GENEALOGY CCL-L.HCTION
OUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 02398 9889
Gc 9 7 7.1 Oh 29992 z v. 37
Ohio arch ological and historical quarterly
OHIO
Arch^ological and Historical
PUBLICATIONS.
Volume XXXVII 1928
COLUMBUS:
PUBLISHED FOR THE SOCIETY
by
FRED. J. BEER
1929
THE OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
OFFICERS
Arthur C. Johnson President
George F. Bakeis first Tlcc President
Edward Orton, Jr Second Vice President
Edwin F. Wood Treasurer
C. B. Galbreath Secretary, Editor and Librarian
H. C. Shetrone Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGES
Some Ohio Caves and Rock Shelters Bearing Evidence of Human
Occupancy. By Henry C. Shetrone 1-34
The Quakers — Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, Their Customs
and Disciphne. By H. E. Smith 35-85
Revolutionary War Soldiers Buried in Clark County, Ohio. By
A. L. Slager 86-100
The Story of an Old Dutch Chest. By C. S. Van Tassel 101-106
Story of the First Geological Survey of Ohio, 1835-1842. By Paul
W. Stoddard 107-135
Ohio's Tallest Building: the A. I. U. Citadel, at Columbus. By
the Editor 136-142
National Old Trails Road in Ohio. By the Editor 143-147
Railroad Discussion not Forbidden by Lancaster School Board.
By the Editor 148-155
Dedication of Bronze Tablets to Major John Mills and Tecumseh.
By Frazer E. Wilson 156-160
Lucas Sullivant Tablet Dedicated. By the Editor 161-176
Lucas Sullivant — His Personality and Adventures. By Miss Jane
D. Sullivant 177-187
Sarah Starling Sullivant. By Miss Jane D. Sullivant 188-189
Reviews, Notes and Comments. By the Editor 190-204
" Verily the World Do Move" 190-191
Dr. Hervey Scott 191-192
Quartermaster's Record Book— 1793 192-193
Joseph Green Butler, Jr 193-198
Prof. Azariah Smith Root 198-200
William Pendleton Palmer 200-201
Death of Dr. William C. Mills 201
Ross County Historical Society 201-203
Museum Echoes 204
William Corless Mills. By C. B. Galbreath 205-219
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896. By Clifford H. Moore 220-427
Reviews, Notes and Comments. By the Editor 428-438
Newly Elected Officers and Employes :
Henry Clyde Shetrone 428-430
Harlow Lindley — Librarian at Spiegel Grove 430-431
Emerson F. Greenman 431-432
Death of Senator Frank Bartlette Willis 433-434
Just Judgments 4.34-437
Ohio, Scenic and Historic 437-438
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Contents
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850. By Edgar A. Holt 439-591
Reviews, Notes and Comments. By the Editor 592-604
Unveiling of Memorial to Elizabeth Zane 592-598
Celebration at Campus Martins 598-604
The Death and Funeral of President William Henry Harrison.
By Rev. Edward S. Lewis 605^612
James Galloway, Sr. By Dr. W. A. Galloway 613-614
Camp Charlotte Site Marked. By the Editor 615-617
Reviews, Notes and Comments. By the Editor.
The Nation's History 618-619
Interesting and Valuable Chronicles of Scioto County 619-621
The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, 1774-1777 621-623
Population Map of Ohio, 1920 623-624
Contribution to the History of Virginia 624
Acknowledgment .,.,... t , t ........... . 624
1207462
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGES
Some Ohio Caves and Rock Shelters 1-34
Map of Ohio, Showing Location of Chief Caverns and
Shelters facing p. 2
Fig. 1. View of Echo Cave 6
Fig. 2. View of Indian Cave 7
Fig. 3. Portions of Woven Fabric from Echo Cave 9
Fig. 4. Vest-like Garment of Rushes from Burial in Echo Cave 10
Fig. 5. Pouch, or Bag, and Bone Awls from Echo Cave 11
Fig. 6. Carrying Basket from Echo Cave 12
Fig- 7. Sandal from Echo Cave 13
Fig. 8. Types of Sandals from Echo Cave 14
Fig. 9. Portion of Fish Net from Indian Cave 15
Fig. 10. Fragments of Leather and Cord from Indian Cave 15
Fig. 11. Types of Arrow Points from Canter's Caves 17
Fig. 12. Fragments of Pottery-ware from Canter's Caves 18
Fig. 13. Typical Bone Awls and Perforators from Canter's Caves 19
Fig 14. Reed, Wedge, Twigs, etc., from Echo Cave 20
Fig. 15. Dried Plants of Nolina gcoryiana 21
Fig. 16. View of Kettle Hill Cave 22
Fig. 17. Interior of Kettle Hill Cave, Looking West 24
Fig. 18. Eastern End of Kettle Hill Cave 25
Fig. 19. Partially Mummified Burial from Kettle Hill Cave 26
Fig. 20. Sandstone Slab Bearing Pictographs, from Kettle Hill
Cave 29
Fig. 21. Sandal Woven from Bast Fibre from Kettle Hill Cave 30
Fig. 22. Feather Neck Ornament from Kettle Hill Cave 30
Fig. 23. Objects of Wood and Bone from Kettle Hill Cave 31
Fig. 24. Vegetable Fibers, for Weaving, from Kettle Hill Cave.. 33
Fig. 25. Cord and Fabric from Kettle Hill Cave 83
Fig. 26. Fragments of Basketry and Cord from Kettle Hill Cave 34
The Quakers : their Migration to the Upper Ohio 35-85
Ann Todd Smith 37
New Garden Meeting-house, North Carolina 40
Samuel and Ada P. Lewis 44
Elisha and Sally Todd 46
Chesterhill Friends Meeting-house 48
Residence of John and Anna Bundy 50
Amy (Hodgin) Clendenon 59
Type of Bonnet worn by Mary H. Stanton 61
Hat Worn by Joseph Stanton about 1858 61
V
vi Illustrations.
PAGES
Quaker Marriage Certificate facing p. 62
Old Stillwater Meeting-house 63
Stillwater Meeting-house — East Side 64
Mount Pleasant Yearly Meeting-house 65
Map of Meetings Composing Ohio Yearly Meeting of Friends... 66
Carpenter Hall, Earlham College 74
Friends' Boarding-School 76
Mount Pleasant Boarding-School 77
Westtown Boarding-School 78
Edwin M. Stanton 82
The Old Willoughby Chest 102
A. I. U. Citadel 137
John J- Lentz 140
Unveiling of National Old Trails Road Tablet 143
Bronze Tablet on Broad Street Bridge 145
Van A. Snider 149
Monument and Tablet to Major John Mills 157
Tecumseh Memorial at Greenville 1 58
Tablet Marking Site of Home of Lucas Sullivant 161
Lucas Sullivant 178
Joseph G. Butler, Jr 194
William C. Mills facing p. 205
William C. Mills at the Age of 12 Years 207
William C. Mills at the Age of 17 Years 207
William C. Mills, from Photograph Taken in 1898 211
William C. Mills, from Photograph Taken in 1921 213
Benjamin F. Wade 239
Jacob D. Cox 241
John R. McLean 265
Charles Foster 321
John Sherman 323
Rutherford B Hayes 329
Allen G. Thurman 337
William Allen 337
George H. Pendleton 337
Henry B. Payne 345
James A. Garfield 351
James E. Campbell 383
Joseph B. Foraker 387
Calvin S. Brice 401
Marcus A. Hanna 407
William McKinley 409
Popular Vote in Presidential Elections, 1864-1896 411
Illustrations.
PAGES
Election of 1896, in Ohio 415
Political Status of Ohio in Congress, 1869-1897 419
Henry C. Shetrone 429
Harlow Lindley 431
Emerson F. Greenman 432
Political Cartoon Used During the Log-Cabin Campaign 484
Cartoon — The Gerrymander, from Dayton Journal, 1842 528
Political Cartoon — The Coon Dissector 549
The Coon Dissector 556
Elizabeth Zane — Statue at Martins Ferry 593
Tomb of William Henry Harrison, North Bend, Ohio 607
OHIO Archaeological and Historical
PUBLICATIONS
SOME OHIO CAVES AND ROCK SHELTERS BEARING EVIDENCES OF HUMAN OCCUPANCY
BY H. C. SHETRONE,
Curator of ArchaoJogy
Canter's Caves — Kettle Hill Cave
Caves, caverns and rock-shelters are fruitful sources of archaeological evidence, particularly as regards the early phases of human development. Primitive humans the world over very naturally repaired to these ready- made retreats in time of stress, whether from inclement weather, danger from wild beasts or threats from their own kind. Thus every cave is a potential prehistoric habitation.
Augmentation of the floors of caves through deposi- tion of wind-blown and water-carried debris and soil and through decomposition of the rock in which they occur, provides an ideal repository for the material evi-
This report, dealing with the so-called Canter's Caves and Kettle Hill Cave, admittedly is incomplete and is submitted as a preliminary- paper, to be supplemented later by fuller information. It is the sentiment of the Society that where exhaustive exploration cannot be anticipated immediately, the results of partial examination should not be withheld from the public and the student. No attempt is made to include herein studies of the skeletal material and textiles found in the shelters.
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2 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
dences left within them by erstwhile occupants. Where caves are free from excessive moisture even the more fragile and perishable materials may be preserved. Without the evidences afforded by the caverns and shel- ters of western Europe, much that is known of the early chapters of human history would remain unrecorded.
The Devonian and Silurian limestone areas of west- ern Ohio contain numerous caves or caverns, while the sandstone series of the eastern one-half of the state pre- sent many rock-shelters, so-called. The former have been carefully studied, described and mapped * as to physical features, but have not been examined for pre- historic human occupancy. However, it is known that several and perhaps most of them bear evidences of such use. On the whole they are not well adapted to habitation purposes, since for the most part they lie in the heavily glaciated area where topographical relief is not great. The exceptions are the several caves on Rocky Fork Creek, in Highland County, the entrances to which are from the side of the deep valley of the stream, in contrast to the sink-hole openings to the more northerly caves.
Locations of limestone caves and caverns, and of rock-shelters which have yielded evidences of human habitation, are shown on the accompanying map. In each instance, the names of the more important are given.
Rock-shelters are abundant throughout the coal measures of south-central Ohio, particularly in the Black Hand and the Sharon conglomerates of Fairfield, Hocking, Vinton, Jackson, Scioto and adjoining coun-
* White, George W., "Limestone Caves and Caverns of Ohio" ; Ohio Journal of Science, Vol. XXVI, No. 2, 1926.
2 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
deuces left within them by erstwhile occupants. Where caves are free from excessive moisture even the more fragile and perishable materials may be preserved. Without the evidences afforded by the caverns and shel- ters of western Europe, much that is known of the early chapters of human history would remain unrecorded.
The Devonian and Silurian limestone areas of west- ern Ohio contain numerous caves or caverns, while the sandstone series of the eastern one-half of the state pre- sent many rock-shelters, so-called. The former have been carefully studied, described and mapped* as to physical features, but have not been examined for pre- historic human occupancy. However, it is known that several and perhaps most of them bear evidences of such use. On the whole they are not well adapted to habitation purposes, since for the most part they lie in the heavily glaciated area where topographical relief is not great. The exceptions are the several caves on Rocky Fork Creek, in Highland County, the entrances to which are from the side of the deep valley of the stream, in contrast to the sink-hole openings to the more northerly caves.
Locations of limestone caves and caverns, and of rock-shelters which have yielded evidences of human habitation, are shown on the accompanying map. In each instance, the names of the more important are given.
Rock-shelters are abundant throughout the coal measures of south-central Ohio, particularly in the Black Hand and the Sharon conglomerates of Fairfield, Hocking, Vinton, Jackson, Scioto and adjoining coun-
* White, George W., "Limestone Caves and Caverns of Ohio" ; Ohio Journal of Science. Vol. XXVI, No. 2, 1926.
Outline Map of Ohio showing location of the more important Limestone Caverns and Sandstone Shelters. The lormer are shown by triangular symbols and letters, while the latter are indicated by crescents and numerals :
CAVERNS A— Put-In-Bay Caves F— Ohio Caverns
B— Crystal Rock Caves G— Painter Creek Cav(
C— Good's Caves H— Miami River Cave
D— Underground River Cave I— Buckskin Caves E— Zane's Caverns J— Rocky Fork Caves
K — Lawrence Cave
ROCK SHELTERS 1— Kettle Hill Rock Shelter 6— Buzzard Rock 2— Old Man's Cave 7— Canter's Caves
3— Ash Cave 8 — Peter's Cave
4^Rock House !) — Saltpetre Cave
5 — Boone Rock 10 — Horse Cave
Some Ohio Caves and Rock Shelters 3
ties. Within these areas, and throughout the sandstone exposures in either direction adjacent to the Ohio River, there are hundreds of shelters, for the most part small and unimportant. They have received but scant atten- tion geologically and, with the exceptions herein noted, have not been examined for human remains. Probably the greater number bear some evidence of use by primi- tive man. For the most part the rock-shelters are ex- posed and to an equal degree wet, or moist. A few are of appreciable size and wholly or in part quite dry.
The only systematic exploration of Ohio rock- shelters so far effected, up to the present, was conducted by Professor William C. Mills, "^ in three shelters located in Jackson County, Ohio. These shelters, known as Boone Rock, Buzzard Rock and a third without name, yielded a quantity of materials of the usual sort, but nothing of a perishable nature, although their floors, in part, were fairly dry. Animal and bird bones, bone awls, flint implements and fragments of pottery-ware, occurring rather sparsely, indicated but temporary occu- pancy by tribes culturally rather low. The finding, at or near the surface of the floor in one of these caves, of several small objects of European origin, indicated that use of the shelters had continued until contact had been established between the Indians and the whites. For the most part the occupants were demonstrably the Algonquian Indians of the region, with occasional visits from the Hopewell mound-building culture peoples, as evidenced by the finding of fragments of Hopewell pottery.
* Mills, William C. "Archaeological Remains in Jackson County," Certain Mounds and J'UIage Sites in Ohio, Vol. II, part 2.
4 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
CANTER'S CAVES
The uncertainty of results attending archaeological exploration is well exemplified in comparing the meager returns from the above-mentioned shelters with another, only a few miles removed. Canter's Caves, so-called, are located about five miles northwest of the town of Jackson, in Jackson County, Ohio. The caves — which in reality are twin shelters, known locally as Echo Cave and Indian Cave — are situated on the east side of Little Salt Creek, the general course of which is from south- east to northwest. The valley of the stream, in this particular locality, is quite narrow, forming a typical "hollow." Its borders are precipitous, as a result of erosion of the Sharon conglomerate and the gradual lowering of the stream bed. The caves are many feet higher than the present level of the creek, and while the stream primarily is responsible for their origin, decom- position of the conglomerate rock certainly is in great part responsible for the present size of the shelters.
On the archaeological map of Ohio, Jackson County appears as an anomaly. It is fairly dotted with mounds and other prehistoric human remains while the remain- der of the extensive area of unglaciated territory of southern and southeastern Ohio is practically devoid of such evidences. Although too rugged and broken to invite primitive human occupancy, there are, within a radius of ten miles of the center of the county, 170 burial mounds, a score of identified camp and village- sites, half a dozen earthen enclosures and a striking group of petroglyphs or rock pictures. Of the thirty or more rock-shelters within the area, practically all show evidences of occupancy. The answer is — salt.
Some Ohio Caves and Rock Shelters 5
The saline springs * located on the headwaters of Salt Creek, at the center of the county, were the magnet which brought into this otherwise forbidding territory countless streams of aborigines through a long period of time. That the population of the region was tran- sient, is evidenced by the fact that practically all the mounds are small, mostly covering a single burial; the village- and camp-sites are unpretentious and clearly of temporary or intermittent occupancy; while the rock- shelters, with one or two exceptions, show but transitory habitation.
It is a matter of regret that scientific and exhaustive examination of Canter's Caves cannot be reported. Mr. George N. Miller, owner of the tract on which the shel- ters are located, in converting the site into a pleasure resort in 1925, discovered and removed numerous evi- dences of human occupancy therein. Fortunately, Mr. Miller, although unaware at the time of the scientific interest of his finds, possessed an innate sense of orderly procedure. The two shelters were carefully dug over, all specimens, including even flint chips and animal and bird bones, being preserved. In the instance of fabrics and other perishable materials, he displayed an ingenu- ity in the matter of removal and preservation worthy of a trained explorer. Later, he graciously turned over to the Museum the greater part of his material for study purposes and display.
In anticipation of this report, the writer spent some time at the shelter site in company with Mr. Miller, se- curing all available measurements, photographs and field notes.
*For description, see Professor Mills' report, previously cited.
6 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
The larger of the two shelters — known locally as Echo Cave — measures 108 feet wide at its mouth and has a maximum depth of 55 feet. Its floor is oval or roughly semicircular in form, and drops off sharply at its northern end or side to the bottom of the gully where, 60 feet below, is a fine spring of water. The opening
Figure 1. A View of Echo Cave at the Time of its Examination.
of the shelter is toward the east. The roof, at the open- ing, is approximately 50 feet in height and diminishes gradually toward the back, where it varies from three to five feet in height. The accumulation of sand, soil and ashes within the shelter varies in thickness from one foot to four feet. Numerous large detached boulders of sandstone conglomerate lie upon and embedded in
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8 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
the accumulated debris. A view o£ Echo Gave is shown in Fig. 1.
The second shelter, known as Indian Cave, is a few rods to the southwest of Echo Cave. It is somewhat smaller, but corresponds closely in its physical aspects to the larger cave. In form, it is roughly triangular and has, toward its northern extremity, a low extension, oval in form, about 30 feet long, two to three feet high and eight to 16 feet in width. The photograph (Fig. 2) affords a view of Indian Cave.
In the shelter known as Echo Cave, Mr. Miller found a total of seven burials — four adults, a child, and two infants. Three of the adult burials lay near the back wall of the shelter, toward its north end. A third adult skeleton, minus the skull, was located underneath the edge of a large sandstone boulder detached from the roof of the shelter and located 12 feet out from the back wall about midway from north to south. Owing to the extremely dry conditions prevailing in the rear of the shelter, portions of the skin and tissues of the body were desiccated, thus retaining the bones of the skeleton in place. Parts of a blanket or garment of roughly woven fabric (Fig. 3) were in place about the hips. This skeleton was removed intact and is now on exhibition in the Museum.
Beneath the edges of the same boulder, there were found the skeletons of two children and an infant. To- ward the front of the shelter, north of center, there was located a large fireplace, around which were scattered burned stones, potsherds and animal and bird bones.
The skeleton of a young adult, partly cremated or accidentally burned, was enveloped in a vest-like gar-
Some Ohio Caves and Rock Shelters 9
ment of plaited rushes with a facing of deerskin leather. (Fig. 4.) This skeleton, found near the center of the cave, had been disturbed, possibly by rodents. Only the bones of the arms and torso remained, with the enclosing garment.
With the exception of the above-mentioned skeletons, all relics found in the shelter were scattered promiscu- ously through the debris of the cave.
Figure 3. Portions of Woven Fabric Enveloping a Human Skeleton Found in Echo Cave.
In addition to the material artifacts common alike to each of the shelters, to be noted presently, Echo Cave produced a number of interesting and distinctive speci- mens. Among these is a pouch (Fig. 5), rectangular in form, of a loose reticular weave, the material being flat splint-like fibers. The specimen is about seven inches wide and long. Within it were found seven bone awls, only partly finished, made from split sections of the leg-
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Sonic Ohio Caves and Rock Shelters
11
bone of the deer. This pouch was found in close prox- imity to the partly cremated skeleton bearing the vest- like garment, and may have been deposited with it and later dislodged by rodents. The form and character suggest that it was worn at the belt.
The vest-like garment, mentioned above, is shown in Fig. 4. It is fragmentary, portions having been de- stroyed by the fire, either accidental or intentional, which
Figure 5. Pouch, or Bag, and Bone Awls Found with a Burial in Echo Cave.
consumed a portion of the body or skeleton on which the garment was found.
An interesting basket (Fig. 6) was found in the debris of this shelter. It suggests the modern shopping bag, and is woven of coarse grass.
Most striking of the various objects from Echo Cave are a series of sandals (Figs. 7 and 8) representing an unexpected degree of textile artistry and some unusual features. A characteristic of these sandals is the long
Figure 6. Carrying Basket Found in Echo Cave.
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Some Ohio Caves and Rock Shelters
13
broad flap or "tongue," integral with the weaving at the toe, and extending backward and upward to cover and protect the instep. As contrasted to the flat sandal, in- tended merely to protect the sole of the foot, those from Canter's Caves are semi-moccasin in type, woven in such manner as to extend part way up the sides and back of the foot. Cross-lacings of twisted cords and thongs, passing through the loops at either side of the sandal
Figure 7. Sandal from Echo Cave.
secured them in place. The materials from which these sandals are woven are Nolina gcorgiaiia, and bast, or bark fiber.
Five adult skeletons were found in Indian Cave, four of w^hich were placed along the back wall proper and one just within the recess or extension of the shelter at the north.
In the accumulated litter within the shelter, was found a large and remarkably w^ell-preserved portion of a fish-net, shown in Fig. 9. This net fragment measures
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Figure 9. Portion of a Fish Net Found in Indian Cave.
Figure 10. Fragments of Leather and Cord from Indian Cave. (15)
16 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
16 by 18 inches, with regularly spaced meshes three- eighths inch across. The thread is spun from the fiber of the Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias iiicarnata) and is fine and firmly made. The only other articles of more than usual interest found in this shelter were numerous frag- ments of twine and cord, illustrated in Fig, 10,
OBJECTS COMMON TO BOTH SHELTERS.
Numerous minor objects, indicative of the culture of their occupants, were found alike in each of the two shelters at Canter's Caves. These include flint arrow- points, a few hammer-stones and two or three stone celts or ungrooved axes; numerous potsherds; bone awls; occasional worked bits of wooden objects; many frag- ments of woven fabric, cord and twine ; samples of bark and plant fibers, strips of skin and leather, cut, fringed, sewed and twisted; innumerable animal and bird bones.
The flint arrow-points are fairly abundant, of rather indift'erent workmanship, and are made chiefly from native chert and from the Vinton County black flint. The greater number of them are notched or stemmed (the former predominating) while a smaller percentage are of the triangular unnotched type, A single flint arrow-point with the fiber wrapping with which it had been attached to the arrow- shaft, was found (see Fig. 11, center row, extreme right). Portions of wooden arrow-shafts, both proximal and distal ends, were found, but none with the flint point in place. Several tips of shafts, pointed and slightly charred as though to harden them, were found. The hammer-stones from these shel- ters were merely water-worn boulders showing slight indications of use; the two or three celts found were fragmentary and of the usual form.
Some Ohio Caves and Rock Shelters
17
Pottery fragments from both shelters are alike and are from ware of fair quality. Tempering materials are shell and pulverized rock or coarse sand, with shell pre- dominating. For the most part the surface is plain, but cord-marked and fabric-marked ware is not unusual. In a few specimens rudimentary lugs occur at the rim, deco-
fMHf
Figure 11. Types of Arrow Points from Canter's Caves. Specimen at right center bears thong with which it was attached to arrow shaft.
rated with incisions or notches. A single handle from a vessel occurs. Fragments of very heavy vessels suggest their use in salt-making. The range of surface treat- ments is shown in Fig. 12.
Bone awls from the two shelters are for the most part of the splint variety. A few are made from sections
Vol. XXXVII— 2.
18
Ohio ArcJi. and Hist. Society Publications
of the leg-bones of the wild turkey and other large birds and a single one from the metapodial bone of the deer. A few specimens are drilled or grooved for suspension. The range of forms is shown in Fig. 13.
Three interesting objects of wood are shown in Fig. 14. Above is a tubular section of wild cane, suggesting
Figure 12. Fragments of Pottery-ware from Canter's Caves.
use as a pipe-stem. The tube is scarred at each end, as though from being held between the teeth. However, no tobacco-pipes were found in the shelters, nor in any others so far examined in southern Ohio, and there is no evidence of smoking by the occupants. In the illus- tration, in addition to the cane tube, are shown a small wooden wedge, and a section of twig or vine lashed to the stem of a plant.
Some Ohio Caves and Rock Shelters 19
Examples of woven fabric, twined and braided cord, skins and leathers are shown in Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26.
Determinations of the vegetable fibers represented in the textile activities of the occupants of the two shelters were made for the Museum by Professor J. H. Schaff- ner, of the department of botany, Ohio State University. The most interesting of the several varieties of fibers is
|
i^' |
fill |
Figure 13. Typical Bone Awls and Perforators from Canter's Caves.
the NoUna georgiana, or Britton, which occurs perhaps more frequently than any other. The Nolina, a tall grass-like plant growing on the southeastern seaboard (Georgia and Florida) was used extensively in the weaving of sandals. A number of the dried Nolina plants (see Fig. 15) constituted a part of a large mass of raw material for use in preparing thread and twine found in Echo Cave. Other vegetable fibers and sub- stances identified were: Big Bluestem grass {Andro
20
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
pogon fiircatus Miihl), Little Bluesteni {Aiulropogon scopariiis Michx.); Indian Hemp {Apocyniun caiiiiibiji- lun L., Asclcpias incaniata L., Asclcpias piilchra, Liii- aria linaria and Abutilon abutilon) \ American Linden (Tilia anicricana) and several of the Monocotylea. The seeds and shells of the pumpkin (cucurbita pepo L.) and
Figure 14. Hollow Reed, Wooden Wedge, Twigs lashed together with Vegetable Fiber and portions of Gourds — Fcho Cave.
the gourd {Lagenaria vulgaris Ser.) were in evidence, as were all the common native nuts, wild grapes and other fruits. Corn-cobs were in moderate occurrence. The list of animal and bird bones comprised most of the common native species, with those of the deer and wild turkey predominating, and the rarer species, such as the fisher, porcupine and otter, absent. Shells of the mussel and the turtle were present in moderate quantity;
Some Ohio Caves and Rock Shelters
21
fish-bones were present, but rare, despite the proximity of the shekers to the stream.
KETTLE HILL CAVE The Rock-Sheher known as Kettle Hill Cave is situ- ated in Berne Township, Fairfield County, Ohio, about three miles south of the citv of Lancaster. The shelter
Figure 15. Dried Plants of Noliiia gcorgiami from Canter's Caves.
is located at about the center of the curve of a crescent- shaped wall of sandstone (Black Hand conglomerate) some three-fourths of a mile in circumference and open- ing toward the south. The sandstone wall varies from 30 to 70 feet in height and for the most part is pre- cipitous and clifl:-like, with numerous smaller shelters flanking the principal one at hs center. The depression
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Ohio Arcli. and Hist. Society Publications
within the curve is the old bed of the Hocking River, which since has changed its course, and is now occupied by a small tributary of that stream. Immediately below
Figure 10. View of Kettle Hill Cave as Seen from the Clifif, one-eighth of a Mile to the Southwest.
and in front of the cave is a fine spring of water of unfailing flow. The entire region is wooded and strik-
mgly secluded.
The interesting flora is that of the noted
Sonic Ohio Caves and Rock Shelters 23
Sugar Grove district, of perennial attraction to the bot- anist owing to its archaic character. All in all, Kettle Hill Cave was an admirable and inviting abode for prim- itive man, and that it was recognized as such is evidenced from the numerous "relics" found therein throughout the past several decades.
For many years throughout the early history of Fair- field County, Kettle Hill Cave was a rendezvous for fugitives from the law, particularly those of the variety known as horse thieves. Early county records show that at one time heavy equine tribute was levied upon the rural inhabitants, until concerted action on the part of county authorities succeeded in "rounding up" the mis- creants and capturing them within the confines of Kettle Hill Cave. The records were borne out through the find- ing, by the writer, of numerous fragments of harness and other horse equipment during the partial examina- tion of the shelter with which this paper deals.
Kettle Hill Cave measures 157 feet in length, 29 feet in maximum depth and is 35 feet from floor to roof at outer center. From four to six feet of debris, con- sisting of habitation refuse, aeolian deposits, decom- posed sandstone and blocks of the component rock rang- ing in size from inconsiderable fragments to pieces of several tons weight, covers the floor of the shelter. Views of the shelter are shown in Figs. 16, 17 and 18.
In the spring of 1925, local Boy Scouts, armed with the common knowledge that relics were to be found in the shelter, engaged in desultory digging. Their efforts produced a number of objects of the usual sort, and a remarkably interesting burial. This burial (Fig. 19) was that of a female, of early middle life, which had
Figure 17. Interior of Kettle Hill Cave, Looking West.
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Figure 18. Eastern End of Kettle Hill Cave.
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Some Ohio Caves and Rock Shelters 27
been deposited just below the surface of the debris, be- neath the inclined edge of a large block of sandstone. The body had been buried in a flexed position, on the right side. Owing to the extreme dryness of the shel- ter, the skeleton, as well as the skin and tissues envel- oping it and a burial shroud consisting of several thick- nesses or folds of woven fabric, were remarkably well preserved.
Fortunately, news of the discovery came to the atten- tion of Robert Goslin, of Lancaster, a local student of archaeology, who since has served as field assistant to the writer. Mr. Goslin repaired to the scene and effected the removal of the *'mummy" with consummate care.
In the spring of 1926, the writer, in company with Mr. Goslin, spent one week in a preliminary examina- tion of Kettle Hill Shelter. It was found that prac- tically the entire deposit to a depth of two to three feet, had been worked over by the Boy Scouts and by other local relic hunters who had preceded them. These early searchers, it is learned, had removed several skeletons, none of which presented the accidental mummification noted in the foregoing burial. They secured many flint arrow-points, pottery fragments, bone awls and a single "birch-bark" sandal.
Our examination disclosed that the heavy deposit within the shelter was proverbially dust-dry, so that its examination was attended with marked discomfort. The mere setting of a foot upon its surface sufficed to raise a cloud of dust, and when disturbed by the shovel or the trowel, the air immediately became charged with im- palpable dust particles. Owing to lack of time, only sufficient examination was efifected to make certain that
28 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
further amateur digging would not disturb remains of an important character. While no further burials were disclosed, objects of interest rewarded this partial ex- ploration. Surprisingly enough, only the upper two feet of the deposit appeared to be prolific in occupation evi- dences, while beneath lay a more or less sterile belt of about equal thickness. At one point only was the deposit removed to the floor, where scant charcoal and ash, a few bits of charred bone and flint chips indicated habi- tation. Thorough examination of this shelter, planned for the future, may reveal very early occupation, pos- sibly by a pre-pottery people. Although no pottery was in evidence in the lower levels examined — an area of approximately ten feet square — the assumption of pre- pottery habitation on such scant evidence would be, of course, unjustified. It is felt, however, that any existing evidence of very early habitation of the Ohio area will be found, if at all, in such shelters as that at Kettle Hill Cave.
An interesting object unearthed from the debris of the shelter is the petroglyph shown in Fig. 20. The stone itself, a detached fragment of the component sandstone, roughly rectangular in form and measuring approxi- mately 20 inches across in either dimension, apparently is from the roof or side of the shelter. On it are incised the boldly outlined figures of two human beings with bird-like heads and flowing hair or head-dresses. Por- tions of other similar figures may be discerned, the sev- eral individuals apparently forming a procession, each with a hand outstretched as if to grasp the hair of the preceding one.
Sonic Ohio Caz'cs and Rock Shelters 29
A single sandal, in fragmentary condition (Fig. 21), was found to be similar in every respect to those secured at Canter's Caves and noted elsewhere in this report. INIost interesting, perhaps, of the objects secured
Figure 20. Sandstone Slab Bearing Pictographs — Found in Kettle Hill Cave.
from this shelter is a feather neck-piece, shown in Fig. 22. This interesting ornament, in a gratifying state of preservation, is made from feathers of the owl and the wild turkey, closely interwoven with bast fibers into a crescentic, gorget-like form, with double twisted cords
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Figure 21. Sandal Woven from Bast Fiber — from Kettle Hill Cave.
Figure 22. Feather Neck Ornament I'ound in Kettle Hill Cave. (30)
Some Ohio Caves and Rock Shelters
31
at either end for fastening about the neck. The original sheen or lustre is still retained on one or two of the turkey feathers.
In Figure 23, left, are shown several objects of wood. At the extreme left is a five-inch section of a slender twig, about one end of which is a closely-knit covering of
Figure 23. Objects of Wood and Bone from Kettle Hill Cave.
twined cord. Adjoining it in the photograph is a section of wild grape-vine, with one end wrapped in pliable leather and bearing a red pigment. This specimen sug- gests use as a paint-brush. Above this specimen and adjoining it are two sections of wooden arrow-shafts, and a wooden awl or needle. The three specimens to the right of the photograph are typical splint bone awls.
32 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
The faunal remains found in this sheUer were those of the commoner animals and birds, with the wild turkey and the deer predominating, as at Canter's Caves. The mussels and fish were somewhat more in evidence than at the latter shelters.
Determination of vegetable remains and plant fibers, by Professor J. H. Schafifner, of Ohio State University, disclosed two interesting developments. While use of Nolina fibers, so much in evidence at Canter's Caves, seems to be absent, employment of Asdcpias iiicaniata was much in evidence. In conjunction with a large mass of partially prepared fibers, consisting mainly of the Indian Hemp, was a fine pod and stem of the plant, which most readers will recognize as that of the slender, graceful Swamp Milkweed, sometimes called Indian Hemp (Asclepias iiicaniata), Fig 24. A second devel- opment was that of the determination of the fiber used in certain heavy rope-like braided cord (Fig. 25), as being that of the Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium aquaficum L.).
The commoner objects found in the debris of Kettle Hill Shelter, including flint arrow-points, potsherds, and so forth, were in every respect identical with those found at Canter's Caves, and by Professor Mills at the Boone and Buzzard Shelters, in Jackson County. It seems in- dubitable that for the most part the occupants of the rock-shelters of southern Ohio, in so far as examined, were the Algonquian tribesmen of pre-Columbian and proto-historic times. Evidences of intensive or remote occupancy are lacking, with the exception noted for Kettle Hill Cave, where early occupancy is indicated but unproved. In Jackson County, where the salt springs
Figure 24. Vegetable Fibers Partially prepared for Weaving — From Kettle Hill Cave.
Figure 25. Cord and Fabric from Kettle Hill Cave. Vol. XXXVH— 3. (33)
34
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
doubtless attracted all alike, the shelters bear some scant evidence, such as isolated potsherds, of the presence of the highly developed Hopewell Culture, and perhaps of still others as yet unidentified.
Figure 20. Fragments of Basketry and Twined Cord from Kettle Hill Cave.
12C7462
THE QUAKERS, THEIR MIGRATION TO THE
UPPER OHIO, THEIR CUSTOMS
AND DISCIPLINE
BY H. E. SMITH, MARIETTA, OHIO
George Fox was the Father of the Quaker Meeting, sometimes called Friends' Meeting. He tells us that "Truth sprang up first (to us to be a people to the Lord) in Leicestershire, England, in 1644." He describes how "the movement first spread to the neighboring counties, then by 1654 over England, Scotland and Ireland; in 1655 many went beyond the seas and in 1656 Truth broke forth in America."
In a General Epistle dated 1660, Germany, America, Virginia and many other places, as Florence, Mantua, Palatine, Tuscany, Italy, Rome, Turkey, Jerusalem, France, Geneva, Norway, Barbadoes, Bermuda, An- tigua, Jamaica, Surinam and Newfoundland are men- tioned as having been visited by Friends.
In all the work of the Meetings, women have shared an equal responsibility with the men. One of Fox's earliest followers was Margaret Fell, then the wife of Judge Fell of Swarthmore, who, on the death of the Judge, became the wife of George Fox. She was a woman of position and wealth, and she used both to advance the teachings of Fox. Swarthmore Hall, the home of the Fells, who with the Kirbys, were Lords of the Manor of Ulverston, became a center for the going and coming of Quaker preachers to all parts of the world and Margaret Fell, assisted by her daughters, Sarah and Rachel, was truly the Mother in Israel to the new faith,
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36 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
At the beginning, Fox and his followers did not have in mind the establishment of a new church, but as he began to speak to the people, directing them "to the Divine Light of Christ and His Spirit in their hearts, by which Light they might see their sins and by which Light they might also see their Saviour, Jesus Christ, to save them from their sins," he found that many came to hear him who had, in their own meditations, known of the Inner Light, and who, when called to- gether by Fox, found themselves in unity with him, and an organization was unconsciously begun. They first called themselves "Children of the Light," then the "Friends of Truth," then the "Religious Society of Friends." George Fox says: "In 1650, we were first called Quakers by Justice Bennett, because I bid them tremble at the word of the Lord."
Fox lived long enough to see the Quakers become an active factor in the religious life not only in England, Germany, Holland, and Ireland, but also across the seas in America. On his return from a trip which took him into Jamaica, Maryland, New England, Vir- ginia, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the Carolinas, in a Manuscript Journal of his American Journey, Fox estimates that he traveled 16,149 miles, from October, 1671, to May, 1673. Dr. R. M. Jones says: "When Fox sailed away for Bristol, he left be- hind him a strong group of Friends (Quakers), stretch- ing, with some breaks, from the coast of New Hamp- shire to Albemarle Sound in the Carolinas, having ac- complished a piece of labor which, so far as I know, no visitor to America in Colonial times paralleled."
For one hundred years, or until the Revolutionary
ANN TODD SMITH
Grandmother of the author and one of the early pioneers of Morgan County, who in 1835 came with her husband, William Smith, from Belmont County, Ohio. Her people had come from North Carolina to Belmont County about the year 1800.
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38 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
War, Friends continued to increase in number, influ- ence and power in America, reaching from Rhode Island to the Carolinas, with Pennsylvania in the center, the scene of Penn's Holy Experience. During this hundred years, a moving of the Quakers from the North toward the -South was continually in progress. From far-away Nantucket, they came down through Pennsylvania and New Jersey, stopping awhile in Maryland, then went on into Virginia and, before the Revolutionary War was over, they had passed through the Carolinas into Georgia. Not all the Quakers moved South, but so many went that Stephen B. Weeks, in Southern Quakers and Slavery, says, "The influence of these new settlers was so distinct that I have ventured to call this move- ment the replanting of Southern Quakerism." The cause of this movement was threefold. In New Eng- land, especially in Nantucket, many had been forced to become fishermen. The whaling industry was wan- ing and they had to seek new homes. The Southland beckoned them. Second, the Quaker's attitude toward war, both in the Indian wars and the Revolutionary War, caused suspicion concerning many of his actions and no doubt many unpleasant aft'airs occurred, espe- cially around Philadelphia and New York, so their fam- ilies became dissatisfied and wanted to seek new sur- roundings. Third, the Quakers were primarily farmers. In the South was plenty of land which was purchased by them and converted into large plantations. Favor- able reports of the country went back to the North and others were urged to follow until the Quakers were in the majority in many parts of Virginia, North and South Carolina and northern Georgia.
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 39
At the time of the immigration of the Quakers to the southern country, slavery existed in the North as well as the South and it would not, at that time, impress them that they were settling in a slaveholding- country; but the feeling toward holding slaves in the North changed very rapidly and the Mason and Dixon's line, together with the Ohio River, soon became the boundary between the slave and free states.
The Southern Quakers found themselves in a strange and unpleasant position. Their teachings opposed slav- ery and their brethren in the North were continually admonishing them concerning their treatment of the black man. They first raised their voices against the buying and selling of slaves. This was made a dis- ownable act in Virginia as early as 1772; then they gave their attention to the bodily comfort of their slaves, also encouraging them to read and write, and following close upon these reforms was the movement for Emancipa- tion and Colonization.
At a Monthly Meeting held at South River, Virginia, on the 20th day of the Ninth month, 1777, the Meeting appointed William Johnson and Christopher Anthony "to assist those Friends appointed to labor with such Friends as still hold their negroes in bondage, to con- vince them, if possible, of the evil of that practice and its inconsistency with our Christian profession."
It was again ordered in 1780 that those who con- tinued to hold their fellow creatures in bondage were to be particularly visited and labored with.
In 1788, it was inserted in the discipline "that none among us be concerned in importing, buying, selling,
40 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
holding, or overseeing slaves, and that all bear a faith- ful testimony against the practice."
Thus it is seen that at the close of the century, the Virginia Quakers had practically freed themselves from slavery, yet it is evident that they were not satisfied with their surroundings and that they would embrace an opportunity to seek new homes.
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NEW GARDEN MEETING-HOUSE— NORTH CAROLINA.
Occupied from 1785 to about 1820, when a new brick Meeting-house was
buih.
The Carolina Quakers were not only in accord with their Virginia brethren in their desire for the black man's freedom, but they went farther in that they de- sired him to be secure and protected after he became free. This aggressiveness on the part of North Caro- lina brought about enactments of certain laws by the Assembly of 1796, that were aimed directly at the Qua- kers. For example, "No slave shall be set free in any
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 41
case or under any pretense whatever, except for meri- torious service, to be adjudged of and allowed by the County Court and license first had and obtained there- for." '
This law brought out the true spirit of the sect, the church itself became a slaveholder, or in other words, the church would appoint a committee, who had power to receive slaves from masters who wished to free them; thus the Quaker was released from being a slaveholder and the slave was virtually free. It can be easily seen that manumission and colonization societies would soon follow and successful colonies were founded in Haiti and Liberia.
Those conflicts between the state and the church could only cause an uneasiness among the Quakers and, as in Virginia, those in the Carolinas also were ready to look for new homes.
Away to the northward beyond the mountains and beyond the Ohio River, was a new country, rich in all the natural resources, suitable to the crops that their forefathers cultivated in Pennsylvania, and above all, the Great Ordinance, that created the Northwest Terri- tory, guaranteed that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except for crime, was ever to be permitted in any of this territory.
As early as 1782, two Monthly Meetings had been established in southwestern Pennsylvania near the Mo- nongahela River, one called Westland and the other Redstone. These Meetings were the stepping-stones to the Northwest for the Quaker of the South.
In the eastern central part of North Carolina was a Quarterly Meeting, known as Contentnea. One of its
42 - Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
branches was Coresound Monthly Meeting, in Carteret County. The propriety of removing- to the west had been seriously considered and finally two of its members were deputed to go and visit the new country and report their judgment. They were Joseph Dew and Horton Howard. Trent Monthly Meeting, in Jones County, also sent a representative, Aaron Brown. These men traveled with duly accredited minutes. The following is evidence that they crossed the mountains safely:
At Westland Monthly Meeting of Friends, twenty-second of Sixth Month, 1799.
Our esteemed Friends, Joseph Dew and Horton Howard, at- tended this meeting and produced certificates from a Monthly Meeting at Coresound, in Carteret County. North Carolina, ex- pressive of Friends' unity with their viewing this part of the country and other parts adjacent, with a prospect of removing and settling within the verge of this, if way should open, and our friend, Aaron Brown, also attended and produced an extract from the minutes of a Monthly Meeting on Trent River, Jones Country, North Carolina, expressive of their unity and con- currence with his accompanying our aforesaid Friends, whose company, exemplary deportment and cautious proceeding, in so weighty a matter as they are engaged in, obtained our approba- tion and is satisfactory to us, and the religious labors of Joseph Dew, who is certified to be an approved minister, have been acceptable and edifying.
