Ohio History Journal

Editorialana.                       257

pillow. His clothing was the cast off garments of his generous friends.

He traveled like the Apostles of old "without purse or scrip." Yet it is

recalled in the history of Ashland county that he once paid to a certain

individual a five dollar bill as the result of some contractual obligation;

so even Johnny seemed to have had his financial experiences. The purse

in question bears Johnny's own autograph "John Chapman." Its gen-

uineness is conclusively established. It was found among the "truck"

in the garret of an aged dweller at Maumee, Ohio. It had been kept

in that family as a relic that had "belonged to a man they called 'Apple-

seed John.' " The autograph is unmistakably that of Chapman, because

it tallies exactly with several authentic autographs inscribed upon docu-

ments of which he was the undisputed author.

HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.

Prof. Clement L. Martzolff, Superintendent of the Public Schools at

New Lexington, and Trustee of the Ohio State Archaeological and

Historical Society, is the author of a very attractive and valuable little

volume on the History of Perry county, Ohio. It embraces some 200

pages with numerous illustrations and an excellent map of the county.

Mr. Martzolff is an entertaining writer and an enthusiastic student of

history. The material of his book is well selected and concisely employed.

He describes the geological formation of the county, beginning with

the ice period and the days of the Ohio glaciers. He has an interesting

chapter on the Mound Builders and their remains in Perry county, giving

diagrams and pictures of the Stone Fort at Glenford and the Wilson and

the Robert Mounds. He treats at some length of the Indian days,

describing their trails, hunting grounds and wars. His recital of the

history of the county is especially valuable, as he relates its development

from the days of the French and English possession of the great section

of country between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi on through to

the war for independence, which gave this vast area to the United States,

and led to the establishment of the Northwest Territory and to the

organization of the State of Ohio. He mentions the voyage of La Salle

from the lakes across the state down the Muskingum, Scioto or Miami

to the Ohio. He describes the land surveyed and the famous trace

of Ebenezer Zane from Wheeling to Maysville. The account of the

organization of Perry county, is an excellent illustration of the way

in which our counties are made. Another informing feature of his book

is the statement of the provisions in the ordinance of 1787 for

our state public school fund. "The Ordinance of 1787 stipulated

that 'Section 16' of every Congressional township should be reserved for

the maintenance of schools in that township. The object of this school

grant was not merely for the furtherance of education by Congress but

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258        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

was an incentive to settlers. This reservation was not open to sale or

settlement, and consequently the territorial legislature could do nothing

with it. When Ohio became a state these lands were granted to her

to be disposed of by the Legislature. There was thus left to Ohio for

school purposes the splendid endowment of 704,000 acres. The income

only from this land could be used. In consequence up to 1827 they were

leased and rented in various ways. The appraisement of their rental value

was often low and much mismanagement caused the revenue to be of

wholly inadequate value.

"The Legislature finally in 1827 provided for their sale. The money

was turned into the State Treasury and the township to which the section

belonged should receive six per cent. interest. Much of it was sold at

once but in some parts of the state there are tracts yet unsold. In our own

(Perry) county the first was sold in 1831 and the last in 1883. We have

twelve 'school sections.' The townships of Pleasant and Coal, being

formed from other townships do not happen to have section 16 within their

limits. The amount received from their sale in Perry county was

$27,829.33. This gives the schools an annual income of $1,669.76. It

is divided among the twelve Congressional townships according to the

amount for which their respective sections sold."

Mr. Martzolff might have added that the total fund now in the

possession of or received by the state, known as the "Section 16, School

Fund," is in round numbers $3,500,000, upon which the state pays to

the respective townships six per cent. interest. The principal of this fund

is called the "Irreducible Debt" of the state as it (the principal) cannot

of course ever be paid off.

