344
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
PIONEER DAY.
At the close of a very imposing Pioneer
and Industrial parade
the people gathered at LaBelle park and
on the beautiful lawns
that terrace the immediate neighborhood
at the intersection of
Fourth street and LaBelle avenue, in
full view of the Ohio river
and under the shade of hundreds of
trees, they crowded to listen
to the addresses.
Hon. J. J. Gill, a descendant of an old
and honorable Mt.
Pleasant family, as chairman of the day,
spoke as follows:
ADDRESS OF HON. J. J. GILL.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
To me has been assigned the very
gratifying and highly hon-
orable privilege of acting as the
presiding officer of this meeting,
and it is my wish to confine myself
strictly to my duties as such
chairman. We are here to listen to the
formal addresses of the
occasion as arranged, and I shall not,
therefore, delay the feast
of good things which is before us longer
than to pause a moment
to congratulate the good people of
Steubenville and of Jefferson
county and the various patriotic and
self-sacrificing committees
having the work in charge upon the
memorable and magnificent
success of this centennial celebration
and upon the very great
general interest and enthusiasm which
have been aroused. We
can all rightfully rejoice over and take
pride in the past, and as
the events of history are recounted and
the panorama is unfolded
before us, I sincerely trust that under
the inspiration of the occa-
sion we shall also give sharp heed to
the living present and to
the duties of to-day, and turn also with
anxious thoughts towards
the future, earnestly resolved that if
possible a more rapid rate
of progress shall be established, and
that the splendid heritage
which has been left us shall not have
its lustre dimmed by any
deed of ours, or dulled by our failure
to adequately and propor-
tionately advance along the line of the
world's grand march.
Invocation was offered by Rev. Dr. Geo.
W. MacMillan,
of Richmond, after which Hon. H. L.
Chapman made congrat-
ulatory remarks.
The
Centennial of Jefferson County. 345
ADDRESS OF WELCOME BY JOHN M. COOK, ESQ.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Jefferson county extends her greetings
to the thousands that
have come to participate in our
centennial anniversary. Wel-
come, thrice welcome, one and all. It is
our birthday party; for
a hundred years of civil life is little
more than a single year of
personal existence. On birthdays we look
backward and for-
ward; have we gained or lost, and what
are the prospects of
the future? Whatever may be our future
prospects, in the record
of the past our hearts swell with
unbounded pride.
What a magnificent county we had a
hundred years ago. It
extended from the lakes on the north to
Powhattan Point on
the south, from the Pennsylvania line on
the east to the Cuyahoga
and Tuscarawas rivers on the west. Five
thousand square miles
of as fruitful domain as the sun ever
shone upon. Hill and valley,
forest and prairie, soil of the richest
character watered by hun-
dreds of rivers, rivulets and springs.
Like the promised land to
which the children of Israel journeyed,
it was fair to look upon,
and flowing with milk and honey. Is it
any wonder, therefore,
that the red men of the forest contested
every foot of ground
with the pioneer homeseekers for such a
land?
The early settlers were worthy of the
land; they were not
Goths and Vandals seeking conquest for
the sport of conquest
at the sacrifice of property and
culture; they were not bigoted
crusaders, driving out a barbarous race
for the purpose of estab-
lishing a system of religion, more
intolerant and cruel than the
religion of the untutored worshippers of
nature, "who saw God
in the clouds and heard Him in the
wind"; they were not even
from a foreign land, warped and
prejudiced by foreign educa-
tion and contact with foreign ideas and
principles. They were
our own countrymen, speaking our own
inimitable Anglo-Saxon
language; they came from Connecticut,
New York, New Jersey,
Virginia and Pennsylvania. What a grand
combination: the
Puritans of New England, rigid, zealous,
and quick-witted; the
Dutch of New York, not the equal of the
Yankee in driving a
bargain, but surpassing him in industry
and frugality; the Scotch-
Irish of New Jersey, in whose lexicon
there was no such word
346 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
as fail; the cavalier of Virginia,
noble, dignified, and valorous;
and as if to cement the whole and round
it out in strength and
symmetry, the Quakers of Pennsylvania,
who would tolerate no
feuds and quarrels. Well might Gen.
Washington in his cele-
brated eulogy upon our first settlement
say, "No other colony
in America was ever settled under such
favorable circumstances
as that which has just commenced upon
the Ohio river. Infor-
mation, property, and strength will be
its beginning."
We have been faithful to our heritage.
No section of the
country has made greater strides in
physical, intellectual, and
moral development than has our beloved
Jefferson county. The
evidence of material growth is
everywhere; the smoke and flame
of the furnace, factory and workshop
greet every passing cloud;
the joyous song of the harvester
gladdens every hilltop and val-
ley; the hum of busy industry is heard
in the marts of trade
in a hundred cities and villages, for
Cleveland, Youngstown,
Akron, Canton, and a score of others
belong to us as surely as
Steubenville. Our boys and girls have
done well. We gave
the country the literary genius, William
Dean Howells; the pio-
neer abolitionist, Benjamin Lundy; the
brave war governor,.
David Todd; the great war secretary,
Edwin M. Stanton, and
the fighting McCooks. Yea more, we have
furnished two of the
most illustrious chief magistrates of
the nation: the scholarly
orator and statesman, James A. Garfield,
who sleeps in Lake
View cemetery, and the conscientious and
gifted William Mc-
Kinley, who now so worthily occupies the
White House. Our
daughters have in every respect been the
equals of our sons.
The women of southeastern Ohio and of the
Western Reserve
have been proverbial for their
refinement, culture, and religious
devotion; they have graced the homes of
presidents, statesmen,
bishops, philanthropists, and
financiers, and there is hardly a
missionary field in the world but what
has felt the beneficent influ-
ence of the graduates of Beatty
seminary. "I speak these things
to your honor."
Old Jefferson has felt the touch of the
century. That touch
has been in many respects magnetic and
uplifting, but in some
enervating or at least depleting. We
have advanced from the
log cabin to the comfortable dwelling
and palace; from the rude
The Centennial of Jefferson
County. 347
school house with its three R's to the
magnificent high school
of the people and the college and
university of the more favored.
Religious intolerance with its bigotry
and aspersions has become
a thing of the past; and to-day Roman
Catholic and Protestant,
Greek and Jew, meet upon the platform as
brothers. Brute force
has been supplanted by steam and
electricity; higher mechanism
has succeeded the waste of muscle and
the sweat of the brow.