Joseph Dew, Horton Howard and Aaron Brown were men of vision. They undoubtedly extended their investigation beyond the Ohio River, but as their report was a verbal one, we know only its reaction. Coresound Monthly Meeting started a stream of families to the northwest. Aaron Brown's report was such that cer- tificates of removal, addressed to Westland, were granted to all its members, after which the Meeting was duly closed and all the records, etc., returned to the
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 43
Quarterly Meeting, with information that there was no more a Trent Quarterly Meeting. It was in the first month of the year 1800, that this body of men, women and children started for their new home to the north- ward, taking with them horses, cattle, bedding, and such household furnishings as could be hauled on roads through the wilderness over plains, valleys and moun- tains. After five months, we hear from them from the minutes of the Westland Monthly Meeting, Sixth Month, 1800:
This ^Meeting is in receipt of extracts from the minutes and proceedings of a Monthly Meeting on Trent River, in Jones County, North CaroHna, telhng of the exercises of Friends of that meeting which resulted in that meeting, almost in a body, concluding to issue certificates to nearly all its members, and surrendering their privileges of holding meeting, to Contentnea Quarterly Meeting, and as many of these aforesaid Friends and their families (and several from the Monthly Meeting of Core- sound, in Carteret County, North Carolina), have arrived and are now as sojourners in the vicinity of this meeting, and being a subject of such magnitude and importance, this meeting ap- pointed David Greave (and eleven others) to confer with them, give such advice and assistance as may be necessary to procure a settlement for Friends in the Territory Northwest of the Ohio River and report to our next meeting.
After resting in the vicinity of Westland and Red- stone, Pennsylvania, for several months, this company moved on across the Ohio River, just north of Wheel- ing, into the Northwest Territory, the Ninth month, 1800, three years before Ohio became a State. Six miles up a small stream that empties into the Ohio River at Bridgeport, they spent their first First-Day — not having omitted their meeting for worship on this day — upon a log they held the first Quaker Meeting ever held in the Northwest Territory. Afterwards they held it in the
&mS
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The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 45
newly-built cabin of Jonathan Taylor, and later built a new log meeting-house and called it "Concord." To- day, near this site, is a Quaker Meeting-house, holding regular meetings in the village, now called Colerain, on the highway between Wheeling and Cadiz. By the close of the year 1800, it is said that more than eight hundred Friends had moved into the Ohio Country.
Borden Stanton, one of the leaders of the new settle- ment, in answering an inquiry from Friends at Wrights- borough, Georgia, writes the following letter:
Concord, Ohio.
Twenty-fifth of Fifth Month, 1802. Dear Friends :
Having understood by WilHam Patten and William Hogan, from your parts, that a number among you have had some thoughts and turnings of mind respecting a removal to this country . . . and ... as it has been the lot of a number of us to undertake the work a little before you, I thought, (to give) a true statement (for your information) of some of our strugglings and reasonings concerning the propriety of our moving . . .
I may begin thus and say that for several years Friends have had some distant view of moving out of that oppressive part of the land, but did not know where until the year 1799, when we had an acceptable visit from some traveling Friends from the western part of Pennsylvania. They thought proper to propose to Friends for consideration, whether it would not be agreeable to best wisdom for us unitedly to remove northwest of the Ohio River — to a place where there were no slaves held, being a free country. This proposal made a deep impression on our minds.
Nevertheless, although we had a prospect of something of the kind, it was at first very crossing to my natural inclination, being well settled as to the outward. So, I strove against the thoughts for a considerable time ... as it seemed likely to break up our Monthly Meeting, which I had reason to believe was set up in the wisdom of Truth. Thus I was concerned many times to weigh the matter in the balance of the sanctuary ; till at length I considered that there was no prospect of our number being
46
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
increased by convincement, on account of the oppression that abounds in the land.
Under a view of these things, I was made sensible beyond doubting, that it was in the ordering of Wisdom for us to remove ; and that the Lord was opening a way for our enlargement, if found worthy. Friends generally feeling something of the same, there were three of them who went to view the country, and one worthy public Friend. They traveled on till they came to this part of the western country, where they were stopped in their minds, believing it was the place for Friends to settle. So they
turned back and informed us of the same in a solemn meet- ing; in which dear Joseph Dew, the public Friend, in- timated that he saw the seed of God sown in abundance, which extended far north- westward. This information, in the way it was delivered to us much tendered our spirits, and strengthened us in the belief that it was right. So we undertook the work, and found the Lord to be a present helper in every need- ful time. . . .
Such reports from the new country not only brought many famihes from the South, but oth- ers came directly west
These people participated in the three from the JerSCyS and
emigrations. Tlicir parents came from „ , . i i i j
North CaroHna, about 1800, to Belmont, rennsyivania aUQ helpeQ
O. They with other emigrants went j • .v i
into Morgan county in 1835, which com- ^*^ mcrCaSC tnc numDCrS
munity they left in IcSon to join the emi- imtil hv tVif vpar ^R?f\
gration of many Quakers into Iowa, """^' ^^ ^"^ ^^^^ ^^^°'
near West Branch. more than eight ihousand
Quakers were peacefully settled among the limestone hills of Belmont, Jefferson, Harrison and Columbiana
ELISHA AND SALLY TODD
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 47
Counties, in Ohio, where they established a civilization unsurpassed in the United States.^^
Another slight wave of immigration occurred about 1835-1840, due to the desire of some who had large families again to secure land for their children. When the National Road was completed from Wheeling to Columbus, it passed through the Quaker Country at St. Clairsville. Farm land advanced in price, and the sale of an acre there would buy ten acres down in southern Morgan and western Washington Counties. Yet it was
* In his Southern Quakers and Slavery, Stephen B. Weeks thus describes the routes by which Quakers came from the south to Ohio and what was then generally known as the West :
The great road to follow the western migration was the Cumberland or National Road. It extended from Cumberland, Maryland, through Wheel- ing, Virginia,* across the Ohio River into Ohio and Indiana. It was begun in 1806 ; was completed to Wheeling in 1821 ; reached Columbus in 1827 and Indianapolis in 1830. With this road completed, Friends of Virginia and the Middle States found traveling much easier than in earlier days, but Friends have always shown a defiant enthusiasm in overcoming difficulties.
It does not appear that this route was used much by emigrants from North Carolina. There were several routes for parties removing from central North Carolina, and many Friends who proposed going west from eastern North Carolina first went up into the central part of the State.
1. One route vvas by what was known as the Kanawha road. This led through a rough, mountainous country for most of the way. "Crossing Dan River, it led by Patrick C. H., Virginia, to Marberry's Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains, thence across Clinch Mountain, by way of Pack's Ferry on New River, thence over White Oak Mountain to the falls of the Kanawha, and down that river to the Ohio, crossing at Gallipolis."
2. Another route was known as the Kentucky road. By this road the traveler crossed the Blue Ridge at Ward's Gap, crossed New River near Wythe C. H., Virginia, thence by way of Abingdon, thence through Cum- berland Gap, and through Kentucky to Cincinnati.
3. A third route was by way of Poplar Camp and Flour Gap ; through Brownsville and Lexington, Kentucky, and across the Ohio at Cincinnati, Lawrenceburg or Madison. This route was very rough.
4. The fourth was known as the Magadee route and lay over the Virginia turnpike, which had been built from Richmond to the Ohio at the mouth of the Kanawha. This was a favorite route from 1810 until the age of railroads. Emigrants from the eastern part of North Carolina would sometimes go to Richmond direct, while others would strike the pike at Lynchburg or Fincastle, while still others from Carolina would turn off the pike at Lewisburg, go by another pike route to Wheeling and cross the Ohio there. It is said that as many went by this route as by all the other routes.
Wheeling was then in Virginia; West Virginia was not made a state until in 1863.
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Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
the same limestone land, covered with hard wood and, when cleared, would produce the same crops as that in Belmont County, and many families sold their farms and moved by wagons across the county to new homes. Twenty years saw their new settlement, with Penns- ville, Chesterhill and Plymouth as centers, as prosperous as the hills of Belmont; in fact, the meetings, schools
Kindness of Carl Patterson.
CHESTERHILL FRIENDS MEF:TING-H0USE At Chesterhill, Ohio. From Photograph taken m 1884
and social life of these Quakers saw their second trans- planting.
Here, until after the Civil War, their organization, their meetings, and their schools were maintained. At present, one meeting, only, at Chesterhill, remains, but twice a week, on Fifth-Day and First-Day, they come together, just as in the time of George Fox, for their business and worship.
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 49
From these Quaker communities, their descendants have gone forth into every State. No longer can the historian follow them as a horde advancing into a new country, but only as individuals; but, as individuals, they ever cherish the belief of the Universal Inner Light, which will be sufficient unto the Great Day.
ZACHARIAH DICKS AND QUAKER MIGRATION TO SOUTHWESTERN OHIO
In an address at Waynesville, Ohio, on the occasion of the Ter-centenary of the birth of George Fox, C. B. Galbreath spoke of the prophecy of Zachariah Dicks and the growth of Quakerism in southwestern Ohio as follows :
The migration to Ohio seems to have had, in addition to the pioneer instinct shared by the Quakers and their opposition to the institution of slavery, another impelHng force. Perhaps there is no time hmit to the prophecy recorded in Holy Writ: "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions." In the Caro- linas and Georgia there arose a Quaker preacher who certainly saw visions and who appealed to Friends with prophetic power. His name was Zachariah Dicks. He was born in Pennsylvania and went to North Carolina about the year 1754. He was, there- fore, not a young man when he preached with remarkable power to the Quakers of the Southland. He visited Wrightsborough, Georgia, and Bush River, South Carolina, in 1803, and urged Friends to leave their homes. He prophesied "an internecine war within the lives of the children then living." Bloodshed and destruction were to follow. The cause of this devastating war- fare, which he foretold in vivid language, was slavery. The Friends at Bush River had erected, a short time previously, a commodious and substantial meeting-house which they had ex- pected to occupy for many years. To the number of 500, they had frequently assembled there for worship. On one occasion, when they had gathered there, Dicks concluded a stirring appeal with the words, "Oh, Bush River! Bush River, how hath thy beauty faded away and gloomy darkness eclipsed thy day." He traveled southward repeating his startling prophecy to Friends
Vol. XXXVI I- 4.
a
goo
O rt
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The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 51
who heard with alarm. The result is a tribute to his power of prophetic appeal. In 1800, the Quakers had become well estab- lished in South Carolina and Georgia. It is recorded that they could have been numbered by thousands. By 1809, nearly all of them had departed for the West. They "sold their lands, worth from ten to twenty dollars an acre, for from three to six dollars, and departed never to return." They came in great numbers to this section of our state. Among those who are present today are certainly the descendants of many who heard it, for no less an authority than Stephen B. Weeks tells us that Friends by our family name came to eastern Ohio.
Many prophecies of the end of the world and other dire calamities have been unfulfilled and forgotten ; but the prophecy of Zachariah Dicks had an awful fulfillment in the cataclysm of the Civil War, which our ancestors, who fled at the warning cry, and their descendants, did not wholly escape.
The history of pioneer Quakerism in southwestern Ohio has been written in interesting detail by Clarkson Butterworth, who presented it in the form of an address on the occasion of the centennial anniversary of the Miami Monthly Meeting of Waynesville, Ohio, Tenth month, 16, 1903. From this valuable contribution it appears that the INIiami Monthly Meeting began its organized existence on the "13th day of the Tenth month, 1803." In chronological order, Clarkson Butterworth has re- corded the history of this meeting from 1803 to 1828. The his- tory of Quakerism in this section of Ohio, from 1828 to 1903, was continued at the centennial in addresses by Eli Jay and Davis Furnas. These addresses are so complete that they leave little to be said on the history of the Society of Friends in this section of the state.
The address by Clarkson Butterworth, to which the above reference is made, is here quoted in part.
More than two and a half centuries ago, in England, the times were ripe for such a prophet and leader. Warring factions had long deluged the land with blood, and human life and com- fort were little regarded. Whatever party chanced to be in the ascendant oppressed the others, and religious persecution and intolerance prevailed widely. Priest and ruler were self-seeking and profligate, and spiritual wickedness in high places was a reproach to the nation. Then the pure and innocent George Fox, by no means the least of the prophets, recognizing the
52 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
power and authority of the "Indwelling and Inspeaking Spirit of God," was impelled to proclaim it, and to call men and women into obedience to its monitions ; and multitudes, tired of the in- sincerity and want of steadfastness which had been so nearly universal among the religious professors and teachers, were soon gathered into fellowship with the plain true man. They had seen how the high dignitaries of the church had joined in perse- cuting those differing from them in opinion, but as soon as the changing times put uppermost those of different views, made haste to save their profits and emoluments by change of religious pretensions ; and the "common people" were glad to find some- thing more stable, and consonant with the witness for truth within themselves. Many of them found like call to service with Fox, and, the soil being ready for the seed, went far and wide through the nation and into other dominions and the islands of the sea, and to the shores of America, spreading their per- ception of the truth, and teaching human equality, human rights, and human brotherhood.
They set up meetings for religious communion and worship and for the care of the church as there seemed need of them, in all countries where they obtained a foothold. Many migrated to these shores, meetings were set up along the seaboard, and later further inland, and the I^^riends and their simple democratic ways and views had a powerful influence in shaping the free institu- tions of this country and overthrowing human slavery therein.
In the latter part of the i8th century, two Monthly Meet- ings, Westland and Redstone, were established in southwestern Pennsylvania, and these united in composing Redstone Quarterly Meeting — all subordinate to Baltimore Yearly Meeting. About that time Friends in the slave states, not liking to rear and leave their families under the influence of the slave system, and hoping to better their material situation as well, began to migrate into the Territory Northwest of the Ohio River. Settlements were made in eastern Ohio, and in the neighborhood of Waynesville — the latter, at least, coming largely or entirely from the slave states — many from the Monthly Meeting of Bush River and Cane Creek in Newberry and Union Counties, South Carolina. Their settlement, in the Miami Country, was within the jurisdic- tion of Westland Monthly Meeting aforesaid. A Httle later, im- migrants arrived from the eastern parts of Pennsylvania, and from the eastern seashore states, and elsewhere.
On Eleventh month, 20th, 1799, the families of Robert Kelly, Abijah O'Neall and James Mills, from Bush River Monthly Meeting, settled near the site of Waynesville. 4, 25, 1800, David Faulkner and David Painter arrived from Hopewell Monthly
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 53
Meeting", Frederick County, Virginia. George Haworth, David Holloway and Rowland Richards came the same year, and in that year Joseph Cloud (who later settled here himself), a min- ister from Cane Creek Monthly Meeting, North Carolina, came and held several meetings, among which are believed to have been the first Friends' Meetings held in the original limits of Miami Monthly Meeting, which embraced all the territory north of the Ohio River and west of the Hocking, extending indefi- nitely north and west.
Other Friends continued to arrive until 4, 26, 1801, when a number collected together in a volunteer Meeting for Worship, at the dwelling of Rowland and Lydia Richards, which the aged and intelligent Mary Bailey tells me was near the center of the block in Waynesville, bounded by North, Third, Miami and Fourth Streets, and long owned afterwards by Noah Haines and family — a part still owned by a granddaughter, Anna C. F. O'Neall, and a part by Eliza Haines, widow of Seth Silver Haines, youngest son of Noah. Twelve families were repre- sented at the meeting, consisting of 24 parents and 47 children, all said to have been living within one mile of the meeting-place. The membership of many of these was. or soon came to be, certified to Westland Monthly Meeting aforesaid, about 300 miles away, but then the most suitable Monthly Meeting for the Friends of this settlement, who maintained their aforesaid volun- teer Meeting for Worship during that summer, and in the fol- lowing winter forwarded a request to that Monthly Meeting for a recognized meeting to be granted them, to be held on First-days and in the middle of the week; and 12, 26, i8oi, that Monthly Meeting adopted the following minute :
A number of Friends being settled near the Little Miami, request has been made for the privilege of holding Meetings for Worship on First and Fifth-days of the week. After weighty deliberation, it appears to be the sense of this meeting that a committee be appointed to sit with them, inspect into their situation and judge of the propriety of granting their request. Jacob Griffith, Abram Smith, David Grave and Henry Mills are appointed to the service, to report when called on by this meeting.
The following minute of the same meeting bears date 9, 25, 1802.
The Representatives to the Quarterly Meeting [Redstone], report they all attended the same, and that that meeting united in leaving this at liberty to act in respect to the request of Friends near the Little Miami as way may open in the Truth. After diverse sentiments were expressed, it appeared the sense of Friends that the request be granted till otherwise directed. David Grave, Joseph Townsend, Abraham Smith and Henry
54 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Lewis are appointed to write tO' the Friends there on the occasion and for- ward the substance of this minute when opportunity offers.
It seems there were nO' reliable mails, and private conveyance had to be awaited.
The meeting was set up accordingly, and appears to have used, for a meeting-house, a log building which had been erected for a dwelling by Ezekiel Cleaver, maternal grandfather of late Empson Rogers. It stood on the northeast corner of Third and Miami Streets, at or near the site of the present residence of Adam Stoops. The logs for its construction were drawn together with oxen by William O'Neall — then nine years of age — son of Abijah and Anna (Kelly) O'Neall, and father of George and the late Abijah P. O'Neall.
The first marriage among the Friends here was that of William Mills, son of James, to Mary, daughter of Rowland and Lydia Richards, which was solemnized by a Baptist minister, a method of marriage at that time resorted to with the consent of Friends concerned because the Monthly Meeting which might have been consulted, was so far out of reach. They became the parents of ten children, of whom Elizabeth, the oldest, was born lo, 4, 1803.
The first Friends' Meeting-House, built for that purpose at Waynesville, was on the southwest corner of Fourth and High Streets, at or very near the site of the present Meeting-House of Orthodox Friends. It was probably erected after Miami Monthly Meeting was established — say in 1803 or 1804 — and was a log structure. I am inclined to the opinion that it was succeeded by a larger and better one of the same material before Friends built their large brick meeting-house in 181 1 — the same in which we are holding these centennial exercises — on the West side of Fourth Street, between High and Miami.
Much of the foregoing matter about Friends' settlements and early meetings in these regions, I have derived from an unsigned but reHable publication, dated 2. 19, 1863, put forth by the late Achilles Pugh, an Orthodox Friend who had lived quite a while in Waynesville, and was an intelligent and capable man.
The Meeting for \\''orship aforesaid, authorized by Westland Monthly Meeting and Redstone Quarterly Meeting, was of the class called Indulged Meetings, and was held on trial, so to speak.
By the forepart of 1803, the Friends, settled about Waynes- ville and neighboring regions, had become quite numerous. Many of them were, or soon became, members of Westland Monthly Meeting by certificates from elsewhere. I have already given the names of some of the earliest. Repeating some of them, I
TJic Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 55
now give the following- nearly full list of all families, and indi- viduals who were parts of families, and some not in families, who had arrived before lo, 13, 1S03. First — some who were certi- fied to W'estland Monthly fleeting by Bush River Monthly Meet- ing, South Carolina, 9, 25, 1802, viz.:
Abijah and Anna (Kelly) O'Neall and children [) persons
Samuel and Hannah (Pearson) Kelly and children 8 persons
James and Lydia (Jay) Mills and children 10 persons
Robert and Sarah (Patty) Kelly and children 6(?) persons
Mary (Jay) Patty, wife of Charles Patty 1 person
Layton and Elizabeth (Alills) Jay and children 8 persons
Anna Horner, wife of Thomas Horner 1 person
Ellis Pugh and Phebe, his wife 2 persons
This partial list 45(?) persons
From Cane Creek, South Carolina, IMonthly Meeting at dates prefixed :
12, 19, 1803 — Amos and Elizabeth (Townsend) Cook, and family. 12, 19, 1803— Levi and Ann (Frazier) Cook, and family.
4, 23, 1803— Esther Campbell, Naomi Spray.
4, 23, 1803 — Samuel and Mary (Wilson) Spray, and family.
4, 23, 1803— Robert and Hannah (Wilson) Furnas, and family.
5, 21, 1803— Dinah (Cook) Wilson.
5, 21, 1803 — Jehu and Sarah (Hawkins) Wilson, and family. 5, 21, 1803— Christopher and Mary (Cox) Wilson, and family. 5, 21, 1803 — Thomas and Tamar Cox.
This partial list contained about 40 persons.
Other names —
Ezekiel and Abigail Cleaver and family.
Samuel Linton and five children — Nathan, David, James, Elizabeth (Lin- ton) Satterthwaite, Jane (Linton) Arnold.
Edward and Margaret Kindley and family.
John Mullin and family.
Benjamin and Hannah Evans and family. [This family, though settled here before the date 10, 13, 1803, produced to Miami Monthly Meeting in 6th Month, 1804, a certificate from Bush River Monthly Meeting. No doubt there were numerous other Friends settled in this corner of Ohio before the opening of Miami Monthly Meeting, who brought certificates to it later, and yet others whom I have failed to mention, who had been certified to Westland Monthly Meeting.] I would guess the total number of members in this partial list, named and unnamed, was not less than 75, making a total of fully 160.
56 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
By this time, these felt the need of further meeting privileges, and about Sixth month, 1803, or earlier, through Westland Monthly Meeting, they asked of Redstone Quarterly Meeting the establishment of their Meeting for Friendship and the grant of a Preparative Meeting and a Monthly Meeting. Thereupon, said Quarterly Meeting directed a committee to sit with them and report their judgment in the matter, and at the Quarterly Meeting held at Westland, 9', 5, 1803, granted the request as the following minutes indicate.
J St. The CommiUee (excepting one) having sat with Friends near Little Miami, report that after weightily conferring together, did beUeve that it might be right to grant their request — Meeting for Worship to be held on First and Fifth-days ; Monthly Meeting on the second Fifth-day in each month ; and the Preparative Meeting on the day preceding, to be called Miami Monthly Meeting, which the Quarterly Meeting unites with and appoints Thomas Grisell, Mahlon Linton, Samuel Cope, Enoch Chandler, Jonathan Taylor and Horton Howard to attend the opening of said meetings at the time proposed in next month, and confer with Friends and report where they may think most suitable for the boundary of said meeting to be.
^nd. At Miami Monthly Meeting, held the 13th day of the Tenth month, 1803, part of the Quarterly Meeting committee was present. A copy of a minute of Westland Monthly Meeting was produced to this meeting, appointing David Faulkner and Samuel Kelly to serve in the station of Overseers of Miami Particular Meeting ' — [that is, of Miami Meeting for Worship]. The extracts [from the minutes] of our late Yearly Meeting [Bahimore] were produced ana read. Our Friend, Ann Taylor, produced a certificate to this meeting, dated ITth day of Ninth month, 1803, expressive of the unity of Concord Monthly Meeting with her visiting Friends about the Miamis, whose service among us has been acceptable. The meeting concludes.
The first minute quoted above is a copy of a minute of Redstone Quarterly Meeting, entered in Miami Monthly Meeting book in advance of its opening minute, and the further quota- tions are the full minutes of the first sitting of 2\liami Monthly Meeting itself — men's department. They do not show who served as clerk that day. This was a common omission in many Monthly Meetings. The Concord Monthly Meeting which had liberated Ann Taylor for religious labor here, was a new one in eastern Ohio, founded in 1801, and still maintained.
THE CHURCH ORGANIZATION.
The Church Organization of the Orthodox Friends' Meeting is simple but very effective, reaching every family and all members of the family, and the fact that
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 57
women have always been recognized on an equality with the men in their meetings, has been a source of strength to the Society. Children become members by birth- right when both the parents are in good standing in Meeting at the time of their birth; no further action is necessary on their part other than a life in unison with the principles of Friends.
Membership may be secured by application and ac- ceptance, but the applicant will not be accepted into mem- bership without the united judgment of men and women's Meetings and not until the case has been before both Preparative and Monthly Meetings. But in all cases, Friends are exhorted to attend carefully to the advice of the Apostle, "Lay hands suddenly on no man."
The parent body of the Society is the Yearly Meet- ing. Reporting to the Yearly Meeting, are the Meetings for Suffering, Quarterly Meeting, Monthly Meeting and Preparative Meeting. Wherever a number of Friends may have their abode, they can meet together and, by consent of the nearest Monthly and Quarterly Meeting, establish a Preparative Meeting. A meeting-house may then be constructed, and all Quaker meeting-houses are on the same plan, whether they be large or small, for a Preparative Meeting or a Yearly Meeting. A raised platform called the "Gallery" is at one end, separated by an aisle or walk from the main room. In the middle of the room, the long way, are folding partitions which separate the men and women, in other words, there is a man's side and a woman's side in every Quaker Meeting- house, with an entrance and exit for each. During a public Meeting, the folding partitions are open, but dur-
58 Ohio ArcJi. and Hist. Society Publications
ing a business Meeting they are closed, the men holding a Meeting on one side and the women on the other.
Those sitting in the gallery, or facing the meeting, are the ministers, elders, overseers and some of the older or concerned Friends.
The First-Day Meeting is for worship only, either in a silent meeting, as it is believed that the "Inner Light" is nourished and replenished in meditation; or some member may be moved to speak. Usually the speaking is done by the same man or woman who in time becomes known as the Quaker Preacher, but who is never employed and receives no pay for his services or any emolument of office.
Mid-week meetings are held either on Fourth- or Fifth-days, varying in different neighborhoods. But one mid-week meeting a month is a "Preparative Meet- ing." This Meeting is not a Meeting of record. That is, while minutes are made, there are no permanent records kept of the business before that Meeting. As a rule, there is but little discussion in a business meeting. Questions of importance are brought to the attention of the Preparative Meeting, but there is no decision reached or discussion had, and the matter is simply referred to the Monthly Meeting for action. If, from the nature of the business, a judgment is expected to be reached in that meeting, it is done with but little discussion, as members have had ten days or a week at least, to think it over, confer, and deliberate. Or, if it is something that apparently demands discussion, a committee is named who discuss, deliberate and report their judg- ment which is almost always accepted by the Meeting.
The Monthly Meeting, as its name implies, is held
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 59
.^
following a certain mid-week Meeting and is the real executive body of the district. One of the duties of the Monthly Meeting is to appoint overseers from and for each Preparative Meeting, "whose duty it is to exercise a vigilant and tender care over their members." Should any affair reported by the overseer fail to reach a satis-
, . factory solution in the Pre-
1 parative Meeting, the same
can then be reported to the Monthly Meeting.
The Meeting for Suf- ferings, called such be- cause, in the beginning, its \ Y V^ |k chief business was to at-
\ % ^^.^R ^^^^ ^° ^^^ sufferings of
X t ^l^plt^ Friends who were the ob-
jects of persecution on ac- count of their belief, met, in the beginning, every week. Now it meets reg- ularly twice in the year, and f recjuently several other times on its own ad- journment or on call. Dur- ing the World War, it, or some of its committees, were in almost continual session. The examination of documents, and care extended to legislation and public officials is now its chief business. It also looks after the property and bequests.
It is under the direction of the Monthly Meeting that all Quaker weddings are solemnized, and for the ac-
W
AMY (HODGIN) CLENDENON
Born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1800; emigrated with her parents from Georgia to Belmont County, Ohio, in 1803. Died in Coal Creek, Iowa, in 1868. She was a sister of Mary (Hodgin) Stanton.
60 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
complishment of marriage, the following order is ob- served as directed by the Friend's Book of Discipline:
For the accomplishment of marriages the following order is to be observed : The parties are to inform the men's and women's Monthly Meeting, in writing, under their hands, that they intend marriage with each other. The notice should be minuted in each meeting, and two women Friends are to be appointed to make inquiry respecting the woman, and, if the parties are both mem- bers of the same Meeting, two men Friends should also be appointed to make inquiry respecting the clearness of the man in regard to other marriage engagements. If the parties have parents or guardians present, their consent should be expressed ; or if the man be a member of another Monthly Meeting, the consent of his parents, if he has any, should be produced in writing, either then or at the next Meeting, with a certificate from his Monthly Meeting of his clearness from other like en- gagements. If the woman be a widow, having children, two or more Friends should be appointed in the meeting of which she is a member, to see that the rights of her children be legally secured.
At the next meeting, if the committees report that careful inquiry has been made, and no obstructions to the further proceedings appear, the parties are to inform the Meeting, either orally or in writing, of the continu- ance of their intentions of marriage with each other. The Meetings are then to leave them at liberty to ac- complish their marriage according to our rules, and ap- point two Friends of each sex to attend, and see that good order is observed at the marriage and place of entertainment. Marriages are to be solemnized at the usual week-day Meeting or at a Meeting appointed at some seasonable hour in the forenoon, on some other convenient week-day, and at the Meeting to which the woman belongs, previous notice to Friends generally, in the latter case, being given.
TYPE OF BONNET WORN BY MARY (HODGIN) STANTON
HAT WORN BY JOSEPH STANTON ABOUT 1858 Typical of the hats worn by the older Friends of that period.
(61)
62 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Toward the conclusion of said Meeting, the parties are to stand up and taking each other by the hand, are to declare, in an audible and solemn manner, to the following effect, the man first, viz. : "Friends, in the presence of the Lord, and before this assembly, I take this, my friend, D. E,, to be my wife; promising, with Divine assistance to be unto her a loving and faithful husband, until death shall separate us"; and then, the woman, in like manner : ''Friends, in the presence of the Lord, and before this assembly, I take this, my friend, A. B., to be my husband; promising with Divine as- sistance, to be unto him a loving and faithful wife, until death shall separate us."
The marriage certificate is then to be signed, by the man first, then by the woman, with the adopted name of her husband. It is then to be audibly read by some proper person. The certificate is also to be signed at a suitable time, by witnesses of the marriage, usually by the relatives first, and by such other persons present as may desire to subscribe their names, and care is taken that a certificate of the proceedings be filed with public authorities, according to law.
The same relations exist between the Quarterly Meetings and the Yearly Meetings as exists between the Preparative and Monthly Meetings and each sit at times as indicated by their names.
The Preparative and Monthly Meetings are held in the same meeting-house, the Quarterly alternates from one to another, but the Ohio Yearly Meeting is always held at Stillwater Meeting-House, one mile east of Barnesville, Ohio, beginning the second Seventh-day of
62 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Toward the conclusion of said Meeting, the parties are to stand up and taking each other by the hand, are to declare, in an audible and solemn manner, to the following effect, the man first, viz. : "Friends, in the presence of the Lord, and before this assembly, I take this, my friend, D. E., to be my wife; promising, with Divine assistance to be unto her a loving and faithful husband, until death shall separate us"; and then, the woman, in like manner : 'Triends, in the presence of the Lord, and before this assembly, I take this, my friend, A. B., to be my husband; promising with Divine as- sistance, to be unto him a loving and faithful wife, until death shall separate us."
The marriage certificate is then to be signed, by the man first, then by the woman, with the adopted name of her husband. It is then to be audibly read by some proper person. The certificate is also to be signed at a suitable time, by witnesses of the marriage, usually by the relatives first, and by such other persons present as may desire to subscribe their names, and care is taken that a certificate of the proceedings be filed with public authorities, according to law.
The same relations exist between the Quarterly Meetings and the Yearly Meetings as exists between the Preparative and Monthly Meetings and each sit at times as indicated by their names.
The Preparative and Monthly Meetings are held in the same meeting-house, the Quarterly alternates from one to another, but the Ohio Yearly Meeting is always held at Stillwater Meeting-House, one mile east of Barnesville, Ohio, beginning the second Seventh-day of
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QUAKER MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE Reprntluction of the Marriage Certificate of Joseph and Mary (Hodgin) Stanton. Married 9, 26, 1832. This Quaker couple raised a family and spent their entire married life in Belmont County, Ohio.
(63)
64
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
the Ninth month, extending over one First-Day, which is the pubHc day.
Due to the fact that many far-reaching actions of the Friends' Meetings are not recordable papers, the DiscipHne recites:
stj].lwati-:r Mi'i-rnxG-HOUSE— east side
This Meeting-House was built in 1878 to replace the old structure erected in 1811-1812. See illustration on page 03.
RECORDS OF MEMBERSHIP.
As great inconveniences may arise from want of due atten- tion to keeping a regular record of births, deaths and other changes in membership, it is enjoined upon each Monthly Meet- ing to appoint a careful Friend whose duty it shall be to keep in a bound book, provided for the purpose, a chronological record of each change in membership, showing in the order of their occurrence, the births, deaths, marriages, removals, disownments and memberships by request. In addition to this, a loose-leaf record of each individual member is to be kept, arranged in a binder in alphabetical order as follows ;
TJic Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 65
Day Month Year
Name of Member
Place of Birth
Name of Father
Name of Mother Before Marriage
Became Member by Birth — Certificate from
— Request Day
Married to Day
Removal Certificate — to Death
— Disownment Day Month Year
\\'here Buried Late Residence
Any additional information on back of sheet.
Month Month
Year Year
MOUNT PLEASANT YEARLY MEETING-HOUSE
Located at Mount Pleasant, Jefferson County, Ohio. Built in 1815-1816. It is 62 by 90 feet.
Monthly Meetings are further enjoined that com- mittees be appointed annually to examine the records and to extend such care as may appear necessary to effect the object.
This completeness of records makes it possible to know of the activities of all the societies, in every part of the world, since the time that George Fox interrupted
Vol. XXXVII— 5.
MAP OF MEETINGS COMPOSING OHIO YEARLY MEETING OF FRIENDS IN 1826
The original of this map was made by Mary Walker, afterward Mary Brown, at Salem School, Salem, Ohio, in 1826. After the death of Mary Brown it passed into the possession of Charles Cope of Winona, Ohio, who framed it under glass and thus preserved it. The map here presented is a faithful copy of the essential details of the original with a few additions in the limits of Pennsville Quarter. Drawing by George A. Patterson. Cleveland, New Philadelphia, Zanesville and Marietta, shown on the map above, are cities — not Quaker Meetings — and are used only to furnish approximate locations
(00)
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 67
the Presbyterian minister in the Church at Nottingham, England, in the year 1649, when he said, "No, it is not the Scripture, but the Holy Spirit who gave the Scrip- ture, who leads unto all truth."
The Ohio Yearly Meeting, near Barnesville, is only one of twelve Yearly Meetings in America. The estab- lishment of each was as follows: Newport, Rhode Island, 1671; Baltimore, Maryland, 1672; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1681; Ohio, 1813; Indiana, 1821; Illi- nois, 1858; Iowa, 1863; Canada, 1867; Kansas, 1872; Wilmington, Ohio, 1892; Oregon, 1893; California, 1895; all of which have their subordinate meetings, with which they are in constant communication, tenderly guiding the daily life of the members and urging them to grow in grace through the Power of the Inner Light.
In 1826, fifty years after the Declaration of Inde- pendence, and one hundred years ago, Ohio Yearly Meeting was composed of five Quarterly Meetings, fifty-three Particular Meetings and eight thousand eight hundred and seventy-three members, distributed as
follows :
SALEM QUARTER
Middleton 277 Goshen 169
Fairfield 118 Marlborough . . . .- 190
Beaver Falls 81 Lexington 114
Conneaut 39 Kendal 99
Salem 459 Deer Creek 92
Upper Springfield 280
Total -^ 1,918
NEW GARDEN QUARTER
New Garden 370 Dry Run 47
Grove 138 Sandy Spring 294
New Lisbon 72 Augusta 183
Elk Run 195
Carmel 218 Total 1,517
68
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Smithfield
Cross Creek I54
Short Creek 335
Mt. Pleasant 253
West Grove 250
Harrisville 186
Conotton 26
SHORT CREEK QUARTER 375 Concord . . .
279
Flushing 259
Freeport 246
Guernsey 138
Brushy Fork 85
Total
.2,586
STILLWATER QUARTER
Stillwater 363
Captina 204
Deerfield 135
Zanesville 52
Richland 94
Blue Rock 60
Plainfield 170
St. Clairsville 182
Goshen 155
Somerset 191
Ridge 229
Sunbury 90
Total
1.925
REDSTONE QUARTER
Westland 267
Pike Run 96
Head of Wheeling 23
Sandy Creek 44
Providence 100
Center 45
Ridge 39
Redstone 186
Sandy Hill 59
Sewickley 44
Friends at Pittsburg
(no meeting) 24
Total
927
Pennsville Quarterly Meeting was not established until 1842, with six Particular Meetings — Pennsville, Hopewell, Westland, Chesterhill, in Morgan County, and Plymouth and Southland, in Washington County. It reached its maximum membership of about one thousand between the years 1850- 1860. From the Pennsville Quarterly Meeting, during the decade from 1855 to 1865, there was a transplanting into Iowa of many Quaker families, where they established themselves and have main- tained many of their Meetings until the present time.
From information written on the comer of the map published herewith, but not reproduced by the engraver, it appears that the first Meeting settled west of the Alleghany Mountains was West- land ; Redstone, the first Quarterly Meeting west of the moun- tains ; Concord, the first Meeting and Short Creek the first Quar- terly Meeting in the State of Ohio ; and Middleton the first Meeting in the northern part of the State.
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 69
THE QUAKER'S RELIGION.
"Now I was sent," Fox says, "to turn people from Darkness to Light, that they might receive Christ Jesus ; for to as many as should receive Him in His Light I saw that He would give power to become the sons of God, which I had obtained by receiving Christ; and I was to direct people to the Spirit that gave forth the Scriptures by which they might be led into all truth and so up to Christ and God, as they had been who gave them forth ... I saw that the grace of God which brings salvation had appeared to all men, and that the manifestations of the Spirit of God was given to every man to profit withal."
'The purport of their doctrine and ministry," says William Penn, "for the most part is what other pro- fessors of Christianity pretend to hold in words and forms." But to this was added a belief in the direct revelation of Christ to the soul. "Now the Lord hath opened to me by His invisible power how that every man was enlightened by the Divine Light of Christ, and I saw it shine through all. And they that believe in it came out of condemnation, and came by the Light of life, and became the children of it : but they that hated it and did not believe in it, were condemned by it, though they made a profession of Christ."
David Gregg, in his Makers of the American Re- public, asked:
What were the doctrines for which George Fox witnessed in his intrepid way and which he gave to his followers, and which made them a factor in civilization? We place the doc- trine of the Inner Light first ; all others flow from this. The doctrine of the Universal Inner Light is this — Jesus Christ lighteth every man that cometh into the world. This Spirit of
70 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Christ in every man is sufficient to guide him. This Spirit of Christ in every man is not to be confounded with conscience ; the distinction is clear between the human facuhies and the Divine Spirit.
Conscience is an original facuhy of human nature, the Spirit of Christ is an added faculty; instead of being identical with conscience, its purpose is to enlighten conscience.
The way the Inner Light is perceived and increased is by waiting in silence for it before God and by meditation. The more it is honored and rightly used the more and brighter it shines. You can see what this doctrine carries with it. If God speaks to the soul, then the voice of God frees the soul from all bondage to the false opinions and prejudices and faiths of men. That is LIBERTY indeed.
If God speaks directly to every man, then every man has a distinct individuality and is an independent personality. This consciousness, when nurtured and grown, breaks every human shackle, it quickens and deepens the sense of personal responsi- bility, for it brings God into every life and makes Him the sole authority.
Quoting from Thomas, Discipline and Doctrine:
Dependence upon the immediate guidance of the Holy Spirit led the Friends to meet for divine worship in outward silence, as it was only under such circumstances that the Holy Spirit could call for what service He would and from whomsoever He would. They believed that nothing should come between the soul and God but Christ, and that to make the worship of a whole congregation depend upon the presence or absence of one man was contrary to the idea of true worship. Ministers, they held, were called and qualified of God, and so the exercise of their gifts was not to be dependent upon education or upon any special training; that the gift of the ministry was bestowed upon men and women alike. They believed in carrying gospel precepts into daily life more than most of their contemporaries, and all their dealings were to be in strict accord with their rehgious profession.
Carl Patterson, a minister of the Society, wrote me the following only a few weeks ago :
All of those things considered "queer" by those not Friends flow as naturally from the main concept of Quakerism as any- thing in the world. For one to feel that God speaks to him, that he is in His presence: Then are not all men equal? None
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 71
better, none worse than one's self, no titles, no bowing, no flat- tery ; high or low, rich or poor, equal in His sight. To one who stands in His presence, to undertake to deck the person with costly apparel and to follow the fleeting fashions, seem most out of place ; all places are aHke "holy,'' for His presence can be felt anywhere, hence no veneration to building made of wood or brick or stone. And so on through the whole list, "they follow as night the day" in the mind of Him who stands in the presence of the Most High.
Isaac Sharpless says in his Two Centuries of Penn- sylvania History:
Those who have only known the quiet, peace-loving Quakers of recent years, can hardly conceive the vigor and determination of their missionary labors, or the fierceness of their literary warfare against their opposers. There were said to be sixty thousand of them in England at the death of George Fox in 1690.
We may now be able to see why it was that the seven- teenth century Quakers were so persecuted. They would not pay tithes to support a religion which struck at their conscience. They would not take an oath of allegiance. They would not take off their hats before magistrate, judge, or priest, or even before king or protector. They would not obey any law interfering with the liberty of their worship. They would not even give their perse- cutors the satisfaction of open resistance, and they could never be caught in any plots or designs against the gov- ernment. With all this negative opposition, they were aggressively pushing themselves and their views into every corner of the kingdom. In the streets of London, the dales of Yorkshire, the mines of Cornwall, among the armies of the commonwealth, the students of the universities, the divines of the various denominations, the Quaker preachers were making their converts. They talked very plainly to Oliver Cromwell and Charles II. No iniquity, in high place or low, did they fail to rebuke.
72 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
They drew off congreg-ations from their ministers, and ministers from their congregations, and were altogether such a ubiquitous, interfering, troublesome people that even the moderate judges found it hard to resist the temptation to send them to jail.
In addition to these causes of suffering, the various peculiarities of the Friends made them a prey to every informer and personal enemy. It was only necessary to get them once into court, on any pretext, when the hat, or the refusal to swear, would be sure to make any further fining or imprisonment cjuite regular and easy.
So thousands of them were in jail (and horrible places the jails were in England in those days) through- out the commonwealth, and hundreds died there. Other thousands were reduced to poverty, families were sep- arated, and some of the "most sincere and pure-minded of Englishmen were made to endure more than was meted to the worst criminals."
The following general advices are read annually in all the Meetings of Friends in Great Britain :
Take heed, dear Friends, we entreat you, to the convictions of the Holy Spirit, who leads, through unfeigned repentance, and Hving faith in the Son of God, to reconciliation with our Heavenly Father, and to the blessed hope of eternal Hfe, purchased for us by the one offering of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Be earnestly concerned in religious meetings reverently to present yourselves before the Lord ; and seek, by the help of the Holy Spirit, to worship God through Jesus Christ.
Prize the privilege of access by Him unto the Father. Con- tinue instant in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.
Be in the frequent practice of waiting upon the Lord in private retirement, honestly examining yourselves as to your growth in grace, and your preparation for the life to come.
Be diligent in the private perusal of the Holy Scriptures ; and let the daily reading of them in your families be devoutly conducted.
