Editorialana. 299
known as Campus Martius and shall hold
the same and the property
thereon subject to such use as the
General Assembly may direct.
E. J. HOPPLE,
Speaker of the House of
Representatives.
EARL D. BLOOM,
President of the Senate.
Passed March 21, 1917.
Approved March 29, 1917.
JAMES M. Cox, Governor.
Filed in office of Secretary of State,
April 2, 1917.
STEPHEN D. PEET.
IN MEMORIAM.
It was in one of the early months of the
year 1875 that Isaac
Smucker, of Newark, and Stephen D. Peet,
then resident of Ashtabula,
met at the home of Roeliff Brinkerhoff
in Mansfield, for the purpose
of organizing the Ohio Archaeological
Association. This triumvirate of
kindred scholarly spirits recognized the
great field and opportunity in
Ohio for an organization, the object of
which should be the study and
preservation of the remains of the
pre-historic race, commonly called
the Mound Builders; a race shrouded in
mystery, that populously occu-
pied Ohio before the invasion of the
European people; yes, before the
historic Indian, possibly before the red
man had existed in the Ohio or
Mississippi Valley. It was the opportune
moment for the institution of
such a society, and its immediate
intention was the gathering of a
suitable collection of the relics of
this vanished empire, and its display
as an "Ohio exhibit" in the
National Centennial Exhibit to be held at
Philadelphia in the year 1876. To the
purpose of the illustrious trio,
Brinkerhoff, Peet and Smucker, there
rallied with sympathy and en-
thusiasm Rutherford B. Hayes, Governor
of the state; John H. Klip-
pert, the distinguished state geologist;
C. C. Baldwin and Charles Whit-
tlesey, respectively president and
secretary of the Western Reserve His-
torical Society, and Professor M. C.
Read, a distinguished writer on
Ohio archaeology. General Brinkerhoff
was made president of the "Ohio
Archaeological Association," and
Professor John T. Short of the Agri-
cultural and Mechanical College, now the
Ohio State University, a most
noted scholar and author of
"Prehistoric Man in America," was made
secretary. The legislature made an
appropriation of $2,500.00 to the
association for the promotion of its
exhibit at Philadelphia, which ex-
hibit remarkably fulfilled its mission,
ranking only second in extent and
scholarly value to the archaeological
display of the Smithsonian Insti-
tute. The Ohio Archaeological
Association under the guidance of its
protagonists, continued its work, under
adverse circumstances, until
300 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications.
1883, when upon the untimely death of
Professor Short, the secretary
and master spirit, the organization
became inactive and so remained for
two years, when in 1885, at instigation
of Mr. A. A. Graham, an en-
ergetic and enthusiastic student of
archaeology and history, supported
by Governor George Hoadly, the
organization was revived and its scope
enlarged under the name of The Ohio
State Archaeological and His-
torical Society. The field of history,
of Ohio, its study, collection of
data and publication of the same being
added to meet the demand of
innumerable students and scholars
throughout the state. The relation of
and subsequent career of the Society, to
its present and pretentious con-
dition is not the intent of this
recital. That will all be found in previous
recent publications of the Quarterly.
In all this revival and much of
the progress of the Society, Stephen D.
Peet, though no longer a resi-
dent of Ohio, took active and interested
part. It is of him and his
almost prodigious achievements in the
field of archaeology in Ohio and
other states of the Northwest that we
speak.
Dr. Peet passed to the great beyond at
Northampton, Massachusetts,
May 24, 1914. He was buried in Beloit,
Wisconsin. His demise should
have been suitably noted in the columns
of the Ohio State Archaeological
and Historical Quarterly, but for two or
three years previous to his
death he had retired from active life
and illness compelled him to seek
health amid the scenes of his ancestral
New England home.
Stephen Denison Peet was educated for
the ministry. His father,
Stephen Peet, was a distinguished
clergyman who enjoyed a long and
useful career. This energetic father was
the originator and builder of
over thirty churches and the prime
promoter of Beloit College, Wis-
consin, and the Chicago Theological
Seminary.
Stephen, the son, was born in Euclid,
Ohio, December 2, 1831, in
which place his father, at the time, was
the pioneer pastor of the Pres-
byterian church. The boy Stephen was
given every educational ad-
vantage. He graduated from Beloit
College, Wisconsin, 1851, and later
(1890) received the degree of Ph. D.
from the same college. In his
college course Stephen gave almost
exclusive attention to the classics
and became an enthusiastic adept in
Greek, Latin and ancient history.
For two years (1851-3) he was a student
at the Yale Divinity School,
New Haven, Conn., completing his
theological course at the Andover
(Mass.) Theological Seminary, 1854. It
was during the years of his
theological studies that he became
interested in the archaeology of the
oriental countries, especially Egypt,
Greece, Rome and Babylonia. "In
my mind," he wrote, "these
ancient dynasties were ever on the horizon
and loomed up amid the clouds of
antiquity." Later this archaeological
bent of mind expended its energies on
the American antiquities, es-
pecially of the Northwest Territory.
Following his Andover graduation
he spent two or three years as a church missionary, establishing churches
Editorialana. 301
in rural or village localities in Ohio
and the west. In 1854 he married
Katherine Moseley, who shortly
thereafter died, and Stephen then mar-
ried Olive Wentworth Cutler of Elkhorn,
Wisconsin. One year after
his second marriage he was ordained in
the Congregational ministry,
and for near forty years thereafter held
pastorates at various localities,
some fifteen in number, mainly in
Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio. Several
of these pastorates were respectively in
the neighborhood of sites noted
for the earthen works of the prehistoric
Mound Builders, and Dr. Peet
had opportunity of studying at first
hand the relics of this mysterious
race. In 1878 he founded the American
Antiquarian and Oriental Jour-
nal, which was continued under his fostering care as a
magazine until
within two or three years of his
decease. During most of the period of
its publication it was issued at
Chicago, and it became a standard source
of authority and information to a large
clientele in the field of oriental
and American archaeology. After serving
as editor and manager of the
Antiquarian for thirty-two years Doctor Peet, in 1911, relinquished
his
management and editorship to Prof. J. O.
Kinnsman. Dr. Peet was a
prolific writer and an indefatigable
student. He wrote in a clear style,
and endeavored in a popular manner to
develop the relationship of the
later American archaeology to that of
the older countries. His writings
in this field besides his magazine
articles, not produced in book form,
were issued in eight volumes: "The
Mound Builders," "Emblematic
Mounds," "Cliff
Ddwellers," "Ruined Cities," "Myths and Symbols,"
"Primitive Art," "Indian
Tribes," and "Comparative Mythology."
Many of the theories and opinions set
forth in these readable books
are now, in the light of later
investigations, set aside or modified. But
Dr. Peet did a great work in spreading
the popular knowledge of these
subjects, in bringing them to the notice
of thousands of eager students
and in creating an interest in the
realms of "forgotten lore." Dr. Peet,
of course, became corresponding or
honorary member of many of the
leading scientific and historical
societies of America, Great Britain and
even the Orient.
The editor, who pens this sketch, all
too brief and inadequate, for
the merits of the subject, never met Dr.
Peet personally, but for a score
of years had a delightful corresponding
acquaintance with the distin-
guished savant. He took a deep and
abiding interest in the welfare and
progress of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society, of
which he proudly and deservedly claimed
the honor of being one of the
three original founders. His two
associates in that memorable work,
and all of the co-laborers mentioned in
connection with his efforts,
preceded him many years ago to the other
world, and now he too has
entered that mysterioues realm after a
long life of fruitful and eventful
usefulness.