Never was there such advancement in any
age as during this
last quarter of the nineteenth century,
and in no corner of the
earth has it been more marked than in
what was Jefferson county.
There is a reverse side to the picture.
How small and dwarfed
our once magnificent county seems. It is
with difficulty that we
recognize the old settlement and
homestead; from five thousand
square miles it has been reduced to four
hundred; our cities,
villages and farms with their riches and
fertility have been taken
away from us; however, as dutiful
parents, we rejoice in these
new settlements and the children that
occupy them. Cuyahoga,
Lake, Ashtabula, Geauga, Summit,
Portage, Trumbull, Stark,
Mahoning, Carroll, Columbiana, Harrison
and Belmont, we are
proud of you and your success. You are
not with us, but you
are of us, and how dear you are to our
hearts!
Children of these new homes, God bless
you; sometimes
we fear many of you, in your
incomparable prosperity, have
become proud and seldom think of your
shriveled and dwarfed
old parent, yet our hearts go out to you
like that of Jacob that
went out to Joseph and Benjamin, and
upon this festal anniversary
we are glad to greet you and bid you
welcome home.
ADDRESS OF HON. WEBSTER DAVIS.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen .
Of all the monuments erected to
perpetuate the memory of
America's greatest men none are grander,
sublimer or more en-
during than this--Jefferson
county--named in honor of the
immortal Thomas Jefferson. It was the
fifth county established
in Ohio and was created by proclamation
of Governor St. Clair,
the first governor of the state, on July
29, A. D. 1797. Its original
limits included all the country west of
Pennsylvania and the Ohio
348 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
river; and east, and north, of a line
from the mouth of the Cuya-
hoga; southward to the Muskingum, and
east to the Ohio river.
Within those boundaries are Cleveland,
Canton, Steubenville,
Warren, and many other large towns and
populous cities. This
immense territory was considerably
larger in extent than some
of the states of the American Union. Of
course, as soon as the
population began to increase rapidly
because of the large immi-
gration, which soon set in from other
states, this territory was
considered entirely too large and
unwieldy for one county, hence
it was subdivided.
The first settlers, long before 1789,
were doubtless "Mound
Builders," that remarkable race of
beings, of which so little
seems to be known; from whence they came
or whither they
have gone, no one seems to be able to
tell positively. But that
they inhabited this region at one time
is very evident from the
fact that certain relics and bones have
been found in the valleys
of the Miamis, the Scioto and the
Muskingum, which indicate
their existence here at some remote
period.
Then again, this magnificent territory
was but a vast waste
of luxurious nature, where, amid scenes
of primeval solitude, the
explorer might have thought that war's
invading foot never trod.
Wild beasts, ferocious and terrible, had
their lairs in the glens
and jungles. Reptiles dragged their
slimy forms along the grassy
dells, while savages of the most
bloodthirsty natures built their
wigwams in the hidden recesses of the
forests, and on the banks
of the winding streams. But finally, the
pioneers - the torch-
bearers of civilization, wended their
way toward this virgin ter-
ritory, and soon the smoke from the
cabins and the noise from
the woodman's axe proclaimed to the
world the beginning of
a new era -the most
wonderful in the annals of mankind. No
pen can portray, no tongue can describe
the awful sufferings and
hardships endured by the first settlers
in their struggles with the
Indians. For those savages died by
thousands rather than yield
this rich and fertile territory, which
they so loved and hoped to
enjoy for all time. After many years of
fierce and bloody con-
flict, the Indians were compelled to
give way to a superior race
of men and women, whom an all-wise
Providence had directed
to open up this new land to civilization
and to plant on its hill
The Centennial of Jefferson County. 349
tops, in its valleys, on its plains, and
amid God's temples in its
picturesque woodlands, the altars of
liberty and equality of rights,
and invite the genius of the earth to
worship at their shrines.
And in passing it may be said, that the
most ferocious Indian
incursions in these parts were inspired
by the British government,
which has always been one of the worst
enemies this youthful
republic has ever had. The last blood
shed in battle between
the first settlers and the Indians was
shed in this county in August,
1793. The battle is known in history as
"Buskirk's Battle," and
took place on the farm of John Adams on
what was then known
as Indian Cross creek, now as Battle
Ground run.
A very important incident in the early
history of this part
of this state should not be forgotten on
this occasion; and that
is the fact that George Washington
visited this county at Mingo
village in the year 1770, just seventeen
years before the adoption
of the famous ordinance of 1787, which
is now recognized by all
men as a masterpiece of statesmanship,
ranking with the Decla-
ration of Independence and the
Constitution of the United States.
And its author, Nathan Dane, became
immortal, and his name
will be heralded to other generations as
one of the great benefac-
tors of his race. For by that ordinance
he laid a foundation upon
which the pioneers might rear an honest
manhood and a loyal
citizenship. With that ordinance as a
guide they could never go
wrong. It was their pillar of cloud by
day and their pillar of fire
by night. By it all men and women were
guaranteed freedom
of worship. They might worship God
according to the dictates
of their own conscience. They were
allowed the privilege of the
writ of habeas corpus-one of the
choicest rights enjoyed by free-
men. By it also the people were given
representation in the
affairs of government. It was to be a
government of the people,
by the people and for the people. It
also gave the right of trial
by jury-a blessing enjoyed by men and
women only in a land
of freedom; and it also established
roads and highways; abro-
gated the law of primogeniture, and made
equal divisions of land
among children and heirs. It was also
ordained that "there shall
be neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude in said territory,
otherwise than in punishment of crime,
and that religion, morality,
and knowledge, being essential to good
government and the hap-
350 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
piness of mankind, shall forever be
encouraged." These were
placed by the ordinance as among the
fundamental principles of
civil and religious liberty, and upon
these as the foundation stones,
was erected a most wonderful temple of
civilization; which is to-
day the marvel of the century and the
pride of mankind.
The most important event in the early
history of Jefferson
county was the founding of this
beautiful city-Steubenville-in
the year 1797, which was named after
Fort Steuben, which had
been erected in 1787. To Bezaleel Wells
and James Ross. the
one hailing from Maryland and the other
from Pennsylvania,
belongs the honor of laying out this
city, which was incorporated
on February 14, A. D. 1805. These men
were among the noblest
and sturdiest of the pioneers. They started the manufactories
here, and they introduced into these
parts the sheep industry and
for its Merino sheep it became famous.