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 73
Be careful to make a profitable and religious use of those portions of time on the first day of the week which are not occupied by our Meetings for Worship.
Live in love as Christian brethren, ready to be helpful one to another, and sympathizing with each other in the trials and afflictions of life. Watch over one another for good, manifesting an earnest desire that each may possess a well-grounded hope in Christ.
Follow peace with all men, desiring the true happiness of all. Live not for yourselves but for others, seeking to undo the heavy burdens and to let the oppressed go free; remembering that it is your duty and privilege to labour for the physical, moral and spiritual well-being of your fellow-men.
With a tender conscience, in accordance with the precepts of the Gospel, take heed to the limitations of the Spirit of Truth in the pursuit of the things of this life.
Let your lights shine in lives of honest industry and patient love. Do your utmost to maintain yourselves and your families in an honorable independence, and, by prudent care in time of health, to provide for sickness and old age.
Maintain strict integrity in your transactions in trade, and in all your outward concerns. Guard against the spirit of specu- lation and the snare of accumulating wealth. Remember that we must account for the mode of acquiring, as well as for the manner of using, and finally disposing of our possessions.
Observe simplicity and moderation in your deportment and attire, in the furniture of your houses, and in your style and manner of living. Carefully maintain in your own conduct, and encourage in your families, truthfulness and sincerity ; and avoid worldliness in all its forms.
Guard watchfully against the introduction into your house- holds of publications of a hurtful tendency ; and against such companionships, indulgences, and recreations whether for your- selves or your children, as may in any wise interfere with a growth in grace.
Avoid and discourage every kind of betting and gambling, and such speculation in commercial life as partakes of a gambling character.
In view of the manifold evils arising from the use of intoxi- cating liquors, prayerfully consider whether your duty to God and to your neighbor does not require you to abstain from using them yourselves or offering them to others and from having any share in their manufacture or sale.
In contemplating the engagement of marriage, look prin-
74
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
cipally to that which will help you on your heavenward journey. Pay filial regard to the judgment of your parents. Bear in mind the vast importance in such a union, of an accordance in religious principles and practice. Ask counsel of God ; desiring above all temporal considerations, that your union be owned and blessed of Him.
Watch with Christian tenderness over the opening minds of your children; inure them to habits of self-restraint and filial obedience ; carefully instruct them in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures ; and seek for ability to imbue their hearts with the love of their Heavenly Father, their Redeemer, and their Sanctifier.
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CARPENTER HALL Classroom and Administration Building at Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana. This building was erected in 1926 and used for the first time in the autumn of 1927. It replaced Lindley Hall, destroyed by fire in October, 1924.
Finally, dear Friends, let your whole conduct and conversa- tion be such as become the Gospel. Exercise yourselves to have always a conscience void of ofifense toward God and toward men. Be steadfast and faithful in your allegiance and service to your Lord ; continue in His love ; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
BY THEIR WORKS YE SHALL KNOW THEM. In all affairs pertaining to the elevation of the race, the Quakers have taken an advanced position. Chief
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 7S
Justice Taft has said, 'The Society of Friends is a dangerous body to disagree with because it is usually two hundred years ahead of its time." From the time of George Fox, wherever a meeting-house was built, a schoolhouse was huddled close by it, where both girls and boys could receive a common school education and later advance to Old Guilford in North Carolina; Earl- ham College at Richmond, Indiana; Olney at Barnes- ville, Ohio; Westtown near Philadelphia; and finally to Haverford or Swarthmore. Only a little over a hun- dred years ago were the public schools of Boston open for girls, but George Fox, over two hundred and fifty years ago, advocated the equality, through education, of girls and boys, and such schools were duly organized in 1670.
In 1797, Peter Bedford, a London Quaker, estab- lished the first soup-kitchen for the poor. His Society not only established these public places for food, but also established a school for one thousand boys and five hundred girls at one penny per week each. This devel- oped into the Bedford Institution where, today, twenty thousand persons are benefited in nine different centers in London, and as Alice Heald Mendenhall in Some So- cial Aspects of the Society of Friends, says, is some- thing like Hull House.
Alice Heald Mendenhall also found in her research work, that "in 1669, Fox advised an almshouse for all poor Friends that are past work." The year after his death his wish in regard to a home for the poor, that were past work, was realized in London and the insti- tution established by the Friends at that time is still in existence.
7^
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Margaret Fox, wife of George Fox, was treasurer of a missionary movement in 1654, where was collected and disbursed four hundred and ninety pounds, twelve shillings and sixpence, for the service of Truth.
Elizabeth Fry gathered seventy little waifs together each day for instruction, sowing the seed for children's homes. She was also interested in prison reforms, and established an asylum for discharged female prisoners,
"" ^ "" " I
FRIENDS' BOARDING-SCHOOL Barnesville, Ohio. Rebuilt after the fire of March 31, 1910.
a school for vicious girls and a home for abandoned female children.
A step farther was made by William Penn, when he declared that prisons were for reformation rather than punishment.
Perhaps the most striking and persistent reform ever carried on by the Quakers, was their never-ceasing op- position to human slavery until it was driven from the face of the civilized world. The names of four Qua- kers— Allen, Woolman, Lundy and Coppock — stand out
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 77
preeminently in the overthrowing of this evil. I quote from Alice Heald Mendenhall again, "At the Congress of Sovereigns at Vienna, after the Battle of Waterloo, William Allen, an English Quaker, was present for the purpose of laying the subject of the slave-trade before the members of this body." The pass given him by
^^^-:Mi
MOUNT PLEASANT BOARDING-SCHOOL
Built 1835-1836.
From a water color drawing in 1872.
Wellington which opened the way from Vienna to Verona, and which admitted him to attendance at the place of this meeting, read, "Courier to the Duke of Wellington." Perhaps never before did the representa- tive of the British crown have a stranger "Courier" than this Quaker who would not even take off his hat to the Emperor, but who moved amidst this brilliancy of the "Field of the Cloth of Gold," respected by all, and who was absorbed only in the cause which was so dear
78
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
to his heart. He bore letters from his co-workers — Clarkson and Wilberforce — in England; he was invited by Wellington to be present at the dinner of the sov- ereigns, which he declined ; at the instance of the Czar of Russia, Allen spent four evenings with him in the dis- cussions of social and philanthropic questions in the frankest possible manner.
WESTTOWN BOARDING-SCHOOL — 1810 Located at Westtown, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
It is thought that the influence of William Allen was one of several strong factors in bringing about the abolition of the slave-trade in Europe.
It is not generally remembered that before the Revo- lutionary War, slavery existed in the North as well as the South, that there were as many slaves north of the Maryland-Virginia line as south of it, probably as many in Newport, Rhode Island, as in Richmond, Virginia,
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 79
and that a majority of the slave-traders lived in the North.
The Quakers, led by John Woolman, of New Jersey, started such a crusade against the evil that public opin- ion became so aroused, that it gradually but perma- nently disappeared in the North before the time of the Civil War.
John Woolman's Journal, covering this period, has been published and President Eliot of Harvard includes it in his "Five Foot Shelf of Books."
In our own country, early in the nineteenth century, Benjamin Lundy, a Quaker, originated an Abolition Society whose first members were Jefferson Harrison, and Belmont County Quakers; and Randall and Ryan in their The Rise and Progress of an American State, say that to Benjamin Lundy must be credited, more than to any single man in American history, the gigantic moral movement against slavery, which preceded the Civil War, and which did more than any other one thing to arouse the American people to a sense of the injustice of slavery. Benjamin Lundy organized the ''Union Humane Society," in 1815, the purpose of which was to agitate anti-slavery sentiments. He says in his writings, "I had lamented the sad condition of the slave. I called a few friends together and unbosomed my feelings to them. The result was the organization of an anti- slavery association, called the Union Humane Society." One of the chief spirits of this association was William Cooper Howells, father of the American novelist, Wil- liam Dean Howells.
Lundy was, for a time, agent for Osborn's Journal, The Philanthropist. He lived at St. Clairsville, Ohio.
80 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
until 1821, when he moved to Mount Pleasant, where he began the publication of TJie Genius of Universal Eman- cipation. It immediately acquired a widespread circu- lation throughout the country, and Benjamin Lundy be- came the first real effective force in the promotion of the abolition sentiment throughout the United States. When he commenced his agitation, William Lloyd Gar- rison was but a boy, and it is to Lundy that Garrison, in after years, gave credit for enlisting him in the cause of freedom. The anti-slavery sentiment in Ohio con- tinued to develop from the humble association estab- lished by Benjamin Lundy, so that in 1837, there were two hundred and thirteen anti-slavery societies in this State, with 17,253 members.
At the time when John Brown was captured and hanged at Harper's Ferry, with him was a modest young man, Edwin Coppock, twenty-four years old, who had been reared under Quaker influence at Winona, Colum- biana County, Ohio, and who had gone to the Quaker community at Springdale, Iowa, where John Brown spent the winter before the Harper's Ferry campaign. Edwin Coppock's last letter well shows the spirit of the Fathers.
Charlestown, [Virginia,] Dec. 13th, 1859. My Dear Uncle :
I seat myself by the stand, to write for the first, and last time, to thee and thy family. Though far from home and over- taken by misfortune, I have not forgotten you. Your generous hospitality towards me. during my short stay with you last spring, is stamped indelibly upon my heart; and also the gen- erosity bestowed upon my poor brother, who now wanders an outcast from his native land. But thank God he is free. I am thankful that it is I, who has to suffer, instead of him.
The time may come when he zvil! remember me, and the time may come when he will still further remember the cause in which I die. Thank God, the principles of the cause in which
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 81
we were engaged zvill not die with me and my brave comrades. They will spread wider and wider, and gather strength with each hour that passes. The voice of truth will echo through our land, bringing conviction to the erring, and adding numbers to that glorious arniy n'ho zcill follozv its banner. The cause of everlasting truth and justice zvill go on conquering, to conquer, until our broad and beautiful land shall rest beneath the banner of freedom.
I had hoped to live to see the dawn of that glorious day. I had hoped to live to see the principles of the Declaration of our Independence fully realized. I had hoped to see the dark stain of slavery blotted from our land, and the libel of our boasted freedom erased, when we can say in truth, that our beloved country is the land of the free and the home of the brave.
But this cannot be. I have heard my sentence passed. My doom is sealed. But two more short days remain for me to fulfill my earthly destiny. But two brief days between me and eternity. At the expiration of those two days, I shall stand upon the scafifold to take my last look of earthly scenes, but that scaf- fold has but little dread for me : for I honestly believe that I am innocent of any crime justifying such punishment. But by the taking of my life, and the lives of my comrades, Virginia is but hastening on that glorious day, when the slave shall rejoice in his freedom. When he can say. "I too am a man, and am groaning no more under the yoke of oppression.''
But I must now close. Accept this short scrawl as a re- membrance of me. Give my love to all the family. Kiss little Josey for me. Remember me to all my relatives and friends. And now farewell for the last time.*
From thy Nephew,
EDWIN COPPOC.
Remember this was a Quaker boy only twenty-four years old, but in his noble soul was the spirit of Fox, Allen, Penn, Lundy and hundreds of Quaker Abolition- ists of the time, who would have died for the cause as freely as did he.
Edwin Coppock's body had hardly been laid away in
* The original of this letter is in the Library of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society.
Vol. XXXVII— 6.
EDWIN McMASTERS STANTON
Secretary of War in Lincoln's and Johnson's Cabinets. He was born at Steubenville, Ohio, in 1814, and was a first cousin to Joseph Stanton, whose Marriage Certificate is shown facing page 59.
(82)
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 83
the little Quaker graveyard at Winona, Columbiana County, Ohio, until the great conflict was upon us, but when it was over. Slavery was no more forever, among the nations of the world.
When Abraham Lincoln needed a War Secretary, he chose the stern, methodical, forceful Edwin M. Stan- ton, whose grandmother, as a widow with a large fam- ily, drove her wagon with the first body of Quakers that left South Carolina for the Northwest Territory. It is said that her's was the first wagon that forded the Ohio River, a few miles above Wheeling, into the new coun- try, and the next day, she with her children, sitting upon a log, attended the first Quaker meeting in Ohio. Nearby, she located her farm where the great War Secretary was reared under Quaker influences.
You may be surprised to know that Dolly Madison, the wife of President James Madison, whose sparkling wit and generous hospitality still linger in memories about the White House, was of a Philadelphia Quaker family and her first marriage was a Quaker wedding.
Thomas Mifflin, reared a Quaker, but a Revolution- ary General, defeated Arthur St. Clair for first Gover- nor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The artist, Benjamin West, born of Quaker parents, began painting portraits at the age of seventeen, soon went to Europe for study and became, in time, the Presi- dent of the Royal Academy.
The poet, Whittier, always in Quaker dress, always using the plain language in his conversation, carried into his verses the soul and spirit of the Quaker Faith as is felt in his poem, "The Silent Room."
Joseph Gurney Cannon, who for many years was
84 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
speaker of the National House of Representatives, came into Illinois with his Quaker parents from Virginia, and he told the writer that it was the Quaker vote that first sent him to Congress, (notice it was a Republican dis- trict). Joseph Cannon also told me this story as it was told to him by General Butterworth whose parents were Ohio Quakers.
A few days after the Battle of Gettysburg, in which General Butterworth and a number of his comrades from the old home meeting, were engaged, they were all expelled, or as they call it, disowned, for violating the discipline by actually taking up arms in time of war. This, in itself, was not strange, but General Butterworth said that it was his own father who brought the matter before the meeting and asked for their disownment ; that his father had not heard from him since the great battle and did not then know whether he was asking for the disownment of a dead son, or a live soldier. Such is Quaker discipHne.
Of all the public men in the United States today, no one is held in higher esteem than Herbert Hoover, Sec- retary of Commerce in President Coolidge's Cabinet. He still holds his birthright in a western Quaker Meet- ing and it is no accident that he is Secretary of Com- merce, whose official influence reaches all parts of the world, for the balancing of the commercial relations of the nations of the world is the best safeguard for Peace — the Keystone of the Quaker's Religion.
It may be that the Quaker has not always been un- derstood. He has been called queer, he has been called clannish, he may be different from other denominations in the fact that he gauges his actions, not from external things, but from the inner and spiritual man, and he trusts others who have experienced the same Inner Light and binds himself with them, rather than to man- made decrees and laws. But in their relations with
The Quakers; Their Migration to the Upper Ohio, etc. 85
American History, they never hanged a witch; they never were intolerant ; they never waged an Indian war ; they never confiscated one acre of American soil; they never isolated themselves to the detriment of other de- nominations ; they never retaliated when they were per- secuted for conscience's sake, cast into prison; or even complained at the death sentence, all of which they suf- fered both in Old and New England, by people speaking the same language and worshiping the same God.
To them a great work was given. They came into existence at a time in the history of England when ex- cesses were running riot, when immorality was the pass- word into society. They became the moderators of the times and carried their teachings across the Atlantic into America, where they found expression in the build- ing of a new State. Their organization is still intact. The early teachings and the belief in the Inner Light is still theirs and, should history repeat itself, as some things now would indicate, they may again stand as moderators and help bring the pendulum back to normalcy.
The author wishes to acknowledge the kindness of William H. Stanton of Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, who furnished most of the plates from which many of the illustrations were produced ; also to Mr. C. B. Galbreath and his efficient office force who made this paper possible.
REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIERS BURIED IN CLARK COUNTY OHIO
BY A. L. SLAGER*
The attached roster of men who served on the side of the Colonists during the War of American Inde- pendence, and who are buried in Clark County, has been compiled from partial Hsts of names furnished by Colonel George I. Gunckel, Dayton, Ohio, president of the Ohio Society Sons of the American Revolution, and a similar list taken from the records of the George Rog- ers Clark Chapter, S. A. R., of Springfield, as well as a list prepared by a committee of Lagonda Chapter, D. A. R., of the same city, composed of Mrs. C. M. Clark, Mrs. A. A. Wright, Mrs. Albert Greaves, Miss Dora Rubsam and Mrs. E. E. Otstott.
Comparison of these lists with township histories of Clark County, both printed and in manuscript, has re- vealed that several of the names given, are of men who were not in the Revolutionary War, but who enlisted in the American Army during the War of 1812-14. One other, mentioned in the S. A. R. records, as having been born in 1775, may have been in the War of 1812, but there is no available record to substantiate the claim. A fourth name is that of a man who was not in either army.
These names have been eliminated from the roster presented herewith, which after careful investigation, is
* Secretary of the Clark County Historical Society, Springfield, Ohio. (86)
Soldiers of the Revolution Buried in Clark County 87
believed to be as accurate as it is humanly possible to make it at this late date, and with the historical data available.
It is to be regretted that so little of the war record of these patriots has been preserved. Such isolated sketches, as can be found in the history of Clark County, have been collected and are presented as memorials of these Revolutionary heroes who came into the wilder- ness of western Ohio, and settled in what is now Clark County, in the early years of the nineteenth century, and to whose loyalty, energy and industry, we owe much that is now the heritage of its present population.
The removals, as noted, from farms and small ceme- teries, were made with perhaps a few exceptions, in December, in the year 1906, and such graves as could be located have been designated by suitable iron markers.
ROSTER OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIERS BURIED IN CLARK COUNTY, OHIO.
Albin, John Ebenezer Cemetery, Green Town- ship.
Bacon, Capt. Richard Fernchff Cemetery, Springfield.
Baird, William Asbury Chapel Cemetery, Pleasant
Township.
Baker, Nelyn Enon Cemetery, Mad River Town- ship.
Bancroft, John Columbia Street Cemetery, Spring- field.
Bardwell, Simeon Thompson Cemetery, Near Old
Columbus Road.
Bayley (or Bailey), Timothy. .Fletcher Chapel Cemetery, Har- mony Township.
Beardsley, Elijah Columbia Street Cemetery, Spring- field. Northeast corner.
88 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Bridge, Benjamin Enon Cemetery, Mad River Town- ship.
Brown, Frederick Green Lawn Cemetery, South
Charleston.
Christie. Lieut. Jesse Columbia Street Cemetery, Spring- field. Northeast corner.
Craig, John S Fletcher Chapel Cemetery, Har- mony Township. (Removed from Wragg Cemetery.)
Dawson, Lieut. Henry Asbury Chapel Cemetery, Pleasant
Township. (Removed from Daw- son farm.)
Ebersole, Jacob Donnel's Creek Cemetery, Pike
Township.
Farnum, John S Fletcher Chapel Cemetery, Har- mony Township.
Frantz, Benjamin Old Frantz Cemetery, Bethel
Township.
Galloway, James Enon Cemetery, Mad River Town- ship. (Removed from Galloway farm, August, 1906.)
Garlough, John Henry Garlough Cemetery, Green Town- ship.
Harriman, Stephen Lisbon Cemetery, Harmony Town- ship.
Hempleman, George Green Lawn Cemetery, South
Charleston
Jones, Benjamin Garlough Cemetery, Green Town- ship.
Keller, John Old Frantz Cemetery, Bethel
Township.
Kelley, James Columbia Street Cemetery, Spring- field.
Lamme, James L Lamme Cemetery, Bethel Town- ship, Section 4.
Soldiers of the Revolution Buried in Clark County 89
Lane, Robert Ferncliff Cemetery, Springfield.
(Known as Grandaddy (Removed from McCullough
Lane) farm.)
Lippencott, Samuel Myers Cemetery, Pike Township,
Northampton. (Removed from Seventh-Day Baptist Cemetery.)
McCleave, George Femdifif Cemetery, Springfield.
(Removed from Columbia Street Cemetery.)
Mclntire, William Columbia Street Cemetery, Spring- field. (Removed from Miller farm, southeast of Springfield.)
Nauman, Thomas Nauman farm, German Township,
Section 13.
Parsons, John Mad River Township. Cemetery
unknown.
Pool, William Fletcher Chapel Cemetery, Har- mony Township.
Rodgers, William Moorefield Township. Cemetery
unknown.
Servase, William Bethel Township, Cemetery un- known.
Toland, John Cornelius Columbia Street Cemetery, Spring- field.
Tuttle, Sylvanus Tuttle Farm Cemetery, Springfield
Township.
Vicory, Merrifield Greenmount Cemetery, Springfield.
Wilson, Isaac Madison Township. Cemetery un- known.
In 1906, the following petition was presented to the County Commissioners of Clark County, by five free- holders in each township, as provided by law :
The undersigned freeholders of the Township of Springfield, desiring to avail ourselves of the provisions of an act passed (by the Legislature of Ohio) April 21, 1904, authorizing the County Commissioners to furnish Memorial Tablets for the graves of deceased soldiers, sailors and marines, do hereby peti-
90 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
tion your honorable body to furnish suitable and proper metal markers, such as hereafter described, for the graves of the sol- diers who served in the war of the American Revolution.
The form and character of the metal Tablets is described on pages 20, 22 and 24 of the catalog herewith submitted and made a part of this petition. The undersigned earnestly request your honorable body that immediate action be taken on this petition as authorized by the act above referred to.
In response to this petition, the Commissioners fur- nished markers for twenty-two graves, which had been located by Attorney Oscar T. Martin, Forrest M. Run- yan and persons in the vicinity of the burial-places. The markers were placed over the graves by Messrs. Mar- tin and Runyan, in 1906.
Additional graves were located and markers placed at their head in later years by the Lagonda Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution.
HISTORICAL DATA.
JOHN ALBIN. Father of Gabriel, George and William Albin, came from Winchester, Virginia, with his son, George, in 1810, and settled in the western part of Green Township. His war record has not been preserved in the County or Township histories. His son, George, served in the War of 1812, and his grandson, Cyrus (son of George), served in the Civil War, hav- ing enlisted in Captain Asa S. Bushnell's Company, Fifty-second Regiment, in May, 1864. John Albin is buried in Ebenezer Cemetery, Green Township.
WILLIAM BAIRD was of English origin, his father's family having come from England to the Colony of Maryland at an early day. He was born at Hagerstown, March 16, 1762, and when eighteen years of age joined the Revolutionary Army, At the close of the war he married Dorothy Camerer, who was also born at Hagerstown, in the year of 1760. She was of Holland-Dutch descent, her father having come to the Colonies
Soldiers of the Revolution Buried in Clark County 91
from Holland, before the war. In 1790, William Baird and his wife removed from Maryland to Westmoreland County, Penn- sylvania, where they resided about four years, and then came down the Ohio in a flatboat to Limestone (now Maysville), Ken- tucky, going from there to a land claim given him by his father, in Fleming County, in that State. The claim having been proven invalid, he again removed, coming with his family to Clark County, Ohio. Here he entered 160 acres of land in Section 30, Range 9, Harmony Township. He obtained his patent for this land in 181 2.
During his residence in Kentucky, William Baird had be- come acquainted with the noted pioneers and Indian Scouts, Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton. Besides himself and wife, his family consisted of three sons and five daughters. He ac- quired 394 acres of land, which he left to his surviving children. The mother, Dorothy, died in 1824, and the father in 1836. He is buried in Asbury Chapel Cemetery, Pleasant Township.
MELYN BAKER enlisted in the American army in 1776, and was wounded in the battle of Monmouth, New Jersey. In 1790, he, with two brothers — Jonathan and Donald — came from New Jersey and settled on the present site of Cincinnati, and a few years later removed to Butler County, Ohio ; in 1805 they came to the present County of Clark, where Melyn Baker en- tered in a section of land in Section 13, Range 9, Mad River Township. Melyn was given to hospitality, and on more than one occasion, incoming pioneers were invited to his cabin, to remain until they could erect cabins upon their own lands. His remains now rest in the Enon Cemetery.
LIEUTENANT JOHN BANCROFT enlisted as a private, with the eight months troops, in Capt. Isaac Bolster's Company, under Col. Eben Larned, at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, and was given a commission as second lieutenant by the Council of Safety, prior to the election of Washington to the presidency. Some time after the close of hostilities he applied for a pension and sent his commission to Washington, D. C, but it was never returned. He was the son of Moses and Mary
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Bancroft, and was born at Reading, Mass., September i8, 1748. On December i, 1777, he was married to Anna Walters, to whom were bom four sons — Amasa, John, Lewis and Lawson — and one daughter — Nancy. He died September 28, 1837, ^^^ is buried in the Columbia Street Cemetery, Springfield, Ohio.
TIMOTHY BAYLEY (or BAILEY). Beyond the fact that he is known to have served in the War of the Revolution, but little is known of William Bailey. He is said to have walked from New Hampshire to Ohio, and after a residence of a few years, returned to his native state, married and brought his bride and his father's family to Clark County. He is buried in Fletcher Chapel Cemetery, Harmony Township.
ELIJAH BEARDSLEY was born in New Fairfield, Conn., May 2y, 1760, and entered the army of the American Patriots at the age of sixteen years. On June 27, 1780, he was married at New Fairfield, to Sally Hubbell, to whom were born fourteen children — six sons and eight daughters. About the year 1796 he removed with his family to Delaware County, N. Y., and from thence, early in the year 1812, to Urbana, Ohio. Three years later he and his family took up their abode in Springfield. Here they first occupied a log house near the southeast corner of Plum and Main Streets, where with pioneer hospitality, they provided a pleasant stopping place for many a weary traveler who wished to tarry for the night. One of the daughters married Ira Page, prominent in the early history of Springfield, and another daughter married another useful and highly esteemed citizen of the place — James S. Christie. Elijah Beardsley's good wife died in Springfield on July 23, 1813, and his own death occurred October 2, 1826. They are buried in the north- east corner of the Columbia Street Cemetery, Springfield.
There has been, for a long time, a local tradition that Elijah Beardsley was one of the 'Tndians" who comprised the "Boston Tea Party." This tradition, however, like many others, does not appear to be founded on fact. Boarding British ships and destroying their cargoes was serious business, piracy in fact. Beardsley, at the time of this occurrence, was a thirteen-year-old
Soldiers of the Revolution Buried in Clark County 93
boy, living at New Fairfield, Conn., more than two hundred miles to the southeast of Boston, by the water route, and it is not at all probable that he was in Boston on that memorable day; and if he had been, no group of men would have tolerated the pres- ence of a boy of his age among them in so hazardous an under- taking. The following account of this revolutionary proceeding is given by the well-known historian — John Clark Ridpath :
At Boston, the tea had been consigned to Governor Hutchinson and his friends ; and special precautions were taken to prevent a failure of the enterprise; but the authorities stubbornly stood their ground and would not permit the tea to be landed. On the 16th of December (1773), the dispute was settled in a memorable manner. There was a great town meeting at which seven thousand people were assembled. Adams (Samuel) and Quincy (Josiah) spoke to the multitudes. Evening came on and the meeting was about to adjourn, when a war-whoop was heard, and about fifty men, disguised as Indians, passed the door of the Old South Church. The crowd followed to Griffin's Wharf, where the three tea ships were at anchor. Then everything became quiet. The disguised men quickly boarded the vessels, broke open the three hundred and forty chests of tea that composed the cargoes, and poured the contents into the sea. Such was the Boston Tea Party.
BENJAMIN BRIDGE enlisted in the Revolutionary Army at the age of 22, and served during the war. He died in Clark County, and is buried in Enon Cemetery, Mad River Township.
FREDERICK BROWN. Born October 29, 1753. Died January 29, 1829, and is buried in Green Lawn Cemetery, at South Charleston, Ohio.
LIEUTENANT JESSE CHRISTIE enlisted in the War of the Revolution, in a New Hampshire Regiment, under Col. Daniel Moore. In the fall of 181 7, he with his son. Major Robert Christie, came to Springfield, Ohio, the Lieutenant being then in the eighty-eighth year of his age, while the Major had reached his forty-second year. Father and son took up their abode in a farm-house on what is now the northwest corner of Wittenberg Avenue and Main Street. Major Christie died in August, 1822, and his death was followed by that of his father, in January, 1823, in his ninety-fourth year. Lieutenant Christie is buried in the northeast corner of the Columbia Street Cemetery.
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JOHN S. CRAIG was born February 15, 1753, and entered the American Army in January, 1775. After a service of five years, he was honorably discharged in 1780. Coming to Ohio, he settled in what is now Harmony Township, Clark County. He was a citizen who had the esteem of all who knew him, for his moral worth and sterling character. His death occurred at the home of Lewis Skillings, in Springfield, and he was laid to rest in the Fletcher Chapel Cemetery, in Harmony Township.
LIEUTENANT HENRY DAWSON served as an officer in the War of the Revolution, and at the close of the struggle for American independence, settled in Kentucky. In 1804, he brought his family to what is now Clark County, Ohio, and located on a tract of land near Catawba, which at that time was in the midst of a dense forest. He brought with him a number of young apple-trees, which he planted near the cabin he built upon his arrival. These were the first fruit-trees brought into that locality. The trees bore fruit many years, and seventy- six years after planting, some of them still remained.
Henry Dawson was a cooper, and supplied his neighbors with tubs and buckets, and also manufactured barrels for the mills and distilleries which later were established in the north- east section of the county. He also built and operated a small mill for grinding corn, and was thus able to supply the early settlers in that region with corn-meal, which was an important addition to the family larder of that day. In addition to himself and wife, his family consisted of five children — George, John, Richard, Harriett and Elizabeth. A small plot of ground was allotted on the western side of the Dawson farm for a neighbor- hood cemetery, and here Henry Dawson and his wife were buried. In October, 1906, their remains were removed to Asbury Chapel Cemetery, in Pleasant Township.
JACOB EBERSOLE was a member of a Pennsylvania Regiment, during the Revolutionary War. He died in 1828, and is buried in the Donnel's Creek Cemetery near Northampton, Pike Township, about one mile south of Northampton,
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JOHN S. FARNUM (or FARNSWORTH) was born September 9, 1763; served in the Revolutionary War; died in Qark County (date unknown), and is buried in Fletcher Chapel Cemetery, Harmony Township.
BENJAMIN FRANTZ came to what is now Clark County, from Pennsylvania, in 1812, having served in the war, waged by the mother country, against the American Colonies. He set- tled in German Township, and is buried in the old Frantz Ceme- tery, Bethel Township.
JAMES GALLOWAY, SR., emigrated in an early day, from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, but on account of the inse- curity of land titles, brought his family to Ohio, and settled about two miles north of Old Chillicothe (Old Town), in 1798. This location was included within the limits of Hamilton County at that time. A short time later he removed to what is now Section 5, in the southern end of Mad River Township, where he entered four hundred acres of land. Greene County was formed from Hamilton and Ross Counties, in May, 1803, and included all of the present Qark County. James Galloway was at once appointed Treasurer of Greene County, and his son, James, Jr., was appointed surveyor by the newly organized county court. The court convened for the trial of causes, August 2, 1803, and these appointments were made during the same month.
During the Revolutionary War, James Galloway, the sub- ject of this sketch, was in the service of the Colonies in the capacity of hunter, to procure game for the army. He was in the fight between the Indians and Kentucky settlers, at the Blue Licks, Kentucky, and in the campaign of 1792 was shot by the renegade, Simon Girty, whom he well knew. Going through the woods, on horseback and unarmed, they met face to face. Girty, perceiving that Galloway was without his rifle, said, "Now Galloway, d — n you, I've got you," and instantly fired three small bullets into his body. Girty supposed he had killed him. Although badly wounded, Galloway wheeled his horse and made good his escape. One of these bullets passed through his shoulder and lodged in the back of his neck, where it remained many years,
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and was there when he came to Ohio. At length, there being no surgeon within reach, he sent for a shoe cobbler, who, with his knife and awl, extracted the bullet.
Beer's History of Clark County relates an interesting story, stating that the subject of this sketch was a blacksmith, and that he brought his tools to Ohio from Kentucky. This, however, is an error, as the narrative applies to another James Galloway, a cousin of our hero, who had located near the banks of the Mad River, and there carried on his trade as blacksmith, while James Galloway, Sr., had located his 400 acres of land on Muddy Run, where he lived during the remainder of his life. He had a daughter, Rebecca, who, it has been stated, taught the Indian Chief, Tecumseh, to read and speak the English lan- guage. Tecumseh at that time was twenty-eight or thirty years of age, and a friend of the family. During his visits for instruc- tion, he became enamored of the young woman, and finally asked of her father that she be given him in marriage. The father referred him to his daughter, who politely refused his suit, saying she did not wish to become a wild woman, and perform the labors of a squaw. To this he replied that she need not work, but that he would make of her a "great squaw." It is said that notwithstanding her refusal, Tecumseh always remained friendly to the family.
James Galloway, Sr., was buried in a neighborhood ceme- tery upon his farm on Muddy Run. In the fall of 1906, the remains of himself and wife were removed to the Enon Ceme- tery, at the instance of the local chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, by T. J. Montgomery, of the G. A. R.
STEPHEN HARRIMAN enlisted in General Stark's Bri- gade of New Hampshire Militia, and marched with his company from Hopkintown, New Hampshire, July 22, 1777. After serv- ing two months under Captain Bailey, he was discharged Sep- tember 22, 1777, and again entered the service as a private, in the Third Continental Regiment, Company 5, Col. Squarnell commanding. He died February 25, 1828, and is buried in the Lisbon Cemetery, Harmony Township. He was 71 years of age at the time of his death.
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JAMES KELLEY was a private in the Virginia troop, commanded by Col. Gibson, during the Revolutionary War. He died April 30, 1837, aged 85 years, and is buried in the Columbia Street Cemetery, Springfield, Ohio.
ROBERT LAING (or LANE). The following is taken from a manuscript address delivered a number of years since, at a pioneer meeting held near Emery Chapel, by W. M. Harris, himself a pioneer:
In the first house north of "Possum Road" (Greene Township), lived old Mr. Lane. All knew him as "Grandaddy Lane." He was a soldier in the Revolution, and the only one I ever saw. The boys from "Possum School" used to go to his place for apples. The trees had grown from seeds and the apples were sweet.
When the electric railroad was built, it became necessary to remove his remains from the McCuUough farm, where he had been buried, and they were interred in Ferncliff Cemetery, at Springfield.
SAMUEL LIPPENCOTT, SR., was born August 20, 1758; he was brought to Ohio, in 1810, by his son, Obadiah Lippencott. He was born August 20, 1758, and served in the Revolutionary War. He died in Clark County, and was buried in the German Baptist Cemetery, near Northampton. He was 95 years of age at the time of his death. His remains were removed to the Myers Cemetery.
GEORGE McCLEAVE moved with his family from Mary- land to Colerain. Ohio, on the Big Miami River, about 1790. He was tall and of good personal appearance ; a shoemaker by trade, which he learned in Philadelphia ; was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, participating in one of the great battles ; died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Mary (McCleave) Red- dish, east of Springfield, Ohio, and was buried in the old Colum- bia Street Graveyard, at Springfield, Ohio. His remains were later removed to Ferncliff Cemetery. George McCleave had four children : John, Elizabeth, Benjamin and Mary. Elizabeth mar- ried Samuel Smith, August 22, 1801 ; her husband was the son Vol. XXXVII— 7.
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of Rev. Peter Smith, the maternal grandfather of General J. War- ren Keifer, of Springfield, Ohio. George McCIeave's wife died soon after their arrival at Colerain, and the daughter, Elizabeth, kept house for her father and brothers until her marriage to Samuel Smith. In 1791, several hundred Indians, led by Simon Girty, besieged the garrison at Colerain, where the McCleaves lived, and Elizabeth, with the other women of the place, did her part in defending the fort by moulding bullets for the men, who kept up a vigorous fight until relieved by a rescuing party from Fort Washington (Cincinnati). In the year 1805, Samuel Smith and his wife, Elizabeth (McCleave) Smith, moved from Columbia, with his father's family, to Clark County, Ohio, and built a cabin near the east and west forks of Donnel's Creek, about one-half mile from the present village of Donnelsville. In 1819, George McCleave, now well advanced in years, went with his son, Benjamin, to Illinois, where he remained two years, and then returned to Clark County, Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his days at the homes of his daughters, Elizabeth Smith and Mary Reddish, near Springfield. Descendants of his sons, John and Benjamin, were living in Lawrence County, Illi- nois, as late as 1921.
WILLIAM McINTIRE was a private in the 17th Pennsyl- vania Regiment, Col. Wm. Irwin, Commander. He enlisted in the American army August i, 1777, and served under Capt. Samuel Montgomery during the remainder of the war. He came to Clark County, Ohio, in an early day, and lived at what is now the southwest corner of Limestone Street and McCreight Avenue. He is said to have been a personal friend of William Henry Harrison. He died in Springfield and is buried in the old Columbia Street Cemetery.
THOMAS NAUMAN, SR. In the year 1809, Thomas Nauman, Sr., brought his family from Virginia and settled in the neighborhood of Tremont City, Clark County, Ohio. Ac- cording to a statement made by Mr. John H. Blose, who in 1901 wrote an excellent history of German Township, Clark County, Thomas Nauman was one of the Revolutionary Patriots who
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could rightfully claim to have been a member of the "Boston Tea Party." He acquired a farm about four miles south of Tremont City, in Section 13, German Township, where he lived and died, and is buried in the Nauman Graveyard on his farm. He was born in Massachusetts, and after the Revolutionary War, settled in Shenandoah County, Virginia, before coming to Ohio.
JOHN CORNELIUS TOLAND was born in the year 1750, and served in the American Army in the Revolutionary War. He came to the village of Springfield in an early day and was the first of the Revolutionary soldiers to be buried in Clark County with military honors. The following account of his funeral was published in The Western Pioneer, a Springfield newspaper, on August 14, 1835, under the head-line, "Another Revolutionary Hero Gone."
John Toland, aged 85, was buried yesterday, according to his request, with the honors of War, rendered by the "Clark Guards." An appropriate address was delivered by Mr. (Charles) Anthony. The deceased served ir the American Army during the whole war.
Note — The "Clark Guards" was a semi-military company of citizens organized for the protection of the community, in the absence of a marshal or police. Each guard possessed a horse and mounted parades were held at stated intervals.
SYLVANUS TUTTLE was a member of the New Jersey branch of the Tuttle family; about the year 1784, he was married to a comely young woman — Mary Brown — who seems to have been possessed of the same venturesome spirit that characterized her husband. Soon after their marriage, they emigrated to western Pennsylvania, and after a few years, to the vicinity of Clarksburg, West Virginia. From there they removed to Clark County, Ohio, in the year 1806, and took up their residence near the headwaters of Buck Creek, about six miles northeast of New Moorefield, where they resided about two years, when they removed to a tract of land which Sylvanus Tuttle entered on Sinking Creek, about one and one-half miles from its mouth, in the eastern end of Springfield Township and about six miles east of Springfield.
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When they settled on this land, there were in the Tuttle family six boys and two daughters. A third daughter, the eldest, had married in Virginia, and she, with her husband, ac- companied her parents to their new home in the wilds of the new State of Ohio. Sylvanus Tuttle was a "Minute Man" in the Revolutionary Army, and was in the battle of Monmouth, New Jersey, and at other places. When the family came to Ohio, they brought with them a goodly supply of garden and apple-tree seeds, a flock of fifteen or twenty sheep, two or three cows, and the horses and wagons used in their journey to Qark County.
After a long and useful life, Sylvanus Tuttle died at his home on the farm, and was buried in the Byrd Cemetery, Spring- field Township. He was in the eighty-second year of his age, at the close of his life. His remains were removed to the Tuttle Farm Graveyard, one-half mile southwest of the Sinking Creek Church.
MERRIFIELD VICORY was a drummer boy in the Revo- lutionary War, and had his drum shot from his side at the Siege of Yorktown, receiving a pension for his services in the conflict. He was an odd but genial character. He located in Springfield in 1814; he was a short, round man, with a jolly face, and soon became known as "Little Daddy Vicory." He did not lack courage, as will be seen from the following narrative. "Early on a Sunday morning, while living in Springfield, he discovered a thief stealing bacon from his smoke-house ; securing a rope he caught the thief and tied him securely until the hour when people were on their way to church, when he drove him to the Presby- terian Meeting-House, under the persuasive influence of a large club, with two sides of bacon tied to his shoulders, taking him to the door of the church he asked the people, there assembled, if they claimed him as one of their members. This was such a humiliating lesson that the thief, upon being released, disappeared and never was seen in the town again." Soon after locating in Springfield, Merrifield Vicory bought ten acres of the land on what afterward became the east end of High Street. He died in March, 1849, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, and was buried with military honors in Greenmount Cemetery.
STORY OF AN OLD DUTCH CHEST
BY C. S. VAN TASSEL.
The ordinary student of the world's history knows more or less of the story of the Spanish Armada — how that majestic maritime wonder of the sixteenth century sailed from Corunna, in July, in the year 1588, in all its splendor and heralded invincibility, intent upon crushing the English Dynasty and changing the map of Europe. Instead of success, however, the great fleet met with almost annihilation, only a bleeding and sadly battered remnant returning to Spain again, after a campaign of some two months' duration.
Of one hundred and thirty-four ships which put to sea so majestically, only fifty-three succeeded in reach- ing home shores. Of the thirty thousand men, the pride of all Spain, who sailed with the Armada, only about ten thousand ever saw their native land again.
And there is entwined with this great world event another story which brings it down through the cen- turies and combines with it a vivid local color; a story of interest to all Ohio, which centers around a promi- nent Toledoan, Mr. Walter J. Sherman.
To go back, even before the disaster to this great Spanish fleet, there was in the Netherlands, during a period of the sixteenth century, an era of expert carving and wood-working. There were, among the Dutch, masters in the art of fashioning elaborate chests and beautiful cabinets, equal in design to those of other
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countries, famed in years gone by for their priceless handiwork.
History also recites that before the time of the Ar- mada, when Spain invaded the land of the Dutch, the Spaniards considered the whole wealth of the Nether-
THE OLD WILLOUGHBY CHEST
This Chest was brought from England, in l()fi2, by Lord Francis Wil- loughby, together with the so-called "Queen Elizabeth" table cloth, the "Queen Anne" table cloth and other treasures of old England.
The chest was in the Raymond family, on Raymonds Hill, near Nor- wich, Connecticut, from 1710 to about 1870. Prior to 1704, it was at Block Island and now (1928), is in the Wadsworth Atheneum, at Hartford, Con- necticut.
lands their lawful prey; that they carried off much precious booty, including art and treasure. And here is where the Sherman family steps into the story with tradition handed down from generation to generation, until it has reached Mr. Sherman. While it is tradition
Story of an Old Dutch Chest 103
only, at some points all the facts harmonize therewith so completely that they verify it as truth.
When the Spanish Armada sailed out of Corunna on its momentous mission, two of the ships carried with them, for the use of their officers, two of the finest of the Dutch chests acquired in this Spanish invasion of the Netherlands. There may have been aboard more of these valuable prizes, no one now knows, but there were at least two of them.
When the great disaster overtook the invaders through the attack of the comparatively insignificant English fleet, aided by the unprecedented storms at sea, the Spanish wrecks were strewn for hundreds of miles along the coasts of England, Scotland, Norway and Ireland. Nearly a hundred ships from the pompous fleet, which had claimed the dominion of the seas, were awash upon the rocky coasts.
