It was Whipple who spent his
own fortune to keep the Ameri-
can fleet manned--it was his money that
paid the sailors. It was Whipple
who was given command of the first
merchant vessel sent to Great Britain
after the Peace. At this time he was
"the first to unfurl the American flag
(the star-spangled banner) on the
Thames."
Whipple, like many others, had expended
his entire fortune in the
cause of freedom, and was reduced to
actual want. The whole amount due
Whipple was over sixteen thousand
dollars, a considerable fortune in those
days. Quoting from his pitiful petition
to Congress, in 1786, after setting
forth his military services, he said:
"Thus having exhausted the means of
supporting myself and family,
I was reduced to the sad necessity of
mortgaging my farm, the remnant I
had left, to obtain money for temporary
support. The farm is now gone.
. . I am turned into the world at
an advanced age, feeble and valetudinary,
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OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
with my wife and children, destitute of
a house or home that I can call my
own, or have the means of hiring ... I
have served the United States from
the 15th of June, 1775, to December,
1782 [when taken prisoner], without
receiving a farthing of wages or
subsistence from them since December,
1776 [6 yrs.]. . . . The payment
of this, or a part of it, might be the happy
means of regaining the farm I have been
obliged to give up, and snatch my
family from misery and ruin."
In 1788, Commodore Whipple and wife
(Sarah Hopkins) came to
Marietta to be with their daughter and
son-in-law, Colonel Ebenezer Sproat.
In 1800 the first ship built at Marietta
was completed, but there was no one
in the new settlement qualified to take
the vessel to sea. So once again,
though an old man, Whipple came to the
rescue, took command, and with an
untrained crew took the boat to Havana,
disposed of the cargo, reloaded with
sugar and sailed for Philadelphia, where
he disposed of both cargo and ship
to advantage. Whipple then walked all
the way back to Marietta. From
then until the Embargo Act,
ship-building was the leading industry, and
vessels from Marietta sailed for every port.
Thus had Commodore Whip-
ple "opened to commerce, resources
beyond calculation."
Those who have made a study of the
accomplishments of this old
hero may well question the point that
John Paul Jones was "chief among
American naval heroes."
We read that "Man is but the
plaything of Fate." Truly, even with
our last resting place--Fate her tricks
doth play. How little did they
dream, those parents of long ago, that
Alice and the lonely lad William
would find a resting place at Plymouth,
in far away America! That little
Mary Bird from Bristol, and the fisher
lad from northern England, would
lie beneath the sod of Wiseman's Bottom,
beside the beautiful Mus-
kingum! And even in 1623, the Governor
and his bride would have pon-
dered long, had some one foretold that a
Major Robert would be in Cedar-
ville at Belpre, and Pamela with her
husband and children, in Newport
would live and die.
The gardener's son will not be found in
Scotland, for with pomp and
ceremony was he laid among the heroes of
our country. Commodore Whip-
ple, we know, sleeps just as peacefully
beside the moat, beneath the shadow
of the Great Mound. Who knows, perhaps
those silent people of long ago,
looked into the future as they built the
mound and planned it so!
The courage and self-sacrifice of those
early Ohio mothers is well
portrayed by the letter which Lucy
Backus Woodbridge wrote concerning
their plan, "very hastily
formed" to remove to Marietta.
"I feel reconcile'd myself to any
step that will promote the interest of
my family. In this place [Norwich,
Conn.] there is very little for anyone
to expect so of course we do not hazard
much in the attempt, and the de-
scriptions of the western world are truly
flattering. If the half of them
are just I shall chearfully quit my
prospects here. It will be painful part-
OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE:
PROCEEDINGS 153
ing with the connections I must leave
behind me, but the society of our
friends but poorly compensates for the
want of a subsistence. We have a
large circle of little ones dependent on
us, and I know of no persuit that
would give me more pleasure than that of
providing an easy Liveing for
them."
Emigration has ever played its part in
the making of history and in
every land since Moses led his trusting
band to the land of "milk and
honey," there has been a lure that
beckons men to fields afar, for homes
must be established and little mouths
fed, and there must be weaving and
spinning. Yes, a nation is made up of
the hearts of mothers, the wisdom
of fathers, and the joyous laughter of
children. "Within the mirrors of
their children's radiant eyes I see
envisioned all the hopes and fears of men
and women, who 'neath alien skies
transmuted wilderness to paradise."
The last speaker at this session was
Professor Francis Phelps
Weisenburger of the Department of
History of the Ohio State
University.
THE PERSONAL ELEMENT IN HISTORY
By FRANCIS P. WEISENBURGER
My subject today is very similar in its
wording to that taken a few
years ago by Professor Edward M. Hulme
of Stanford University, Cali-
fornia, in his presidential address
before the Pacific Coast Branch of the
American Historical Association. At that
time he spoke on the topic,
"The Personal Equation in
History."1 The matter which he discussed,
however, was a very different one from
that which I have in view in com-
menting upon "The Personal Element
in History." Professor Hulme had
in mind of course the extent to which
the writer of history, however objec-
tive his intentions, is necessarily
influenced in his selection of data and
in his interpretation of events by his
own personal background. Race,
color, ancestry, schooling, economic
circumstances, and many other factors
are indeed often very significant in
determining the viewpoint expressed by
even the most unbiased of historical
writers. Professor Hulme flatly de-
clared that "perfect
detachment" among historians is impossible, is in
fact "a myth." He went on to
express the view that history of all kinds
is "colored" by the personal
equation, sometimes indeed rather slightly
but at other times very deeply.
Circumstances of time and place, he said,
are important in determining the trend
of historical interpretation, and the
personal background of the author is apt
to be of great significance. His-
torians at best, he said, are not
machines on the one hand or angels on
Pacific Historical Review (Glendale, Calif.), II (1933/34), 129ff.