The finest wool ever
raised in the great northwest territory
was raised in this county.
And this resulted in the establishment
in this city of the first
woolen mill in the United States. In
this county also was the first
public survey, and in this city was
located the first land office in
the United States located in the
district where the land lay. It
was this splendid opportunity given to
the poor man that attracted
the attention of the people of other
localities and caused them
to turn their eyes towards this great
west, where they might go
and find a home for themselves and their
little ones, where they
might sit under their own vine and fig
tree with no one to molest
them and no one to make them afraid-a home where their youth
might be crowned with happiness and the
sun of their life's even-
ing go down with the unmolested hope of
a glorious immortality.
So they came from all states and all
lands, until now Jefferson is
one of the most populous counties in
this state, and Steubenville
has within its confines 14,000 souls,
and instead of a village it is
to-day a splendid city, with many
manufacturing institutions of
iron, steel, glass and pottery; with a
supply of coal which is inex-
haustible; with splendid railway
facilities; with water ways and
with vessels to assist in carrying her
commerce; with excellent
wholesale and retail establishments;
with modern improvements
unexcelled; with modern churches and
schools; with bright and
sparkling newspapers; with petroleum and
natural gas wells, and
The Centennial of Jefferson County. 351
on every hand thrift, prosperity and
refinement. And, surrounded
by fertile farms, with plains, valleys
and woodlands, with waving
fields and fruitful orchards, indeed
with everything essential for a
people's happiness; with a climate too,
unexcelled for health and
comfort, with sunshine enough for song,
and snow enough for
courage, surely the people of this city
and county ought to be
among the happiest and most contented
people on earth. And
it may be said also of this county that,
like Cornelia of old, the
brightest jewels in her crown are her
children-the strong men
and beautiful women who have their homes
within her borders.
Indeed it seems that God has brought,
during this first cen-
tury, to this state and county, young
people from every land and
every clime, from the rugged lands of
Germany and the vine-clad
hills of France; from the snowy land of
Scandinavia, and the sunny
land of the south; from the lowlands and
highlands of Scotland,
and from the hills and dales of Ireland;
from the mountain fast-
ness of Wales and from England itself.
Ah yes, among them
are men and women whose ancestors in the
long ago stood amid
that mighty array of barons who wrested
Magna Charta from
King John on the historic field of
Runnymede; among them too
were those whose fathers had stood with
Oliver Cromwell at Mars-
ton Moor and Naseby, and among them were
some whose fore-
fathers had followed the white plume of
Henry of Navarre, in the
years that are past and gone. All of
these were put as it were
into a mighty laboratory, out of which
God brought the master
man and woman-the ideal citizens of the
greatest republic known
in history's wondrous annals. Of all
agents for the promotion
of enterprises, the upbuilding of
cities, the development of states
and countries and the spreading of
civilization, the newspapers
are the most powerful. Hence on this
centennial anniversary it
would not do to forget to give proper
credit to the newspapers.
The first one was started in this city
in 1806, by Lowry and Miller,
its editors, and I am told that this
paper still continues. John
Miller afterwards became a citizen of
the city of St. Louis, and
in 1820 was elected to be the first
governor of Missouri, a state
in which natural resources stand to-day
without a superior in
the Union.
352 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Thus has Ohio sent her sons and
daughters by thousands
into the western wilds, where they have
become pioneers again
in the establishment of new cities and
new states, and many a
homesick boy has laid his head to rest
far out in the hills of the
west, thinking of the old home back in
old Ohio, and in his dreams
his mutterings told of loved ones far
away, but not forgotten.
Jefferson county is also the birthplace
of the great anti-
slavery sentiment which resulted in the
freedom of the slaves.
Because of the provision in the
ordinance of 1787 against negro
slavery many of that sturdy sect of men
and women who loved
liberty, known as Quakers, came here
from North Carolina, and
immediately upon their arrival liberated
their slaves. Indeed the
first newspaper devoted to the abolition
of negro slavery, was
printed in this county, and here lived
the great abolitionist, Ben-
jamin Lundy, who was the first man to
get William Lloyd Gar-
rison interested in that question. These
liberty-loving pioneers
believed that the spirit that causes the
little bird to beat its breast
against the wires of the cage while it
longs for freedom, is the
same spirit that is planted in the human
breast struggling to be
free. Hence they were determined that
here a man might assert
his claim to right and have it allowed.
And as a result the people
who live here to-day, can boast that
they live in a land of freedom.
Freedom not only in name but in fact.
They live in a land of
liberty where everything is possible to
every citizen, and where
the only restraints upon the full
enjoyment of life, liberty and pos-
session of happiness, are the necessary
restraints of society against
the abuse of these blessings. With no
tyrant ruling over them;
with no privileged classes to exact
support and luxuries from the
masses; with no great standing armies to
eat up their substance
and oppress the people in the enjoyment
of their liberties; with
fertile lands, yielding abundant
increase; with splendid systems
of transportation; with commerce
extending to almost every sec-
tion; with a mighty population
increasing in wealth annually-in
the presence of blessings like these,
thrilling with the conscious-
ness of citizenship in a government more
glorious than any that
ever existed, surely these people should
be thankful for a privilege
so great.
The Centennial of Jefferson County. 353
Steubenville is also a city of schools,
and Ohio is noted for
its excellent public school system and
also for its many excellent
colleges, universities and academies.
The people of this state
have always been true friends of
education, in fact one of the
strongest provisions in the famous
ordinance of 1787 was that in
regard to the encouragement of schools,
and the promotion of
education.
The pioneers of this region realized
that, from the time the
Creator commanded the earth and the
waters thereof to bring
forth abundantly the manifold species of
living creatures, down
through the centuries until this day,
there has been but little
change in the inferior animals. The
beasts of burden still con-
tinue to bear their burdens for the
convenience, profit and com-
fort of man. The cattle still graze upon
the meadows, fatten,
and are led to the slaughter to furnish
food for man. The wild
beasts of the forest, still ferocious
and terrible, have their lairs
in the tangled jungle and mountain glen.