These ships, naturally, were salvaged by the English and amongst the valuables saved, were these two Dutch chests, thereafter known as the "Armada Chests." One of these two chests came into the hands of Col. William Willoughby, an official in the British Naval Department, who had command of the Port of Portsmouth, and of whom Walter J. Sherman is a lineal descendant. Colonel Willoughby had been connected with the British Ad- miralty for years, first as Purveyor, then as Colonel of the City of London and finally as Commissioner of the Navy, stationed at Portsmouth. Dismantled and sal- vaged ships and their contents would, therefore, come under his control.
Colonel Willoughby died in 1651. His son. Sir Francis Willoughby, came to America and, 1655-1671,
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was deputy to the Governor of Massachusetts. Upon the death of his mother, 1662, this chest and its family treasure contents fell to Sir Francis. From him the chest passed to his daughter, Susanna, who married Nathaniel Lynde, who took it to Saybrook, Connecticut, about 1683. The daughter, Sarah Lynde Raymond, removed it to Montville, Connecticut, about 1730, and coming down the years, Theodore Raymond transferred it to his residence, at Norwich, Connecticut, about 1860. Finally, it was taken to the Wadsworth Atheneum, at Hartford, Connecticut, by the Curator of Colonial Arts, Mr. William B. Goodwin, about 1924, where it has probably found its last resting place. All these years it has been known as the "Armada Chest."
This priceless antique is six feet, four inches in length, two feet, six and one-half inches high and two feet, three inches w^ide. It is most beautifully carved on the front and on the under side of the Hd with lions courant, stately ladies and gentlemen, turreted castles and spires. The general effect is Dutch.
At the Lambeth Palace, London, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, is the other (or another) Dutch chest which also has always been known as the "Armada Chest." How or when it found lodging in the palace is not known.
The palace is situated near one of the old "hithers" or landing places of the Thames. It came into posses- sion of the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1179. The oldest part of the present building, including the chapel in the Early English Style, was built by Archbishop Boniface — 1244-1270. The Lollard's Tower, in which the Lollards were tortured and the Earl of Essex was
Story of an Old Dutch Chest 105
imprisoned, was built in 1434, and the great hall in 1663. The occupied portion was built in 1828-1848. The adjoining Church of St. Mary's, the oldest part of which dates from the fourteenth century, contains the tombs of several Archbishops, as does the palace chapel.
The chest, located in the library of the palace, was inspected by Professor and Mrs. E. E. Salsbury, in 1885, and is mentioned by them in their book, entitled Family Histories and Genealogies. When Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Sherman were in Europe in the fall of 1927, they also inspected the chest. The curator of the palace called it the "Armada Chest," but the records there throw no light upon when it was added to the palace treasures, and tell nothing of its origin. Unquestion- ably, it is of the same period, and was designed by the same school of Dutch artists or wood-workers as the American-owned chest. The size is nearly the same and it has many characteristics in common with the prize brought over by Sir Francis Willoughby.
Another interesting story is connected with the con- tents of the American-owned chest, brought to Boston in 1662, which have been distributed among various family descendants. Mr. Sherman's allotment was a so-called "Queen Elizabeth Table-Cloth," which he now possesses. The texture of the cloth is of the finest dam- ask, ornamented with the "Tudor Padlock," the arms which belonged to the family of Princess Elizabeth. It was embroidered by her when she was a prisoner at Woodstock Palace and at Hatfield, in 1555. At this time a kinsman and an earlier Sir Francis Willoughby, whom later Elizabeth, as Queen, knighted, was Lord- in- Waiting to the Princess, his sister, Margaret, being
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Lady-in-Waiting. The table-cloth is 53 inches long and 44 inches wide. It was presented by Elizabeth, when Queen, either to this Sir Francis or to his sister. It was handed down through the Willoughbys to Susanne Willoughby Lynde, and ultimately reached Mr. Sher- man in the course of his family's lineal descent.
STORY OF THE FIRST GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF OHIO
1835 - 1842.
BY PAUL WAKELEE STODDARD*
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
The purpose of this paper is conceived to be the story of the First Geological Survey of Ohio, not the findings of the Survey, or the discoveries made. It deals with the rise and fall of popular sentiment, and the corresponding reaction in legislative halls. More- over, this is legislative history — not social; for the lat- ter, although far more valuable, is subtle and elusive. It is difficult to obtain and still more difficult to render accurate. So the essay is confined to the recital of actual events in chronological order, with occasional excursions into the personnel of, the public comment upon, and the results obtained from the Survey.
A bibliographical note is appended.
STORY OF THE FIRST GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF OHIO
''Before closing this communication," wrote the Gov- ernor of Ohio, Robert Lucas, in his annual message to the State Legislature, on December 8, 1835,^ round- ing out one of those mouth-filling paragraphs so com- mon in the American "Age of Oratory," "I am im-
* B. A., Yale University, 1924. Graduate School, Yale University, De- cember 15, 1927.
' Ohio, House Journal, 1835-36, 20.
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pressed with the importance of calling the attention of the General Assembly to the subject of the geology of the State. For want of a correct knowledge of the geology of the State, large sums have been, at various periods, expended in useless searches after coal, iron, salt, gypsum, marble, and various other minerals. It is known that our country abounds in all the minerals above mentioned, with many others of great value. I would therefore respectfully submit the subject to your consideration, and solicit your enquiry into the import- ance of authorizing a general scientific geological survey of the State. Such a survey could not fail to furnish the State with a mass of information of the highest importance. Surveys of this character have been made under the State authorities in some of the Eastern States. Massachusetts has caused such a survey to be made, and has obtained and published under her au- thority, a scientific report of the geology, mineralogy, botany and zoology of that entire State ... I therefore respectfully solicit your enquiry into the expediency and utility of authorizing a general geological survey of the State, by a scientific, practical Geologist, to be employed by the State for that purpose; whose duty it should be to make an accurate and detailed report, to the General Assembly, of his geological and mineralogi- cal observations."
This statement as to the possibility of a geological survey is the first to be found in the official documents of the State of Ohio; yet it is probable that the idea of such an enterprise did not originate entirely with Gov- ernor Lucas, admirably progressive though he was. As his message said, other states, notably Massachusetts
Story of the First Geological Survey in Ohio 109
and New Jersey, had begun extensive movements in this direction. Knowledge of the deposits of the valu- able minerals in Ohio was becoming more widespread in the years after 1830, and the people were beginning to realize and to discuss the heretofore unsuspected wealth which was theirs. The newspapers, too, occa- sionally contained references to geology and to progress elsewhere. In its issue for November 28, 1835, The Buckeye and Cincinnati Mirror, for example, contained a brief news item":
Professor Rogers has been appointed to make a geological survey of New Jersey. A geologist is kept regularly employed in the state of Tennessee, in making examinations into her mineral productions.
And in the same newspaper, some four months after the Governor's message had been delivered, appeared an article, in two parts, written by John Locke, eminent Ohio scientist, later to become a member of the geologi- cal survey. It was entitled Geology,^ and attempted to explain the subject so that the man in the street might read and understand.
Even as far back as 1832, however, the subject had been considered, but not with reference to a survey financed by the State. The Honorable Benjamin Tap- pan, for example, delivered an address before the "His- torical and Philosophical Society of Ohio," on Decem- ber 22, 1832,* in which he urged that organization to commence the work with the expectation that the State might finish it in the years to come:
The Geology of Ohio also remains an unexplored field. . . . The portion of country to be described must be carefully exam-
* The Buckeye and Cincinnati Mirror, V, No. 5, 39. ' Ibid., V, Nos. 14, 16 ; April 30, March 14, 1836.
* Quoted, Ohio, Report of the Select Committee, 15-18.
110 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
ined. . . . We want Geological maps and descriptive memoirs of every county in the State. ... To obtain and disseminate all the facts which may, from time to time, be discovered as to the rich minerals of the State, will probably always be an object of importance to this society.
The professional geologists were also in sympathy with the idea. In March, 1836, there appeared an essay by John L. Riddell, "Adjunct Professor of Chemistry, etc., in Cincinnati College," entitled Remarks on the Geological Features of Ohio, and Some of the Desid- erata Which Might Be Supplied By a Geological Survey of the State.^ In the article. Professor Riddell summed up the knowledge then available of coal, iron, and salt, recorded his own observations, and concluded with these words :
In prosecuting a geological exploration of the State, the qualities of mineral springs should be investigated ; not only on account of their own intrinsic importance, but because they afford unerring indications respecting the nature of the strata through which they pass.
Many tumidi and other lesser monuments of antiquity, are scattered over our territory, which have never yet been noticed. These objects I imagine might very properly be embraced in a geological survey of the State.
Especial cognizance should be taken of the forest trees and otner vegetable productions. The native plants that spring up from a soil often afford sure criteria by which to judge of its quality. . . . They should receive a share of attention.
The matter of a geological survey was promptly taken up in the House of Representatives; later in the same day on which the governor's message was deliv- ered the Journal reads :*^
The House took up the Message of His Excellency, the Governor.
Mr. Creed then moved that so much of the Message as
' Western Monthly Magazine, March, 1836. 'Ohio, House Journal, 1835-36, 146.
Story of the First Geological Survey in Ohio 111
related to a Geological and Mineralogical Survey of the State be referred to a select committee of three members; which was agreed to.
Whereupon, the Speaker announced Messrs. Creed, Gushing and Lyman as said committee.
Nearly two months passed before a report was ready to be presented to the House, but Creed finally read it on Tuesday, February 2, 1836,^ and the Senate was like- wise informed.* According to the report:''
The Gommittee have had the same under consideration and now report : That they readily concur in the views expressed by the Executive, that it is a subject eminently deserving legisla- tive action, and one, if properly investigated, that cannot fail to afford a mass of valuable information. The committee deems it a matter of regret that public attention has not, at an earlier period, been directed to a consideration of the expediency of such a survey.
Six reasons were advanced for the carrying out of
the survey :
( 1 ) It would show the extent of the deposits already known to exist.
(2) It would disclose new localities of minerals now known.
(3) It would show the probability of the existence of other valuable minerals and ores.
(4) It would prevent the useless waste of capital.
(5) It would aid the agricultural interests of the state.
(6) It would diffuse correct information among all classes of citizens.
. Finally, a definite resolution was offered :
Resolved that and be appointed to make out
a Geological and Mineralogical Survey of the State of Ohio, and report the same to the next Legislature.
Appended to the main report, were three short ar- ticles designed to corroborate the statements of the com- mittee. One was by the eminent geologist, Featherston-
' Ohio, House Journal, 1835-36, 574. * Ohio, Senate Journal, 1835-36, 592. 'Ohio, Report of the Select Committee, 1-18 [separate pamphlet].
112 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
haugh, who had previously done work in the vicinity; the second was a treatise on geology by J. A. Lapham; and the third, a lengthy quotation from the address of Hon. Benjamin Tappan, delivered three years previ- ously, to which reference has already been made. Per- haps the paragraphs of greatest interest were these, by Mr. Lapham:
These fossil remains, like the temples of ancient Greece, serve to illustrate the former history of the earth. The geologist is carried back in imagination, to the period, long anterior to the creation of man, when the earth was "without form and void," and when the waters covered the earth ; and he can there study the very animals that inhabited the "great deep" ... He can trace the effects of the flood that afterwards swept over the whole world, and covered the highest mountains ; and can examine the remains of animals that existed before that catastrophe.
In a footnote, he explained:
The opinion here expressed, of the great age of the globe, is adopted by many eminent divines of the present day, and might be shown to agree with the Mosaic account of the creation ; for it is evident that the days there spoken of, were indefinite periods of time, having some definite beginning and ending ; and during which a certain order of things prevailed, different from that which preceded or that which succeeded it.
Legislative processes in Ohio, in 1836, apparently moved no faster than do similar actions today. The bill passed through the usual stages until it was finally passed" and sent to the Senate on March 5, 1836.'^ The Senate received it,^"" but here came the first hin- drance to its passage, for a week later, on March 14, is found the following entry :^^
'" By a vote of 58 to 3. Those who voted in the negative were Arm- strong, Blackburn of Columbiana, and Robbins " Ohio, House Journal, 1835-36, 596, 817, 821. . '■ Ohio, Senate Journal, 1835-36, 871, 880. " Ibid., 977
Story of the First Geological Survey in Ohio 113
Mr. Price, from the select committee [this was the committee of the Senate, consisting of Messrs. Price, James and Sharp, appointed at the same time as that of the House] ^^ . . . reported a resolution appointing Samuel P. Hildreth, of Marietta, John Locke and John S. Riddell, of Cincinnati, and J. A. Lapham, of Columbus, to report to the next Legislature the best method of obtaining a complete Geological Survey of the State, and an estimate of the probable cost of the same ; which was agreed to and ordered to the House of Representatives for concurrence.
On the same day this resolution was passed by the House," and, becoming law, ended the question of a geological survey during the session of 1835-1836. It was evidently thought that too hasty action, without knowledge of the proper procedure, might prove to be simply a waste of state money.
When the Legislature convened in the fall of 1836, the geological survey again claimed its share of atten- tion'° in the message of Governor Lucas, who, a week later, was to retire in favor of Joseph \^ance.^' He urged the prosecution of the survey, and emphasized the great benefit to be derived therefrom. In a document appended," he conveyed to the Legislature a joint reso- lution of the Legislature of Indiana, together with a communication from the Governor, to ascertain upon what terms Ohio and Kentucky would join in the enter- prise with Indiana. So far as can be found in the Jour- nals of the Legislature, no action upon this communica- tion was taken. In another document, of which six hundred copies were ordered printed for distribution for a variety of purposes,'^ the Select Committee appointed
" Ohio, Senate Journal, 1835-36, 154.
'' Ohio, House Journal, 1835-36, 928.
"Ohio, State Papers, 1836-37, I, 18.
" Inaugurated December 13, 1836.
" Ohio, State Papers. 1836-37, app. 56.
"Ohio, House Journal, 1836-37, 27, 39; Semte Journal, 22, 23.
Vol. XXXVII-8.
114 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
by the preceding Legislature, on March 14, 1836, ren- dered its report as to the best method of obtaining a geological survey of the State.'*^
The committee had visited in person, said the report, many portions of the State, especially those known to contain considerable quantities of coal, iron, and salt. The information concerning the minerals in such parts of Ohio as the committee found itself unable to investi- gate thoroughly, was largely obtained from "intelligent individuals." The iron ore deposits were described in detail and illustrated by diagrams, the summary con- cluding with a list and description of the furnaces and forges in Scioto and Lawrence Counties. The coal and salt deposits were mentioned, but not in such great de- tail. But the important section of the report deals with the best method of conducting the survey, and its cost.
In the opinion of your Committee, the better mode of con- ducting the survey will be by constituting a Geological Board of three members who should direct the manner of proceeding; employ suitable geologists, etc., with power to draw on the Treasurer, for the deposits annually appropriated for this pur- pose ; or otherwise, the present Board of Public Works might perform this duty, as might be deemed most expedient.
From a correspondence held by the chairman with several distinguished and practical men in geology, your committee is led to believe that the sum of 12,000 dollars, for four years, would cover the cost of a regular scientific survey. It would require the services of one head, or principal geologist, five as- sistant geologists, one draughtsman and one naturalist. Their salaries, traveling expenses, and other incidental charges would amount to nearly this sum. The survey, to be complete and most useful to the community, ought not only to embrace the simple geology, but also the topography, botany, so far as to include a list of the plants found in the State, forest trees, river and land shells, fishes, birds, quadrupeds and reptiles — and last, not least, a regular survey and description of all the rem-
^" Ohio, Report of the Special Committee, 1-18 [Separate pamphlet].
Story of the First Geological Survey in Ohio 115
nants of ancient works, yet spared by the destroyer, within the State. ... It should also be enjoined on the surveyors to col- lect all the remains of art belonging to this race
The report concluded with Dr. Locke's "Analysis of the Lime-stone of Cincinnati and Dayton" ; and a treatise on "The Application of the Hot Blast," by Thomas Clark, M. D.
On the day following that on which the message of the Governor was delivered, a new committee was ap- pointed by the House,"' to consist of Messrs. Hum- phreys, Curry and Perkins; their report, containing the bill in nearly its final form, was presented on Janu- ary 7, 1837." On March 9, Governor Vance presented Professor Riddell's "Report on the Geology of Ohio by Counties," a paper which had been delayed because of the author's removal to Louisiana. ^^ The next day, the bill came up for discussion and seems to have caused a bitter fight upon the floor of the House, chiefly be- cause of the words "per annum" following the appro- priation.^* It was sent back to the committee, to be reported back the next morning. Another argument ensued on March 11, all reference to the traveling ex- penses of ofhcers being stricken out before the bill was ready finally to be voted upon. It was passed by a margin of sixteen votes (41 to 25), practically every member from the counties rich in minerals being re- corded in favor of the bill.'^ The journey through the Senate was uneventful, though various amendments were added and agreed upon by the House. The vote
" Ohio, House Journal, 1836-37, 14.
"^Ibid., 196.
^'Ibid., 628, 629, 633.
"^Ibid., 641.
'^Ibid., 641, 725, 726.
116 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
was taken on March 21, and was far more decisive than in the other house, 28 to 2."*' When the Governor's signature was affixed on March 27, 1837, the bill pro- viding for the First Geological Survey of Ohio became law.
And what were the provisions of the bill ? They were six in number, practically identical with the recom- mendations in the report of the committee the preced- ing December. The various sections provided that:
(i) The State should conduct a Geological and Miner- alogical Survey of Ohio.
(2) The State should employ a geologist and assistants, to be appointed by the Governor.
(3) The geologist should render an annual report on February i, during each year of the Survey.
(4) That the sum of $12,000 should be appropriated.
(5) That a final report should be rendered at the comple- tion of the work ; and
(6) That the specimens obtained during the Survey should be preserved and catalogued. ^^
So the law became effective.
Nine months later, in his annual message to the Legislature, Governor Vance recorded the progress of the Survey:'^
In compliance with the "Act Providing for a Geological Survey of the State of Ohio, and Other Purposes," passed the 27th of March, 1837, I have appointed W. W. Mather, of the State of New York, as principal Geologist, and Drs. Hildreth, Kirtland, and Locke, of Ohio, and Professor Briggs, of New York, as assistants, and Charles Whittlesey, of Ohio, Topograph- ical Surveyor and Draughtsman. Dr. Locke being absent at the time of his appointment, his place was supplied by the appoint- ment of Mr. Foster, who has been in active duty with Professor Briggs in making examinations in the southern portion of the
-"Ohio, Senate Journal, 1836-37, 557, 5G7, 585, 606, 627. Those who voted negative were Arbuckle, of Fayette, Madison, and Greene Counties, and Thompson, of Carroll and Columbiana.
" Laivs of Ohio, XXXV, 84.
^Ohio, State Papers, 1837-38. I. 23.
Story of the First Geological Survey in Ohio 117
State. Owing to a previous engagement, the principal Geologist has been unable to give his whole attention to the subject the past season. He has, however, given direction to the assistant Geologists and made preparation, by the purchase of apparatus, etc., which will enable the corps to prosecute their researches in the next year with vigor and effect. A report of their progress, thus far, will be laid before you at as early a day as possible.
The persons appointed by the Governor were emi- nently qualified for the task before them. William Williams Mather, chief geologist, was a direct de- scendant of Cotton Mather, and a native of Connecticut. He had graduated from West Point with honors in chemistry and mineralogy, and served in the army for eight years. During one of his vacations, he superin- tended a geological survey of Windham County, Con- necticut, and because he liked the work so well, he resigned from the military service to undertake an assistantship in the survey of New York. In later years, he surveyed Kentucky and when the Ohio Survey was finished, became a citizen of Jackson County in that State. At various times he was professor at Wesleyan University, Marietta College, and the University of Ohio, and an editor of repute.
Professor Mather's chief assistant was Samuel P. Hildreth, of Ohio, an intimate friend of Silliman, of Yale. He was a native of Massachusetts, a physician by profession, and a geologist by avocation. Hildreth had been chosen by the Legislature to report upon the project of a survey, and it was this report, of course, that was directly responsible for his appointment to the survey itself a year later. Much of his time was de- voted to antiquities and to his Pioneer History of Ohio. Professor Silliman announced in the American Journal
118 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
of Science and Arts that Professor Hildreth's article on the coal of Ohio, published in that magazine a short time previously, had been "highly commended in the London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine, and an abstract given of its contents." ''^ Dr. Jared P Kirtland and Dr. J. N. Foster were the other tv^^o members of the staff, w^ith no especial duties assigned them. Dr. Kirtland was another New Englander, a native of Con- necticut, and a graduate of Yale. After his removal to Ohio, he was placed in charge of the public schools in Poland, and continued his practice as a physician. As a naturalist, he was self-educated, but his observa- tions of animal and plant life were so acute, and his knowledge so accurate that his conclusions were readily accepted by scientists. His colleague, J. N. Foster, was a lawyer of Zanesville. Dr. Foster had been a pupil of Mather, at Wesleyan, where he developed ability as a naturalist and scientist and commended himself to Mather's attention. After the Ohio Survey was over, he investigated the coal fields of Indiana and Illinois, and the copper regions of Michigan. During the last years of his life, he was much interested in the mound-builders of the Mississippi Valley.
The last two members of the survey corps were Caleb Briggs and Charles Whittlesey. Briggs was also an intimate friend of Mather, a fact which led to his appointment. He was a physician, much interested in chemistry, and a man to whom geology was a matter of absorbing interest. When the survey of Ohio termi- nated, he was engaged to aid in the survey of what is now West Virginia. He purchased, late in life, some
" American Journal of Science and Arts, XXIX, 1 ; XXX, 400.
Story of the First Geological Survey in Ohio 119
valuable mineral lands in Ohio, but before his death returned to his native Massachusetts. Another Con- necticut man in a group composed almost entirely of New Englanders, was Charles Whittlesey, native of the town of Southington. After his graduation from West Point, in 1831, and his subsequent service in the Black Hawk War, he did editorial work for a while on the Cleveland Herald. It was here that his scientific writ- ings began to attract attention, and his appointment as surveyor and draughtsman in the Survey naturally fol- lowed. From 1847 to 1851, he was engaged in the geological survey of the Lake Superior region, and ten years later joined the army as an engineer. Before his death, Whittlesey was elected president of the Ohio Historical Society and pubHshed more than two hundred articles, mostly on scientific subjects. He was also the historian of the Survey. So it can be truly said that when their names are coupled together, the men of the geological corps of Ohio form a distinguished group.
The report referred to in the Governor's message was submitted to the Legislature on January 17, 1838.^° Aside from the geological features, the most important part of the report was perhaps the estimate of expenses for the future, since this was the section destined to cause the most discussion.
If the present organization be continued, as under the existing act, the necessary appropriation for the current year will be
$I2,0OO.
If the suggestion, above-mentioned, for increasing the corps (that is, by adding another permanent assistant, and employing others as occasion arose) be adopted, it will be necessary to increase the appropriation for the current year to $i6,ooo.
If the Topographical Survey of the State be continued, as
"" Ohio, State Papers, 1837-38, XXVI, 1-134.
120 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
at present, no expense above the appropriation mentioned will be incurred ; but if the State be triangulated, for the Topograph- ical Survey, the appropriation for the current year should be $30,000.^^
It was not long before the effect of this report was felt in the Legislature. On February 27, the Committee on Finance in the Senate reported a bill to amend the Geological Act of March 27, 1837.'' Exactly what this bill contained is not known, for it is not recorded in the legislative journals, nor, since it failed to pass, is it recorded in the Lazvs of OJiio. It probably continued the appropriation of the previous year. On March 2, the bill w^as passed by the Senate — 21 to 12. But the House offered an amendment, for which the Senate sub- stituted three others, only two of which were agreed to. When the amended bill was returned to the House, that body placed it on the table, and kept it there until so close to the final adjournment that the Senate requested its return, evidently that the amendment might be re- pealed and the bill "shoved through." This the House declined to do and it remained upon the table. At the last moment, however, it was sent to conference, at which the Senate members proposed that the bill be amended to include an appropriation of $8,000 to con- tinue the work of the Geological Survey. When the majority of members of the committee refused to accede to this proposal, the Senate substituted $5,000. Again this failed of ratification, and the conference committee was obliged to report that they were unable to agree. When this news was received in the Senate, it was voted that the Senate recede from its amendment "by
'' On January 27, 1838, the names and salaries of the Geological Board were read to the 'House. (Journal, 1837-38, 342-345.)
" Ohio, Senate Journal, 1837-38, 509, 530, 538, 705, 741, 763, 765, 767.
Story of the First Geological Survey in Ohio 121
way of rider" ; and that the House be so informed. Be- fore further action could be taken, however, the Legis- lature adjourned sine die, late on the night of March 19, 1838. So it happened that the Geological Survey entered upon its second year with a fund consisting only of the balance of $12,000, left over from the previous season. What were the reasons for this sudden change of heart on the part of legislators, who less than a year before, had voted so enthusiastically in favor of a sur- vey? Of course, there can be little doubt but that the Panic of 1837 had considerable influence upon those who held the purse-strings of the State. But a more serious reason might be deduced from the Resolution of the House of Representatives on March 15, 1838, four days before the final end of the matter, inquiring
Whether any member of the geological corps, in consequence of information derived from examinations they have made, pur- chased either directly or indirectly any land, mineral resources of which have been developed by survey; giving account of amount and location of lands made by themselves and others by their advice.
The fact that a lengthy denial ^^ was made did not altogether lessen apprehension, and may have been a de- ciding factor in the matter of appropriations. At any rate, the combination of politics and lack of finances effectively called a halt to any forward steps in the Ohio survey.
When the next December arrived. Governor Vance made one final attempt to influence the Legislature be- fore his departure from ofiice. In his Annual Message, he reminded his audience that the appropriation for the support of a geological corps had failed at the last ses-
"' Ohio, House Journal, 1837-38, 814-816.
122 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
sion of the Legislature ; but that a portion had been kept on duty by an unexpended balance from the former appropriation. The Survey, he urged, was too impor- tant to be stopped short of its original design.^* On December 6, a new committee was appointed in the House to recommend further action.''^ Before the re- port of this committee was ready, the Second Annual Report of the Geological Survey was presented on De- cember 18. Professor Mather's plea for appropria- tions to carry on the work was in the nature of a hope- less appeal:
There are many places which have come under our examina- tion during the progress of the Survey, where the expenditure of a small sum of money, say from $io to $ioo in each locality, would settle questions of greater or less importance, such as determining the presence of expected valuable minerals, the junctions of rocks, the superposition, amount of dip, and various other points, where natural or artificial facilities, such as ravines, mines, excavations for wells, railroads, etc., did not exist. These questions often involve important economical results to the com- munity, and it is deemed of sufficient moment to induce me to lay the matter before the Legislature, that they may, if they should deem it expedient, place a small additional fund at the disposal of the geologist for application to such purposes.
There are several other sources of contingent expenses that ought to be provided for ; such as rent of laboratory, fuel, apparatus and materials, instruments for the different depart- ments of the survey, boxes and transport for the specimens which are collected in obedience to the requisitions of the law for the Survey, procuring temporary local assistance in the topographical and other departments, and various other items which it is not necessary to mention.
At the last session, the Governor was authorized to expend $i,000 for geological books to go into the State Library for aiding in the Geological Survey, and which ought to be in every public library, but as this amount was expected to be disbursed from
" Ohio, State Papers, 1838-39, 1.
" The committee consisted of Hughes, Smucker, Waddie, Ford, and Patterson. On December 11, Briggs was substituted for Hughes. (Ohio, House Journal, 1838-39, 25, 52.)
Story of the First Geological Surrey in Ohio 123
the appropriation for the Geological Survey, and as that appro- priation was not made, the books have not been procured or ordered, and cannot be until the funds for their purchase shall have been appropriated. . . .
That estimate, viz. : $16,000, if adopted by the Legislature, will be sufficient for the current annual expenses including all the contingencies enumerated.^"
Five thousand copies of the report were ordered printed on December 22, and it was referred to the committee.^' Professor Locke's section of the report was delayed, not being read until the 28th, two days after the committee had filed its report and recom- mendations for a future course of action. ^^
Smucker, of Licking- County, was the chairman of the committee. In its report, the history of the survey was traced from 1835 — Governor Lucas's message — down to the date of the legislative action of 1838. The similar activities in other states, notably Virginia, New York, Massachusetts and Tennessee, were recorded, before the investigators delved into the reasons for con- tinuing the Survey. Much valuable mineral wealth had already been found by accident, they said, and what might not still be discovered with the aid and direction of geology? "Ohio seems to be almost entirely under- laid with minerals," they thought, "and your committee is led to believe that the geological corps, if authorized to continue their operations, would bring to light numer- ous deposits of coal, iron and other valuable minerals now unknown, which would tend to increase emigration to our State — bring among us capitalists and manu- facturers— expedite the sale of the public domain
'" Ohio, State Papers, 1838-39, XXII, 25-26.
'' Ohio, House Journal, 1838-39, 103, 120, 134, 144.
"^ Ibid., Appendix, 8-13.
124 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
within our borders, and consequently extend our list of taxable lands, and largely increase our physical strength, and our fiscal, moral, and intellectual wealth." The continuance of the Survey was recommended, and twelve thousand dollars was thought to be a suitable sum as an appropriation.
In spite of this enthusiastic report, the bill met with considerable difficulty on its way through the two Houses. On February 11, it was taken up in the House, but tabled,^'' after three votes on the question had been taken. On March 8, an attempt was made to insert, as a rider to a bill providing for a new State-house, a pro- vision for six thousand dollars for survey purposes; this, however, did not meet with the favor of the House, and a substitute motion finally prevailed — to provide not over four thousand dollars "for the payment of arrear- ages for services of the geological corps, and for pro- curing" engravings." On March 13, a resolution was passed by the House, which ordered that all the books, papers, instruments, apparatus, and collections of every description whatever, be deposited for safe-keeping with the Ohio Historical Society. Three days later the Sen- ate agreed,^" thus ending all discussion of a survey dur- ing that session. One-third of the appropriation had been granted, but only for the purpose of paying the debts of the geological corps — not for advance em- ployment of the staff.
When the Legislature of 1838-39 failed to pass fur- ther appropriations for the work of the Geological Sur- vey, the death-knell of the enterprise was sounded. Oc-
'" Ohio, House Journal, 1838-39, 428, 429, 681, 682, 740, 797. " Ohio, Senate JoiirnaL 1838-39,. 625.
Story of the First Geological Survey in Ohio 125
casional echoes still were heard, but from that time forth activity practically ceased. In Governor Cor- win's message, in December, 1841, he announced that the specimens procured during the survey were labeled and ready for distribution to literary institutions; then urged the propriety of continuing the Survey, espe- cially in reference to the agricultural interests of the State. *^ The matter was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Manufactures and Commerce, which re- ported February 25, 1842:*'
That however desirable it might be, under different circum- stances, to prosecute to completion the geological survey of the State, the present exigencies of our financial affairs would seem to forbid any appropriation for that purpose at present. In the opinion of your committee, the inquiry should not be how much money can be expended in prosecuting public enterprises, but should rather be limited to the promotion and prosecution of such interests as are indispensable to the welfare of the great body of the people, and without which the public service must be subjected to some serious disadvantage. The geological sur- vey of the State does not, in the opinion of your committee, come within the limits of the latter consideration, and they would, therefore, ask to be discharged from the further consideration of the subject.
As directed by the provisions of the original Geolog- ical Act, Professor Mather, on February 25, 1842, pre- sented to the Legislatiu'e "a catalogue of geological specimens, collected on the late Survey of the State," which was accepted and filed, thus bringing to an offi- cial close the entire matter of the first survey/^
There seem to be three questions w^hich demand an- swers as the first survey draws to a close. What were the results? What were the reasons for the failure?
"Ohio, State Papers, 1841-42, I, 11. *- Ohio, Senate Journal, 1841-42, 467. *' Ohio, Executive Documents, 1841-42, Pt. 2, LXXVI.
126 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
What harm resulted from the inactivity which followed? Considering the first question, it is perhaps not enough to say that the reports were good or that the results were carefully recorded. They gave, instead, promise of enormous future wealth for the State. Consider, for example, this quotation from the first report, with re- gard to the resources of coal in the State:
The working of the coal mines of Ohio, which may be con- sidered inexhaustible, must become one of the most productive branches of industry of the State. From the reconnaissance of the past season, it is estimated that about 12,000 square miles of the State are undoubtedly underlain by coal, and 5,000 by workable beds of this valuable material. In many places, several successive beds of the coal are superimposed one over the other, with sandstone, iron ore, shale and limestone intervening. The coal beds are favorably situated for working, as they are found in the hills and ravines suitable for draining, and without deep shafts and expensive machinery, like those in Europe. It is impossible, with the data as yet ascertained, to estimate the amount of workable beds, but probably a mean thickness of 6 feet of coal capable of exploration over 5,000 square miles, is a moderate estimate. Our citizens are not yet aware of the pros- pective value of coal lands and, it is, perhaps, only by setting forth their practical utility, that they will appreciate the impor- tance of this mineral on their estates.*"*
And in such a manner were iron and the other val- uable products of Ohio listed, together with their prob- able quantities, certainly sufficient to arouse the State to the possible value of the land.
In general, it can be said that the two reports of the Survey contained a mass of well-digested facts. Technical terms and idle speculations were neatly avoided, that "he who runs may read," and be not con- fused. Professor Mather's section of the first report contained a description of the principal formations of
■" Mather, First Annual Report on the Geological Survey of Ohio, 6.
Story of the First Geological Survey in Ohio 127
the State. Among other things, he called attention to the assaults made by Lake Erie on the shore at Cleve- land, and feared that in the course of a century or two, the site of the city would be entirely removed. Dr. Hildreth, first assistant, reported upon the range and extent, as well as the economic value of the "calcareo — silicious deposit." The report of Briggs and Foster em- braced all the economic facts collected on the detailed survey of the southern portion of the State. Among the most interesting details were those respecting the fossil elephant discovered during the course of their investigations. Whittlesey's topographical report was last. He included a description of the ancient "works and remains" in Ohio, namely at Marietta and Ports- mouth, and those in Ross County. "No portion of Ohio," he said, "seems to be destitute of ancient tumuli and embankments; the object and origin of which are still, in a great measure, mysterious and unknown."
The second report was published in the last days of 1838. The Survey had proceeded, it said, but because of the lack of sufficient funds, it had been necessary to dispense with two assistants. Because an impression had gone abroad that no part of the State would benefit from a survey except the coal and iron regions, particu- lar attention was directed to the counties which were not expected to reap any benefits. The result was what might have been surmised; namely, that the development of marl, clay, peat, and limestone was adapted to many useful purposes, such as for lime, building stone, and marble. Among the subjects covered in the report were brick manufacture, the rise and fall of Lake Erie, varia- tion of the magnetic needle, mineral springs, and salt-
128 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
wells. The geology of the State was taken up by coun- ties, with dozens of diagrams contributing their ex- planations. The conclusion of the report was in the form of a list of barometrical observations for determining altitude. But quite aside from these details, interesting though they may be, the emphasis upon iron and coal was continued; indeed, it was accentuated to such a degree that today there are few people who would not say that the discontinuance of the Geological Survey of Ohio was an action dictated by gross short-sightedness.
What were the reasons for its failure? They seem to have been three in number, that most commonly given being the Panic of 1837. J. S. Newberry, in a brief historical sketch prefaced to the Report of the Second Survey, in 1869, said that:
In consequence of the financial panic of 1837, and the paralysis of business that followed, it was considered necessary to diminish, in every possible way, the public expenditure, and, accordingly, the Legislature of 1838-39, made no appropria- tion. . . .■^^
Two other possible causes for failure have been listed, however, by less official sources. G. P. Merrill, in his First Hundred Years of American Geology, says :*'
The survey lasted two years, seeming to have fallen through on account of local jealousies. Mather showed here, as in his later work on the New York Survey, a singular lack of dis- crimination as to the comparative value of the different subjects with which he had to deal.
This hint of fault in tne personnel has appeared before in the Resolution of the House concerning a
*'' Ohio, Second Geological Snrz'cy of Ohio, Columbus, 1870, 5. ■"' Merrill, G. P., Fhsf Hundred Years of American Geology, New Haven, 1921, 71.
Story of the First Geological Survey in Oliio 129
possible misuse of information by the geologist and his assistants. Professor Silliman, however, gave still an- other reason as the chief cause of the Survey's suspen- sion:
By a letter from Columbus, we regret to learn that the Survey is just suspended, and party grounds are assigned as the cause ! On such a subject, there should be but one party ! The noble State of Ohio must and will vindicate her honor and her interest by resuming and finishing this great work so ably begun, and carried forward with so much spirit and success ! *'
And it has been noticed before, how rivalry between counties and jealousy in matters of local interest were apparent in the voting on the various bills. Certainly, other reasons than the Panic of 1837 played a prominent part in the discontinuance of the Survey.
What harm was done by the resulting inactivity? The development of the mineral resources of the State was greatly retarded and diverted from public into pri- vate hands. There can be very little doubt that for private investigations of territory supposed to contain minerals, and for analyses of coal and iron, far more money was paid than would have sufficed to complete the public Survey of 1837-38. All the information thus gained, was, however, monopolized by those who paid for it, and instead of enlightening the landholder as to the abundance and value of the minerals his land con- tained, it more often served the purposes of the specu- lator, guiding his purchases and placing the farmer quite at his mercy. The benefits derived from the first year of the Survey undoubtedly brought to light the fact that it was not a consumer, but a producer ; and that it added far more than it took from the public treasury.
"American Journal of Science and Arts, 1838, XXXIV, 198. Vol. XXXVII— 9.
130 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
What few reports there were, served to arrest the use- less expenditure of money in the search for minerals outside of their actual territories.
One final aspect of the survey question which should be considered here, though it touches upon social his- tory, is the attitude of the scientific man and the attitude of the layman toward it. This idea was suggested by a volume in the Yale Library, formerly in the possession of Professor Benjamin Silliman. It contains a number of the committee reports connected with the Ohio Survey of the " 'Thirties." On the title-page of Dr. Hildreth's report on the best method of obtaining the survey, are two inscriptions. The first is in Hildreth's handwriting: "To B. Silliman, M. D., New Haven, Connecticut — with the respects of his friend S. P. Hildreth." Just below is recorded Silliman's response: ''Read Mar. 8 and a notice framed up for the Am. Jour'l." If Pro- fessor Silliman was interested in such a report, others might well be, also. But little else was found, since only one newspaper printed in Ohio in those years was available, and there were almost no scientific journals of any repute which had been started by 1837, with the exception, of course, of Professor Silliman's own, The American Journal of Science and Arts. It was neces- sary, therefore, to gain all the information from these two sources, but it is very probably true that the ideas contained in the newspaper were representative of the trend of thought among the laymen, while the magazine gave a typical opinion of the professional geologists.
In The Buckeye and Cincinnati Mirror, then, in De- cember, 1835, appeared this news-item:
Story of the First Geological Survey in Ohio 131
The Legislature of Ohio convened at Columbus on the 7th instant. The annual message of the Governor was read on the eighth. It is a plain, sensible and interesting document. ... He concludes his very full and interesting message, by urging upon the attention of the General Assembly, the propriety and impor- tance of an early Geological Survey of the State.*^
In the same issue appeared a communication on the subject, signed "D. B." :
The proposition for a Geological and Mineralogical Survey of the State of Ohio, under legislative sanction, is gaining favor. It is understood that the subject will be brought before the General Assembly at an early period in the present session. The beneficial results that would follow a scientific reconnaissance of our State are so numerous, and so obviously important to every class of citizens that it is not to be supposed any objections will be lodged against the measure. A knowledge of the existence and localities of the various mineral bodies, such as iron, coal, salt, gypsum, slate, clay, sand and the various substances which are found in the earth, and necessary or useful in the arts which minister to the comforts and luxuries of life, is a matter of the first importance.
Connected with the proposed survey, there should be an examination of the mineral springs, the medicinal plants, and the forest trees, especially the latter, so far, at least, as they are useful in the mechanic arts. . . . And it should be made the duty of the individual who may be selected to perform this important work, to survey and to describe, both by words and drawings, the ancient mounds and fortifications of a bygone period, which are scattered over the State. . . . How appro- priate that a scientific survey of that soil should be made to embrace them ! We earnestly urge it upon those who may bring the proposed survey before the Legislature of Ohio, not to neglect these singular relics of ancient days.*^
The editor commented as follows :
It is an important subject, and we are glad our friend "B. D." has determined to keep it in view.^°
The final mention of the subject was the following
editorial :
■" The Buckeye and Cincinnati Mirror, V, No. 8., p. 62. *'Ibid., p. 60. '"Ibid., p. 54.
132 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Geological Survey — "In the Alarch number of the Western Monthly Magazine, among other interesting articles, is one by r. L. Riddell, M. D., on the Geological Features of Ohio. In this paper many important advantages which would probably result to the State from a geological survey are pointed out with much clearness and ability. The propriety of appointing a suitable person for the purpose of making such a survey, has been agi- tated at Columbus during the present session of the Legislature ; and it is to be regretted that no such appointment has been made. In many sections of Ohio, there are indications of the existence of various mineral substances — of salt, coal, lead, iron, etc., which demand attention. Certainly, if the Legislature had restricted the sphere of its operations to the limits of our own State, the people of whom it is representative could have derived quite as much benefit from its wisdom. The fact, that our soil embowels minerals of immense importance to our prosperity, is, in our opinion, a sufficient reason why the survey should be ordered." ''^
Since it is probable that all editorials in The Ameri- can Journal of Science and Arts were written by Pro- fessor Silliman himself, they bore the stamp of author- ity. The chief reference is the notice referred to on the title-page in question, written after the receipt of the first Hildreth report:
This report is the result of reconnaissance of the State of Ohio, under the direction of Dr. Hildreth, whose eminent quali- fications for the discharge of this duty have been often made apparent in the pages of this Journal. The prevailing argument with popular legislators, namely that of utility, in the sense of pecuniary advantage, is fully sustained in this preliminary report. Immense quantities of coal, of iron ore, of limestone, of gypsum, clay, sandstone, marl, and salt are found in Ohio, and in situa- tions exceedingly accessible and favorable for transportation. All this has been abundantly proved by Dr. Hildreth in previous volumes of this Jourjial; but it was necessary to review the subject, and to exhibit it in a lucid and popular form to the Legislature and the public. This has been ably done in the report now under consideration — and it is not to be pre- .■3umed that the local government will permit this most important enterprise to fail, or to remain in an unfinished state, especially
^'' The Buckeye and Cincinnati Mirror, V, No. 8, p. 63.
Story of the First Geological Survey in Ohio 133
in the hands of gentlemen of competent knowledge, talent and zeal.^-
Shortly after the appearance of this editorial, came a note concerning Dr. Hildreth's continued ill-health, making it necessary for him to withdraw from the field:
Ohio is etninently a vast region of organic remains and even its human antiquities arrest the attention of the geologist as well as of the antiquary. Both states are in the course of survey by very able men, but we are extremely sorry to see that Dr. Hil- dreth, who worked early and almost alone, who worked hard, and who worked well, has withdrawn from the Survey, and we are still more sorry to observe that ill-health is the cause ; for his country's sake and his own, may he soon be well again ! ^^
And finally, in the issue of July, 1838, appeared a review of the First Geological Report, detailing with much exactness, the discoveries of the survey/* Cer- tainly the work of the geological corps lacked no support either in the popular newspapers or in the scientific journals.