Mr. Martzolff's sketches of the churches, the old school houses and

the underground railroad are all well done. He gives brief biographies of

the famous natives of this county which included Janarius A. MacGahan

the great English war correspondent, who is buried at New Lexington;

of Jeremiah Rusk, who was Secretary of Agriculture under Benjamin

Harrison; of Gen. James M. Comly, who was United States Minister

to Hawaii under Rutherford B. Hayes; of Gen. Phil. Sheridan the Mar-

shall Ney of our Union army; of Col. William A. Taylor the well known

journalist and historical writer and others worthy of mention. One of

the most interesting incidents in his book is the reminiscence of Mor-

gan's Raid during which occurred the only battle of the civil war fought

on Ohio soil. It was fought Sunday July 18, 1863, on the banks of the

Ohio in Meigs county, where Morgan attempted to cross the river at

Buffington Island. Prof. Martzolff has done a most creditable piece of

work. It is just the sort of a published history that each county should

have for the use of its school children and teachers as well. As the

author wisely suggests, the history that is usually taught our pupils is

that of some remote age and foreign country, while the occurrences which

have transpired in their immediate locality, are allowed to pass by

Editorialana.                       259

unnoticed. A local history in the form that Mr. Martzolff puts it, is not

only educational in itself, but is a palatable and potent stimulus to create

and foster a taste and desire for the greater fields of historical study.

HISTORY OF MADISON TOWNSHIP.

Another of the Trustees of the Ohio State Archeological and His-

torical Society, Mr. George F. Bareis, of Canal Winchester, also appears

in the role of an Historian in the shape of a volume on Madison Town-

ship, Franklin county. It is a production of over 500 pages and is the

result, evidently, of great labor and pains on the part of the author.

It presents not only a brief account of the organization of the township

and its history, but gives, with much particularity, all the many subjects

of historical and material nature. He gives complete lists of the early

pioneers, tax-payers, land owners, township officers, members of secret

fraternal societies, citizens who were influential in the various fields

of public activity and private enterprise. He has the only published

account that we have ever seen of the life and achievements of John S.

Rarey, the world renowned horse trainer. Mr. Bareis gives a most

readable account of the pioneer house and home life. "The pioneer's

first cabin was built of round logs with the bark on. The chimney stood

on the outside at one end, and was made of sticks and clay with clap-

board roof. Many of them had only the earth for a floor; the rafters

or beams as they were called ran lengthwise of the building and were

spaced according to the length of the clapboards. Some of them had a

loft or upper floor. No windows were needed, as the cracks in the roof

and between the logs and the big wide chimney admitted plenty of light

by day. Often only a blanket or skin furnished the door. All was put

together without nail or iron. The following description of the build-

ing of the round log cabin is taken from Hill's History of Licking County

and has been corroborated to the writer by several of the older citizens

of this township, who themselves assisted in the erection of them.

"'These round log cabins were often erected ready for occupancy

in a single day. The pioneer went 8 to 10 miles to a cabin-raising, arriv-

ing early in the morning where not a tree had been felled or a stone

turned. Each one had some particular part to see to; three or four

would lay the corner stones and the first logs, two men with axes cut the

trees and logs, one with his team of oxen, a 'Lisard' and a log chain would

'snake' them in; two more with axes and cross-cut saw and frow would

make the clap-boards, two more with axes, cross-cut saw and broad-ax

would hew out the puncheons for the floor and flatten the upper side of

the sleepers. Four skilled axmen would carry up the corners and the

remainder, with skids and handspikes would roll up the logs--as soon

as the joists were laid on, two men with cross-cut saw went to work

260         Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

cutting out the door and chimney place and while the corner men were

building up the attic and putting on the roof, the carpenters and masons

of the day were putting down the puncheons, laying the hearth and

building the chimney. In one corner at a distance of 6 feet from one

wall and 4 feet from the other the bed post is placed, only one being

needed. A hole was bored in the puncheon floor to set this post, which

was usually a stick with a crotch or fork in the upper end; rails were

laid from this fork to the walls and usually nice straight hickory poles

form the bottom, upon which straw or leaves were placed and a blanket

put on; this makes a comfortable spring bed, and was easily changed

and kept clean. The heavy door was hung on wooden hinges, and all

that was necessary was to pull the latch string inside and the strong

wooden latch held it fast.'

"The furniture was as simple as the buildings. A cabin contained

little beyond the puncheon table with its four sapling legs, its puncheon

benches and blocks of wood for stools, stoves they had none. A small

kettle or two answered the various purposes of bucket, boiler, and oven,

and when there was company they would take the door off its hinges and

thus make an addition to the table. A shelf on two wooden pins held the

dishes and pewter-ware; two wooden hooks over the door held the rifle

when not in use; few had clocks and they were of the 'wall sweep' kind.