The eagle still builds
his eyrie on the loftiest crag on the
mountain peak; the birds
still carol the same songs amid the
branches of trees that were
sung by the feathered tribe among the
boughs of the trees in
the Garden of Eden. These have changed
as little as the grasses
or herbs upon which they feed, or the
trees beneath which they
shelter in the woodlands.
All creeping things are just the same slimy,
ugly things
they used to be before the serpent
incurred the everlasting enmity
of mankind. And all the inhabitants of
the mighty deep, from
the majestic whale that sports in its
waters down to the humblest
member of the finny tribe, are still
unchanged from what they
were on the evening of that wonderful
day when the Creator said,
"Let the waters of the seas be
filled with living things."
In one generation inferior animals
attain all the perfection
of which their nature is susceptible.
That Being, without whose notice not
even a sparrow falls
to the ground, has provided for the
supply of all their wants, and
has adapted each to the element in which
it moves.
To birds He has given a clothing of
feathers, and to quadru-
peds a clothing of furs adapted to their
latitudes. Where art is
requisite in providing food for future
need or in constructing
Vol. VI-23
354 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
a needful habitation, as in the case of
the bee and the beaver, a
peculiar aptitude has been bestowed
which, in all the inferior
races of animals, has been found
adequate to their necessities.
The crocodile that issues from its eggs
in the warm sand and
never sees its parent, becomes, it has
been well said, as perfect
and as knowing as any crocodile.
But not so with man, he comes into the
world the most
helpless and dependent of living
creatures, long to continue so.
If deserted by parents at an early age,
so that he can learn only
what the experience of one life may
teach him, he grows up in
some respects inferior to the brutes
themselves.
The condition of the inhabitants of this
section, at the time
of the coming of the pioneers, was that
of ignorance, superstition
and barbarism; they were cruel savages
living upon roots and
herbs, wild fruit, fish, and the flesh
of wild animals; their habi-
tations were wigwams or huts; their
avocation was hunting and
fishing; their language was but a
jargon; they loved to wage
war against each other and the
neighboring tribes; and were in
all respects scarcely above the wild
beasts that shared with them
their haunts in the shady groves and by
the side of the winding
streams.
But now this county and state have
undergone a marvelous
change; instead of being the abode of
savages they are now
occupied by intelligent, energetic,
peaceable, civilized men and
women, who have founded manifold
institutions of learning,
constructed villages and magnificent
cities, have converted the
impenetrable forests into cultivated
fields and fruitful orchards;
clothed the hills with luxuriant vines
and filled the valleys with
corn and wine; covered the sterile
plains with beautiful gardens
and transformed the desolate deserts
into fields of bloom and
have filled with plenty their granaries;
while the music of
reapers and mowers, the songs of hardy
sons of toil, as they
garner in the sheaves from the harvest
fields, the murmur of the
loom and the shuttle, the roar of the
hot breath of furnaces, the
hum and whir of wheels and spindles of
the mills and factories
planted on the banks of the rivers, the
music of ringing anvils of
the smithies at the forge, the laughter
of little children sporting
on the schoolhouse playground,fill the
land with the sweet melody
The Centennial of Jefferson
County. 355
of songs of industry, while plenty sits
enthroned and crowned and
sways her joyous scepter over happy
homes where millions dwell
in peace and sweet content.
These are living monuments to the power
and beneficence
of education, and to the industry and
patriotism of the rugged
pioneers.
I do not mean that education whose sole
object is to make
experts. Not simply to make a man a
great navigator, to be
able to plough unknown seas in the
search of unknown worlds
and nothing more; or simply to enable
him to have at his
tongue's end the writings of those
wondrous geniuses who have
been enshrined in history and have been
adorned by the poets
with their rythmic flowers.
Nor to become an expert and to excel in
chemistry, or
higher mathematics, nor to become a
great geologist, to delve
into the hidden recesses of the earth,
and to be able to read its
history in its layers of rocks, clay,
granite and mineral. Nor to
become a great geographer, who is able
to give us the dimen-
sions of the mountains, plains and
valleys, and the extent of the
rivers, lakes and seas. Nor to become a
great philosopher, who
can with ease read and interpret the
phenomena of nature, and
place her marvelous wonders before the
minds of men, and
cause her to contribute of her stores to
the comfort and happi-
ness of mankind.
Nor to become a great astronomer, whose
comprehensive
mind is able to scan the universe, whose
heaven-aspiring spirit
is able to soar beyond the boundaries of
time and to discover
new worlds in the illimitable realm of
space, to view them in
their grandeur, to tell the story of
their past history, and to
prophesy of their future.
All this is pleasant and profitable to
the inquiring minds of
men and women if they are able to obtain
it, but the kind of
education that I mean is that which
makes of men and women
good citizens and prepares them for
successfully fighting life's
battles.
For a nation's wealth consists not alone
in its natural re-
sources and broad domain, but in the
intelligence and virtues of
356 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
its citizens; its nobles are not the men
of royal birth, but the
men of sober thoughts and righteous
deeds.
It is upon the education of the people
that this county and
state must depend for their still
greater progress and advance-
ment in the future. For this age above
all others demands an
educated people for citizenship.
Science and philosophy are
revolutionizing the views of
mankind. Progress in the arts has
transformed all society, in-
creasing a thousand-fold the ease of
access and communication,
multiplying inconceivably the working
forces of the world and
too often chaining men to the chariot
wheels of mammon.
Truly, we live in a wonderful age of
progress and advance-
ment, of education and civilization. A
decade now is worth
more than half a century would have been
in the early history
of your commonwealth. The good old times
of your forefathers,
bordering seemingly on fairyland, so
often referred to by those
who love to delve amid musty relics of
forgotten ages, are not
to be compared with your time.
Instead of tearing open the soil of the
fields with the roots
of a tree, that we may feed on the
bounties of nature, as the
ancients did, the green covering rolls
away with the perfection
and grace of art itself, from the
polished mould-board of the
Pittsburg steel plough.
Machinery casts abroad the seed and the
reaping machine
gathers the harvest. The loom has taken
the place of the old
wheel that used to stand in the corner
of old granny's log cabin
home. And the improved sewing machine
has taken the place
of the needle-worn fingers, long since
silent in the tomb, and fits
the fabric for the use of man.