The story of the efforts during the next thirty years to secure another geological survey is a story of earnest endeavor and blasted hopes. The report of the Board of Agriculture, in 1851, again emphasized the benefit that such a survey would be to agriculture. New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Maryland were cited as examples of states where great good had resulted. In 1854, a select committee reported to the House of Repre- sentatives th{ Scott Bill, which provided for a new Geological Survey of Ohio;^^ but nothing came of it. Following another recommendation by the Board of Agriculture, in 1855, a similar committee the next year
^^ American Journal of Science and Arts, XXXII, 190.
''Ibid., 198.
^Ihid., XXXIV, 347-364.
°' Ohio, House Journal, 1853-54, app., 831-340.
134 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
reported back the Thompson Bill,''" with similar results. In 1857 and 1858, other reports of the Board of Agri- culture carried identical pleas, and Governor Salmon P. Chase, in his message of January, 1857, also suggested a resumption of the Geological Survey." When he found that nothing had been done. Governor William Dennison, Jr., repeated the suggestion in 1860, and Gen- eral Garfield was appointed chairman of the committee. It was not until 1868, however, that anything definite took place; in that year Governor Rutherford B. Hayes aroused public opinion to such an extent that the de- mand for a second survey became insistent and the bill which established it was adopted in 1869. The Survey was prosecuted with vigor and the results were far- reaching and wide-spread. It is almost true to say, in fact, that this was the first real survey of Ohio, and that the previous one, of 1837-38, was merely a geological reconnaissance.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Since this essay is largely legislative history, of course the most important source of information has been the Legislative Journals of the State of Ohio. The House Journals of 1835-36, 1836-37, 1837-38, 1838-39, 1841-42, 1853-54 and 1856-57 were utilized as well as the Senate Journals of 1835-36, 1836-37. 1838-39 and 1841-42. The official State Papers (later called Executive Documents) of 1836-37, 1837-38, 1838-39, 1841-42 and 1857 also proved valuable. A few separate pamphlets, such as the Report of the Select Committee (1835-36), and the Report of the Special Committee (1836-37), were discovered and quota- tions therefrom used. The Laws of Ohio, XXXV, contained the Geological Act of 1837.
"" Ohio, House Journal, 1856-57, 100.
" Ohio, Executive Documents, 1857, I, 9.
Story of the First Geological Survey in Ohio 135
Among the other books which contained useful reference material were Hasse's Economic Material in the Documents of the States, Ohio, II; Ohio, Second Geological Survey, Columbus, 1869; G. P. Merrill's The First Hundred Years of American Geology, New Haven, 1924; and, for the biographical informa- tion, Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, New York, 1900.
In the periodical and newspaper field, the most essential publication used was The American Journal of Science and Arts, New Haven, 1836-37-38; but two others, both important, were The Western Monthly Magazine, 1836, and The Buckeye and Cincinnati Mirror, Cincinnati, 1835-36-37.
OHIO'S TALLEST BUILDING
THE A. I. U. CITADEL, AT COLUMBUS.
The first object to impress the visitor to Columbus is the A. I. U. Citadel, or to be more explicit, the Citadel of the American Insurance Union. It rises in its white majesty high above all other buildings. In the night- time, the beacon, blazing from its summit, is easily mis- taken by the traveler, at a distance, for a celestial body — a star of the first magnitude.
This beautiful and imposing structure was built in three years by a force of 650 men. It is 555 feet and 6 inches tall and 188 feet square at its base. It is slightly taller than the Washington Monument and 74 feet 6 inches taller than the Great Pyramid of Khufu, in Egypt. This towering structure was designed by C. Howard Crane, of Detroit, and his plans were executed by Roger J. Waring, resident architectural superin- tendent. John Gill & Sons, of Cleveland, were the build- ers, and J. L. Dombrosky the superintendent of con- struction. It includes more than 600 office rooms, a number of storerooms, 600 rooms of the Deshler- Wallick Hotel and a theatre with a seating capacity of 4000.
Artistic features from classic mythology and groups symbolical of the protective mission of insurance crown and ornament this beautiful building.
"The Citadel is America's first aerial lighthouse and the beacons serve a two-fold purpose." From the sky
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A. I. U. CITADEL (137)
138 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
they may be seen at a distance of eighty or ninety miles, and will guide aviators who fly by night. They serve, also, as a warning to airmen passing over the city.
This building was dedicated September 21, 1927, with imposing ceremonies. The theatre was crowded to its capacity. Distinguished visitors from a distance were present. By airplane came Hon. James J. Davis, United States Secretary of Labor, from Pittsburgh, on the morning of the previous day. The representatives of many fraternal insurance organizations were present. United States Senator Simeon D. Fess was on the pro- gram and delivered an address, as did also Hon. James J. Davis, of the President's Cabinet.
Hon. John J. Lentz, President of the American In- surance Union, and the man to whom the Citadel owes its inception and completion, presented this building "to the City of Columbus; to the State of Ohio; and to the Nation."
Mayor James J. Thomas, of Columbus, made a brief speech in accepting for the city.
Albert Bushnell Hart, Professor Emeritus of Gov- ernment at Harvard University, a historian of inter- national reputation, made an impressive address, in the course of which he set forth the significance of the word "Citadel" as follows:
That word "Citadel" has a peculiar significance as the archi- tectural culmination of a great humanitarian institution. In the old days of strong fortifications such cities as Nuremberg, Chester and Quebec were defended, first of all, by a surrounding wall, the foundations of which were protected by a moat. Within that wall was added, as a second line of defense, a Citadel, such as the lordly castle still standing inside the wall of that famous fortress, Carcassonne, in southern France. There the garrison could make a second stand and wear the enemy out by an enduring hold on that inner line of endurance.
Ohio's Tallest Building 139
The name of Citadel is especially appropriate as a watch- word of a great life insurance company ; for millions of families in the United States protect themselves, from the "terror by night and the destruction that wasteth at noonday," through this defensive institution.
Doubtless that is the reason why John Lentz and the Board of the American Insurance Union gave to this magnificent build- ing its fitting name of "The Citadel." In our complex modern civilization, with its vast opportunities of accumulating money, counter-balanced apparently by equally extensive and alluring ways of losing money, the wise family erects various solid forti- fications against those dreadful foes, poverty and helplessness. At one point of danger they erect a savings-bank deposit. An alarming crack in the masonry is made solid by a Liberty Bond ; but when all else is gone there still remains, unassailed within their walls, a rampart of security — the solemn obligation of a great life insurance company to safeguard and defend the wel- fare of the stricken family.
A group of architectural decadents in our time misspend their time in decrying the modern lofty building as crude, as tasteless, as outside the canons of classic form. Towers ? Spires ? Skyscrapers? What else were the Pyramids of Egypt, the Tower of Babel, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Coliseum at Rome, the cloud-piercing spires of Cologne and Chartres and York and the magnificent domed churches of St. Peter in Rome, and St. Paul in London? In all ages civilized men have loved to approach the stars with the work of their hands.
Look at that gem-encrusted bell tower of Giotto, in Florence, the porcelain Pagoda of Nanking, the great masonry upheaval called St. Alban's Cathedral, and the soaring Eiffel Tower, in Paris. Do they not all speak the aspiration of men to reach the skies? Our Citadel today carries our spirits upward beyond the level of our daily selves and thoughts and aspirations. . . .
The purpose of a Citadel is never to overpower, but to protect. A Citadel is built for defense ; it cannot send forth armies, cannot bombard distant cities. It is a refuge for the weak ; it is a holdfast ; it is a key to the situation ; it is the acme of self-defense against danger and destruction.
Perhaps it was as a Governor of Mooseheart that John J. Lentz learned to believe in Napoleon's maxim which is so com- pletely applicable to this great Citadel : "What is possible is already done ; what is impossible must be done." It is that power to envisage the future, that promise of things hoped for, that evidence of things not seen ; that has made him such a power
Ohio's Tallest Building 141
in the world, that has placed him among the group of great direc- tors of corporations in the United States, that has made possible this prodigious evidence of the power of mind over matter.
Yet John Lentz is not a lone statue on the apex of a monu- mental building. We have found him a team-worker, a man who can share responsibility with other people, broad in counsel, strong in action, with illimitable confidence in the future. He can dream dreams and then make them come true.
In the elaborate and beautiful folio brochure, which carries a full description of the building and the pro- g-ram of ceremonies attending the dedication, is found the following poem by Mrs. Marie W. Vandegrift, Na- tional Editor of the American Insurance Union.
The Citadel.
0 Citadel!
1 could not love thee more
E'en had mine own hands carved thy grace;
Unless my eager finger-tips
Had fashioned each immortal face
Of every figure which adorns thee ;
Thy sculptured bronze by my own hand
Been chiselled deep ;
The tow'ring steel of thy design
Been summoned by some thought of mine';
The flame-baked clay for thy great form
Been softly tinted, rich and warm.
Beneath my fervid eyes ;
That glorious beauty as you rise
Into the clouds
Been pre-ordained by my instruction;
Unless each sign of imagery,
Each miracle of symmetry.
Been from my ardent labor,
I could not love thee more !
And yet,
If thy great purpose shall succeed
As minister to those in need ;
If thou shalt reign in majesty
As monarch of security ;
If thy great portals shall reveal
A shrine of endless love and zeal.
142 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
A sacred place, where those who dwell
Within thy walls, O Citadel !
Shall toil, with hearts compassionate.
To nurture truth and banish hate ;
Where each reveres the holy call
Of service unto one and all ;
Where childhood's right to liberty
From ignorance and poverty
Shall be upheld ; where grief
Shall be dispelled by thy relief ;
Where all shall pray that wars may cease,
And all shall work for world-wide peace,
American ideals unfurled,
And love enthroned in all the world,
Then will I love thee more indeed !
The following ode, written by Charles H. Orr, was sung to the air of our national hymn on the morning of the dedication :
Ode to the Citadel.
Oh, beauteous tower on thee Our eyes rest lovingly. We sing thy praise. Thou art our city's pride, Thy fame on every side Shall travel far and wide Through endless days.
Long may thy shaft on high
Upraised unto the sky
Our hearts elate.
To use of mankind all,
Each proud and stately hall,
Each steel-bound granite wall,
We dedicate.
Each man must have his day, All here will pass away. But thou wilt stand ; Sunkist at break of day, Catching the sun's last ray; Breasting the storm at play; Forever grand.
Note — The American Insurance Union Magazine, of October, 1927, is elaborately illustrated and fully devoted to the dedicatory ceremonies.
NATIONAL OLD TRAILS ROAD IN OHIO
The Old Trails Chapter, Daughters of the American Colonists, Columbus, Ohio, unveiled a bronze tablet on the West Broad Street bridge, in Columbus, on October
— Photo by Nice
UNVEILING OF TABLET
Scene at unveiling of tablet on Broad Street Bridge. Mrs. Lewis C. Laylin and Mayor James J. Thomas, center.
5, 1927. Mrs. W. C. Moore, Regent of the Chapter, pre- sided and Mayor James J. Thomas made introductory- remarks. Mrs. Lewis C. Laylin, of Columbus, State Historian of the Daughters of American Colonists, gave a short history of the road in Ohio, and Mrs. Frank C. Martin, State Regent, unveiled the tablet, which was
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144 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
accepted by Judge John King, on behalf of the city, and by H. E. Barthman, chairman of the Board of County Commissioners of Frankhn County, on behalf of the county. October 5, being the 102nd anniversary of the locating of the road by surveyors in Columbus, was chosen as the date for the ceremony. A luncheon by the Chapter at the Neil House, the old stage-coach tav- ern, preceded the ceremony.
On the occasion Mrs. Laylin spoke as follows:
On the 5th of October, 1825, Jonathan Knight, engaged in locating the road from Zanesville westward, arrived in Columbus at the head of a corps of engineers, among whom was Joseph E. Johnston, afterward one of the most distinguished generals of the Confederate Army. The Ohio State Journal of that date announced that "Knight would return to Zanesville and divide the line he had located into half-mile sections, and make esti- mates of the probable cost of construction." The line was prac- tically a straight one, going about seven miles south of Newark and 14 miles north of Lancaster, and it was mostly level except in the hilly country near Zanesville.
During the summer of 1826, Engineers Knight and Weaver, with their assistants, completed the permanent location of the road as far as Zanesville and made a preliminary survey of the line from Columbus west to Indianapolis. As to this part of the road, the Ohio State Journal says, "The adopted route leaves Columbus at Broad Street and crosses the Scioto River at the end of that street on the new wooden bridge erected in 1826. Thence it passes through the village of Franklinton and across the low grounds to the bluff which is surmounted at a depression formed by a ravine at a point nearly in the prolongation of Broad Street. Thence by a small angle to the bluffs of Darby Creek and thence by nearly a straight line through Deer Creek barrens, across that stream to the dividing grounds between the Scioto and Miami Rivers, and thence down the valley to Beaver Creek.''
The criticisms that arose in the choice of routes through Licking and Franklin Counties caused considerable delay in the progress of the w^ork and seem to have assumed a political aspect, hi September, 1827, Mr. James Kilbourne, then a candi- date for Congress, announced that "as to the location of the National Road from Zanesville to Columbus, he was decidedly in favor of the straight and direct route through the town of
National Old Trails Road in Ohio
145
Hebron." Efforts were made to have the General Assembly declare its preference for rival routes, but they failed. The controversy being settled, the Hebron route was chosen, and in July, 1830, the superintendent of construction gave notice that he would receive bids in Columbus for grubbing, cleaning and grading that part of the National Road from Columbus to Big Darbv, a distance of twelve miles, and for constructing the
—Photo by Nice
BRONZE TABLET ON BROAD STREET BRIDGE
bridges, culverts and other necessary masonry for the above space, also the same for 26 sections of one mile each east of Columbus extending to the Ohio Canal." Fourteen miles of the road westward from Columbus were put under contract about the same time, the first three miles to be graveled.
An act of Congress, passed June 24, 1834, appropriated $200,000 for continuing the road through Ohio, and the same amount for Indiana and Illinois. This Act further provided that, as soon as completed, the finished portions of the road
Vol. XXXVII— 10.
146 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
should be surrendered to state control and make no further claim upon the United States Treasury. The total length of the road in Ohio was 320 miles, but that portion between Springfield and Indianapolis was uncompleted when it was surrendered to the State.
". . . The National Road, when completed, appeared like a white riband, meandering over the green hills and valleys. It was surfaced with broken limestone, which, when compacted by the pressure of heavy wagons, became smooth as a floor and, after a rain, almost as clean. Wagons, stages, pedestrians, and vast droves of cattle, sheep, horses and hogs crowded it con- stantly, all pressing eagerly by the great arterial thoroughfare — for there were no railways then — to the markets of the East. Westwardly, on foot and in wagons, traveled an interminable caravan of emigrants or 'movers,' as they were commonly called, whose gypsy fires illuminated at night the roadside woods and meadows. For the heavy transportation, both east and west, huge covered wagons were used, built with massive axles and broad tires, and usually drawn by from four to six, and some- times eight horses. The teamsters who conducted these 'moun- tain ships,' as they were known in the Alleghanies, were a peculiar class of men, rough, hearty, whiskered and sunburned, fond of grog, voluble in their stories of adventure and shockingly pro- fane. Their horses were sturdy roadsters, well-fed, shod and curried, and heavily harnessed as became the enormous burdens they had to draw. When on duty, each of the animals in the larger teams bore upon its hames a chime of from three to six small bells, which jingled musically and no doubt cheered the sweating toilers at their task, while the groaning wain rolled slowly but steadily up hill and down. . . .
The road was frequented by traders, hucksters, peddlers, traveling musicians, small show-men, sharpers, tramps, beggars, and odd characters, some of whom made periodical pilgrimages and were familiar to the wayside dwellers from Columbus to Cumberland."*
To Columbus, as to many otner towns and cities along the line, the opening of this great thoroughfare was an event of great importance and a commercial revolution. To this splendid enter- prise and to the statesmen who conceived it, Ohio and her capital owe an incalculable debt both material and moral. The National Road flourished until the railway era dawned and then began its decay. On April 6, 1876, the General Assembly passed an act surrendering the road to the care of the counties, and on Octo-
* Lee, Alfred E., ^History of the City of Columbus, Vol. I, p. 327.
National Old Trails Road in Ohio 147
ber 23 of the same year, the city of Columbus assumed the care and control of it within its corporate limits.
The Ohio National Stage Company operated hundreds of stages on the western division of the road with headquarters in Columbus. Mr. William Neil was one of the magnates of this company and the old "Neil House/' named for him, was its Columbus headquarters. The "Four-Mile House," west of Co- lumbus, near Camp Chase of Civil War fame, was built on this road later in the century. Mr. Frank C. Martin, of Columbus, was born in this house.
"The first tavern built in Columbus was opened in 1813, and in 1816 it bore the sign 'The Lion and the Eagle.' After 181 7, it was known as the 'Globe.' The 'Columbus Inn' and the 'White Horse Tavern' were other early Columbus hostelries. 'Pike's Tavern' was opened in 1822 and the 'Golden Lamb' in 1825. The Neil House was opened in the 'twenties' — and was the best-known early tavern in the old coaching days in Ohio." *
The time required to go from Washington to Columbus was 45^ hours and the fare seven dollars. The traveler will notice still the mile-posts that mark the great road's successive steps. Those on the eastern portion of the road are of iron, while those on the west are mostly of sandstone and the markings on them are still quite legible.
* Hulbert, A. B., Historic Highways, Vol. X, p. 163.
RAILROAD DISCUSSION NOT FORBIDDEN BY LANCASTER SCHOOL BOARD
FACTS AND FICTION RELATING TO A WELL WORN STORY.
On September 13, 1927, appeared a news article of considerable length m the Lancaster Daily Eagle, rela- tive to the story that is semi-occasionall}^ the subject of inquiries addressed to the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society. We are under obligation to Judge Van A. Snider, of Lancaster, Ohio, for the clipping from which we quote liberally.
The news story opens as follows :
For a half a century or more there has appeared in the public prints a paragraph which somewhat reflects upon the intel- ligence of the citizens of Lancaster and which has been clipped out by former residents of Fairfield County and sent to the Eagle. They came from the far and near, from the golden shores of the Pacific States, from the middle west and from all the states bordering on the broad Atlantic.
We have printed it, oh, a score of times and denied its authenticity, but still it is printed and the latest to take it up was the Liberty Magazine, whose editor comments upon it edi- torially. It has to do with the use of a schoolroom for a public debate as to whether or not railroads were practical. The reso- lution that was supposed to have been passed by the Lancaster School Board reads as follows :
You are welcome to use the schoolroom to debate all proper questions in, but such things as railroads and telegraphs are impossibilities and rank infidelity. There is nothing in the Word of God about them. If God had designed that His intelligent creatures should travel at the frightful rate of fifteen miles an hour by steam He would have foretold it through His holy prophets. It is a device of Satan to lead immortal souls down to hell.
The best explanation to the above was written some years ago by Will Scott, a former Lancasterian and a son of Dr. Hervey Scott, who many years ago wrote a history of Lancaster and Fairfield County.
At this point the story, as published in Dr. Scott's
history, in 1877, is here reproduced in full as follows:
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Railroad Discussion Not Forbidden by Board
149
A PROPHECY. The following prophetic venture, and its literal fulfillment, will exhibit pretty correctly the onward course of things in the
VAN A. SNIDER
Major of Infantry in World War. Judge of Probate and Juvenile Courts, Fairfield County, Lancaster, Ohio.
Western country within the last fifty years. But not of the Western country alone — of the world.
150 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
In the winter of 1827, the compiler of this volume was the Secretary of a debating school in one of the Western counties of Ohio. We held our meetings in the little brick schoolhouse of the village. The building stood a little out to one side, and near the Methodist Meeting-house.
The railroad idea was just beginning to incubate in the East, and the heresy had got on the wings of the winds — merest inklings of it, and had been wafted to the brains of even some chimerists of the "Far- West." A Yankee had been through the country exhibiting a miniature locomotive on wires stretched across the room, and charging a quarter for the sight. The thing was pronounced a Yankee trick by the conservative element of the community. Three-fourths of the people were conserva- tive then ; in fact, radicalism scarcely dared show its face.
We had a Captain Brown among us. He was voted a visionary — a castle builder. It has since appeared that he was one who let his mind run off in all directions ; a man who did not believe that things were finished, or that the acme of knowledge and the ultimatum of invention had been reached.
At one of the meetings he made a speech — a railroad speech. He said the time was coming, and not far off, when railroads would be laid all over the West, and that people would yet travel fifteen miles an hour by steam. He said there would some day be a railroad from Cleveland to Cincinnati, and it would pass not far from that spot.
The meeting was largely attended that night, including ladies and many of the older and staid citizens.
A couple of days subsequently I received the following note, signed by a dozen of the solid men of the neighborhood, with a request that it should be read at the next debating school :
You are welcome to the use of the school-house to debate all proper questions, but such things as railroads are impossibilities, and are impious, and will not be allowed.
I read the note, and the railroad idea was squelched. Captain Brown did not live to see his prophecy fulfilled, but the railroad station now is within three hundred yards of where the school- house was then.
It will be noted that the date, 1827, which usually goes with the reputed opposition to the discussion of railroads and telegraphs, appears in Dr. Hervey Scott's history. We continue the quotation from the Lancaster Eagle:
Railroad Discussion Not Forbidden by Board 151
Will Scott is now connected with the Hearst paper, in Detroit. We asked him to reproduce the article and this is what he says in a letter to his nephew, Dr. Bay Scott, of Lan- caster :
Detroit, Mich., August 14, 1927. Dear Bay Scott:
Re Mr. Ed Wetzler's interest in the old story which has been floating around for nearly 100 years and dealing with the action of an alleged Lancaster, Ohio, School Board in forbidding the use of the schoolhouse for the discussion of railroads and telegraphs, I submit the following narrative.
I have written the story several times in the last five years — the first time for the Eagle. The others were published in the Detroit Times and other Hearst papers.
In the first place, no Lancaster School Board was concerned in the note forbidding the use of the schoolhouse. This error arose from the fact that the story was originally published in a Lancaster newspaper and while the publication was before my birth and I therefore did not see it, I am of the opinion that its author, my father, was not so careless as to omit in his story the actual location of the schoolhouse in another county and definitely identify the particular school board concerned.
Years later, I heard him frequently talk and laugh about the incident and he showed me the original note from the school authorities, which he most carefully preserved. There were three signatures to the note, including the name of his own father.
The facts were as follows : My father was born in Clark County, Ohio, in 1809. The town of South Charleston is located exactly on the old farm or settlement owned and operated by my grandfather. Ohio was at that time little more than a wilder- ness. I have heard my father talk often of the Indians and wild animals which shared the region, the entire state perhaps, with the white people who had drifted into it and settled there. In 183 1, my father then at the age of 22, was engaged to teach school to the few young people who lived close enough to reach a long, one-room log schoolhouse and which had oiled paper in lieu of window glass for the admission of light from the outside. It was the custom of the young men and women of the locality to assemble at the schoolhouse at intervals and just talk about am-thing that interested them. Upon one of these occasions, a stranger arrived on horseback, there being of course no railroads and not even wagon roads, which made horseback the only means of travel, except on foot. Being attracted by the gathering at the schoolhouse, the stranger, whose name has never
152 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
been connected with the story because it was perhaps not learned during his few hours' sojourn in the neighborhood and was of no consequence anyhow, tied his horse to a tree and entered the schoolhouse. He sat there hstening to the various young people who had something to say and his presence was of course noted — also the fact that he was a stranger and totally unknown. Some sort of interview developed the fact that he had been riding west from the Atlantic seaboard for many weeks and was headed for no particular place — just traveling in quest of some locality that might prove attractive to him. In these modern days such a gen- tleman would be referred to as a "Boomer."
The interview also disclosed that this visitor might possibly be able to make an interesting talk to those young folks who never had been away from the locality or read any newspapers — if there were any. He was invited to make them a talk and in the course of his remarks, he informed them that he had, a short time before leaving New York, witnessed the demonstration of a "wagon with fire in it and built out of iron." The wagon, as he described it, had flanged wheels and was mounted on long lines of wooden girders. The wagon was so constructed that steam was created and held in "boxes" and according to the mechanism of the "wagon" this steam moved a rod backward and forward, The rod was attached to wheels so that the steam which governed the "rod" made the wheels turn around and with such power that the wagon moved at the rate of 15 miles an hour and drew behind it other wagons also equipped with flanged wheels to hold them on the rails or wooden girders. The said wagon had just been built by somebody who had an idea it was a practical means of moving, various articles from one locality to another. I imagine his description was crude enough but also thorough enough to arouse the curiosity of his audience, who continued their discus- sion of it at their homes and in this manner the older people learned of the incident and talked it over among themselves.
The older and more conservative members of the community were not favorably impressed with the story of the traveling stranger and proceeded to register their opposition to continued discussion of the subject he brought into the community. Mr. Will Scott's letter continues as follows :
I have always held the idea that their action in forbidding
the use of the schoolhouse further to listen to such trashy talk,
Railroad Discussion Not Forbidden by Board 153
was based upon the well-known human trait of character which manifests itself in people of considerable age, resisting as best they can, the ideas of younger people along lines which the older ones know nothing about. At any rate, the fiercely denunciatory note, containing the most positive command to prevent any more such disgraceful incidents in the schoolhouse, followed.
That appears to be all there is to the story. It was, however, in Clark County, and not in Lancaster, that the incident was created. I will connect Lancaster with it a little further on. The Encyclopedia Britannica contains the information that the first steam engine built in this country, was produced at a machine shop called the "West Point," in the city of New York, in the year 183 1, by a man whose name I have forgotten. This engine was demonstrated by its builder and was doubtless the one seen by the traveler who told the Clark County "kids" about it. The encyclopedia states that this engine was at once put into practical use, but exploded after a short service and DeWitt Clinton immediately built a duplicate of it, with some improve- ments of his own and in the same shop. This latter engine is still in existence and I have seen it many times.
Now for the responsibility which a Lancaster School Board has had to assume for the action which has in later years, appeared so humorous.
My father was, at the time he served as school-teacher, studying medicine and very soon thereafter he entered the Cin- cinnati College of Medicine from which he graduated, and soon after located in Lancaster. He had been greatly impressed with the life of the wilderness as he had seen it, the habits, customs and character of the settlers and, as he saw advancement in his new environment, he believed that written accounts of the earlier days would be interesting. He seems to have acquired, or in- herited from his mother, a very highly educated young woman of English extraction, a considerable amount of literary talent. As long as he lived he continued to write his pioneer sketches which were widely published in many localities. Having built up a more or less successful practice in Lancaster and having, as a possible necessary consequence, become possessed of "some" money, he purchased the Lancaster Gazette, at some date shortly prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, and my oldest brother, Hervey Scott, together with Billy Kooken and Lang Sutphen, was the working staff of the paper, my father and brother, Hervey, acting as editors.
While publishing the Gazette, let me say from perhaps 1858 to 1861, he published this dictum from the school board incorpo- rated in one of his pioneer narratives. At the outbreak of the
154 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
war, my brother, Hervey, enlisted as a private and served throughout the entire conflict. I remember his arrival home, although less than three years old myself, at the time. My father had sold the paper, to whom I am not certain, but believe it was Mr. Griswold. Now, then, because the story was printed in a Lancaster newspaper, and because subsequent developments began to give it an amusing and humorous character, the "odium" was forever fastened upon a Lancaster School Board. The story is still current and even Arthur Brisbane used it in his internationally famous "Today" stuff within recent months.
Going back to the cause of ail the trouble, the "Boomer" traveler on horseback, among his remarks, was a prediction that some, who then listened to him, would live to see in actual and practical operation, the curious contrivance he was trying to describe. It was not very long after that time that a railroad was built through Clark County, which as far back as I can remember, was the "Little Miami" section of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and its South Charleston depot stands upon the identical spot previously occupied by the log schoolhouse in which the traveler from the east broke the news. This information came personally from my father.
WILL SCOTT.
2325 Cass Avenue, Detroit, Mich.
It will be noted that Dr. Hervey Scott does not state where the address of this traveler from the East was delivered. The designation is *'one of the western coun- ties of Ohio." The inference very naturally was that it occurred in Lancaster, or at least in Fairfield County, inasmuch as the prophecy was published in Dr. Scott's History of Fairfield County, Ohio.
The fact that "telegraphs" are usually included in the resolution purporting to have been adopted by the Lancaster School Board in 1827, is strong evidence that such resolution was never passed by the Lancaster or any other Ohio school board in that year. "Telegraphs" were not dreamed of at that time — at least in the west- ern wilderness. The fully purported resolution, quoted at the beginning of this newspaper story, doubtless
Railroad Discussion Not Forbidden by Board 155
seems to evidence an infusion of reportorial imagination after the electric telegraph was invented by Morse.
From C. M. L. Wiseman's Pioneer Period and Pioneer People of Fairfield County, Ohio, pages 278- 279, published in 1901, we learn that "Alexander Wells (son of William Wells, one of the founders of Wells- ville, Ohio) was a prominent man of Wellsville and the local historian." It was he, who in an address, applied Dr. H. Scott's schoolhouse anecdote to Lancaster instead of South Charleston, Clark County. The story evidently received "embellishments" as it was reprinted in almost every state of the Union.
DEDICATION OF BRONZE TABLETS TO MAJOR JOHN MILLS AND TECUMSEH
FRAZER E. WILSON.
Early in the spring of 1927, the Greenville Historical Society, through the services of the Piqua Granite Com- pany, transported to Greenville two large granite bould- ers to be used as historical markers. The first was about four and one-half feet square and is shown in the illustration accompanying this article. It was found along the Nashville Road, about four miles west of Greenville, and was erected on a deep concrete founda- tion, near the site of Tecumseh's home, on the north side of the Winchester Pike, a few hundred feet west of the Mud Creek bridge, and within the present limits of the city of Greenville, Ohio. The other boulder is about three feet square, and was transported from a field near the Nineveh U. B. Church, about six miles southeast of Greenville, and placed on a lot at the south- east corner of West Third and Chestnut Streets, to mark the site of the burial-ground of the soldiers of Wayne's Legion, who died during the occupancy of Fort Green- ville, from the fall of 1793 to the time of the abandon- ment of the Fort, in 1796. Although comparatively small in size, this boulder has a raised diagonal band running across its face and makes a very artistic and appropriate marker.
Since Major John Mills, the adjutant general in Wayne's Legion, died at Fort Greenville, in July, 1796,
(156)
Tablets to Major John Mills and Tecitmsch 157
it is presumed that his remains were also buried on this site — just outside of the southwest bastion of the Fort and overlooking the beautiful prairie to the west and south. Major Mills had also rendered distinguished services in the Revolutionary War, and the Fort Green- ville Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revo-
Monument and Tablet Dedicated to Major John Mills, Greenville, Ohio.
lution asked for the privilege of furnishing the tablet for this marker, which was dedicated to the Major and the brave officers and privates buried on the site. The tablet is inscribed as follows:
In Memory of
MAJOR JOHN MILLS
A soldier of the Revolution
and Adjutant General
in Wayne's Legion.
And the brave officers and soldiers
Who died during the occupancy of
Fort GreeneVille
1793 - 1796 Placed by Fort Greenville Chapter, D. A. R.
158 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
A public-spirited nurseryman, Mr. E. M. Buechly, who lives near Greenville, was granted the privilege of furnishing the tablet for the Tecumseh Memorial. This tablet is eighteen by twenty-four inches in size and bears the following inscription, which, as also the Mills tablet inscription, was drafted by Frazer E. Wilson, for many years secretary of the Greenville Historical Society:
|
HH^L ''.A...! ^^.^flll |
Kl^f^ |
|
I^^BB^BB^p^ M'I^^^mI ^'S |
Hi |
|
^»?*^* /4^^ |
|
|
IH^^^M |
TECUMSEH MEMORIAL AT GREENVILLE, OHIO
In Memory of
TECUMSEH
The Noted Shawnee Chief
and his brother
TENSKWATAWA
"The Prophet"
who lived on this site
1806 - 1808
Tablet donated by E. M. Buechly. •
Both of these beautiful and appropriate memorials were unveiled on the afternoon of Sunday, October 2, 1927, with the programs which follow.
Tablets to Major John Mills and Tecumseh 159
The services at the Mills Memorial were in charge of the Fort Greenville Chapter, D. A. R., and were pre- sided over by Rev. J. P. MacLean, president of the Greenville Historical Society.
PROGRAM.
Invocation Rev. L. D. Utts, Rector of the Episcopal Church
Patriotic Song Brief Historical
Address. .Frazer E. Wilson, Mayor of the City of Greenville
Presentation of Memorial Mrs. Aurelia Rosser
Oration of the Day Hon. D. L. Gaskill
Song
The spectators and participants then proceeded about five blocks to the site of the Tecumseh Memorial, where was rendered the following
PROGRAM.
Patriotic Song
Sketch of Tecumseh and "The Prophet" Frazer E. Wilson
Presentation of Tablet E. M. Buechly (the donor)
Acceptance George A. Katzenberger
Address L, V. MacWhorter, North Yakima, Washington
Address "Strongheart," of the Yakima Indian Nation
Benediction Rev. O. O. Arnold, Pastor of the U. B. Church
The weather on the afternoon of the dedication was pleasant and the affair was considered a decided success by both organizations participating. Greenville now has three appropriate historical markers within its limits — the first being a boulder and tablet memorial placed on West Main Street, near the Public Square, in 1906, to commemorate the signing of the Treaty, under the
160 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
auspices of the local Historical Society. This Society also secured a plot of ground, on the site of old Fort Jefferson, built in 1791, by General St. Clair, about five miles south of Greenville, and erected thereon a broken- boulder memorial, with tablet attached, in 1907. This monument is now in charge of the Neave Township Trustees, since it adjoins the Township House Ground. Early in 1927, the Greenville Historical Society pur- chased about three and one-third acres of land adjoining this site, including a rifle-pit and spring used by the soldiers occupying the Fort. This tract will also prob- ably be improved in the near future and incorporated with the original plat. As there is a large tract of land adjoining this, immediately on the southwest, which has been worked over by the Greenville Gravel Company for many years, and which contains two small lakes, it is hoped that the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society will recommend that the State Legislature ap- propriate funds for the securing of this, and also per- mitting it to be set aside as a State Park in the near future.
LUCAS SULLIVANT TABLET DEDICATED
On Saturday, December 9, 1927, the Franklin County Pioneer Association, founded in 1866, met in the south- west room of the Franklinton Public School Building, for the purpose of unveiling, and presenting to the city, a bronze tablet marking the home of Lucas Sullivant,
— Photo by Nice
TABLET MARKING SITE OF HOME OF LUCAS SULLIVANT
founder of Franklinton.
The house that Lucas Sullivant built (or a part of
it) is nov^ incorporated in the larger buildings of the
House of the Good Shepherd, and it was by the gracious
permission of the lovely Superior of that order. Mother
Mary of St. Agnes (since deceased) that the Pioneer
(161) Vol. XXXVII— 11.
162 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Association was enabled to place the tablet on the outer wall of the convent, on the southwest corner of Broad and Sandusky Streets.
A complimentary audience gathered to attend the exercises, and an interesting program was carried out.
The presentation was made to the city of Columbus by Mr. Frank Tallmadge, chairman of the Executive Committee, and an originator and prime mover of this undertaking. In a speech to Mayor James J. Thomas, he stressed the desirability of teaching local history to the rising generation.
The principal feature of the afternoon was the de- livery of an address by Mr. Andrew Denny Rodgers, III, great-great-grandson of Lucas Sullivant. Mr. Rodgers has not only read many books, but has made careful examination of all available court records bearing on his subject, as well as of deeds and other documents, making trips for that purpose to Chillicothe, Circleville and Springfield. Indeed, he has left no stone unturned to authenticate every statement he has made.
LUCAS SULLIVANT AND THE FOUNDING OF COLUMBUS
BY ANDREW DENNY RODGERS, III.
The American and French Revolutions over and the new Constitution in operation, the government of the fifteen United States, in the latter part of the 1780's, turned its attention to the development and cultivation of the almost unknown country to the west of the Alleg-hanies. The "winning- of the west" pre- sented an immense test of national strength. For the task was not an easy one. No national bank, no postal system, no rail- road, canal or turnpike could be utilized, for the very good reason that none were in existence. And merely a population of less than four million persons, residing "almost wholly on the Atlantic Coast," could assist in this undertaking!
By a simple resolution of the Continental Congress all
Lucas Sullivant Tablet Dedicated 163
territorial lands had been declared of the national domain. But the territories were comparatively uninhabited. In New York but few people had pierced the far west of the Mohawk Valley, although some pioneers had gone as far as Lake Ontario and the rivers tributary thereto. In Pennsylvania, "settlers had pressed westward more or less thickly to the lower elevations of the Alleghanies and beyond, in the Pittsburgh regions, although what is now West Virginia had only squatters here and there." In northern Kentucky, along the Ohio River, lay several settle- ments— yet the combined population of West Virginia and Kentucky aggregated less than one-half of the present popula- tion of Columbus.
Virginians had "betaken themselves southwestward to the head of the Tennessee River." However, in the course of these migrations, the tales of John Finley regarding another land had become current — a land "watered by magnificent streams, garbed in luxurious herbage, splendidly timbered, abounding in all sorts of game" but spotted with beautiful "extensive plains." Daniel Boone had written, "nature is here in a series of wonder and a fund of delight." This was Kentucky, a vast country in which, while replete with natural beauty, no man's life was safe, "owing to the revolution in the east and the constant Indian warfare."
Contrasting this situation with the comfortable plantation life of Virginia, with its superabundance of slaves, its rare cul- ture and tradition, the wealth of opportunities within its imme- diate state borders, its amusement-loving people, sheltered by a good government of law and order, one has difficulty in discov- ering any other reasons for leaving this delightful country than a spirited desire to achieve the original or an unquenchable thirst for adventure.
Nevertheless, in the early '8o's from Mecklenburg County, Virginia, came Lucas Sullivant. a young man, having adopted the occupation of surveyor, following the example of George W^ashington, and rejecting the further care of a good tobacco farm, the balance of a large plantation to which had been at- tached many slaves. Lucas' grandfather had been an early resi- dent of North Carolina, holding a government appointment in that colony. His mother, Hannah Lucas, is said to have been "a self-reliant character" who "herself gave to her sons the rudi- ments of their education." His father, however, was "of a social disposition, careless and rather dissipated." Both parents dying before he attained his majority, Lucas was left to buffet the world alone. "Notwithstanding," we are told, his "energy, industry and good character secured him good friends and considerate
164 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
advisers, among whom was Colonel William Starling," who later became his father-in-law.
Col. Starling later moved to Kentucky. Whether he per- suaded Lucas that there were better opportunities in "the West," or whether Lucas hoped to reproduce his exciting experiences as a member of an expedition against the Indians near Augusta, we do not know, but suffice it to say he came to Kentucky to continue his activity as a surveyor, accumulating enough capital there to buy a home at Washington.
While satisfying the bounties of unappropriated lands within a part of the A'irginia commonwealth (now Tennessee and Ken- tucky) surveying became a most estimable profession. These bounties had been offered by the State to her officers and soldiers of the Continental and State Lines to induce enlistment during the Revolution. The surveyors were made responsible for their allotment. The system called for the appointment by the "gov- ernor with advice of council of surveyors to be nominated, examined and commissioned for the purpose of surveying and apportioning" the lands. With the aid and under the direction of superintendents appointed by the officers, to whom "power to choose the best land" was extended, the surveyors proceeded to survey in proportions fixed according to the rank of the soldier. And, after the survey, the portions of each rank were numbered. Whereupon, the officers and soldiers drew lots for the numbers, which were then located at their expense as soon as they and the surveyors thought "proper."
But with the opening of the land "northwest of the Ohio River" by the great Ordinance of 1787, another Land Office was opened near the Falls of the Ohio (at present near Louis- ville), under Colonel Richard C. Anderson, father of Governor Anderson, of Ohio, and of Major Anderson, the "gallant de- fender" of Fort Sumter in the Civil War. This territory, claimed by the French and British successively, had been ceded definitely to the United States by the two Treaties of Paris. Virginia had claimed a large portion of it as her "County of Botetourt" and later as her "County of Illinois" and had made unsuccessful attempts to establish small settlements and a government there. Up to the time of the Ordinance, Congress, fearful of Indian unrest and more concerned with the developments along the Atlantic coast and abroad, did not encourage emigration to these lands. The Indian "Council of the Confederates" had sent Con- gress a very polite remonstrance reminding that body that the whites had not obtained the Indian title and begged that "your surveyors and other people" should not be allowed "on our side
Lucas Sullivant Tablet Dedicated 165
of the river." So lives in this territory were not as safe as in Kentucky. It was to be expected that except for a few settlers along the Ohio, some despondent French ones in the north around the Alaumee, a few traders in Indian villages and the inhabitants of a few Moravian missionary settlements in the east, no white person dwelt within the territory.
Besides Virginia, several of the original states claimed por- tions of this undeveloped land. As far back as 1779, the Conti- nental Congress had requested them to cede these claims to the United States for the "common benefit of union." Virginia, in an eminently national spirit, within a few years, executed her famous Deed of Cession, relinquishing her claim to the territory ; but fortunately for herself, conditioned the grant that if certain lands upon the Cumberland River and between the Green River and Tennessee River should be insufficient to pay her military land bounties, "the deficiency should be made up in good lands between the rivers Scioto and Little Miami." Thus the United States government became a great trustee of this land for the Virginia officers and soldiers of the Continental Line.
Settlers began to venture across the Ohio. The Ordinance, it was thought, sealed civil and religious liberty. "For the first time in history, a great empire was dedicated to freedom and public education."
Marietta, named for Marie Antoinette, was established in 1788 near Fort Harmar, at the mouth of the Muskingum River, by an "Ohio Land Company" composed of forty-eight Massachu- setts people who came by "hoof, wheel and keel." This company owned a million and a half acres and had been, through the efforts of Rev. Manasseh Cutler, largely instrumental in procuring the passage of the Ordinance and the provision against slavery within the territory.* In the same year, opposite the mouth of the Licking River where the great Indian trail crossed the Ohio, Losantiville, of which Fort Washington was a part, and North Bend were settled by thirty members of a company of New Jersey people, owning several millions of acres between the Ohio and the Miami Rivers. Today these settlements are combined to make up, in part, Cincinnati. Manchester, Gallipolis, Hamilton and Dayton, in order named, had their origins by settlements along streams, the highway of the pioneer.
Theoretically, civil liberty may have been guaranteed by the Ordinance, but certainly, actual safety was not to be realized for
* The Ordinance of 1787 was written by Nathan Dane, who was chiefly instrumental in its enactment. See Galbreath, C. B., "The Ordinance of 1787, its Origin and Authorship," in the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications, XXXIII, pp. 111-175.
166 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
some time. Up to the War of 1812, these two forts were the only ones in the central and southern portions of what is now Ohio, afforded the protection of federal troops. For this reason the growth of the first decade was slow — the population of the entire territory, up to 1798, not exceeding 5000 persons.