The wearing apparel of the whole family was hung in full view on one

side of the house on wooden pins. In the loft on every beam hung seeds

and roots and herbs - the medicines of those days - on the joists hung

dried pumpkins, peaches, apples, beans, etc. The hominy block sat in

one corner; the broom was of split hickory and the 'duster' was a wild

turkey wing. These round log cabins stood many years after better

houses were erected; they served for stables, sheep-pens, blacksmith

shops, loom-shops, school houses and meeting houses. Every one of

these first cabins are long since gone and the exact places where they

stood forgotten.

"Later an improved log house was built. It was made of hewn

logs, with sawed lumber for doors, windows and floors; glass also

took the place of greased paper windows sometimes used in the first

cabins, home-made nails were sparingly used, when nails were first used

a pound cost a bushel of wheat or two bushels of corn -equivalent to a

day's work--the local blacksmiths made them out of odds and ends of

old worn out sickles, broken links of chains, pieces of horse shoes, etc.

No house had more than two rooms. One was called the kitchen and

the other 'the room,' if company came they were invited to come in

'the room,' a little later every family had its 'squirrel tail' bake oven.

Corn-bread, vegetables, milk, butter, and wild meats constituted the

principal subsistence and these were often scarce."

The author deserves the highest commendation for the research

and painstaking accuracy his book displays. It is a store house of facts

Editorialana.                       261

and statistics, the value of which cannot be too highly estimated. The

author has gathered and assorted material from which history may be

written. Mr. Bareis has neglected no subject deserving of note. He

has chapters on the school, literary entertainments, roads and railroads,

coaches and mail lines, churches, graveyards, etc. The book is not

crowded and its value depreciated, as is the case with most books of its

kind, by having biographical sketches of anybody and everybody who

are willing to pay for the same, as advertisements are put in the news-

papers at so much a line. Mr. Bareis has a very sensible and succinct

notice of the Mound Builders, showing that he has given the subject

much enthusiastic and careful examination. We wish that more men

in business life like Mr. Bareis would take a few hours off now and then

and devote it to some such literary and historical recreation, as has the

author of Madison Township.

STORY OF A COUNTRY CHURCH.

A Story of a Country Church, by Charles W. Hoffman, is a very

naturally and interestingly recited account of the origin and eventful

existence of the Presbyterian Church at Springfield, subsequently known

as Springdale, one of the old town settlements some fifteen miles from

Cincinnati on the Springfield and Carthage Turnpike, a settlement which

for fifty years was recognized as the wealthiest and most important

town in Hamilton county. It became known as "The Post Town"

between Hamilton and Cincinnati, and the stage drivers, teamsters,

drovers and travelers stopped here for their midday rest or to pass the

night. Mr. Hoffman has the literary instinct and touch. His recital

of the early pioneer days, those good old times that tried men's souls,

is crisp, chatty and informing. His pages give a concise and graphic

account of the mode of life, the religious devotion and constancy of the

early settlers, their struggles in the western wilderness and their estab-

lishment of social and civil institutions which their descendants now so

richly enjoy. Mr. Hoffman's chapters embrace the subjects of Forest

Life; Some Religious Experiences, such as revivals, spread of Skepticism,

etc.; The Shakers, Slavery, Abolitionism, etc. The little book is a choice

bit of local history.

HISTORY OF LEBANON.

Elsewhere in this Quarterly we give the oration in full made by Prof.

William H. Venable at the Lebanon Centennial, Warren county, on

Thursday, September 25, 1902. In connection with that anniversary

the Hon. Josiah Morrow, Lebanon's most distinguished citizen and

chairman of the Centennial Committee, has issued a little volume entitled

"Brief History of Lebanon, Ohio, a Centennial Sketch." It is a valuable

262         Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

little compendium of the establishment and growth of the historic town,

which has sent forth some of the most eminent Ohioans, among them,

Thomas Corwin, John McLean of the United States Supreme Court,

Joshua Collett of the Ohio Supreme Court, Thomas R. Ross, the veteran

Congressman, Francis Dunlevy, President Judge of the first Circuit

Court which embraced Cincinnati and the Southern third of the state,

George J. Smith, President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas,

Jeremiah Morrow, Congressman, Senator and Governor, Col. John

Bigger who served thirty-four years in the Ohio Legislature and Dr.