The great steamers that plough the
waters of the mighty
deep, and the locomotives that encircle
the continent on their
bands of rails, bearing the freight of
commerce to the uttermost
parts of the earth, carrying the people
to and fro with the rapidity
of the winged messengers of the air,
from the busy marts of
trade, render communication in person
and in thought more
easy and rapid than in other years.
The discovery of the powers of
electricity has also revolu-
tionized the age; the electric light has
enabled men to turn the
The Centennial of Jefferson
County. 357
darkness of night into the light of day,
and were Diogenes now
living, he might pursue the even tenor
of his way along the
streets of Athens in search of an honest
man, with an electric
light instead of a lantern.
The telegraph too, has made it possible
for men to com-
municate with each other across seas and
lands with the rapidity
of lightning itself, and by the
telephone man is enabled to con-
verse with his fellow man and even
recognize his voice at a dis-
tance of thousands of miles. Think too,
of the graphophone
and the kinetoscope, and countless other
inventions more mar-
velous than any recorded in the history
of people of other ages.
These discoveries and inventions,
together with the progress
made in the realms of science,
literature and art, and the ad-
vancement in every field of thought, are
the wonders of the age.
And all these are but a few of the
outcroppings, everywhere vis-
ible, of this marvelous age of progress.
And let it not be forgotten that liberty
is not the child of
ignorance, superstition and barbarism,
but the child of intelli-
gence, education and progress. The love
of liberty is a passion
that has been wont to spring up in the
hearts of men since time
began, so soon as their minds began to
expand under education,
however crude, in their breasts the
fires of liberty began to burn.
In all centuries and in all lands that
passion has lived and defied
rocks and chains and dungeons to crush
it; it has strewn the
earth with its monuments and shed
undying lustre on a thousand
fields whereon it has battled in the
gloomy night of ages.
And here in Ohio there seems to be
something in the scenes
of nature, in her beautiful landscapes,
in her luxurious vine-
yards and orchards, full of bud and
blossom, in her waving fields
and in the dim vistas of her mighty
woodlands, in the beauty of
bird, of bud, of tree and flower; and in
the pure and exhilerating
air on her hills, her fields and her
meadows, that inspires her
youth with an ardent love for knowledge.
And why is it that Babylon, with her
hanging gardens;
Egypt, with her pyramids and temples
- stony records of the
twilight of history - Greece, with her
wondrous works of art,
her power and renown, her temples, and
statues of the gods
crowning the Acropolis, the golden
splendor of her Athens,
358
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
whose columns and temples have long
since passed away; and
Rome with her grandeur and might as an
empire; when con-
trasted with the greatest of Time's
offerings -this Republic,-
in the latter half of the nineteenth
century, dwindle into mere
specks and fragments of history? The
answer is to be found in
the increasing volume of intelligence
among the masses of our
people, behind which stand the public
schools, academies, col-
leges and universities, and that spirit
of philanthropy which has
been the inheritance of the nations.
With continued effort to
increase the opportunities for, and to
stimulate a stronger desire
in the minds of the people for
education, what marvelous prog-
ress may we expect of the generations of
the future.
Oh, royal mind! nor cease thy
flight,
While sun and stars dispense their light
And roll in grand array.
And when these orbs shall cease to
shine,
When suns decay and stars decline,
Let onward progress still be thine
And upward hold thy way.
Ohio has given to the Republic many of
its noblest and
greatest men. The bar, the press, the
pulpit, the rostrum and
the schoolroom have all had their
worthies. And in the realm
of science, literature, art and
invention, in oratory and music her
sons and daughters have held their own
in the march of progress
and advancement.
I would not attempt to call the roll of
her distinguished
statesmen of all political parties in
the past lest I should neglect
some and thereby appear to discriminate.
But it is true that her
sons have not been surpassed in the
halls of Congress, or in the
highest Judicial Tribunals in the land,
or in the Executive man-
sion itself. In all these there have
been worthy sons of Ohio,
whose names are cherished by the people,
for they are names
not born to die.
And, living to-day, are men representing
the people of this
great state as state officials, and as
representatives in the Con-
gress of the United States, who are an
honor to their people and
to their state.
The Centennial of Jefferson County. 359
Among those may be mentioned the
peerless Sherman, the
dashing Foraker, the sturdy Hanna and
the genial Bushnell.
These are all worthy representatives of
a state whose foundation
stones were laid by the superb Anthony
Wayne and the indomit-
able William Henry Harrison.
But one of the greatest of all the dead,
and one of the greatest
of all the living, of Ohio's
distinguished sons, were born within
the original territory of this county of
Jefferson-Stanton and
McKinley.
Edwin M. Stanton sleeps in his narrow
home-but he is not
forgotten, for he lives in the
immortality that blooms beyond the
grave, he lives in the record of his
country's history, and he lives
in the hearts of living millions on
hill-top, valley and plain.
Grand indeed is the monument in
Trafalgar Square which
perpetuates the triumphs of Nelson on
the sea, and grand is the
Column Vendome which eternizes the
victories of Napoleon on
the land, but grander and sublimer by
far than these is that love
implanted in the hearts of American
freemen for the invincible
Stanton, who, with the immortal Lincoln,
laid his life on his coun-
try's altar that the Union might live,
and all men and women be
forever free.
Brave, generous and lofty, endowed with
the most exalted
sense of honor. We seem now to be gazing
upward to the sum-
mit of that Olympus upon which he
serenely sits.
He seems as one who belonged to that
majestic race of be-
ings to whom the ancient Greeks and
Romans ascribed qualities
and honors almost divine-to some modern
Achilles, Hercules,
or Theseus, and not a leaf of his
laurels has yet had time to wither.
Deep scars of thunder had entrenched;
And Care sat on his faded cheek;
But under brows of dauntless courage.
Stanton stands out in our history as a
mighty rock, firm and
immovable as the angry waves of
rebellion dashed themselves
into foam at its base. His faults are
but as the setting of the no-
bility of his nature which rises-
360 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
Like some tall cliff that rears its
awful form,
Swells from the vale and midway leaves
the storm;
Though round its base the lowering
clouds may spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head.