Here, again, the surveyor was to precede civilization. The agents of the officers and soldiers of Virginia reported to Con- gress that there was an "unexpected" deficiency of good land on the "southeasterly side of the River Ohio" to satisfy the Vir- ginia bounties. Complying with the condition of the Virginia Grant, Congress passed an act creating the "Virginia Military District, containing 4,209,800 acres of land, the largest reserva- tion or grant in Ohio and embracing the very richest of her agricultural lands." The act further authorized the agents of the officers and soldiers of the Continental Line to make "loca- tions, surveys and allotments," but required, however, that "the bounds of each location and survey" be entered in a book kept for that purpose, annexing thereto the name of the party orig- inally entided to the entry and survey. This provision for names in the entries constituted the only essential difference between the surveying method used on the land southeast of the Ohio River and that to be used in the Virginia Military District — Virginia, having prescribed for both districts the faulty and most con- fusing "indiscriminate location plan," or "Crazy Quilt Plan," as it has been called, as opposed to the even, intelligent "rectangular plan" to be used later on the east side of the Scioto.
Lucas Sullivant must have become a proficient surveyor while in Kentucky. Whether he engaged in land location while there, we do not know. If he did, it is possible that he came to this vicinity as early as 1787, for within two weeks after the opening of Col. Anderson's office, in which Lucas was a deputy surveyor, entries were made on Darby Creek land and on the west iDank of the Scioto River where Columbus is now situated. Whether the date of the entry is the date the entry was actually made on the land or the date on which it was copied into the records of the principal surveyor, we cannot ascertain; and whether the entry was made by physical entrance upon the land or by allotment at the principal surveyor's office, is slightly prob- lematical. Since the entry served as the basis of title for the owner of the military warrant, vesting in him an equitable title of inheritance which merged with the legal title only when the patent was issued ; and since the law required that the entry descriptive bounds be sufficiently precise and notorious to include a locative object, e.g., a tree near a spring, in vicinity of some
Lucas Sullivant Tablet Dedicated 167
notorious natural object, e.g., a spring, the entry was of such importance that it must have been made by locators, either mounted or on foot upon the land and copied into the books upon their return to the principal surveyor's office. Should one entry overlap another, the entry was withdrawn and the war- rantee or his agent, second in point of time, had to seek out other lands.
We do not know who these agents or locators were. Ohio courts, however, have clung to a presumption that "the entry and survey were made by the same person or under the same authority." If this presumption be fact, four of the deputy surveyors of the Virginia Military District, Nathaniel Massie, John Beasley, Lucas Sullivant and John O'Bannon may have entered in or near this land, fraught with more dangers than any other section of the country, as early as August 8, 1787.
Be that as it may, over eight years elapsed before these locators were to come or return as surveyors to the territory which the west side of our city covers. In 1795, Lucas Sullivant, accompanied by James Kent and Edward Walden, as chain car- riers, and Abram Shepard, as marker, made, among others, survey numbers 497, 513 and 515 on Darby Creek. The Indians becom- ing hostile, he returned to Kentucky. There, into Lucas' hand, among others, fell a warrant issued to "Richard Stephenson, heir at law of Colonel Hugh Stephenson." He immediately "set on foot" an inquiry "to find the owner of the warrant." Discovering that Richard Stephenson had died before attaining his majority, and being advised that he left certain brothers and sisters then living in Kentucky, Lucas Sullivant, on April 14, 1796, negotiated an agreement with persons purporting to be the rightful heirs, whereby he agreed to finance the surveying expedition to locate new lands, and they agreed to convey to him one-half of what he surveyed as a consideration for his services.
Whether Lucas selected the land near the supposed head- waters of the Scioto for this new entry because of Daniel Boone's description that this valley was "exceedingly fertile" and "re- markable for fine springs and streams of waters," must be left to conjecture. Undoubtedly he was influenced by the achieve- ments of Nathaniel Massie, the greatest of Virginia Military District surveyors, and his party, including Col. John McDonald, his personal friend and biographer, and Duncan McArthur, later a prominent surveyor and one of Ohio's early governors. This party had, on April first, laid out the borough of Chillicothe and were planning a surveying expedition of a chain of entries made in- 1787, up the river to and including the land north of and to
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the east of what is now Guilford Avenue, in Columbus, for one Robert Vance. John Trabue and others. Their expedition was completed in October of 1796. Replying to the question whether or not Mr. SuUivant thought at this time that an entry made on the land west of the present Guilford Avenue, of this city, was so centrally located that it might eventually become a part of the capital of a state not yet formed, our answer must be in the negative, for state lines were not yet established and the Northwest Territory was a vast region extending as far west as Wisconsin. At any rate, upon this land he made entry for Richard Stephenson in June, 1796.
Concerning his route from Kentucky, we can only guess. He may have come up the Scioto with or following Massie ; up the Little Miami or Deer Creek where John O'Banion had been surveying; or he may have followed an "old hunting road from the Kentucky country to ChilHcothe past a remarkable Indian encamping ground" and then cut his way through the wilderness to this vicinity. "Zane's Trace," a route from Limestone or Maysville, Kentucky, through Chillicothe, Lancaster and Wheel- ing, afterward to become "the prime factor in Ohio's develop- ment," had been ordered cut. Ebenezer Zane, however, did not open this until 1797. In Gen. Beatty's address before the Frank- linton Centennial in 1897, he said that not until 1798 did Capt. Joseph Hunter, the first settler of Fairfield County, pass over it.
The fact is that practically no other white men had ever been over this ground prior to the Massie and SuUivant expedi- tions. La Salle, the French explorer, may have dipped down in or near this portion of the state to the Ohio River, Christopher Gist, an agent of "The Ohio Company," had come in 1750 to what is now Coshocton, passed the pool, later to become "Buckeye Lake," on to Lancaster, and proceeded southward. On good authority, however, it is said that he "visited Logstown, passed over the Muskingum River and at a Wyandot village there met Croghan, another famous frontiersman, who accompanied him to the Shawnee village of the Scioto." Several white Indian captives, including Jeremiah Armstrong and perhaps his brother, Robert, Jonathan Alder, James Smith, and possibly Daniel Boone, had been brought or came to or near this country. Six months before the firing of the shot "heard around the world," Col. William Crawford, at the head of an expedition during the "Lord Dunmore War" against the Indians, accomplished an almost complete massacre of a Mingo Indian settlement on the east bank of the Scioto.
Only fifteen years before, the first white girl born in Ohio had been born in an eastern settlement. The reasons for this
Lucas Sullivant Tablet Dedicated 169
dearth of white explorers and inhabitants are obvious. The In- dian hazard was too great, although the Treaty of Greenville, in response to Wayne's victory in the Battle of Fallen Timbers, had reduced the danger. Congress had not encouraged even the "squatters" of the "Northwest." Up to 1795. the meager gov- ernment of the Northwest Territory was not sufficiently strong to pass any laws, let alone enforce them, except the few framed by Governor St. Clair and the territorial judges to rectify par- ticular conditions.
In the face of such conditions, Lucas Sullivant, with his party of 20 men, consisting in part of Joseph Connor, Joseph Lewis, John Ellis, Robert Dixon, James McClure and Edward Walden, as chain carriers, and Samuel Robinson, Andrew Chew, John Flourence and John Hynaman, as markers, all duly ap- pointed and sworn and, if not all, nearly all men who had served in the Revolution or in expeditions against Indians in 1796, be- came the pioneer surveyors of the Darby Creek country and, in part, the pioneers of what is now Franklin County. Other white men who came here, with the possible exceptions of the Indian captives, Jeremiah Armstrong and John Brickie, did not return to settle or their coming was not voluntary.
Within a year after their arrival, the party had surveyed over a dozen tracts of land, comprising over 15.000 acres in Union, Madison and Franklin Counties. In the same year, Moses Cleaveland, kinsman of President Grover Cleveland, with a band of persons, as agents of the Connecticut Land Company, arrived near Conneaut and planted the first crop of wheat sown and reaped by white men in the Western Reserve, bringing the spirit of Yankee expansion and the essence of Puritanism.
The hardships endured by every pioneer command our re- spect and tribute. Perhaps, to them, the adventures compensated for the suffering, yet I can but envy them the "dry breast-meat of the wild turkey, or the lean flesh of the deer," the silver fox and bear they ate ; the abundant variety of bird, small animal and floral life they saw ; the thrill of not knowing exactly what to expect next. I can only applaud, or better, bow my head, when I read of their tribulations ; of wolves as constant visitors. One night, but for a rifle's flash, a huge panther would have jumped from a tree into their unprotected camp. Rattlesnakes found as bed companions; a cold, raw winter; constant danger of Indian attack due to the recent massacre of the Mingoes ; these are but a few of the tales coming down to us of the perils of the Sullivant party.
This party came not as drifters in the tide of immigration about to ensue, nor even to make homes, but to survey. The
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commerce of surveying was not all, however. Mr. Sullivant had long cherished a purpose of founding a town — not a "paper town" where the wealthy owner would remain at his comfortable home in the east as many Ohio towns were founded — nor was the system of tenantry, in vogue in Virginia and translated to the territory by some, to be instituted. He decided to buy the land and personally found a town — for all those who wished to remain upon the low fertile plain of the west bank as well as for those who wished to come ; and as a trading-post for the Wyandot and Mingo Indians who had villages on the west bank near the fork of the rivers, and camps located, 'tis said, near where the Ohio Penitentiary, the Green Lawn Avenue bridge and the City Water- Works are located.
Mr. Sullivant must have been more impressed with the possibilities of land along the Scioto than along Darby Creek. Accordingly after completing a number of surveys along Darby Creek, he decided to purchase land along the Scioto and so procured an assignment from Capt. Robert Vance of his rights in the patent for the land covered by "Survey 1393," which today is bounded by Mound Street on the south, Guilford Avenue on the west and the Scioto River on the east and north. Unfortu- nately, owing to the fact that the law permitted oral assignment of these rights and did not require any specific formalities, we know nothing of the facts of this assignment.
On the land thus acquired, in 1797-98, Lucas Sullivant, after a freshet had interrupted one experiment, "platted a large town with lots extending east and west into the prairies from the glacial drift composing the higher ground," naming it "Franklin- ton," for Benjamin Franklin, perhaps, "the first civilized Ameri- can," who was but recently deceased. Today, the city succeeding that little borough, has so extended that within its corporate limits lies "Survey Number 2668," the land which Mr. Sullivant per- sonally entered and surveyed for "Richard Stephenson, heir at law of Col. Hugh Stephenson."
Other settlements followed shortly. At Darby Creek, a group assembled and a town was later platted by Mr. Sullivant as "North Liberty, situated on the west bank of Darby Creek." Sturdy pioneers soon gathered at the extreme edge of the black forest on the east bank on a site near Alum Creek, and at Ga- hanna.
Land of the Virginia Military District was worth the enor- mous sum of 25 cents to 50 cents per acre. Mr. Sullivant, there- fore, sold his lots at the same price but, encountering difficulty at even this price, it is said, he gave away some lots on what is now known as Gift Street.
Lucas Sullivant Tablet Dedicated 171
The plat of Franklinton is on record at Chillicothe. The two main streets were named for George Washington and Benjamin FrankUn. The four lots at the center of the town, which was at the corner upon which we stand today, were appropriated for public buildings only ... "a state-house or court-house and as a commons." If at first Mr. Sullivant gave away lots, in the deeds which are also recorded at Chillicothe, the early residents were wise enough to state that the consideration for the purchases was $33.33, in some cases five shillings, and in others ten pounds, although, of course, these deeds may not represent the first pur- chases.
Joseph Dixon made the first family settlement in the autumn of 1797. The early purchasers, in order named, according to the records, were James Robinson, William Trimble, John Boyd, John Woolcutt, William Johnson, Noble Crawford, George Skid- more, John Lysle, Adam Hosack (the first postmaster), Robert Armstrong, \\'illiam Domigan, Isaac Claypool, John Mitchell, John Brittle, Joseph Vance (later a captain in the War of 1812 and governor of Ohio), Michael Fisher, Samuel Finley, William Clearey, Andrew Rolston, John Edmiston (Lucas Sullivant's per- sonal physician), Hugh Montgomery, Elijah Chenoweth, William Dunlop, Morris Brown, John Blair, Jacob King, Michael Stroup, William West and William Armstrong. The significant feature of these purchases is that 85 per cent of the purchasers were already residents of Franklinton. Others who came in 1797 were the Dearduffs, the McElvains (Andrew McElvain was the first mailman), Stokes, Ludwig Sells, the Ballentines, Jacob Grubb, William Fleming, Jacob Overdier, Arthur O'Harra (first justice of the peace), Joseph Foos, John Blair, John Dill (asso- ciate justice of court), and James Marshall.
Having already built or contemplating the erection of the first brick house in the section upon the premises of which we are to place this beautiful medallion, Lucas returned to Kentucky and brought back as his bride, Sarah Starling, a direct descendant of Sir \A/illiam Starling, knighted in 1661 and a former lord mayor of London. She bore "the hardships and privations of the period with courage and a cheerful spirit." Though she died of fever contracted while ministering to the sick soldiers of the War of 1812, yet in the short space of time in which she lived in Franklinton, she earned the title of "Lady Bountiful."
While in Kentucky, being informed that he had dealt with the wrong parties, Lucas sought out the rightful legal heir of Richard Stephenson, obtained the patent and completed the purchase of the land from him on Christmas Day of the year
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1800, although he had opened negotiations for this purchase at least a year earher.
Shortly thereafter, some of the Stephenson heirs ques- tioned the title of Lucas SuUivant to these lands. William Creighton, the first secretary of state of Ohio, was employed to defend. The case went to the United States Supreme Court where it was dismissed in favor of Mr. Sullivant. In the course of the case, Charles Lee, acting secretary of state and attorney general of the United States, rendered an opinion in support of SuUivant's counsel.
In 1805 or 1806, Lyne Starling, brother-in-law of Mr. Sulli- vant, came to Franklinton to assist him in his duties as county clerk and county recorder (Franklinton having been made the county seat of the newly-created Franklin County), and to join him in conducting a general store business. Mr. Starling, a bachelor "contemplating marriage," purchased "an elegant seat and tract of land opposite the town" on the "High Bank" of the river, where now is located the down-town district of Columbus. His title, too, was questioned in 1820. He employed Henry Clay as counsel but the latter was forced to resign to become secretary of state of the United States. Starling's victory was the occasion of a full town celebration, "full" being used in more than one sense.
In the meantime, Ohio had been swept into statehood, largely through "the urgent political necessities of the Jefifersonian De- mocracy." The popularity of Gov. St. Clair, a Federalist, with all the Federalist ideas of entrusting nothing to the people, had worked a popular distrust of him. He had "locked horns" too many times with the Territorial Legislature. So, in spite of the amusing argument of the Federalists that the Territorial Gov- ernment had cost only $5,000 a year and State Government would cost $15,000, Ohio was organized as the seventeenth State, with Chillicothe as the capital. The exact time when the "Buckeye State" was admitted into the Union must remain a subject for legal and historical argument. Its status as a state of the United States was established no later than "March of 1803."
Ohio faced a complex situation. There were people from Connecticut in the northeastern portion ; from New Jersey in the southwestern ; from Massachusetts in the southeastern ; Scotch-Irish and Germans, from Pennsylvania tO' the east of the Scioto and in the southwestern part of the State ; and Cavalier Virginians west of the Scioto — all of pronounced and different ideas and principles. The Virginians of Chillicothe, opponents of St. Clair, had won heavilv in the Constitutional Convention
Lucas SiilUvant Tablet Dedicated 173
of 1802. All power was given to the Legislature ; very little to the executive; the judiciary was made elective — is it too much to say, that here was the first complete political democracy in history? The doctrine of the "Rights of Man" with govern- ment by consent, rather than by coercion of the governed, had prevailed against the advocate of paternalistic government !
Lucas Sullivant, fortunately, had remained out of state politics. He assisted materially, however, in the election to the State Senate of Gen. Joseph Foos, who had been the first hotel keeper and ferry owner of the village. Lyne Starling and he had already dreamed that the capital would be brought to Frank- linton. The letters of Lyne Starling and the plat of the village of Franklinton are proof of this. When the legislative committee for the selection of the state capital, meeting at Franklinton with instructions to locate the seat of government not "more than 40 miles from the common center of the state," reported in favor of Dublin, and against Franklinton, a syndicate, with the guidance and financial assistance of Lucas Sullivant, of owners of the land on the east bank of the river, "sufficiently elevated" to protect it from floods (which was the objection to Mr. Sullivant's town), was organized. The proposition of this syndicate was accepted, largely through the influence of Senator Joseph Foos. Thus, "Columbus," so named by Mr. Foos, was born as the "perma- nent seat of government of the state" — a city born a capital ! Lots "traced out through a dense forest," and covering 1200 acres surveyed on the "rectangular plan," were sold on the same day as the declaration of the War of 181 2, but, owing to the fact that but poor mail service if any, was in existence, word of the declaration was not received. Construction of the first state capital building and the first penitentiary, on West Mound Street, under the direction of the Legislature's agent, Mr. Joel Wright, was soon begun.
The War of 1812 retarded the growth of Columbus but it was the "glorious" period of Franklinton, since the government headquarters for this section, under Gen. William Henry Har- rison, was established there. Franklinton grew to so great a population as 200. Lucas Sullivant had supervised the construc- tion of a court-house (on the present site of this school building), had built the county jail at a cost of $80, assisted in the erection of a schoolhouse, had built, at his own expense, the first old brick meeting-house in which his wife might worship God, and signed, as trustee, the call to Rev. Dr. Hoge, an able missionary, who early came to the region "in company with the supreme judges who were about to open the first term of the Supreme Court ever held in Franklin County." But still "the roads at all seasons
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were nearly impassable ; there was not in the county a chair for every two inhabitants, nor a knife and fork for every four." Travel was mainly upon the Scioto upon which Mr. SuUivant maintained boats. Social life must have been a great deal like the life of western towns "in the days of '49." The tavern business was most profitable, three being needed to supply the little village's wants. Once the whole vicinity turned out for a great "squirrel hunt." There was much hunting and fishing. But wolves and bears prohibited going far away merely for pleasure. Not until 181 2, did a newspaper spring into existence. The National Road was not completed as far west as Colum- bus until 1830. No free school system provided education. It was not until 181 3 that Lucas Sullivant built across the Scioto the first bridge within the compass of a hundred miles and later induced the government to run the National Road out what is now West Broad Street. The war revived the Indian peril to such a degree that a stockade had to be built around the court- house, and to this came people from all the surrounding vicinity. During the war, however, at a large assembly in the grounds of Lucas Sullivant, Tarhe, "the Crane," the chief sachem for the Wyandot tribe, met with General Harrison and professed in the name of friendly tribes, the "most indissoluble attachment to the American government and a determination to adhere to the terms of the Treaty of Greenville." The war ended, Frank- linton declined, its only activity, 'tis said, being "the tilling of Mr. SuUivant's rich prairie lands."
Columbus, on the contrary, rose rapidly. The first bank in this vicinity, with Lucas Sullivant as principal stockholder and president, later merged with the present First National Bank, and went to Columbus rather than to Franklinton. Franklinton's fate seemed sealed, but the settlement successfully avoided being incorporated into Columbus until 1862. Mr. Sullivant, however, did not live to see the county-seat transferred. Throughout his life, it remained an unincorporated village, never having a mayor, marshal or board of councilmen.
Lyne Starling, by special act of the Legislature, was author- ized to proceed with the settlement of Lucas SuUivant's large estate. His greatest bequests were his sons : William, who became the greatest bryologist of his time; Michael, who in Illinois, administered, Harper's Weekly has said, "the largest and most enterprising farm in the United States" ; and Joseph, whom Dr. T. C. Mendenhall, a member of the first faculty of the Ohio State University, has said, was responsible more than any other one person for the broad development of the Ohio State University and the Columbus public schools.
Lucas Sullivant Tablet Dedicated 175
One of Lucas Sullivant's last expressed wishes was that he might return lOO years from that time "as he felt sure he would see steam wagons running over his lands at fifteen miles an hour." Joseph Sullivant, writing later in his invaluable biography of his father, jubilantly says that he has stood on the same spot and seen the steam wagons with their huge trains rushing across the bottoms at a rate of speed of more than 20 miles an hour. This is but one feature of the unusual development of our city and a reflection of human progress generally. Today 75 passenger- trains enter Columbus daily, each capable of attaining a rate of speed of more than 70 miles an hour. The recent construction of one railway line into Columbus cost $14,000,000 or $200,000 per mile.
Had there been no Lucas Sullivant, no Lyne Starling would have come to this section. Had there been no Lucas Sullivant, there would have been no Franklinton. WHiile much credit must be awarded Gen. Joseph Foos and the members of the land syndicate, Alexander ]\IcLaughlin, John Kerr, and James John- son, it may be said that, had there been no Lyne Starling, there would have been no Columbus — and this because of Mr. Star- ling's most valuable lands, considerable wealth, educational ad- vantages and clear political vision. The conclusion, that had there been no Franklinton there would have been no Columbus, is reiterated.
Both logic and fact lead to the further conclusion that the founder of Franklinton became the father of Columbus.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Andrews, E. Benjanim — History of the United States.
Bruce, Hardington — Romance of American Expansion.
Chaddock, Robert E. — Ohio Before 1830.
Galbreath, C. B.— History of Ohio.
Lee, Alfred E. — History of the City of Columbus.
MacDonald, Capt. John — Biographical Sketches of General Nathaniel Massie, General Duncan McArthur, Captain William Wells and General Simon Kenton; zvho zuere early settlers in the Western Country.
Martin, William F. — History of Franklin County.
Massie, David Meade — Nathaniel Massie — A Pioneer of Ohio.
Mathews, Alfred — Ohio and Her Western Reserve.
Peters, William E. — Ohio Lands.
Studer, Jacob B. — Columbus, Ohio, Its History, Resources and Progress.
176 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Sullivant, Joseph — Genealogy and a Family Memorial. Original Boundaries and Early Times of Franklin County. — Address before the Franklin County Pioneers' Association.
Venable, William H. — Footprints of Ohio Valley Pioneers.
Note : Much material was gathered from Entry Book "A" and Survey Book "A" of the Land Department, Auditor of State's Office ; from the United States Supreme Court and Ohio Supreme Court Reports of Cases ; from the Land Laws of Ohio, and Legislative Enactments of the period covered ; records of the case of Stephenson vs. Sullivant at the County Clerk's Office, Franklin County, Ohio; the published addresses of General John Beatty and Colonel E. L. Taylor given at the time of the Frank- linton Centennial in 1897; and the address of Governor James E. Campbell before the Kit Kat Club on "How and When Ohio Be- came a State", published in Galbreath's History of Ohio.
LUCAS SULLIVANT-HIS PERSONALITY AND ADVENTURES
BY MISS JANE D. SULLIVANT.*
Aside from court records and a few lingering' oral traditions, the principal source of information concern- ing the life and personality of Lucas Sullivant, is to be found in the Family Memorial, written and published for private distribution by his youngest son, Mr. Joseph Sullivant, in 1873. Upon this source all subsequent his- tories of Franklinton, and even of Columbus and Frank- lin County have drawn freely, though in many cases without crediting the author.
In view of this fact, and since Mr. Andrew D. Rodgers, in the address published on the foregoing pages, has very properly confined himself largely to the legal aspects of his subject, it may not be amiss to give here a more personal view of Lucas Sullivant, from his own son's account, and to relate some of the adven- tures and experiences which he endured in the hazard- ous undertaking of surveying in the wilderness; as well as to give a glimpse of what it meant a hundred years ago to live here on the very borders of civilization.
LUCAS SULLIVANT.
Lucas Sullivant was born in September, 1765, in Mecklen- burg County, Virginia, and, when about sixteen years of age. volunteered to accompany an expedition destined for Augusta and other then western counties, which were threatened with an Indian invasion. His courage and good conduct during that ex-
* Selections from Genealogy and Family Memorial, compiled by Miss Jane D. Sullivant, granddaughter of Lucas Sullivant.
(177) Vol. XXXVII— 12.
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Oliio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
pedition were such as to receive the pubHc commendation of his commanding officer.
;i; * * * * *
Having been left an orphan and alone in the world while yet a youth, he acquired knowledge and some skill as a surveyor, after the war, and removed to Kentucky. Here he was appointed a deputy surveyor by Colonel Anderson, and was one of the
LUCAS SULLIVANT From a Medallion by J. K. Campbell.
band of bold and hardy adventurers who, at a very early day, penetrated the unbroken wilderness which then covered the pres- ent state of Ohio.
The land district of which we are speaking was opened in 1787, and soon afterward the surveyors, Massie, Sullivant, Beas- ley, O'Banion, McArthur and others, commenced their adven-
Lucas SulUi'ant — His Personality and Adventures 179
turous and dangerous career betwixt the Scioto and Miami Rivers, in the "Virginia MiHtary Land District."
In some of his first attempts, Mr. Suhivant was driven back by the Indians, but finally, having formed and equipped a larger surveying party at Limestone, (now Maysville), Kentucky, he bade farewell to his friends, and, with a stout heart, equal to any fate, turned his back upon civilization and the settlements, and, striking out through the wilderness, arrived in due time upon the Scioto, and commenced his operations in the territory of the present Franklin County. His party consisted of about twenty men, including surveyors, chain-carriers, markers, huntsmen, scouts and pack-horse men with pack-horses, carrying blankets, provisions, axes, kettles and camp equipage.
Of provisions they carried only some flour, bacon and salt, depending for their chief subsistence upon the skill of the hunters and the abundance of wild game, such as bears, deer and turkeys. W^hen scarce of flour they substituted for their bread the dry breast meat of the wild turkey, or the lean flesh of the deer, or jerked venison, as it was called, from the peculiar mode of its preparation ; and the fat and greasy bear meat fur- nished a wholesome and palatable substitute for bacon. ]\Iany times, scarce of provisions, they were hungry and sore tried for a full meal, especially when in the vicinity of parties of Indians liable to be attracted by the ring of the hunter's rifle.
Wolves were constant visitors, barking and howling about the camp, lying in wait for any odd scraps, and the panther (Felis concolor) , or American cougar, was more than once found prowling around, most probably attracted by the venison which was generally in good supply in their camp.
While surveying on Deer Creek in the present Madison County, Mr. Sullivant was in advance running his line, when suddenly he encountered a Frenchman on horseback accom- panied by two Indians on foot, and, apprehending nothing from so small a party, he passed on after exchanging salutations and signs of amity. Soon after, hearing gun shots, he came quickly back, and found that the rear guard of his own party, upon discovering the Indians, had fired upon them, kilHng the French- man, who was most probably a trader among them. When he fell, one of the Indians instantly sprang upon the horse and dashed away; the other plunged down the bank of the creek and disappeared. Mr. Sullivant was much provoked, and severely reprimanded his men for this unnecessary attack, and. believing it would soon be followed by a retaliation from the Indian villages on the Scioto, closed up his work as soon as possible and left the neighborhood.
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Jonathan Alder, well-known to our old citizens, had been captured in Virginia, when he was about nine years old, by a roving party of Indians, and carried into Ohio, where he was adopted into a family, and, becoming a member of the tribe by appropriate rites and ceremonies, he married and lived among them for many years. After the settlement of the county, he bought land of my father, and was a frequent visitor at our house in my boyhood.
Although I had heard my father relate the incidents of the Deer Creek attack and the consequences that followed, it was gratifying to learn further particulars from Alder, who told me he was still living with the Indians, and, at this very time was with a small party conveying a lame and sick man to a famous doctor, living at the Mingo town, or encampment, on the east bank of the Scioto, one mile and a half below the present city of Columbus. He said they were so near as to distinctly hear the gunshots and shouts of my father's party, and having sent one of the number to ascertain the cause, and finding it was from a body of white men, they became very much alarmed, and, appre- hending an attack, stole away as quietly as possible from so dangerous a vicinity, and traveling nearly all night, they arrived at their destination early in the afternoon of the next day, and found that the Indian who had taken the Frenchman's horse had arrived in the morning before them.
This fellow was the hero of the hour, magnifying the sad afifair into a desperate and long continued fight, of which he was the sole survivor, and from which he had escaped after deeds of unwonted valor. It is true his tale seemed somewhat marvelous and rather incredible, as he had neither wounds nor scalps to show, but, as there was none to contradict, his story passed current, and indeed seemed to be strongly confirmed when Alder and his party related what they knew. The camp was hardly large enough to contain the vain-glorious boaster, and he was strutting about in full feather when, unfortunately for his reputation, the other Indian, who had precipitated himself over the bank of the creek, and hid in a pile of driftwood, now, on the second day, made his appearance and gave a true version of events. Whereupon, said Alder, with his peculiar and quaint laugh, the first fellow encountered such a storm of ridicule and reproach that he was driven from the camp village.
I asked Alder what ailed the sick man and what became of him. He replied that he had a painful and swollen knee, and in the opinion of the doctor, was bewitched generally, and, from the signs, he knew it was the work of a certain woman of the tribe. The doctor, after half roasting his patient with hot stones,
Lucas Sullivant — His Personality and Adventures 181
gave him a decoction of herbs to drink, and then pretty nearly melted him with a tremendous sweat, and, rubbing him off, stretched him on his blankets, and, after considerable singing, smoking and powwowing, proceeded to scarify the knee, and (according to Alder), drew therefrom a mussel-shell about six inches long, remarking that now he had got that thing out. the man would get well, but that the woman would die. I remarked, "I don't think such a thing possible, Mr. Alder." "Oh ! but I stood by and saw it done, and, sure enough, the woman did die in three weeks, and the man got well." No doubt, the cunning old doctor and conjurer was an expert at sleight of hand, and took measures to secure the fulfillment of his prophecy about the poor woman, and, perhaps at the same time, to gratify some private grudge, and establish his own reputation more firmly.
After a consultation was held at the Mingo village, an expe- dition was sent out to capture or destroy the surveying party ; but, in anticipation of such a procedure, Mr. Sullivant was per- forming his last day's work, preparatory to leaving the vicinity, when, on the fourth day from the aft'air of the Frenchman, and late in the afternoon, while engaged in running and closing up the last lines of his surveys, and being, as usual, in advance, he discovered a body of savages, somewhat larger than his own party, crossing a high grassed prairie or glade, and at such a distance that the parties would meet if he continued his course. He signaled his men to squat in the grass, and, when they got together, he said: "Now, here is a chance for a fight if you desire it. Say the word and we will go in. It is for you to determine." A council was held, and it was decided to let the Indians pass by, and for this course none were more clamorous than, or so strenuous as, those who, with insolent bravado, had scoffed, but a few days before, at any danger likely to result from their attack upon the Frenchman and his little party.
Mr. Sullivant remarked: "It has turned out just as I expected, for those most restive and insubordinate under whole- some discipline always prove the most unready and cowardly in the presence of real danger." After directing the men to keep together, and assist each other in any emergency, he pointed out the direction of Limestone, in case they became separated, and told them they were not to fire a gun, as it would reveal their locality to the Indians. Rising from concealment, he proceeded to finish his last line and close the survey at the place of begin- ning. This was effected just at twilight, and my father was making his last entry in his field book, when a flock of turkeys nearby began to fly up in the trees to roost. This sudden temptation was too much for some of the men and several shots
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were fired. My father warned the men to be ready, for the Indians were within hearing and would be on them in a few minutes. He had scarcely ceased speaking, when they rushed upon them with a whoop and a volley. He lifted his compass, which was on the Jacob's staff standing beside him, and tossing it into a fallen tree top, unslung the light shotgun he carried strapped on his back, and fired at an Indian who was advancing upon him with uplifted tomahawk, and, turning about to look for his men, saw they were in a panic and rapidly dispersing, and he also took to his heels, and fortunately, in about a quarter of a mile, fell in with six of his men. Favored in their flight by the darkness, and shaping their course by the stars, they journeyed all night and most of the next day before halting.
The third night, as they were traveling along, footsore and weary, they heard voices which seemed to proceed from a hillock in front, and they stopped and hailed. The other party, discov- ering them at the same moment, challenged and ordered a halt. A parley ensued, when, to their great surprise, those on the hill appeared to be the other and larger party of their own men. But no advance was made by either side, each fearing the other might be a decoy in the hands of the Indians, for it was not an uncommon trick for the cunning savages to compel their unfortu- nate prisoners to play such a part.
After numerous questions and inquiries, and a good deal of talk on both sides, the larger body insisted, under threat of an immediate volley, that the advance should be made by the smaller party. Mr. Sullivant handed his note-book and papers to his own men, with the request to deliver them to his friends in Kentucky in case anything should happen to him and they be fortunate enough to escape, and promising to give them warn- ing, at all hazards, if there was treachery in the case, he went forward alone, and finding all right, his own little party ad- vanced and they had a joyful meeting in the wilderness.
Upon comparing experiences, they found that two men were missing, Murray, and another whose name I do not recollect, who had fallen at the fire of the Indians when they made their attack.
An interesting sequel to the incidents here related is the fact that years afterward, when Madison County was settling, and my father had sold this tract of land, and it was being cleared up, the compass was found but little injured, where it had been flung, and having been recovered, is still carefully preserved by the writer as a memento of those perilous times.
Lucas Sullivant — His Personality and Adventures 183
Upon one expedition, Mr. Sullivant had appointed a ren- dezvous for his party at the Forks of the Scioto, by which name the junction of this river and Whetstone (now called Olentangy) was known by the early surveyors, and was so designated on their maps. He directed his men, if he was not present by a certain time, to leave a canoe for him and proceed up the river, and await his arrival at the mouth of the stream now known as Mill Creek. Mr. Sullivant was detained and did not join his men at the Forks of the Scioto, but found, on his arrival, a canoe which had been left according to his directions. It was late in the evening, but he embarked immediately, intending to proceed up the river a few miles before encamping.
Just after pushing out, he discovered three Indians lurking in the grove of great sycamores that used to stand on the west bank of the Whetstone. He pushed on up the river, keeping a sharp lookout, and soon found that the Indians were cautiously following, and there was no further doubt as to their intention, which was to pursue and come upon him after he had encamped for the night.
At dusk, having reached the wooded island opposite the stone quarry, three miles above the present site of Columbus, he took the north channel and landed on the island. Here, having seen that his pursuers were still following, he proceeded rather ostentatiously to haul up his canoe and secure it for the night, in full view of the Indians, and began to cut bushes and drive stakes, as if preparing for a camp, and soon kindled, on purpose, a small and smoky fire, sufficient to attract attention, but without giving much light.
It having, by this time, become fairly dark, he took his gun, compass and pack, and quickly, but quietly, crossed the island and waded across the river to the opposite side, and proceeding but a little way, stopped to rest and eat some supper. He trusted in his strategem to deceive the Indians, who, he believed, would wait, according to their usual custom, until far into the night before coming upon their unsuspecting victim when wrapped in profound sleep, and, before this attempt, he hoped to be far on his way toward his men, whom he did join next evening.
Soon after he reached the west side of the river the moon rose, and, tearing a leaf from his note-book, he wrote, as well as the light permitted, a brief account of the circumstances, and signing his name, placed it in a cleft stick stuck into the ground, and, before leaving, carved his initials and the date on the bark of a tree.
184 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
A long time afterward, when botanizing on the bank of the river above the quarry, I took refuge from a passing shower under the spreading branches of a large sugar-tree. Some ancient ax marks on the bark attracted my attention, and passing around the tree, I was surprised at seeing the letters "L. S." and a date on the bark. This event, which I had heard related in my boyhood, instantly occurred to me, and I perceived I was standing on the precise spot where my father had left this memorial of himself, in the solitude of the wilderness, near fifty years before, when fleeing for his life, with naught but his own courage and self-reliance to sustain him.
To our present generation the mention of travel by canoe may appear strange, and I will here state that, before there were any mill-dams or obstructions, the Scioto River furnished the most easy access to the valley, and, during the early settlement of the State, many families and immigrants availed themselves of the transport by pirogues and canoes to reach Piketon. Chilli- cothe, Circleville, and other places, and the first settlers in the town of Franklinton came in canoes.
The want of grist-mills was severely felt by the early settlers. What few mills were m the county were distant from Franklinton and not convenient of access, and the laborious process by hand mills and graters was frequently resorted to, to obtain a coarse flour and meal for hoe-cakes. The old-fashioned hominy mortar, constructed out of a log, was in constant requisition, the hominy pot was kept hot winter and summer, and fried hominy was no mean substitute for bread.
******
At and previous to this time, there prevailed a very uneasy feeling in the public mind, owing to the uncertain and even unfriendly disposition manifested by the Indian tribes still re- siding within our borders. An Indian war had only been averted by the opportune victory of General Harrison over the Indians, at the famous battle of Tippecanoe, in the Indiana Territory in the year 1811.
Now, in the summer of 1812, they were again restive, having been tampered with and much demoralized by the celebrated Prophet and his distinguished brother, Tecumseh, a chief among the Shawnees. Our difficulties with Great Britain resulted in a declaration of war against that power in June, 181 2. The Eng- lish Government had its agents among the Indians of the North- west, who were furnishing arms and inciting them to hostility
Lucas Sullh'ant — His Personality and Adventures 185
against our unprotected and exposed settlements, and the inhabi- tants, therefore, had just grounds for their apprehensions.
The Ohio troops, intended for the protection of our borders and to operate against the British forces in Upper Canada, were assembled at Franklinton, Dayton, and Urbana, and, under the lead of our patriotic Governor Meigs, were marched a short distance from the latter place, and turned over to the command of General Hull. He marched to Detroit, and the unfortunate and unnecessary surrender of his whole army to an inferior force of British and Indians, without so much as striking a blow, is a matter of history known to all.
Such an unlooked-for and astounding blow almost paralyzed the country and created great alarm, for many of the Indian tribes, encouraged by this untoward event, and urged by the British agents, now openly took sides against us. Months of apprehension supervened, and a feverish anxiety infected the whole community, for Franklinton was really a frontier settle- ment, and the inhabitants were in constant dread, lest, by some sudden attack, their houses should be given to the flames and their wives and little ones fall a prey to the tomahawk and scalping- knife of the remorseless savages, who spared neither sex nor age, and marked their track with fire and blood.
Indian alarms were frequent, and, on such occasions, the terrified settlers from up Darby Creek, Sells' settlement on the Scioto, from Delaware and Worthington and the adjacent re- gions, came flocking into Franklinton, and at one time a ditch and stockade was commenced around the Court-house, to convert it into a citadel.
During this troublesome and exciting period, Mr. Sullivant rendered efficient aid, and, by his own calmness and conduct, did much to allay excitement and restore courage and confidence, for the citizens looked much to him. He kept two scouts of his own, well skilled in wood-craft and knowledge of Indian signs, constantly on duty for some weeks, as far up as the present Zanesfield, in Logan County, who reported to him at short inter- vals. This inspired confidence, and gave assurance that timely warning would be given of any real Indian invasion, and it became a saying with many that, "when Sullivant went into a stockade, or prepared to fly with his family, they would follow, but not until then."
The v/ar proceeded with varying success, till the disastrous defeat of our forces under General Winchester, and the atrocious murder of our wounded and prisoners at Frenchtown (more commonly known as the battle of the River Raisin), under the very eye of Proctor, the British commander, showing an utter
186 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
disregard for the rules of civilized warfare', carried sorrow and mourning into many a household in Kentucky, and still further revived and intensified the dread of savage invasion.
Under the circumstances, it was deemed highly important that the Ohio tribes, who had hitherto remained neutral, should now be induced to take an active part on behalf of the Govern- ment in the ensuing campaign, or at least give a guarantee of their peaceful intention by removing, with their families, within the white settlements.
Accordingly, a meeting was arranged and held on June 21st, 1813, on the grounds of Mr. Sullivant at Franklinton. The Delaware, Shawnee, Wyandot, and Seneca tribes were repre- sented by about fifty of the chiefs and warriors. General Harri- son represented the Government, and with him were his staff and a brilliant array of officers in full uniform. Behind was a detachment of soldiers. In his front were the Indians. Around all were the inhabitants of the region far and near, with many a mother and maid, as interested spectators.
The General began to speak in calm and measured tones befitting the grave occasion, but an undefined oppression seemed to hold all in suspense, as, with silent and almost breathless attention, they waited the result of the General's words, which seemed to fall on dull ears, as the Indians sat with unmoved countenances and smoked on in stolid silence. At length the persuasive voice of the great commander struck a responsive chord, and, when Tarhe, "the Crane,'' the great Wyandot chief, slowly rose to his feet, and, standing for a moment in a graceful and commanding attitude, made a brief reply, and then, with others, pressed forward to grasp the hand of Harrison, not only in token of amity, but in agreement to stand as a barrier on our exposed border, a terrible doubt and apprehension was lifted from the hearts of all. Jubilant shouts rent the air, women wept for joy, and stalwart men thrilled with pleasure as they now thought of the assured safety of their wives and children from a cruel and stealthy foe, and they prepared at once, with cheerful alacrity, to go forth to the impending battles.
In 1816, having procured a charter from the Legislature, Mr. Sullivant built a large and expensive toll-bridge across the river between Franklinton and Columbus. This bridge served all the traffic crossing the river until 1833 when the Government bridge was built.
About 1820, Mr. Sullivant and a few other citizens built the Columbus Academy, a one-story two-roomed frame building.
Lucas Sullivant — His Personality and Adventures 187
which stood near the site of the present Second Presbyterian Church on Third Street*. This schoolhouse stood away out in the commons among the pawpaw bushes, and in all the neighbor- hood there were but three houses east of High Street at this time. There were none south on Third or Fourth Streets, which were covered with stumps and bushes in that direction, and all beyond Fourth Street were out-lots, used for meadows and cow pastures, and where, occasionally, a few patches of corn were
cultivated.
H« * * * * *
In person, Mr. Sullivant was of medium height, muscular and well proportioned, quick and active in his movements, with an erect carriage and a good walk, a well-balanced head, finished off with a cue, which he always wore ; a broad and high forehead, an aquiline nose, and a blue-gray eye, a firm mouth and squar-^ chin. He was firm and positive in his opinions, but courteous in manners and expression, prompt and decisive to act upon his convictions, and altogether a man of forcible character, exercising an influence over those with whom he came in contact.
He died August 8th, 1823, in the fifty-eighth year of his age.
The following obituary notice, copied from the Columbus Gazette of August 14, 1823, was written by some friend who knew him well :
DIED
In Franklinton, on Friday last, Lucas Sullivant, Esq. In the death of this active and enterprising citizen, the community has lost a member whose place can not well be supplied, his relations a valuable friend, and his children a beneficent protector. He possessed a great spirit of liberal- ity, which an ample fortune, acquired by his own great industry, enabled him to gratify to an uncommon extent. He was a man of strict in- tegrity, of the most persevering industry and rigid economy. He was a kind and indulgent father, a sincere and hospitable friend, a generous neighbor, and the poor were never turned away empty from his well-filled granaries.
Dr. John M. Edmiston, distinguished physician, who came here in 1812, was a gentleman of much intelligence and fine cul- ture. He was the personal friend and attending physician, and much attached to Mr. Sullivant, fond of visiting him and talking with him, holding him in high estimation.