James Scott who served sixteen years in the General Assembly, Gen. Dur-

ban Ward perhaps the most popular orator of the Democratic party during

his time and others of lesser note. Surely the little town of Lebanon

has far more than its share of greatness.

ECLECTIC MEDICAL INSTITUTE.

Dr. Harvey Wickes Felter has published a history of the Eclectic

Medical Institute of Cincinnati, Ohio, including the Worthington Medi-

cal College, The Reformed Medical School of Cincinnati and the Eclectic

College of Medicine of Cincinnati, with biographical sketches of the

members of the various faculties, a list of graduates arranged alpha-

betically and by class. While this book contains a great deal of valuable

history and careful research, it is of course mainly interesting to the

medical profession and those who in some way were personally connected

with the institution in question. The biographical sketches that accompany

the proceedings contain a great deal of information that is of general

interest. For instance there are interesting biographies of such persons

as Philander Chase; James Kilbourne, Thomas Morrow; James Kil-

bourne, Jr., grandfather of the present James Kilbourne of Columbus,

and many others connected with the early history and growth of our

state. These gentlemen of course were all members of the medical

profession.

SPRINGFIELD CENTENNIAL.

From Prof. Benjamin F. Prince, the Editor and Secretary of

the Springfield General Centennial Committee, we have received a

neatly bound volume of some 300 pages, giving a full account of the

proceedings of the Centennial celebration of Springfield, Ohio, held

at that place August 4 to 10, 1901. Professor Prince holds the chair

of history and political science in Wittenberg University, is one of the

Trustees, appointed by the Governor, of the Ohio State Archaeological

and Historical Society, and withal an enthusiastic and painstaking

student of Ohio history. The Springfield Centennial was an event of

much interest and importance, especially to the local people. Their

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program was divided into a Religious Day, upon which was celebrated

the origin of the churches and religious organizations; The Formal

Opening Day, on which addresses were made upon A Century of Com-

mercial Life, the Incorporation of Springfield and its Government and

upon Its Manufacturing Interests; on Pioneer Day, the histories of the

Bench and Bar and the Medical profession were presented by able repre-

sentatives; upon Military Day addresses were made by Gen. Keifer, Gov-

ernor Nash, Col. James Kilbourne and Ex-Governor Bushnell; there

were also a Fraternal Day, devoted to the interests of the Societies; an

Agricultural and Labor Day; a day devoted to the Educational Interests,

which included the work of the women during the Civil War, the work of

the present women's clubs, temperance societies, etc. The addresses

upon these various occasions are of course included in the contents of the

volume. There are also many illustrations of former historical scenes and

modern buildings. There are portraits of many of Springfield's historic

personages and living influential citizens. The celebration attracted large

crowds to the City of Springfield, and was, in arrangement and accomlish-

ment all that the patriotic and history loving people could desire.

NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.

We are indebted to Mr. Morris P. Ferris, Secretary, 32 Broadway,

New York, for a bound copy of the proceedings of the 3d Annual

Meeting of the New York State Historical Association, held at Caldwell,

New York, Tuesday July 30, 1901. The New York State Historical

Association was incorporated on the 21st of March, 1899, and is there-

fore a comparatively new institution. Its object is "To promote and

encourage original historical research, and to disseminate a greater

knowledge of the early history of the state by means of lectures and the

publication and distribution of literature on historical subjects; to gather

books, manuscripts, pictures and relics relating to the early history of the

state, and to establish a museum at Caldwell, Lake George. Also to

acquire by purchase, gift, devise or otherwise, the title to or custody

and control of historic spots and places." The Society has already a

long list of members residing in various cities of New York state. The

character and standing of its members are sufficient evidence that this

society will exert a wide and potent influence along the lines of its

work. During the proceedings of this meeting in question interesting

papers were read upon such topics as Fort Ticonderoga; Ethan Allen;

Lord Howe; Legend of Duncan Campbell; Montcalm; The Evolution of

American Free Government, etc.