Dropping a tear of sorrow on the tomb of
our dead Stanton,
let us turn with a smile of joy to our
living McKinley. He too,
is a typical American. No other country
on the face of the earth
could have produced him;
simple-mannered, rugged, broad, com-
prehensive and manly; and a gallantry
approaching the spirit of
the old cavaliers of romance, possessing
talents of the highest
order, and an intellect cultivated to
the most brilliant point of per-
fection; joined to all this, refined
sensibilities, which constitute
the poetry of life and rescue men from
the groveling vices and
debasing passions of our kind. He is
just what the educating
forces of our own civilization would
make of these attributes.
His well-balanced purpose of lofty
devotion to duty, his uncon-
querable courage, his unselfish
patriotism, his strict integrity,
honesty and nobility of character, his
tender love for the wife of
his early manhood, all will ever remain
glorious examples for the
emulation of the young men of this
splendid land, to stimulate
them to a nobler manhood.
Oh, may our young men draw lessons of
patriotism and de-
votion to their country from the example
of his noble life, and from
its richness may the future gain its
highest aspirations, for out
of that life they may construct an ideal
on which to mould them-
selves.
In all the wars during the last century,
and especially in the
war of the rebellion, Jefferson county
furnished its full quota of
men, and sent officers and privates to
every battlefield. Immortal
heroes! They each performed a part in
the greatest drama in
our Republic's history. They assisted in
settling for all time the
supremacy of the Union of the states,
and the equality of all men.
And after the war was over, realizing
that mercy is the brightest
flower in the victor's wreath, they bade
the vanquished return to
their homes, lay aside their swords and
muskets for the tools and
implements of workshop and farm, and
mingle with the songs of
the birds their joyous songs of
contentment, industry and peace.
Thus spreading over all the past the
mantle of sweet charity and
The Centennial of Jefferson County. 361
brotherly love, they returned to their
homes, and soon as com-
rades and soldiers in war, were lost in
the busy throng of citizens
of peace.
Surely the Union soldiers are the
assured idols of undying
renown; living or dead they shall never
be forgotten; and their
graves will be known as a shrine so long
as chivalry girds on a
sword; shrines where patriot knees will
bend and patriot eyes will
weep as long as freedom has a worshipper
and patriotism a dev-
otee.
A few years ago, Jem Hollingsworth, a
young miner in a
western camp, was turning a windlass by
which a bucket filled
with earth was being lifted to the
surface, while two of his com-
rades were digging at the bottom of the
mine. When within a
short distance of the top the handle
broke and the bucket started
down with fearful force; then,
remembering his friends at the bot-
tom of the mine, Jem threw his body into
the cogs of the wheel
and checked the fall of the bucket.
Bystanders seeing the acci-
dent hastened to him, and after securing
the windlass took poor
Jem's bleeding, mangled body out and
laid it on a stretcher: as
they carried him away one of the men
said, "Jem, this is awful,"
but with a smile on his dying lips poor
Jem replied: "What's
the difference since it saved the
boys?"
Thousands of splendid young men in
Jefferson county and in
Ohio, over a third of a century ago,
threw their strong, manly
forms into the iron jaws of rebellion,
and when they were taken
out mangled and bleeding and sent home
on crutches, with empty
sleeves, bearing scars and wounds, the
legacies of battlefields,
their loved ones said when they got
home, "Isn't it awful?" Their
answer was: "What's the difference
since it saved the Union?"
Oh! patriotism superb! Oh, heroism
sublime! On this
centennial day we must not forget to pay
this slight tribute to their
memory.
Nor must we forget the patriotic women
of this county and
state, who in all the years of the past
contributed so much to that
upbuilding and development. And in the
wars it was woman's
soft hand that staunched the bleeding
wound, and cooled the
fevered brow of the soldier boy; it was
woman's sweet voice that
spoke into his ears words of consolation
and cheer; it was woman's
362 Ohio Arch. and His.
Society Publications.
tears that fell upon the face of the
dead; and it was woman who
wrote his last message to the loved ones
at home. And they did
all of this because of their love for
the Union.
Ah, yes:
The maid who binds her warrior's sash
With smile that well her pain
dissembles,
The while beneath her drooping lash
One starry tear drop hangs and trembles;
Though Heaven alone records that tear
And fame may never know her story,
Yet her heart hath shed a drop as dear
As e'er bedewed the field of glory.
The wife who girds her husband's sword
Mid little ones who weep and wonder,
And bravely speaks the cheering word
E'en though her heart be rent asunder;
Doomed nightly in her dreams to
hear
The bolts of death around him rattle,
Sheds holy blood as e'er was shed
On freedom's gory field of battle.
The mother who conceals her grief
While to her breast her son she
presses,
And speaks a few brave words and brief;
Kissing the patriot brow she
blesses:
With no one but her secret God
To know the pain that weighs upon her,
Sheds holy blood as e'er the sod
Received on freedom's field of honor.
How wisely the fathers builded-how
closely their sons have
followed in their footsteps! The
wilderness has in reality been
made to blossom as the rose. And Ohio
to-day is known as the
key of the heart of the continent. Two
hundred miles square,
with an area of over twenty-five
millions of acres. This happy
intervening of rivers, valleys and uplands,
with a fertile soil, cov-
ered with forests, fields, orchards and
meadows, with rivers and
canals, with turnpikes and railroads,
and with a population larger
than the population of all the original
thirteen colonies when they
declared their independence. A
population of hardy freemen and
women larger than that grand old
Republic nestled in the shadows
of the Alps held within its borders,
when its brave, heroic sons,
The Centennial of Jefferson
County. 363
seized with the noble inspiration on the
famous battlefield of
Sempach, rescued liberty from the
grasping hand of Austria; more
than Athens crowded within her historic
gates when the gallant
Greeks at Plataea delivered their
beloved land from Persia's
threatened yoke of slavery; more than
Rome gathered on her
seven hills when Julius Caesar unfurled
the banner of equal rights
to the balmy breezes of Italy, and amid
the wildest acclaim and
joyful shouts of multitudes of outraged
people, overthrew the
aristocratic commonwealth under Pompey
on the battlefield of
Pharsalia, and reared upon its ruins the
Imperial Republic.
This is the glorious result of the work
started by the pioneers.
Their every endeavor seemed to be to
develop their new country
and make it pleasant and profitable for
their posterity. A beau-
tiful story is told of one of these.
John Chapman, or Johnny
Appleseed, as he was called, who came to
the Muskingum at an
early day and spent his time chiefly in
scattering nurseries of ap-
ple trees about the country for the
benefit of the coming people.