He used to say of Mr. Sullivant : "Take him all in all, with his strong and vigorous intellect, his knowledge of human nature, his decision of character, good judgment, high sense of personal honor and integrity, he is one of the most remarkable men I ever knew. He seemed born to be a leader, and in whatever direction he had turned his attention, he would have distinguished himself and become a man of mark."
* This building was razed some years ago.
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SARAH STARLING SULLIVANT.
Sarah Starling, second daughter and fourth child of Col. William Starling and Susanna, his wife, married Lucas Sullivant, and removed with him to the new village of Franklinton, where he owned large and valuable estates. This was before Ohio was a State, and while it was yet an almost unbroken wilderness, but the young wife was equal to the situation and bore the hardships and privations of the period with courage and a cheerful spirit.
In 1812, after the surrender of General Hull to the British forces, at Detroit, the whole frontier was exposed to an irruption of bloody savages, the allies of Great Britain. For months the inhabitants were harassed with fears of such an invasion, and indeed Indian alarms were more than once wide-spread and prevalent, all of which she bore with calmness and fortitude.
Calls for volunteers were frequent on such occasions, and I suppose it was w^hen my father was so absent that, one night when I was sleeping with my mother, "Dragon," an unusually large and intelligent mastiff, kept up a fierce barking, displaying an extraordinary excitement, and ever and anon taking post under my mother's window, which seemed the special object of his defense, she drew me up closer, saying: 'T am afraid 'Old Drag' smells Indians."
On another occasion, when the newsboy brought in the weekly copy of the Freeman's Chronicle, a paragraph met her eye, and, letting the paper fall, she exclaimed : "Thank God, our troops have taken Maiden." Calling me to her, with the tears standing in her eyes, she again said : "My son, thank God, our troops have taken Maiden."* Yes, "our troops have taken Maiden," were words of great significance, and full of comfort to the women of those days, who devoutly thanked God that this stronghold of the savages had been destroyed — a place where the bloody and reeking scalps of our women and children were paid for with British gold !
In these days of immunity from Indian alarms, it is difficult to convey any adequate idea of the dread of attack and massacre that possessed all classes at that time. It must be remembered, however, that the horrible atrocities, committed in the Indian bor- der wars of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Ohio, were yet fresh in the recollection of most of the adult population of that period. He who has taken part in Indian warfare, or once heard the war-cry of the savage, will never forget how, for the time being, it strikes terror and apprehension to the stoutest heart, and he only can fully understand and appreciate the dread of the cruelties and mutilations which were the general conse-
*Malden, in Upper Canada, was the headquarters of the hostile In- dians, where they received arms and outfits from the English agents.
Lucas Sidlivant — His Personality and Adventures 189
quences and accompaniments of an irruption of bloody and re- morseless savages.
After the battle of the Thames in Upper Canada in October, 1813, and the defeat of General Proctor with his Indian allies, and the death of their leader, Tecumseh, which occurred at the same time, apprehension from the Indians, in a great measure, subsided, and large parties of Ohio tribes from Sandusky, Maca- cheek, and other villages and camps on the headwaters of the Scioto, were frequent traders in Franklinton with Lincoln Goodale, R. W. McCoy, Henry Brown, Starling and DeLashmutt, Samuel Barr, and other merchants, or as they were called in those days, "store-keepers." The Indians brought furs and skins, baskets, maple-sugar, cranberries, dried venison, hams, etc., which they sold for hard silver, refusing all kinds of paper money, and, as they neither asked for nor gave trust, they generally bought or sold one thing at a time, paying out or receiving the price, as the case might be, closing each transaction, never making a bill, or paying for the whole in a lump. They bought powder and lead, tobacco, knives and squaw-axes, paints for the face, broad- cloth and squaw-cloth, bright calicoes and handkerchiefs, blankets, and above all, but lastly, a good supply of whisky, for it was their custom, after completing their purchases, to celebrate the occasion by a "high drunk," in which all participated save a few old men and women selected to take care of the rest, and these, no doubt, afterward had their share in compensation for present self-denial. These drunken orgies would last for three or four days, and were generally accompanied with much singing, howl- ing and dancing, alternated with brawls and fighting.
Franklinton was the rendezvous of the second army under Harrison, gathered after Hull's surrender, and the Kentucky troops, under the command of the gallant and venerable Governor Shelby, were encamped on the premises of Mr. Sullivant, and his house was the welcomed resort of the officers and men, many of whom were personal friends and acquaintances of himself and his wife.
She was a ministering spirit to the sick soldiers, in camp and hospital, supplying their wants from her own table and stores. In 1814, a malignant and contagious typhus, or cold plague, as it was called, broke out in camp, and she contracted the disease, of which she died April 28th of that year.
She was very much beloved and respected by all who knew her, and many an immigrant, in the early settlement of the country, had cause to bless her, for, to the poor and needy, the sick or afflicted, she was indeed a "Lady Bountiful," and the memory of her gentle manners, her good deeds and abounding charities long survived her.
REVIEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS
BY THE EDITOR
"VERILY THE WORLD DO MOVE"
Under this caption the Lancaster Daily Eagle, of September 13, 1927, publishes the following editorial:
In another portion of this paper, we reproduce, possibly for the twentieth time, a resokition supposed to have been passed by a Lancaster School Board away back, a hundred years ago, in 1828. These records of the school board of that period are not obtain- able, and even though they were, this resolution denying the use of a schoolroom for a public debate as to whether or not railroads were practical, would be absent from the minutes of the Lancaster School Board's session of that date.
We were inclined for a time to take this matter as an insult upon the discernment of our early citizenship, which for a century or more has boasted of an intelligence of the superior stage. Lancaster has produced three cabinet officers, Ewing of the Treasury and Interior Department, Stansberry of the Attorney General's office, and John Sherman, Secretary of the Treasury under McKinley, and one of the greatest generals of the Civil War, General Sherman. They are our jewels and we are proud of them.
In those early days, along about the time that a Lancaster School Board was supposed to have thought that telegraphs and railroads were impossibilities and rank infidelity, our fair city was credited with having the best and brainiest group of lawyers of any county in the state and several educators and teachers of national repute.
In Mr. Will Scott's article in another column it is plainly shown that this resolution was not the product of a Lancaster School Board, but of the South Charleston, Ohio, skeptics, a little village more than fifty miles away. But even though it should have had its birth in Lancaster, does the passage of a resolution like that show a lack of learning or a deficiency of grey matter?
No, absolutely not.
(190)
Reviews, Notes and Comments 191
Why, it has only been a few weeks ago that our beloved Lindbergh hopped off from New York to the Le Bourget Field of France, and what did the New Yorkers say ? Ninety-nine out of a hundred called him the "flying fool," and many still so believe, although they are afraid to say it. Edison was declared "crazy" when he claimed that he would light the world with electricity and the Wright Brothers were declared everything almost, when they claimed they could fly with a heavier-than-air machine.
And while Lancaster does not claim the authorship of that famous resolution, which declared that on a railroad you could travel at the frightful speed of fifteen miles an hour, we really believe that there were some people in Lancaster who believed the same, as the South Charleston, Ohio, School Board, believed a hundred years ago.
Verily, the world do move.
The article by Mr. Will Scott, to which reference is made, is published elsewhere in this issue of the Quar- terly.
DR. HERVEY SCOTT
Judge Van A. Snider, of Lancaster, Ohio, has for- warded to us a biographical sketch of Dr. Hervey Scott, quoted from the Centennial History of Lancaster, written by C. M. L. Wiseman, and published in 1898. It is here reproduced in full.
Dr. Hervey Scott, the subject of this sketch, was born near Old Town, Greene County, Ohio, January 30, 1809. He re- mained on his father's farm until his seventeenth birthday, when he took up his residence with the family of William Milton, in South Charleston, Clark County, Ohio. At this place he attended school and learned the trade of manufacturing spinning-wheels. When he was twenty-four years of age, he gave his entire atten- tion to the study of medicine, attending the Ohio Medical Col- lege, in Cincinnati. In 1836, he entered the practice of his chosen profession and continued for about three years, when he turned his attention to dentistry, which calling he followed in Lancaster for more than forty years.
During most of his life, especially the latter part. Dr. Scott manifested a decided liking for journalistic work, and his many historical and pioneer sketches have attracted attention. In 1859,
192 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
he bought the Lancaster Gazette and American Democrat, con- soHdating the two papers, placing the office under the supervision of his son, Hervey.
The History of Fairfield County, which made its advent in 1876, was a very meritorius production of Dr. Scott. It was highly appreciated by our people, especially the older ones. He possessed a most wonderful memory with regard to incidents and events of years long gone by, and his general knowledge and recollections of early pioneer life were decidedly accurate.
At the time of his death, which occurred at Toledo, in Sep- tember, 1895, Dr. Scott was in his eighty-seventh year. He pos- sessed a wonderfully strong physical organization, coming from a hardy race of people.
His many acts of kindness and charity extended to those in need, his deferential bearing toward his seniors and constant attention to the sick, will be recalled by many of our citizens.
QUARTERMASTER'S RECORD BOOK— 1793
Throug-h the interest of Mr. Frazer E, Wilson, of Greenville, Ohio, the Society has come into the posses- sion of a Quartermaster's Record Book, which was kept in old Fort Washington, the site of which is now in- cluded in the city of Cincinnati.
This is a record of 238 receipts for supplies issued by the Quartermaster, and other routine matters in his line of duty in the old Fort from April 24 to June 14, 1793, while preparing for his expedition against the In- dians of the Maumce Valley.
The record, which had been handed down as an heir- loom for two or three generations, became the property of George W. Worley, of Richmond, Indiana, from whom it was purchased by Mr. Wilson and presented to this Society.
Mr. Worley's grandfather, James Worley, served in General Wayne's army and in the War of 1812.
The record has been somewhat marred bv the
Reviews, Notes and Comments 193
owners through whose hands it has passed in the long period since it was originally written. They have re- corded in it quaint receipts, accounts and other matters of little or no value today. For a time it appears to have been used as a copy-book. It is, however, in spite of these insertions, a venerable, interesting and legible document, which throws strong sidelights on the activi- ties of the frontier army during this interesting period.
JOSEPH GREEN BUTLER, JR.
Joseph Green Butler, Jr., pioneer iron manufacturer, philanthropist and author, died at his home in Youngs- town, Ohio, December 19, 1927. Had he lived two days longer, he would have been 87 years old. He was born at Temperance Furnace, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, December 21, 1840. He was the son of Joseph Green and Temperance (Orwig) Butler. His father was an iron manufacturer and blast-furnace expert. His mother was descended from one of the oldest families in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
The Butler family lineage has been traced to those bearing that name who went to Ireland in the reign of Henry II. The family emigrated to America in the eighteenth century and seven members had commissions in the American Army during the Revolution.
Col. Thomas Butler, a close friend of George Wash- ington, was a charcoal contractor and furnished fuel for furnaces in Pennsylvania. His son, Joseph, was an iron master at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. His son, Joseph Green Butler, Sr., followed the iron business for some time in central Pennsylvania. Later he moved west- ward and operated a furnace at New Wilmington, Penn-
194
Ohio ArcJi. and Hist. Society Publications
sylvania, succeeding- William McKinley, Sr., father of President McKinley, as manager.
Joseph Green Butler, Jr., v^as a third son and was
JOSEPH GREEN BUTLER, JR.
one year old when the family moved to Niles, Ohio. He spent most of his boyhood there, attending- the village school with William McKinley, afterward president of the Ignited States. The two were intimate and lifetime
Reviews, Notes and Comments 195
friends. In their boyhood days, while in the Mahoning River, young Butler is said to have rescued William McKinley, when he was on the verge of drowning.
At the age of fifteen, Mr. Butler entered a store in Niles, as clerk, but soon afterward became a shipping- clerk in the iron-works of James Ward and Company. He was promoted to financial manager, a position which he held from 1858 to 1863. He was with Hale and Ayer, of Chicago, from 1863 to 1866. In the latter year, he became manager of the Girard Iron Company, Girard, Ohio, and was associated with Ohio's War Gov- ernor, David Tod, William Ward and William Rich- ards. They built the first blast-furnace, in the Mahon- ing Valley, to be equipped with a closed top, and con- ducted the business for twelve years. At the end of this time, Mr. Butler sold his interests and became manager of the Brier Hill Iron Company, Youngstown, Ohio. This was a large and successful iron-making establishment, operating blast-furnaces and mining coal on a large scale.
Subsequently, Mr. Butler was prominently connected with many manufacturing enterprises. He has prop- erly been regarded as perhaps the most potent personal influence in establishing the great iron industries of the Mahoning Valley.
He was one of the organizers of the Ohio Steel Com- pany, the first concern to make steel in the Mahoning Valley. He was a director of the American Iron and Steel Institute; president of the Portage Silica Com- pany; vice president of the Brier Hill Steel Company; chairman of the board of the Bessemer Limestone and Cement Company; director of the Youngstown Sheet
196 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
and Tube Company, Pennsylvania and Lake Erie Dock Company, Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railway Company, Pittsburgh, Youngstown and Ashtabula Rail- way Company, Pennsylvania and Ohio Light and Power Company, Youngstown and Suburban Railway Com- pany, the First National Bank and of numerous lesser enterprises.
Mr. Butler took an active interest in politics. This dated from his early years. He used to relate incidents in the life of Governor Tod; and was present when the latter received a telegram from Abraham Lincoln ten- dering him the position of Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, which office he declined. Mr. Butler was a Republican. He was delegate to three national conventions of that party the last of which was held in Chicago, in 1920.
Mr. Butler is the author of a number of books writ- ten in the later years of his life and devoted largely to the history of the iron industry in the Mahoning Valley and his contact with noted men and events covering the interesting period of his lifetime. Following is a list of his principal works:
Life of William McKinley, 1900; First Trip Across the Continent, 1904; First Trip Abroad, 1906; Presi- dents I Have Seen and Knozvn, 1910; A Journey Through France in Wartime, 1917; Fifty Years of Iron and Steel, 1917; History of Youngstown and the Ma- honing Valley, in three volumes, 1921 ; and Recollections of Men and Events — an Autobiography, 1925.
The last-named was reviewed in the Quarterly of July, 1925.
Reviews, Notes and Comments 197
In his "Personal Reminiscences," which form the concluding- chapter of his History of Youngstoiun and the Mahoning Valley, Vol. I, he tells how he got into the iron business :
In 1857, James Ward, Sr., came into the company store at Niles, where my father had charge, and told him that the ship- ping clerk in the mill was "on a spree," and that he would have to borrow one of the clerks until this man sobered up. Father said: "There are three of them ; take your pick of the lot." Mr. Ward looked the boys over and chose me, and that was the way I got into the iron business.
Mr. Butler contributed liberally of his wealth to many enterprises and institutions. The National Mc- Kinley Birthplace Memorial, in Niles, Ohio, is a monu- ment to his public spirit and his devotion to his lifelong friend. To the building of this memorial he gave freely of his time and money, contributing to the endowment fund alone an initial subscription of $100,000. His in- terest in art extended over many years. His desire was to establish in his home city an institution that should continually foster and encourage a similar interest among the rising generation. He erected, in the city of Youngstown, an institution known as the Butler Art Institute. To this he contributed rare works of art collected during his lifetime and, in his will, he left to the Institute the large residue of his fortune, estimated at more than one milHon dollars.
Through the years to come, the McKinley Memorial, in Niles, and the Butler Art Institute, in Youngstown, will attract an ever-increasing number of visitors to these two cities.
He belonged to many associations — industrial and
198 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
learned — and was a life member of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society.
Joseph Green Butler, Jr., married Harriet Voorhes Ingersoll, of Honesdale, Pennsylvania, January 10, 1866. Of this union were born Mrs. Blanche (Butler) Ford, Mrs. Grace Ingersoll (Butler) McGraw, and Mr. Henry A. Butler. The latter two survive. Mrs. Butler died in 1921.
Mr. Butler was familiarly known as *'Uncle Joe," and his wide circle of acquaintances and friends felt a personal loss, when they learned that his death had come on the eve of the celebration of his eighty-seven years of life in the Mahoning Valley.
PROF. AZARIAH SMITH ROOT
A librarian of state, national and international repu- tation died at his home in Oberlin, Ohio, Sunday, Octo- ber 2, 1927. He was born at Middlefield, Massachu- setts, February 3, 1862. He was the son of Solomon F. and Anna (Smith) Root.
He came as a student to Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, from Dalton, Massachusetts, in 1879. He was graduated from the College with the degree of A. B., in 1884, and received his A. M. degree in 1887. He was a law student at Boston University from 1884 to 1885; cataloguer in the Oberlin College Library from 1885 to 1886, and student at Harvard Law School from 1886 to 1887 and at the University of Gottingen, Germany, in 1898 and 1899. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
For forty years Professor Root was librarian of the Oberlin College Library; and was, for some time, an annual lecturer before the Library Schools of Columbia,
Rcznexvs, Notes and Comments 199
Western Reserve and Michigan Universities and Pratt Institute. During 1916 and 1917, he was acting direc- tor of the New York PubHc Library School. He was president of the Ohio Library Association in 1901 and 1914-1915; of the American Library Association, 1921- 1922; of the BibHographical Society of America, 1909- 1912 and 1923-1926. He was also a director of the American Correspondence School of Librarianship.
He was active in temperance work. With Howard Russell, A. G. Comings, J. P. Henderson, H. M. Tenney and other prominent citizens of Oberlin, he assisted in organizing the Anti-Saloon League of x\merica. Throughout the remainder of his life he was a faithful supporter of this organization.
In his long service as librarian of the Oberlin College Library, he built up what is said to be the largest college library in the world. When he entered upon his duties in this institution, it numbered 14,000 volumes. When he died, it had grown to 507,587 volumes, most of which were bound and all of which were thoroughly indexed and available for loan and reference use. The Oberlin College Library is Professor Root's enduring monu- ment.
Shortly before his death, Professor Root had been elected to the position of secretary, librarian and chair- man of the Book-Purchase Committee of the Spiegel Grove Committee of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, and director of research at original sources in Spain, France, England and Canada, relating to the State of Ohio, the Northwest Territory, the United States of America and the Western Hemisphere, in the Hayes Memorial Library, at Fremont, Ohio. He
200 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
had been especially active in the selection of books for the Hayes Memorial Library.
He was a life member of the Ohio State Archaeolog- ical and Historical Society and served on its Spiegel Grove Committee.
Mr. Root was a scholarly gentleman, unassuming, modest, and from early manhood a great student. He was a wise and trusted counselor among the student body and faculty of Oberlin College and a constantly widening circle of those who came to him for advice. His death leaves a vacant place that will be long felt by his library associates, especially those in Ohio.
Professor Root is survived by his wife, Mrs. Anna Mayo (Metcalf) Root, whom he married in 1887; by a daughter, Marian, connected with the New York City PubHc Library, and by a son, Francis M., professor of Social Hygiene and Public Health, at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.
WILLIAM PENDLETON PALMER William Pendleton Palmer, president of the Ameri- can Wire and Steel Company, died at his home in Cleve- land Heights, December 19, 1927. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., June 17, 1861; was the son of James Stewart and Eleanor Pendleton (Mason) Palmer; and was educated in the public schools of his native city. He took an active interest in educational institutions; was trustee of Case Library and Oberlin College; president of the Western Reserve Historical Society; and mem- ber of a number of literary and industrial societies.
His estate, at the time of his death, was valued at over $1,000,000. He left gifts of $25,000 to both the
Revieii's, Notes and Comments 201
Western Reserve Historical Society and the Cleveland Foundation.
Mr. Palmer was a life member of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and was at one time a member of its Board of Trustees.
DEATH OF DR. WILLIAM C. MILLS.
While the current issue of the Quarterly was pass- ing through the press, Dr. William C. Mills, since 1898 archaeologist and director of the Ohio State Archaeo- logical and Historical Society, passed to his final rest at midnight, on January 17, 1928. In the death of Dr. Mills the Society has sustained a great loss. The Mu- seum, which is the result of his long years of faithful and devoted service, is his enduring monument.
An extended sketch of his life and services to the Society and the State, will appear in the next issue of the Quarterly.
ROSS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
A four-day exhibition of historical and archaeological material was held at the Chillicothe Armory, Novem- ber 21 to 24, 1927. The occasion was a reorganization or revival of the Ross County Historical Society, for some years inactive. Several members of the Museum staff were in attendance and a small exhibit of archaeo- logical specimens from Ross County mounds was in- stalled. On the afternoon of the 22nd, Mr. H. C. Shetrone, curator of archaeology, spoke on the "Pre- historic Resources of Ross County." In the evening of the same date, Mr. Arthur C. Johnson, president of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, made
202 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
the principal address in which he stressed the rich his- toric background of the county and predicted a gratify- ing future for the local Historical Society. Many rare relics of Chillicothe, from the days when the town was the capital of the state, were brought out by the exhi- bition.
At that time John A. Poland was elected president of a temporary organization, and E. S. Wenis, secretary. A total of 150 members were secured, and this number had been increased to about 200 when the permanent organization was effected in January.
On Thursday, January 12, the Society met to hear an address by Mr. C. B. Galbreath, secretary of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society. The speaker congratulated the local Society upon its suc- cessful inauguration and flattering prospects. He spoke of previous attempts to organize local historical societies in the Scioto Valley, directing especial attention to the organization of the Logan Historical Society. He read the following paragraph from the initial meeting of this Society, which was organized in 1841.
In an assemblage of pioneers and citizens from different parts of the Scioto Valley, at Westfall, in Pickaway County, July 28, 1841, Judge Corwin, of Portsmouth, a pioneer of the last century, in a short, impressive speech, stated, that from the best information he possessed, we were on or very near the spot where Logan, the Mingo chief, the Indian philanthropist and friend of the white man, delivered his celebrated speech, sent to Lord Dunmore, creditable to mankind and honorable to him and his nation. The venerable pioneer concluded by proposing that, as if listening to the speech, we uncover and resolve our- selves into a Society, determined to perpetuate those principles for which Logan suffered the sneers of his red brethren, by the erection of a monument to his memory, and by the careful col- lection, safe-keeping, and lasting preservation, for the use of
Reviews, Notes and Comments 203
posterity, of the many scattered but interesting fragments of the history of the early settlements of the western country, as well as what remains of the first and successive settlements of North America. Whereupon, uncovered as we were in the sight of God, all present resolved themselves into a Society, determined to carry out the wishes of every one, as expressed by the proposer, and also to invite all who are warmed with American feelings to aid them in their enterprise. They then elected Felix Renick, Esq., of Ross County, another pioneer of the last century, presi- dent, and John S. Williams, of Chillicothe, recording and corre- sponding secretary.
He drew attention to the fact that eminent men of Ross County were largely represented in this organiza- tion, the members of the executive committee of which were as follows :
Hon. George Corwin, Hon. William Oldfield, and Moses Gregory, Esq., were appointed for Scioto County ; Hon. Sam- uel Reed, Hon. John I. Vanmetre, and John Carolus, Esq., for Pike County; William M. Anderson, Owen T. Reeves, Esqs.. and Colonel John Madeira, for Ross County ; William B. Thrall and Philo N. White, Esqs., and Dr. M. Brown, for Pickaway County; and Hon. Gustavus Swan, Noah H. Swayne and John G. Miller, Esqs., were appointed for Franklin County.
He then proceeded with the address of the evening on "The Relation of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to Ohio and Its History." The Ross County Historical Society then effected a permanent organiza- tion as follows :
John A. Poland, president ; Dr. C. W. Mills, first vice pres- ident; Mrs. L. C. Anderson, second vice president; Charles M. Haynes, treasurer; Edwin S. Wenis, secretary; Miss Martha T. Bennett, Miss Effie S. Scott, Lyle S. Evans, Dr. Johns Gal- braith, Albert C. Spetnagel, Dr. B F. Sproat and Morris Buch- walter, directors.
A constitution and by-laws were adopted also.
204 Ohio Arch, and Hist, Society Publications
MUSEUM ECHOES
The first issue of Museum Echoes has been pubHshed and distributed by the Society. It fills a need that has long been apparent. It makes it possible to get promptly the current news of the activities of the Society to its members and all others interested in its work. Ten issues will be published each year, one for each month except July and August. Words of appreciation and encouragement for this venture have already been re- ceived from many sources.
WILLIAM CORLESS MILLS
IN MEMORIAM
The founder of an institution of merit with an as- sured future is peculiarly fortunate. Through the early years of its growth he may struggle onward with meager means to overcome indifference and more serious obstacles, but when success at last crowns a life devoted to a worthy purpose, when the founder lives to see his work recognized and on every side accorded the meed of praise, the satisfaction of such a triumph is more gratifying than a temporal political or financial achievement. Such was the good fortune of Dr. Wil- liam Corless Mills. The institution that he established on a secure foundation is his enduring monument.
Like many of the conspicuously successful men of the generation that is passing, Dr. Mills began life on a farm. He was born near the village of Pyrmont, Mont- gomery County, Ohio, January 2, 1860. He was of English-German ancestry.
His great-grandfather, Joshua Mills, Sr., was born at Mt. Holly, Monmouth County, New Jersey, Febru- ary 17, 1776. He married Lucy Corless, who was born March 10, 1775. Of this union nine children were born : Ann, March 4, 1798; Jane, August 27, 1800; John, April 7, 1802; Rebecca, July 12, 1804; William, January 26, 1806; Rachel, September 15, 1807; Sarah, May 27, 1809; Grace, September 20, 1812; May, November 3,
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206 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
1814. Rachel died at Mt. Holly in November, 1817. In 1818, the family, except two daughters, moved to War- ren County, Ohio, where they lived one year. They then moved to Perry Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, where the family permanently settled. The two daughters who remained in New Jersey were Ann and Jane. The former married Isaiah Johnson and the lat- ter William Garwood. Immediately after their mar- riage they came to Ohio. Joshua Mills, Sr., had a fair education and when he was a young man taught school for a time.
John Mills, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, did not at first feel at home in the Ohio wilderness and begged permission to return to New Jersey. This was granted and he walked all of the way back, going as far as Baltimore with a farmer who was taking a drove of cattle. He soon missed his parents, however, and returned to his Ohio home, walking all the way. Here he married Mary A. Singer, April 24, 1827. They moved to Lewisburg, Preble County, Ohio, where four children were born to them: Elizabeth, Joshua, Joseph and John Singer. In 1835, the family moved to the parental home in Montgomery County, and here four more children were born: Lucy, Henry, Rebecca Jane and William Corless. John Mills was a carpenter and a farmer.
Joshua Mills, Jr., son of John and Mary A. (Singer) Mills, was born at Lewisburg, Preble County, Ohio, February 6, 1831. He went with the family to Pyrmont, Montgomery County, Ohio, four years later. He worked at the blacksmith trade at different periods in southwestern Ohio and at Ogden, Indiana. On January
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208 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
4, 1857, he married Mary Ann Mundhenk and shortly afterward moved to Greencastle Township, Marshall County, Iowa. Here he and his wife remained until late in the year of 1858. Their first child, Elizabeth, was born here March 22, 1858, and died October 15 of the same year. Joshua Mills, Jr., and his wife returned to the old home at Pyrmont, Ohio, a few days before Christmas, 1858. Here the subject of this sketch was born, as were his two sisters, Clara (Mills) Loy, February 28, 1863, and Mary Ann (Mills) Baker, Oc- tober 26, 1869.
Joshua Mills, Jr., died July 1, 1921. His wife, Mary Ann (Mundhenk) Mills died October 27, 1923. She was the daughter of Augustus Mundhenk who came with his parents to America from Germany when he was three years old. His father, Daniel Mundhenk, first settled in Philadelphia and later came to Montgomery County, Ohio, and founded Pyrmont village, giving it the name of his home town in Germany.
Dr. Mills worked on his father's farm, attended the district schools and taught in them for a few years. He studied law a short time in Dayton. In 1881, he en- tered Ohio State University where he continued unt'l his junior year when he left, studied medicine for a few months and then took a course in the Cincinnati School of Pharmacy from which he was graduated. In 1885, he was married and established a drug store in Pyrmont. In the spring of the year following, he moved to Co- lumbus and continued in the drug business. In 1887, he moved to Greensburg, Kansas, where he owned and operated a drug store for about eighteen months. In 1888, he returned to Ohio where he owned and con-
William Coiicss Mills 209
ducted drug stores and resided at the following places : Newcomerstown, 1888-1890; Mt. Vernon, 1890-1893; Chicago Junction (now Willard), 1893-1897. In 1897, he returned to Ohio State University, completed his course, received the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1898 and the degree of Master of Science in 1902.
When Dr. Mills was a boy he became interested in Indian arrow-heads found on his father's farm and in its vicinity, and in early life evinced a fondness for arch- aeology. He made a collection of prehistoric relics and early began to study the meager literature available on the Moundbuilders of his native state. While he was living in Newcomerstown, he made a discovery of un- usual importance. At that time he was secretary of the local archaeological society. In describing this rare find before a meeting of the Western Reserve Historical So- ciety, at Cleveland, Ohio, on December 12, 1890, he said:
New Comerstown is a small village of 1,500 inhabitants, situated on the right bank of the Tuscarawas River, about 90 miles west of Pittsburgh and 100 miles south of Cleveland, and near the confluence of the Tuscarawas and a small stream known as Buckhorn Creek, and from 30 to 35 miles south of the glacial boundary, which extends into the northern part of the county in Wayne Township.
In the northern part of the town and within its corporate limits is a large gravel terrace, deposited in a recess near the mouth of Buckhorn Creek and derived from the northern drift. For several years past the Cleveland and Marietta Railroad Com- pany have been taking out this gravel in large quantities, which they have used in ballasting their railroad, and so have kept the gravel exposed to the depth of about 25 feet. The top of the ter- race is about 35 feet above the flood plain of the Tuscarawas and extends up the Buckhorn about a quarter of a mile, graduallv di- minishing in height as it recedes from the main line of deposition.
In this gravel bank, on the 27th day of October, 1889, while examining the different strata of gravel, I found the specimen
Vol. XXXVII— 14.
210 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publicotions
that you have before you, 15 feet from the surface of the terrace. The bank was almost perpendicular at this time, exposing a front of about 20 feet. The small part of the bank was in place in the side of the terrace, until I struck it with my wahving cane, when a space of about 6 feet in length by 2 feet in height tumbled down, exposing to view the specimen.
At first sight I recognized the pecuhar shape and glossy ap- pearance of the specimen, such as were characteristic of palaeo- lithic specimens described to me by Prof. Edward Orton, while I was a student at the Ohio State University.
I at once compared the specimen with other flint implements which I had collected in this valley, which at present number up- wards of 3,000 chipped specimens of flint found on the surface and in mounds, and I found that I had none that resembled it. I communicated these facts to Mr. A. A. Graham, Secretary of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society. Mr. Graham sent the specimen to Prof. Wright, who wrote me for a detailed account of the circumstances connected with the find, which I furnished him, at the same time inviting him to visit New Comerstown and satisfy himself in reference to my statements. I will leave him to tell the rest of the story.
It will be noted that this discovery had been made almost ten years before he finished his course at the State University. His interest in what became his major life-work continued and when on June 1, 1898, he was elected Curator of the Museum of the Ohio State Arch- aeological and Historical Society, he entered upon a work in which he was not only deeply interested but with which he was already thoroughly familiar.
His compensation at the outset was assuredly very modest. A letter^ bearing the date of 1898 contains the
^ Following is the letter from E. O. Randall, Secretary of the Society, under date of June 8, 1898, notifying Dr. Mills of his election :
Dr. W. C. Alills,
O. S. U., •
City.
My Dear Sir : —
I am directed to inform you that on Wednesday, June 1, the Executive Committee of our Society elected you Curator, from June 1, 1898 to Febru-
IV ill ia III Corlcss Mills
211
statement that he was to receive $15.00 a month from the Society. He also was to receive $25.00 a month
WILLIAM C. MILLS
From a photograph taken in 1898. A likeness at the time he was elected
Curator of the Museum
ary 1, 1899, at a salary of $15 per month, with the understanding that in ad- dition to looking after the Museum and collections, you would, when directed, do exploring work for the Society, and when out upon such field work, that you would receive the sum of $2 per day and your expenses. Mr. George F. Bareis is Chairman of the; Library and Museum Committee, and you will be expected to confer with him in regard to the duties of your office. He will write you or call upon you in a short time. With best wishes for your success, I am
Yours respectfully,
E. O. Randall.
212 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
from the Ohio State University and $2 a day while engaged in field work. The payment from the Uni- versity was compensation for teaching a class of stu- dents which he had organized in archaeology.
At the outset, the collection in the Museum was small. It was housed on the gallery floor of Orton Hall on the University grounds, where it remained until the winter of 1902-1903 when it was moved to the rooms in Page Hall on the University grounds. A full account of this transfer occurs in the report of Dr. Mills which was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society, June 5, 1903.
On Decoration Day, May 30, 1914, the new Museum and Library Building of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, at the east entrance of the Ohio State University, was dedicated with proper ceremonies. On the afternoon of that day the Annual Meeting of the Society was held. Dr. Mills, who was then Curator and Librarian, described in his report the transfer of the museum and library to the new build:ng. He had been much interested in securing appropriations for this building and had devoted much time to the supervision of the details while it was in process of erection.
In the meantime, the exhibits of the Society were steadily and rapidly growing in number and impor- tance. Dr. Mills was very active in conducting the field work of the Society and a number of the mounds ex- plored under his direction yielded rare and valuable relics. It soon became evident that the building would not provide room for the accessions to the Museum and the Library. When the original building was erected, plans were drawn providing for additions, which, when
William Cor I ess Mills 213
completed, would give the Society's collections a quadrangular building with an interior court. The first additional wing, which was erected as a memorial to the soldiers of the World War, was completed and dedi-
WILLIA.M C. -MILLS
From a photograph taken in 1921 at the time he was elected Director of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society
cated April 6, 1926. The General Assembly of Ohio, which met in 1927, made provision for the erection of an additional wing. This leaves only one more wing to be built to complete the building according to the orig- inal plan.
214 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Piiblications
Dr. Mills was deeply interested in these additions to the building and diligent in the supervision of the details of their construction.
He served as Curator until October 18, 1921, when the position of Director of the Museum was created by the Board of Trustees of the Society. Dr. Mills was promoted to this position, which he held to the time of his death. To him is due the credit for estabHshing the Department of Natural History.
At the Annual Meeting of the Society, September 19, 1923, Dr. Mills was honored by the adoption of a resolution expressive of appreciation of his long and successful service to the Society. The resolution was offered by General Edward Orton, Jr., and read as fol- lows:
Whereas, The Director of this Society has completed a period of twenty-five years' continued labor in the employ of this Society, and through this period has rendered to the people of the great commonwealth of Ohio a signal service in his several capaci- ties as Curator of Archaeology and Director of the Museum, and
Whereas, during the period of his incumbency the archae- ological collection of this Society has risen from a little known and unimportant stage until it has now become the most repre- sentative collection of material illustrating the life, habits and his- tory of the unknown peoples who have inhabited the Mississippi Valley in centuries past, and his fame, which extends beyond the limits of Ohio and the United States, has made this collection known in the museums of the world, and
Whereas, Dr. Mills, by his constant and intensified scholar- ship and his constantly broadening use of other parallel sciences in explaining relics of these ancient civilizations, has raised this museum from a mere collection of curiosities up to a point where it has become of deep scientific significance and outstanding human interest, therefore
Be it resolved. That the Trustees and the members of The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society hereby tender their greetings to Director ]\lills on this Twenty-fifth Anniversary
William Corless Mills 215
of the beginning of his service and render official acknowledg- ments for his fidehty and the value of his services in the past, and bid him Godspeed in his progress on that never ending quest for knowledge which endows the human breast, of which his own past furnishes so fine an exemplification.
Be it further resolved, That these resolutions shall be suitably engrossed, signed by the officers and Trustees of the Society and presented in permanent form to Director Mills.
Though Dr. Mills had been in failing health for some months before his death he went courageously about his work and was in his office often when it required effort and caused pain to discharge the duties that he could not consent to lay aside. With waning strength his spirit seemed to rise and to the last he did not yield hope that he would win in the fight over a serious mal- ady. He rallied after an operation in the hospital and remained quite cheerful. He did not have the strength, however, to carry him over the crisis, and breathed his last at midnight, January 17, 1928.
The Trustees of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society met on the day following his death to take action expressive of their sense of loss and in tribute to his memory. After the meeting was called to order, General Edward Orton, Jr., ofifered the fol- lowing resolution, which was unanimously adopted:
Whereas^ We have heard with deep regret and sorrow of the death of Dr. William Corless Mills, which occurred at mid- night, January ly, 1928; therefore
Be it resolved by the Board of Trustees of the Ohio State Archceological and Historical Society, That in the death of Dr. William Corless Mills, for nearly seven years the Director of this Society, we have suffered an irreparable loss. To the service of this Society and the science of archaeology, Dr. Mills has given literally a life-time of the most zealous and unflagging labor. Beginning in May, 1898, as assistant curator of Archaeology,
216 Ohio ArcJi. and Hist. Society Publications
with a small and fragmentary collection of artifacts, Dr. Mills has, often with but poor support from the Society, struggled along exploring and classifying the more important archaeological remains of Ohio, until he now leaves behind him as the result of his labor, a great and impressive museum whose collections in the special field of the aborigines of the Ohio Valley are beyond question the richest in the world. He leaves not only his collec- tions as his monument, but also, and what is perhaps still greater, the system of exploration which he has developed and which has enabled him in frequent instances to glean from the worked- over explorations of others, knowledge and material of even greater value than the original searchers themselves obtained. By his work, our Society has grown in reputation and appre- ciation in the scientific circles of this country, and of the world.
Resolved, That his singleness of purpose, his indomitable will, his incessant industry and his scientific insight have made him famous. His kindness, his spirit of helpfulness and his regard for others have endeared him to this Board of Trustees, to all the members of the Society, for whom we speak, and the Stafif of the Museum, of whom he was not only the leader, but the friend and co-worker.
Resolved, That our grief at his loss is mitigated in that he no longer is facing the prolonged suffering of an incurable mal- ady, and in that the enduring memory which he leaves with us now, is that of a great life worthily lived.
Be if further resolved. That to his sorrowing family, we ofifer our sincerest sympathy in their affliction.
Dr. Mills was a member of the American Ornitholog- ical Union, member and librarian of the Ohio Academy of Science, member and president of the Wheaton Ornithological Society, member and treasurer of the Columbus Horticultural Society, charter member of the American Association of Museums, member of the Co- lumbus Iris Society and fellow of the following organi- zations: American Ethnological Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Amer- ican Anthropological Society. At the time of his death he was a member of the National Research Council of
William Corlcss Mills 217
Archaeology, and for twenty-eight years had been as- sistant editor of the Ohio Naturalist, and for twelve years a lecturer in Sociology in the College of Com- merce and Administration of the Ohio State Univer- sity. He was a member of Sigma Xi as well as Phi Beta Kappa. He was a Mason and a Republican.
His scientific papers and contributions rank high in the field of his special interests. He was author of Certain Mounds and Village Sites, Yo\. 1 — 4; Archce- ological Atlas of Ohio: Map and Guide to Fort Ancient. His annual "Reports" to the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society constitute a valuable record of the progress of that institution and his contribution to its work and growth.
He was in charge of the Society's exhibit at the Pan- American Exposition at Buffalo, in 1901 ; honorary superintendent of Archaeology at the Louisiana Pur- chase Exposition at St. Louis, in 1904; and superintend- ent of Archaeology at the Jamestown Ter-Centennial Exposition, in 1907. In the summary of Ohio's partici- pation at St. Louis, published in the United States Sen- ate report of 1906 on the Louisiana Purchase Exposi- tion, appears the following statement in regard to Ohio's archaeolosiical exhibit :
't=>'
In the Department of Anthropology * * * Ohio took the grand prize over all competitors. The display consisted prin- cipally of relics taken from the historical mounds of the state, which in themselves were very interesting. Not only was the general prize awarded for the display, but a special gold medal was presented to Professor W. C. Mills, Librarian and Curator of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, for his untiring efforts in revealing to the public of today the mode of livelihood and the characteristics of the oldest and most historical race of this continent.
218 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
For a period of six years, Dr. Mills was president of the Ohio State University Athletic Association and later was its treasurer. At the close of his service as treasurer he was urged to continue as graduate man- ager. This he consented to do for one year on condi- tion that he be given complete management of all ath- letics— football, basket-ball, baseball and track work. This request was granted and at the end of the year a deficit of about $3,000 was changed to the surplus of $8,500.
On October 7, 1885, Dr. Mills was married to Olive Buxton, of Walhonding, Coshocton County, Ohio. He is survived by Mrs. Mills and one daughter, Helen Marie Mills.
Numerous editorials of appreciation and resolutions by organizations to which he belonged have appeared in public print. We here reproduce an editorial which ap- peared in the Columbus Evening Dispatch of January 19, 1928:
William C. Mills has a fitting monument in the archaeological and historical collections gathered under his leadership during the last 30 years, and housed in the museum and library building on the grounds of Ohio State University, at the Fifteenth avenue entrance. He was in charge of the exhibit of our Ohio Archae- ological and Historical Society at the Bufifalo Exposition, in 1901, and was superintendent of the department of archaeology at the Jamestown Exposition, in 1907.
Mr. Mills has been a voluminous contributor to the literature of archaeology, both in the regular publications of the Ohio So- ciety and in separate volumes. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American An- thropological Association, the American Ethnological Associa- tion, the American Ornithologists' Union and various other learned organizations. Nothing in nature or in the life of man was without its interest for him.
iVilliam Corlcss Mills 219
The Archaeological and Historical Society has lost an inde- fatigable worker in his death and the directors will find it no easy task to fill the gap which death has made. The steady growth of the archaeological collections at the museum building is by no means a complete record of his fruitful activities, but it is a record to which his host of friends may well point with justifiable pride. Few could have made such a record, with the comparatively meager financial resources which Mr. Mills had at his disposal.
The Council of Research, to which he belonged, for- warded to him the following letter on receiving notice that his illness would not permit him to be present at their meeting:
Chicago, March 25, 1927. Dear Dr. Mills : —
The members of the conference on State Archaeological sur- veys called by the Division of Anthropology and Psycholoigy of the National Research Council, wish to tender to you our hearty greetings ; and to convey to you our sincere regret that you. the outstanding pioneer in the work to which we have all dedicated ourselves, are unable to be with us today.
A. O. Kidder, Chairman, Wilton M. Krogman,
Peter A. Brannon, William R. Teel,
Fay Cooperdale, Amos W. Butler,
Charlotte D. Gower^ Charles E. Brov^n,
Charles R. Keyes, Carl E. Guthe,
Frances Dorrance, W. B. Hinsdale. H. C. Shetrone,
OHIO IN NATIONAL POLITICS, 1865-1896 By Clifford H. Moore, Ph. D.,
Professor of History in Ripon College, Ripon, Wisconsin.