With nothing but his axe and bag of
appleseeds he made his pil-
grimages far into the wilderness, when
he cleared or deadened
spots in the woods in which he sowed his
appleseeds, and sur-
rounding them with hedges of brush to
keep off the deer, left them
as gifts to those who should follow.
Many an orchard far out
in the Firelands and at the head of the
Scioto and Miami, and the
Wabash was planted from these seedlings.
Marvelous indeed were the struggles of
the pioneers-their
patience, fortitude and perseverance,
their example should be a
constant inspiration to their children,
spurring them on to nobler
deeds and holier endeavors.
In fancy I see a pleasant picture of the
old father and mother
-they of the pioneers, sitting on the
porch of their cottage home,
when they are in that period known as
the sear and yellow leaf.
Almost alone like pilgrims worn,
Journeying alone,
Of all the friends they once possessed
They hardly can find one.
And, as the old father looks into the
eyes of that dear com-
panion of his youth and old age, his
mind wanders back along the
364 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications.
pathway of the years, flecked and
checkered with sunshine and
cloud, with storm and calm, through
years of struggles, trials sor-
rows and disappointments; out at last
into the grand, glorious
crowning beauty and benison of hard won
and well deserved
success.
He feels prouder of her than ever
before, and, as the tears roll
down his wrinkled cheeks, he blesses his
God for that precious
gift of a good companion who has stood
by his side in all those
years of hardship and sorrow.
And she, with a sweet smile, looking at
him through her tears,
says in tremulous voice:
John, dear, we are old and gray;
Fifty years since our wedding day,
Shadow and sun for every one as the
years roll on;
John, dear, when the world went wry,
Hard and sorrowful then was I,
Ah, lad, how you cheered me then;
Things will be better, sweet wife,
again;
Always the same, dear John, my own,
Always the same to your old wife Joan.
John, dear, but my heart was wild
When we buried our baby child,
Until you whispered, Heaven knows best;
And then my troubled heart found rest.
John, dear, 'twas your loving hand
Showed the way to the better land;
Ah, lad, as you kissed away each tear,
Life grew better and Heaven more near.
Hand in hand when our life was May,
Hand in hand when our hair is gray,
Shadow and sun for every one as the
years roll on,
Hand in hand when the long night tide
Gently covers us side by side,
Ah, lad, though we know not when
Love will be with us forever then;
Always the same, dear John, my own,
Always the same to your old wife Joan.
By and by the storm of their life was
over, and side by side
they were laid to rest in the quiet
little cemetery, and now each
springtime they are covered with the
same mantle of green, decked
The Centennial of Jefferson
County. 365
by nature with the same wild flowers
blooming over each with im-
partial love; while at nighttime the
whippoorwills chant their
solemn requiem to their memory.
Let them peacefully sleep; all honor to
their memory-they
were Jefferson county's noble pioneers.
Some one has said, that in the pious and
magnificent struc-
tures of the great temples of the
Mohammedan faith the inde-
structible and infinitely divisible fragrance
of the attar of roses
was mixed by the builders with the
mortar with which they held
together the mass and ever since
annually ten thousand worship-
pers have worn the stone pavement of the
structure for a hundred
generations, and yet find their prayers
still imbued with the un-
dying fragrance of this inexhausted and
inexhaustible perfume.
These great masses of wealth, and of
population and of power,
this structure that our fathers built
and we occupy is but the as-
semblage of the great material structure
that built up to the visi-
ble eye a temple. But the cement that
holds it all together is
perfumed by the great virtues and the
sweet influences of the
men and women that laid this moral
structure. Let us never
lose that perfume, for if we do, that
cement will crumble and the
structure be destroyed.
As heirs of a splendid heritage we
should love our homes,
our city, our county, our state, and our
Republic. It is only when
a people lose their patriotism and
become stupid and careless
from too much revelry in luxury, peace,
and prosperity, that they
are in danger. This has been the road
along which many nations
and many peoples of all the ages in the
past have gone down to
ruin and decay. And the wrecks of their
cities are strewn along
the banks of Time's fretful stream. So
it was with Tyre, the queen
of the desert, her atmosphere ever
fragrant with the sweet aroma
of spices brought to her fairs by
caravans from distant climes;
her sails of commerce once whitened many
seas, the beautiful
horses of Arabia were on sale in her
market places. There too
could be found the rarest wines,
emeralds, corals, embroidered
work, and upholstered wares, of the
rarest quality and pattern.
But where now is the din of her markets,
where the splendor
of her magnificent structures? Where the noise of her chariots
and the laughter of her charioteers as
they thundered along the
366 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
public thoroughfares? Where, where are
all these? Let the
rude fishermen, who dry their nets where
here palaces once stood;
let the crested billows of the sea that
now roll where her towers
once gleamed in the sunshine; let the
humble heathen who now
sets his tent where Tyre once sat in
glory, answer the question.
Thebes too, was once the brightest star
of her time, with her
public places filled with wondrous works
of art challenging the
admiration even of the antiquarian who
now digs and studies
amid her historic ruins; with columns
and temples unsurpassed
in the history of mankind, when the
artists of the renowned
studios of earth brought the products of
their brains and hands
to win the plaudits of the world's
lovers of art.
And Babylon, with her towers, her gates
of brass and her
granite walls, and with palaces wherein
were gathered riches un-
surpassed, her hanging gardens also,
with trees of rarest foliage,
and flowers of varied hues yielding
their rich perfume to make
fragrant each passing breeze, with
fountains sending up their
silver sprays to glitter in the
sunshise, while amid the spreading
boughs of the trees birds of wondrous
plumage chanted their
sweetest songs, until they filled with
enchanting melody the wav-
ing woods of Babylon. But finally the
storm came; the gates
crumbled and the walls fell, and the
startled banqueters, hasten-
ing from their palaces, joined the
revellers in the garden groves
and in terror together went down into
oblivion.
To-day the pilgrims walk on that scene
of desolation, and
from the broken stones and pottery they
read its history. The
owls and bats have their homes amid the
ruins of the once far-
famed palaces, and amid the awful
surging of that billow of deso-
lation that now rolls over the place
where Babylon once was,
they hear the wild waves saying,
"Babylon, oh Babylon, in the
midst of thy glory and grandeur thou
didst slumber in the dreamy
realms of wealth and luxury and
inactivity. Thou didst lose thy
pride and patriotism, and now thou are
no more." So it was
with them all, they slept the sleep of
the sluggard, and the wiley
enemies from without and from within
their borders accomplished
their ruin and downfall, so that now
they live only in legend and
story.
The Centennial of Jefferson County.
367
Every effort put forth to develop this
country and this state
still more in the future, to make a
dozen vines to grow where
but one grew before, to swing to each
other their delicious clusters
that seem a whole happy rural population
held in Dryad spell,
whose joined hands a word would set free
to urge all with glad
coercion into the merry vintage
dance:-To cause two trees to
spring up where but one appeared before,
to hold aloft in their
rustic hands their luscious fruit to
ripen in the sunshine; to make
two stalks of wheat bend their heads to
the harvester, where but
one nodded its head before, and to make
two ears of corn to
swing their silken tassels to the
breeze, where but one had waved
its plume:-Every effort to build
churches, colleges and universi-
ties; to found homes for the helpless
and the aged, asylums for
the unfortunate, hospitals for the sick,
and art galleries, museums
and libraries for the poor:-Every effort
to elevate the character
of the people, to banish ignorance, vice
and impurity from the
land, and to cultivate a desire for
intelligence, purity, integrity,
loyalty and nobility of character in the
minds of the masses of
our citizens:-Every advancement made in
the realms of science,
literature and art; every new discovery,
every new invention,
every encouragement to gifted genius in
every field of thought;
every act that ennobles humanity and
makes the world better.
Every wise law promulgated; every effort
to cultivate peace and
good will among the people of the
different sections of our coun-
try and uphold an unconquered
flag:-Every endeavor to nar-
row and obliterate forever the widening
chasm between capital
and labor, to ameliorate and improve the
condition of those who
toil in the workshops, in the mills and
in the fields, until their
labor shall be more productive and their
lives made brighter;
until equal and exact justice shall
prevail among all classes of
our people, and beautiful virtue and
spiritual grace shall light
up the homes of the poor, and the
shadows of darkness and gloom
shall melt away before the dawning light
of a brighter day of
contentment, happiness and peace:-Every
effort to teach the
youth in the public schools and
elsewhere to love their country
and its flag, and to fondly cherish the
memory of the pioneers
who opened the gates of the Ohio to the
tide of a marvelous civil-
ization:-All this is glorious work in
which to be engaged, and is
368
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
worthy of the descendants of those brave
and chivalrous men
and women.
The pioneers builded better than they
knew, for no country
in the world furnishes such splendid
opportunities for poor boys
as this country does, and Ohio is almost
in its center.
As we pass through many of the cities
and villages of the
northwest, we often see some country boy
standing by his load
of wood and to the passer-by he says,
"Mister, will you buy a
load of wood?" To him we cannot
keep from saying, be coura-
geous, my boy, your lot may be a hard
one, your clothes may not
be as good as the clothes some boys
wear, but be manly, be strong,
take advantage of your opportunities, go
to the public school, be
loyal to your country and true to your
fellow men, for once upon
a time a boy like you stood on the
streets of a western city selling
wood, and now a majestic monument rises
to mark the place
where he once stood, and the "wood
hauler," Ulysses S. Grant,
is immortal.
And as we pass by a canal we see a
little boy, ragged and
barefooted, driving his mule along the
tow path, and to him we
feel like saying:
Don't be discouraged, my lad, your
pathway may not be a
pleasant one, but remember that once
there was a barefoot lad
who trod the weary tow path which led
from a canal in Ohio to
the White House in Washington, and the
canal boy, James A
Garfield, is immortal.
Then away in a forest we see a stalwart
farmer boy splitting
rails with which to build an old
fashioned worm fence around
father's little farm, and to him we feel
like saying:
Be brave, my boy; though poverty and
hard labor may now
be your portion, there's a better time
coming by and by, take ad-
vantage of our free institutions, for
they will furnish the full equip-
ment of shield and spear for the battles
of freedom; and don't
forget that once there was a homely rail
splitter who climbed the
granite shaft of fame amid the
admiration of the civilized world;
with his chisel he carved a place as it
were for his fingers and
his toes as he climbed hand over hand,
and foot over foot, with
the weight of a Republic resting on his
shoulders and tears rolling
down his sad face; he climbed higher and
higher, while the shame-
The Centennial of Jefferson
County. 369
ful darts of malice, hate and envy were
hurled at his quivering
form; around the base of that shaft the
boys in blue with muskets
and fixed bayonets guarded him as he
climbed, until finally God
stretched forth His hand and plucked him
from the theater of
things to become a saint in glory in the
Pantheon of Kings, and
the "rail splitter," Abraham
Lincoln, is immortal.
Great and happy country. Where manhood
reigns alone
and every citizen is king. May
patriotism and love of country
bloom and blossom in the hearts of the
present generation of
free men and women, even more than they
did in the hearts of
the fathers and mothers who blazed the
pathway through the
primeval forests for this unexampled
civilization, and as they now
sleep in their quiet homes covered each
springtime by wild flow-
ers, nature's sweetest emblems of love
and affection, while their
children continue the great work which
they so nobly began.
And gathering together on this
centennial day let them unite
in a mighty anthem of praise and
thanksgiving until their land
shall be filled with melody as they
sing:
Great God we thank Thee for this our
home
In this bounteous birthland of the free,
Where wanderers from afar may come
To breathe the pure air of liberty;
Still may thy flowers untrampled spring,
Thy harvests wave and thy cities rise;
And yet till Time shall fold his wing
Remain; Oh, remain our cherished
paradise.
All hail! Jefferson county. All hail!
the dawning of the new
century, with hope and joy.
Brief addresses were made by Mayor
McKisson, of Cleve-
land; Hon. John J. Sullivan, of Warren;
Lieutenant Governor
Asa W. Jones, Rev. John J. McCook, of
Hartford, Conn.; Adju-
tant General Axline, General E. R.
Eckley and Hon. E. O. Ran-
dall, of Columbus, Secretary of the Ohio
Historical Society and
official reporter of the Supreme Court.
Gen. Anson G. McCook was called for, but
as the general was
to accompany Gen. Sickles to the train
he begged to be excused.
Vol. VI-24