CHAPTER I
SOME DETERMINING FACTORS
The sectional conflict, which ended in 1865, contrib- uted a number of conflicting elements to the new era of national life. Prominent was the suspicion engendered by four years of struggle; and it persisted throughout the period of the next generation as a barrier to a true sense of national unity. Men easily visualized the war's destruction of life and property. Its cruelty had left an indelible imprint upon their memories, and the dangers of the "post war mind," which selfish interests stood ready to capitalize to their own ends, tended to sweep aside better standards of judgment in matters of justice. Through an inability to dissemble the passions of struggle, national problems became more perplexing, and they would have been intricate under even more favorable circumstances.
While the passions of war clouded the future and reduced unity to terms of military supremacy or at best to a legal theory, another great sectional rivalry had been temporarily eclipsed. The issue of "one nation or
(220)
Oliio ill National Politics, 1865-1896 221
two" had united the north-east and north-west in com- mon purpose. A temporary alliance had been formed: it was the first of importance between these sections since states west of the Alleghanies had begun entering the Union. Its genius was the spirit of Republicanism; and every state in the north-west, from Ohio to the Pa- cific coast, expressed its allegiance in terms of that par- ty's ideals. In only five states, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Oregon and California, was the Democratic party a factor to be immediately reckoned with. These states consequently assumed primary importance in party ma- neuvers concerned with the issues of reconstruction and the new era of national life : at critical times they shared the balance of power and formicd vulnerable points in the Republican ideal of unity.
Circumstances other than that just mentioned mark Ohio's claim to significance during the era of national reconstruction. Special importance is to be attached to geographical location, the character and extent of population and economic interests. A survey of the period indicates that the state was in one way or another concerned with practically all those developments which featured national life as a whole : whether viewed from the standpoint of interests which were purely local or in the light of a broader relationship, the history of the state appears as a cross-section of the new national de- velopment.
In 1870, the largest population of any state west of the Alleghanies was located in Ohio. The total reached somewhat more than two and one-half millions and was surpassed by only two eastern states. New York and Pennsylvania ; at a rough estimate one-tenth of the
222 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
national voting strength was accounted for in this con- stituency. The process of adjusting varied social and political interests incident to the differing antecedents of a population drawn from older sections of the Union, as well as a due proportion of the European influx, fa- vored an aggressive attitude toward national as well as state aft'airs. As the first product of the Northwest Territory a habit of leadership had been assumed. His- tory and tradition united in attributing a peculiar genius or merit to Ohio's native stock — a sort of local patriotism to be capitalized in advancing her sons to places of national honor. And the first generation of native born did represent a typical product of the ante- cedents and influences which characterized national Hfe as a whole. The National Road was Mason and Dixon's Hne in miniature; "People from the Southward'' con- tended with those of New England antecedents for con- trol of state and national affairs; frontier experiences had left their imprint and the state had long since be- come eloquent in advancing the western cause in the form of national issues.
Geographically, Ohio was the junction point of the types of civilization developed in the older and in process in the newer sections of the nation. The Ohio River, which skirts the entire southern border of the state, connects with the Mississippi Valley and Gulf of Mexico. Lake Erie on the north forms the connecting link with the Atlantic seaboard and the north-west. These waterways in the days of primitive methods of travel made possible the early settlement of the state by a heterogeneous population and provided a national highway for the exchange of products. The generous
Ohio in National Politics, i86j-i8p6 223
contributions of Ohio to the population of north-west- ern states, the degree to which the state provided the industrial centers of the seaboard with agricultural products and the importance of early Ohio river com- merce, attest the significance of this fact/ The census of 1860 indicated that the state was the center of na- tional population. Industrial interests centered to the east and agricultural just to the west of the state's boundaries. Thus, historically and geographically, the state boxed the national compass and was a social and economic pivot of national interests.
Preceding the war, Ohio was primarily identified with agricultural interests. Until 1880, less than twenty-five per cent dwelt in cities of 4,000 or greater population. In 1870, only one city registered more than 100,000. Prosperity centered extensively in the great excess of farm products supplied to the manufacturing interests to the east and the plantations to the south. By 1860, however, the agricultural frontier of the state had passed. Progress in this line related primarily to the introduction of greater diversity of crops and more intensive methods of cultivation. The advent of the industrial frontier with its factory and city life condi- tioned a social and economic readjustment by all odds the most significant in the history of the state. Urban districts, although in a minority in point of population throughout the remainder of the century, became the
^A suggestive discussion of the social and commercial relationship of Ohio to the Southern states is found in David Carl Shilling's Relation of Southern Ohio to the South during the Decade preceding the Ciz'il War, in the Quarterly Publication of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, Vol. XIII, 1913, No. 1. Cf. also Atlantic Monthly, August, 1867, (Vol. XX), pp. 229 ff.; and Vol. LXXXIV, pp. 679 fif.
224 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Pitblications
dominant and decisive factor in determining the atti- tude of the state toward national issues. With a dis- proportionate command of the state's wealth, the power of the press, and the intellectual and political talent of the state, these cities finally left to the rural elements scarcely more than a choice between essentially indus- trial programs.
In 1870, Cleveland and Toledo vied with each other as distributing and collecting agencies for the districts reached by the Great Lakes. The Civil War had checked the importance of Mississippi River navigation and stimulated the railway and lake traffic east and west. The great opportunity of these cities came with the increased demand of the northwest for Ohio and Pennsylvania coal and the bulky articles of manufac- ture, and the opening of the iron and copper mines of the upper lake region. Constantly increasing commerce and ship building brought subordinate industries in their trail. When railway traffic became sufficiently de- veloped Cleveland was brought into direct contact with the coal fields and iron producing centers of the nation and was assured a well balanced and diversified indus- try. The city's interests became ultimately identified with the financial and industrial interests of the east. Toledo, less fortunate in location in so far as these re- sources were concerned, was soon outdistanced by Cleveland, but became conspicuous in the state's politics as a center of "isms" and third party movements.
The expansion of Cleveland enabled that city to
"Toledo was in 1878 a center of the greenback movement. It early inclined toward socialistic programs. Sam Jones, better known as "Golden Rule" Jones, later became inayor of the city and an inspirer of many liberals.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 225
share the pre-eminent political leadership held by Cin- cinnati since the days of early statehood. Primarily connected with the agricultural interests of the north- west and the border states, the latter city had the ad- vantage of being a sort of political center of gravity — an "Old Hunkers' Paradise" in the words of an eminent historian/ As the center of population and industry shifted westward, Chicago, Kansas City and St. Louis drew an increasing share of the type of traffic that con- ditioned Cincinnati's earlier development. The old sec- tional ties and a multiplicity of voting interests, how- ever, enabled the city to continue as a strategical point in political conflicts.
While political contests centered primarily in the two major cities in opposite corners of the state, lesser centers occasionally figured prominently. This fact was, however, in its fmal analysis, merely one of various devices by which party discipline was preserved. The choice of candidates and the dictation of platforms were frequently delegated to the lesser cities and towns as poHtical expediency dictated. In this way solidarity was promoted and rank and file became conversant with theories that were ultimately accepted as their own.
The chief medium by which the dominance of indus- trial influence was maintained in unifying party action and rendering it consonant with the national program was the newspaper. Party machinery as developed in the mid-century era functioned extensively through this particular channel; the influence of a celebrated group
^'Cf. Shilling, loc. cit., pp. 12-18; Atlantic Monthly, August, 1867, Vol. XX, pp. 229 ff.
Vol. XXXVII— 15.
226 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
of editors was a powerful factor in articulating popular opinion and translating it into political results. A list of Ohio editors included men of national reputation and influence. Foremost, perhaps, may be placed the name of Murat Halstead of the Cincinnati Commercial. He was not so steadfast in his Republicanism but that he gained influence in more or less independent projects even beyond the boundaries of the state. In circulation and consequent numbers reached, the Cincinnati En- quirer distanced all rivals. Its name was a household term in great areas of the mid-west. The weekly edi- tion probably approached 100,000. In 1873, its editor boasted that the circulation was greater in Ohio, Indi- ana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois and West Virginia, than that of any paper published within those states.* Under the editorship of Washington McLean until the early seventies and later under his son, John R., the paper frequently assumed a dictatorship of the Demo- cratic party. Its ambition was to articulate a great sec- tional interest, and, in pursuance of it, its editor did not hesitate to declare Cincinnati the logical site for the national capitol. No paper surpassed it in capitalizing popular impulses in furtherance of political designs.
Another Cincinnati paper of extensive influence (aside from the German press) was the Gasette, under the bitterly partisan editorship of Richard ("Dick") Smith. With the Commercial and the Dayton Journal under W. D. Bickham, the Gazette shared the press leadership of the Republican party in south-western Ohio.
Two newspapers in Cleveland, as in Cincinnati, as-
^Cincinnati Enquirer, January 1, 1873.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 227
serted political influence in comparatively equal degree. The Plain Dealer and Leader, Democratic and Repub- lican organs respectively, contested their relative impor- tance and respectability as well as the issues of the day. Edwin Cowles made the Leader the vehicle of his recog- nition as the "Horace Greeley of the West." The Plain Dealer, at one time boasting Charles F. Browne (Artemus Ward) as a member of its staff, was, after 1865, under the control of William D. Armstrong, the undisputed organ of its party in Northern Ohio.
In Toledo the Blade was important primarily be- cause of its retention of one of the best known news- paper wits of the day — "Petroleum V. Nasby.''' His letters from "Confedrit X Roads," purporting to be those of an illiterate observer on the issues of the day, were considered sufficiently effective thrusts at Demo- cratic stupidity to be copied extensively by the Repub- lican press.*" The Blade's nearest competitor was the Commercial, organized by Clark and Ralph Waggoner, formerly editors of the Blade, in 1866, as a Johnson organ.
" David R. Locke.
*The following is a typical extract from the writings of a satirist whom one must know in order to sense a significant current in national life. It appeared during the height of the financial agitation: "G. W." orders a barrel of whiskey and pays in the "f ollerin dokeyment : Confedrit X Roads, Sept. 1, 1875. I promise to pay G. W. Bascom sixteen hundred and eighty dollars, Jehial Perkins. 'Wats this?' askt the astonished Bascom with an expreshun uv intense disgust usurpin the place of the smile. 'Pay for that likker,' replied Perkins calm es a Joon mornin'. 'But this aint pay — its your promise to pay, and you aint got time nor place fixed for payment — you aint got no interest exprest, nor nothin. W^en do you perpose to pay it? 'Never, G. W., never. Under the noo dispensashen, promises to pay is money. All you want is faith. So long as you beleeve that that paper is money, what do you want of money? With faith enuff that paper is money ' " Cleveland Leader, September 18, 1875.
228 Ohio Arch: and Hist. Society Publications
The location of the official party organs was natu- rally Columbus. The Ohio State Journal edited by Gen- eral Comly met the needs of the Republicans, while at different times the Statesman, the Democrat and the Times gave aspiring Democrats good services.
Several news sheets other than those mentioned de- serve recognition as educative agencies. The Crisis of Columbus, commonly regarded as the "Copperhead" organ during and immediately after the war, the Co- lumbus Dispatch, "a skim milk independent," the Springfield Republican, the Cleveland Herald and the Dayton Democrat, appear among the better known prints.
With slight exceptions, no change in the physical make-up of Ohio newspapers was apparent between 1860 and 1880. They usually consisted of four pages of news, essays on freaks and freakish events, editorials and catechisms on political issues. In October, 1880, the Cleveland Leader first advanced the campaign issues by a page of crude cartoons. From that period, owing to the development of advertising, dated also the tendency to multiply pages and to feature a wider range of infor- mation.
As magazines advanced in significance and news- paper editing became a complex function, the impor- tance of a dominating personality vanished. Through the period of transition, however, a great readjustment in American life was taking place. With it came the necessity for the realignment of parties in keeping with the new era. From the issues of the war to those of a new age, an intensive educational campaign was neces-
Ohio in National Politics, 1863-1896 229
sary. In this capacity newspapers and their editors wielded an extensive influence.
Important as newspapers were as poHtical agencies, they may be regarded as first only in a series of factors incident to elaborate political machinery made possible by industrial agencies. Closely connected with the daily press and tending to overshadow it during the later years of the century, was the development of party ma- chinery designed to reinforce regularity wherever weak- ness manifested itself or critical interests demanded. Owing to close contests between the two dominant par- ties, the modern political machine became a conspicuous factor in the state's politics at a comparatively early period. In fact, various modern practices and devices may be said to have developed extensively within Ohio as the result of a series of critical contests.
One must not gather, however, that parties were without their ideals. In fact, a great measure of solidar- ity rested upon the assumption that certain broad princi- ples and ideals continuously permeated the party struc- ture. Certain antecedent practices and creeds formed party ties as binding as those of national patriotism. At all times political leaders used the appeal of loyalty as the surest device for promoting solidarity. The persistence with which men commonly followed the party of their choice is reflected in the similarity of election returns from one canvass to another. A brief survey of the sit- uation as it stood in 1865 will illustrate the extent to which party alignment had been crystallized and the degree to which sectional influences persisted.
The Connecticut Reserve, consisting of the counties in the north-eastern part of the state and settled almost
230 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
entirely by New Englanders, was Unionist and Repub- lican by an overwhelming majority. The Ohio Com- pany's purchase, consisting approximately of Washing- ton, Athens, Meigs and Gallia Counties, was also settled primarily by New Englanders and next to the Reserve was noted as a Unionist and Republican stronghold. In the south-western part of the state, from Delaware County on the north to Montgomery and Warren Counties on the south, extended another tier of consist- ently Republican counties — a monument to the Whig dictatorship of Thomas Corwin. With few exceptions, the rest of the state, owing to an admixture of Scotch- Irish, Germans and those of Southern antecedents, was debatable territory. The counties of Monroe, Fairfield, Holmes, Auglaize and Mercer were inclined to be as staunchly Democratic as the Reserve was Republican/
The issues of the war had fixed this alignment quite definitely. It persisted with comparative regularity sev- eral years after the original issues had lost their signifi- cance. In no other northern state had party strife been more bitter during the Civil War period. The contest for governor in 1863 had made party ties practically the acid test between loyalty and treason. The Democratic party had become, in the judgment of many, synonymous with "rebel" and "Copperhead." Others viewed the Re- publican party as a revival of French Jacobinism seek- ing to eradicate the last vestiges of respectable society as established by the Constitution. This comparative
^For the sources of Ohio's population see Chaddock, Ohio before 1850; Columbia University Studies in History, Economics and PubHc Law, Vol. XXXI ; also Porter, Ohio Politics During the Civil War Period, in the same series of Studies, Vol. XL.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 231
rigidity of party lines was a basic factor in determining processes by which poHtical ends were achieved.
The same factors conditioning the aHgnment of vot- ers produced poHtical leaders of a similar type. Fully conscious of the prestige implied by commanding this aggressive constituency, men of varying types maneuv- ered for success in politics. Within their ranks were those who had in youth experienced the hardships of the crude agricultural life of the frontier. Shirt-sleeves and "galluses" had been the common badge of self- reliance and democracy. A vision of success in business or law led them to broader fields of enterprise. An age characterized by its legalistic faith looked primarily to the law to develop men well qualified to draw up rules for the safe-keeping of society. Political eminence was therefore the best tested criterion of a successful career and offered its appeal accordingly.
The importance of the various factors enumerated varied from one period to another. In general, how- ever, each of those indicated suggests the basis of Ohio's conspicuous position in national life and politics for a number of years following the war. The period was one in which politics and business were of primary con- cern. The State, through a close identity with the chief current of national life, gained political distinction as an offensive oui-post of an expanding industrialism and a defensive stronghold of a capitulating agrarianism.
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CHAPTER II POLITICS AND THE WAR ISSUES
The three years following immediately upon the close of the war were characterized polidcally by issues directly connected with Reconstruction Events so shaped themselves that negro suffrage was ultim.ately faced as a direct issue and practically eliminated from the political realm. Problems connected with the status of seceded states projected beyond this period and ap- peared under various guises in connection with issues only remotely connected with the war and primarily re- lated to the newer era. Each party, therefore, passed through a critical stage of readaptation to the new situ- ation.
The campaign for governor in 1865 and the congres- sional campaign of the year following may be character- ized as preliminary sparring matches with each party maneuvering for advantage. The issue upon which the Union party had rested was eliminated by the collapse of the Confederate cause. Since the opening of hostili- ties between North and South in 1861, the preservation of the Union was the single bond that held together for- mer Whigs, Abolitionists, Know-nothings, Free Soilers, and Anti-Slavery Democrats. When that issue was closed, former prejudices threatened to assert them- selves with disruption of the party as an imminent con- sequence; and many politicians were thoroughly aware that the end of the war carried threats of ending like- wise their political careers.
The fortunes of the Peace Democracy, on the other hand, were conditioned by factors scarcely less promis- ing. In time of war the peace idea is popular and that
Ohio m National Politics, 1863-1896 233
alone gave the Democratic party an advantage. Its factions ranged from avowed nullifiers and secessionists to those who, though professing loyalty to Union prin- ciples, held that the war was not a necessary program for perpetuating the Union. Its dilemma was similar to that of the Unionists. From a practical standpoint it faced the problem of keeping its factions as nearly intact as possible while constructing a program which should win over factions, especially those of Democratic antecedents, attached to the opposite camp. Owing to the embarrassment of the Unionists on the immediate issues of reconstruction. Democratic attempts met with partial success. The moral and social tone of the nation was such, however, that a general demoralization of the party long persisted as a heritage of its war recorr'' . its success at best could be only partial or as a result of a temporary protest against certain phases of the Unionist policy.
Developments of the summer of 1865 appeared alto- gether favorable to the plans of the party which had been more than four years in opposition and without offxe. The threatening break between President John- son and the Radicals regarding the program of recon- struction threatened to shatter completely the fragile bond by which the party had maintained its unity. In many communities, especially those regarded as debat- able political territory, party differences were slight; a radical attitude toward restoration of the South or in the direction of negro suffrage carried the possibilities of a disastrous defection. In the Reserve an equally disastrous defection awaited any program that suggested other than a radical or vindictive attitude.
234 Ohio Arch., and Hist, Society Publications
The dilemma of the Unionists is illustrated by the difficulties encountered by two of the party's exponents — Senator Wade and General J. D. Cox. The former had risen on the high tide of the anti-slavery issue, and as a leader of the Radical group became apprehensive of the development in Washington which threatened to consign "the great Union or Republican party bound hand and foot to the tender mercies of the rebels * * * and their Copperhead allies of the North." The course which he later pursued in hurling campaign invective upon the Democracy as not only "dead but damned through the sin of treason" contributed to the destruc- tion of whatever availability he had formerly possessed.^ His political martyrdom came through an erroneous faith in Ohio's love for the negro. ^
General Cox, on the other hand, narrowly escaped sacrificing his political future on the opposite horn of the dilemma. Unlike Wade, he was not temperamentally vindictive in attitude and was consequently strongly in- clined to debate the possible tyranny of majorities as
' Porter, op. cit., p. 209.
- Referring to a speech delivered by Wade at Marietta, Thomas Ewing, St., wrote : "He spoke it in eight or ten of the southern counties. In GalHa, he brought down the Republican majority 1017 — in Washington about 700 and it had a like effect in Scioto, Lawrence, Meigs and Athens. If he had stumped the state, the Democratic ticket would have prevailed by 30,000." Ewing MSS., October 16, 1867.
'The Cincinnati Commercial, November 6, 1867, reported the follow- ing interview: "I had no idea that there were so many Republicans in Ohio who were willing to see negro suffrage in the South, but wouldn't let the few niggers of Ohio vote. That's what got me. They all seemed to be in favor of it as a measure of reconstruction just as much as I was. I didn't dream they'd be mean enough to vote against it here."
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 235
against the rights of minorities.* The Unionists in an- ticipation of the Election of 1865 had nominated him as their candidate for governor. His availability centered in his war record and Oberlin training — a tacit guaran- tee to the Reserve that their ideals were respected.^ The party platform endorsed the policy of the President as looking to the "restoration of peace and civil order in the so-called seceded states". An endorsement of the Declaration of Independence (often a device for meet- ing a political impasse) was procured as a compromise on the problem of the negro. The Unionists as a whole for the sake of solidarity evaded the endorsement of more tangible principles.
On July 24th, however, General Cox threw his party into confusion. In response to an inquiry from a com- mittee of colored students at OberHn, he was compelled to declare his program regarding negro suffrage. He explained at some length his conviction that a com- munity of blacks and whites in the South was an absolute impossibility. He further elaborated a scheme for or- ganizing the freedmen into communities in the South under the territories. The response to this incident was immediate. "Politics run wild in Ohio," wrote a corre- spondent to Chase. "Cox, your old friend, seems to have fallen into the arms of the Conservatives and to have ignored the former teachings of Oberlin."^ The Dem-
* Cox, subsequently, in his inaugural, warned against a "hard peace" : "A victorious majority, flushed with its triumph, finds it easy to forget the rights of minorities, and it remains for us to prove whether in our day the old cry of 'Woe to the conquered' may be silenced by a truly republican determination to administer the government for the real advantage of all — of the defeated rebels as well as of the loyal victors."
° Cox's wife was a daughter of President Finney, of Oberlin.
' Porter, op. cit., p. 218, footnote.
236 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
ocratic and Radical press united in declaring the letter an apostasy of Unionist principles. "It is a painful con- fession," declared the Crisis, "drawn from a devotee that the faith which he preferred, the ideas he imbibed, and the principles he has cherished from his youth have proved when put to the final test chimeras, falsehoods, failures, frauds, and humbugs.'" The Democrats thus had cause for optimism when their convention met at Columbus on August 24.
In the hope of a radical defection and with the pur- pose of making effective overtures to the Conservatives, the Democratic Convention declared for the doctrine of States' Rights as announced in the Virginia and Ken- tucky Resolutions.^ The so-called seceded states were declared to be still in the Union and therefore entitled to all the reserved rights of the states. The program for negro suffrage was held as "an insidious attempt to overthrow popular institutions by bringing the right to vote into disgrace." The Convention further resolved to stand by President Johnson in all Constitutional ef- forts to restore immediately to the states the exercise of their rights and powers under the Constitution. The military record of General George W. Morgan com- mended him as the candidate for governor.
Despite a defection of 65,000 Unionist votes, Gen- eral Cox carried the election by a majority of 30,000. The Unionist candidate's program was side-stepped in Radical areas during the campaign as merely the pecu- liar ideas of an individual — an opportunity which Gen-
Crisis, August 9, 1865. ' Cf . Porter, op. cit., p. 214.
Ohio in National Politics, 1863-1896 237
eral Cox had safeguarded in his OberHn letter/ The Unionists maintained control of the state and an ex- tension of time in which to square public opinion and a program.
For another year Unionist leaders were forced to maneuver in an atmosphere of indefinite popular opin- ion. Successive attempts were made to endorse the pro- gram of the President or Congress. While certain Con- servatives turned to the Democrats, others hesitated in doubt as to the direction in which the path of political wisdom lay. In the Congressional campaign and that for state officers in 1866, party unity was in large measure preserved by pleading that no real difference existed between Congressional and Presidential pro- grams. The only real difference, it was maintained, was in the manner of imposing terms.
Meanwhile, the Democrats capitalized the Unionist; dilemma by encouraging the cooperation of the Johnson sympathizers. Their convention of 1866 was primarily designed for this purpose. In the National Union Club Convention, held at Philadelphia in August of the same year, the party shared its representation with Johnson sympathizers, although it first assured itself that it had not for its object "the disbanding of the Democratic party and merging it into a new organization." The fiasco of the campaign during the following October, coupled with a fear on the part of regular party leaders that the policy of cooperation implied a certain danger
®He had declared: "If other views than mine prevail, I shall hold it my duty to act cheerfully and promptly with the body of loyal men, believ- ing that the best solution which they can give will be the best obtainable and that to divide from them will be to deliver the government into the hands of its enemies." Crisis, August 9, 1867.
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to their individual interests, brought a change of tactics. The election impending for the following year loomed as especially significant to the interest of both parties and their leaders. Besides the governorship, a legisla- ture which should choose Senator Wade's successor was at stake. The campaign would naturally bear a signifi- cant relation to the Presidential campaign impending a year later. With a view to reaping the full benefit of the apparently hopeless situation between the Presi- dent and Congress, three leaders consistently identified with the Democratic party proceeded to take the situa- tion in hand.
Prominent above all others was Clement L. Vallan- digham. His name had become synonymous with *'Cop- perhead" Democracy as a result of his banishment from the state and subsequent candidacy for the governorship in 1863. Gifted with a commanding personality and the power to appeal to the masses, he had intrenched him- self as an undoubted hero in the estimate of thousands of his constituents. His convictions led him into an aggressive attitude dictated in great measure by an hon- est and fearless nature. He was thus an asset and a liability to the Democracy as it attempted to extricate itself from the dilemma of the Civil War period. The Unionists made him the victim of their propaganda; he was himself an issue — "a millstone on the necks of the Democracy"; many of his party associates stood ready to read him from the party councils. Owing to his tenacity he remained a factor to be reckoned with until his untimely death in 1871."
'"For highly favorable estimates of Vallandigham see Ohio Archcco- logical and Historical Publications, Vol. XXXIII, pp. ^loij ff., and Cox Three Decades of Federal Legislation, pp. 80-85.
Ohio in National Politics, 1863-1896 239
In the person of George H. Pendleton, the party pos- sessed a leader gifted in the subtle devices of political methods. Personally correct and cultured, he was pop- ularly identified as "Gentleman George," later when championing the "Ohio Idea" as "Young Greenbacks."
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WADE United States Senator, March 4, 1851 — March 3, 1869
With a record of four terms in Congress from a Cincin- nati district and as the Vice-Presidential candidate in 1864, he was yet hopeful of procuring the nation's great- est political reward.
"Allen G. Thurman, "the noble Roman" or "Old
240 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Bandanna," as he was popularly called, the third of the group, was of Virginia birth, a thorough party man with convictions as to the political justice of his party's ideals. He was a constitutional lawyer of recognized ability. His peculiar manner enHsted confidence though it seldom aroused enthusiasm. He was, nevertheless, a striking figure, and later was to voice a powerful protest against measures of questionable constitutionality that were forced rough-shod through the national legisla- ture. ^'Ernest, outspoken, and free in his criticisms of men and manners, he would wave his red bandanna handkerchief like a guidon, give his nose a trumpet blast, take a fresh pinch of snufif, and dash into a debate, dealing rough blows and scattering the carefully pre- pared arguments of his adversaries like chaff."^^ On the stump he was effective, though, like Senator Sherman, he failed to attract men by personal magnet- ism. Much of the popular strength of both men cen- tered in that type of venerability which tends to crystal- lize about those long in public life.
January 8, 1867, St. Jackson's or St. Hickory's Day in the calendar of loyal Democrats, was a logical time to restore the party to its original principles. The Dem- ocratic triumvirate made an advanced division of the party spoils. Thurman was to be the candidate for gov- ernor; Vallandigham, in case of a Democratic legisla- ture, was to succeed Wade in the Senate; Pendleton should receive the party endorsement for the Presiden-
'^ Poor's characterization continues : "When he sat down, he would signal to a Republican friend and they would leave the Senate chamber by different doors and meet in a committee room, where there was a supply of old Bourbon whiskey." Poor, Reminiscences, Vol. II.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 241
tial nomination in 1868.'" The platform was launched against the "unconstitutional, revolutionary, and des- potic" reconstruction measures, then before Congress, and the threatening "thralldom of niggerism."
JACOB DOLSON COX
Brigadier General in the Union Army, April 23, 1861-October 6, 1862 ; Major General, October 6, 1862-January 1_, 1866; Governor of Ohio, January 8, 18<)6- January 13, 18ii8; Representative in Congress, March 4, 1877-March 3, 187!); Secretary of the Interior of the United States, March 5, 1869- November 1, 1870.
The Unionists by common consent passed over Gov- ernor Cox and nominated General Rutherford B.
'' Porter, op. cit., pp. 239. Vol. XXXVII— 16.
242 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Hayes. The Oberlin letter and the fact that General Cox had eulogized President Johnson in 1866, combined to make him unavailable. As a Representative in Con- gress, General Hayes had followed the Radicals but had evinced no great enthusiasm for the cause. The plat- form endorsed the proposed amendment ot the Constitu- tion enfranchising the negro, and the reconstruction measures of Congress.
The campaign centered primarily in the issue of negro enfranchisement. The Unionists had successfully side-stepped that issue in 1865 and although the "Visible Admixture" law, and the last of the Ohio "Black Code" had been repealed, the Radicals had succeeded in bring- ing the issue before the voters in a proposed amendment which provided that "white" be stricken from that clause in the Constitution which described the qualifica- tions for suffrage.
The contest was second in intensity and national in- terest only to that of 1865. The State Legislature had in a blundering manner given an added issue. In fram- ing the negro suffrage amendment the preceding Febru- ary, Conservatives in the House had sought to gain for it an added popularity by disfranchising as many Peace Democrats as possible. An amendment to the Senate bill disfranchised those who had "borne arms in support of any insurrection or rebellion against the Government of the United States, or have fled from their places of residence to avoid being drafted into the military serv- ices thereof, or have deserted the military service of said government in time of war and have not subse- quently been honorably discharged from the same." When it was discovered that about one-fourth of the
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-18^6 243
total deserters credited to Ohio had left the army after Lee's surrender in order to escape services on the Mex- ican border or on the Indian frontier, attempts were made to secure from the Federal Government honorable discharges for all who had left after April 15, 1865. Not until July, through the services of J. M. Ashley, a representative from the Toledo district, did a bill pass Congress which removed the ban of desertion.
The campaign threw the Unionists on the defensive, although they countered by resurrecting the war records of their opponents. General Hayes pleaded the cause of the negro and attempted to convince his audiences that slavery and rebellion were convertible and union and Hberty inseparable terms. Thurman pleaded the consti- tutional case of the Democracy and declared that for six years the Unionists had unnecessarily prolonged the war by shamelessly and needlessly trampling the Con- stitution under foot. Intellect and passion were ap- pealed to in opposition to the proposed enfranchisement of the negro — the proposition to confer the vote upon '7,000 or 8,000 negroes while taking it away from two or three times as many white soldiers." Wagons filled with girls dressed in white and bearing banners in- scribed "Fathers, save us from negro equality" featured Democratic processions. Inscriptions of Republican banners read: "Honest Black men are preferable to white traitors"; "Democrats murdered our President"; "If any man pull down the American flag, give him a Post Office — A. Johnson."''
The campaign result was a virtual victory for the Democracy. The total vote indicated an increase of
" Toledo Blade. September 23, 1867.
244 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
67,000 over the election of 1865 with a bare majority of less than 3,000 for General Hayes. Twelve thousand fewer votes were cast on the Amendment than for the governor, with a direct majority of 38,000 against it." The Democrats procured control of both houses of the Legislature and the assurance of naming the successor to Wade in the United States Senate.
The result of the war issues apparently placed the Democracy on a competitive basis with the Unionists. Their voting strength had been steadily recruited since the disastrous election of 1863 when they had been de- feated by a majority of 100,000. The impending Presi- dential campaign extended a reasonable hope of success to the minority party providing its program was di- rected with reasonable tact and foresight. A new turn in popular interests extended an apparent opportunity for Democratic leaders to identify their party with a program that would at least partially relieve it from the popular prejudice revealed by the recent campaigns. The issue born of this new popular interest became sig- nificant in the Presidential campaign of 1868.
jf; ^ ;}: ^ ^
A natural consequence of the issues of the Civil War was a distraction of popular attention from economic and social interests which were not directly con- nected with that event. The North-west in general passed through a stage of expansion and prosperity while serving as an important agency in procuring the subjection of the South. The demands of the war for food and men eliminated all possibilities of ''hard
'* The term "white" remained in the Ohio Constitution until the adop- tion of a new instrument in 1912.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 245
times" connected with over-production and unemploy- ment. Ohio had profited greatly from this favorable situation. During the war and for a period of two years following, prosperity was the common topic of newspapers and official reports. The state debt de- creased rapidly and reports visioned its entire efiface- ment within a very short period. In 1865, the per capita indebtedness was somewhat less than one-half that of 1844.^^ Thanks in part to cheap money, the mortgage debt was estimated to have been reduced by somewhat less than $17,000,000, or about one-third the total, be- tween 1859 and 1863; state bank deposits more than doubled between 1860 and 1863.'^ But great as the general satisfaction was with this situation, many pointed to the even greater possibilities of the future. The report of the State Auditor in 1865 was typical of the prevailing optimism: "With a rigid adherence to economy, the proper amendments of the tax laws, and the steady and intelligent enforcement of a just and equal taxation, the public debt will disappear in seven years, and the state levy sink down to one mill on the dollar. Then, with the rate of interest properly ad- justed, capital will flow into the State, manufactories will spring up and population and wealth augment in a ratio hitherto scarcely dreamed of."^^
Definite programs by which industrial interests should be advanced took various forms. The general idea was that greater freedom was to be advanced to those interests directly concerned, especially in so far as
"^ Annual Cyc, 1865, pp. 683 ff. ^'^ Annual Cyc, 1863, pp. 731-732. "Annual Cyc, 1865, p. 684.
246 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
it related to finances. That industrial interests were awakening to the new issues, was indicated in the gen- eral demand for the removal of barriers that had been erected primarily for agricultural interests. Business interests of Toledo and Cincinnati petitioned the Legis- lature either for the removal of the six per cent interest maximum or its increase to from seven to ten per cent "to keep money from New York and the far West." '' The Toledo Blade early in 1867 declared that "traffic in money should be as free as that in corn."" In December of the same year the National Convention of Manufacturers met in Cleveland to declare a construct- ive program for the advancement of their own interest and to identify it w^ith the large realm of national in- terest. It placed itself upon record as opposed to any scheme for the rapid reduction of the National debt as "fraught with danger." A memorial addressed to the Senate and House of Representatives read in part as follows :
"Labor increased our wealth from $7,135,780,228 in 1850 to $16,159,616,068 in 1860. The same ratio, making an allowance of $4,520,732,313 for the wastes of war, will increase the national wealth to $32,000,- 000,000 in 1870. In comparison with this, our national debt which by the Secretary's last report was $2,511,- 800,013.33, will be neither an embarrassment nor a terror.
"Wise legislation that will protect well our industrial interests and give permanency and stability to all gov- ernmental affairs, will greatly increase the power of
"Toledo Blade, November 20, ISCI 'Hbid., February 26, 1867.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 247
labor in our midst, which, when relieved of excessive taxation, will soon make us the most prosperous and in- dependent nation on earth.""" Ohio newspapers echoed the advantages of industrial interests over agricultural as a medium of advancing national welfare. The Blade called attention to the returns of English industrial cap- ital at 120 per cent as compared with a return of only 13 per cent on capital invested in agriculture."^ It was in- deed a radical program from the standpoint of Jeffer- sonian or Jacksonian economy toward which the indus- trialists were driving and being driven.
Before the election of 1867 had closed, popular at- tention was being centered more and more in the direc- tion of the national debt and financial measures in re- lation to the advancement of material interests. Bond issues and the National Bank had been designed pri- marily as devices by which financial support had been procured for prosecuting the war. These instruments of finance had in turn largely relieved property interests from direct taxation and provided the basis of inflation which had too frequently augmented private credit in spite of a wealth-consuming war. Finances, then, formed the chief issue about which the problems of the new industrial age revolved. A brief survey of the factors concerned will make clear the character of the struggle as it unfolded itself.
The function of money and credit ever tended to be- come more complicated and important as the industrial age advanced. In the various forms of its relationship to economic life it was open to numerous and puzzling
'"Ohio State Journal, January 3, 1868. "Toledo Blade, January 3, 1867.
248 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
intellectual slants. In this and subsequent crises through which the struggle passed, many phases and combinations of phases of the subject were emphasized. A popular conception, for example, held it to be a lubri- cant for industrial machinery — an accelerator which by expansion could speed up a period of economic depres- sion. On one point only was practical unanimity evi- dent. This was in the general acceptance of the idea that financial expansion or credit must keep pace with the increase of wealth and population. It was in the program by which this fact was to be accomplished that differences existed. Industrial and banking interests characterized their program as the "sound money doc- trine" and realized profit and security in the concessions of the National Bank Act — security especially from Congress, which in determining the needs of industry might "mistake its own pulse for that of the nation." ''Sound money doctrine" advocated sound money in so far as it discountenanced the issuance of credit certifi- cates in any form on the part of the government. By the quantity theory of value, banking credits stood in the way of being depreciated by any such action.
The "greenback movement," actuated as it was by debtor classes who viewed any increase in the denom- inator of values as a source of relief from their obliga- tions, nevertheless carried within itself an opposing theory of justice. By its opponents the program was caricatured as a "soft money craze" — any scheme of government credit circulation other than that of coin worth its intrinsic value was open to the criti- cism "soft money."" Programs for securing such
"Government indebtedness in the form of bonds which secured bank- ing circulation was on the other hand consistent with the banking program.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 249
credits varied among proponents of the general scheme. Some held that the mere fiat of the govern- ment was sufficient security, especially since the gov- ernment had sovereign authority through its taxing power over all national wealth."^ "Print" was held to be etymologically the same as coin — hence the scheme was constitutional. Others advocated securing govern- ment credit by making issues of certificates interchange- able with bonds, the value regulated by an interest rate payable in coin — a system "free from the manipulations of both banks and Congress and in the hands of the people where it belongs." Another commonly advanced view held that a coin reserve was necessary to stabilize such government credit. All these schemes, however, possessed a common unity in their declared warfare against the perpetuation of the national debt, and bank- ing associations which "drew interest on their indebted- ness and practiced extortion upon the people": "The right to coin and issue money is a function of the gov- ernment and can no more with safety be delegated to private individuals than we could afford to delegate to private individuals the power to make penal statutes or levy taxes." In its broader aspects the "needs of indus- try and commerce" were to be the standard of finance rather than metallic value or the criterion of banking interests, and whether "sound" or not the program was a phase of that popular struggle which had as its object the control of economic agencies which were soon to demonstrate a power and magnitude that completely overshadowed that of the government itself.
' The number embracing this scheme was comparatively small.
250 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Various interests of the past designated Ohio as an area in which the issue possessed paramount interest. With Kentucky, the state had attacked the Second bank of the United States when it forced their banks to pay their debts. A latent suspicion of Eastern methods of finance was an abiding legacy from the days when An- drew Jackson counted Ohio a dependable supporter in his war upon the "monster.""* Success appeared cer- tain, therefore, when the Cincinnati Enquirer and Pen- dleton advanced a scheme of finance which possessed an apparently double virtue — first, relief from embarrass- ing taxes occasioned by the war debt and, second, the necessary expansion of credit to meet agricultural needs and industrial development.
The program was to be realized by demanding the payment of bonds in certificates issued upon the credit of the United States in all cases in which gold was not specified. The issuance of non-interest-bearing certifi- cates in payment of bonds made possible, according to the advocates of the scheme, a short cut to the payment of the debt and a consequent lowering of taxation. By making the certificates legal tender in the payment of taxes and debts, it was claimed that a quick return to specie payments was automatically assured and an ex- pansion of credit created to meet the advancement of economic interests. On the theory that "there should be
" Ohio Democratic leaders persisted in identifying their party with their sectional interests. A "toast" at a Jackson Day banquet in 1867 is illustrative : "The North-west — not hewers of wood or drawers of water for New England monopolists ought the North-west to be. Woe to her representatives who aid the cormorants to devour her substance and im- poverish her people by high tarifif, unequal taxation and the creation of unnecessary debt." Cincinnati Enquirer, January 9, 1867.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 251
no divided sovereignty in providing the people with their currency," the scheme looked to the elimination of the national banking system as well as the payment of the national debt. "Eliminate the National Bank notes and there will be no undue inflation of the currency" was the answer to the indictment of opponents.
After the issue had been drawn and had become a more or less Democratic dogma, the "sound money" ad- vocates ridiculed that party for having turned a com- plete somersault since 1863 when they had so radically opposed the issue of fiat money. For example, no one had been more radical in opposition to fiat money during the war than Pendleton. He was likewise represented as an apostate from the Jacksonian Democratic tradi- tion of specie as against credit money. Accepting the program of credit circulation, however, as an estab- lished fact, Pendleton could claim consistency in advo- cating a national currency as against the national bank currency. Good legal opinion declared that no contract was violated since bondholders should receive as good currency as they had given in exchange for the bonds.'^
The general program for a national currency as out- lined gained wide circulation during the latter months of 1867 and became familiar as the "Ohio Idea." The immediate popularity of the scheme in the face of a slackening "war prosperity" was evident. The En- quirer congratulated itself repeatedly as the pioneer of the movement. Party lines threatened to dissolve in behalf of the new issue. Newspaper editors of both
"^ A manuscript in the Thomas Ewing papers written by Ewing shortly before his death is one of the ablest defenses of the Pendleton program available.
252 OJiio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
parties attached no political importance to the program and only quibbled as to differences. The Blade, for ex- ample, in its remonstrance against McCulloch's contrac- tion of the greenbacks, declared that its own program of inflation demanded only a sprinkle whereas the Enquirer was demanding a flood.
Congress immediately reflected the effect of the new popular pressure and political expediency demanded im- mediate action. Sherman was especially active in evol- ving a program which would square his party with the rising tide. The editor of the Cleveland Leader ad- vised him repeatedly of the necessity for immediate ac- tion. Under date of February 20, 1868, he wrote: "The reason why I advocate an early resumption is to prevent the Copperheads from carrying the next Presi- dential election. I will say confidentially that in the cry now being raised by the Copperhead Demagogues of 'Gold for the Bondholders and Greenbacks for the la- borers' I see the defeat of the Union party next fall which even the military prestige of Grant cannot pre- vent." "No doubt you should do something with the National Banks," urged another prominent adviser. "They are simply grand swindling shops under the Na- tional Flag."'*"
Sherman launched his program and frankly de- fended it out of deference to popular demands. Febru- ary 4, 1868, an act passed the President's veto which forbade any further reduction of the currency and au- thorized the replacement of "mutilated notes." By this act the minimum limit of legal-tender notes was fixed at $356,000,000— the volume then afloat after McCul-
"T. J. McLain to Sherman, December 18, 1867. Sherman MSS.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 253
loch's policy had done its work. Senator Sherman, in advocating the measure, declared that it was entirely preliminary to other legislation "which must include the banking system, the time and manner of resuming specie payment, the payment of the debt and the kind of money in which it can be paid, and the reduction of expenditures and taxation."^^
His program was professed in the interests of public justice and with due deference to the government's obli- gations to national interests. His conclusions in regard to the subject had been reached against the earnest ar- guments of personal and political friends, and against his own "personal and pecuniary interests.'"^ This speech, in view of the fundamental change in attitude which party allegiance was to encompass on the part of Sherman and many of his associates, is particularly significant. Few men of opposing political attachments formulated the social and economic issue in broader terms. The political exigency first received emphasis: "I might show you by the resolutions of political parties, both Republican and Democratic, that we cannot avoid or evade this issue. We must meet it. I have here the resolutions of both political parties in the state of In- diana, both declaring that these bonds ought to be paid in greenbacks and differing only as to the limit of green- backs. I have also resolutions adopted in different parts of the country. The tendency of the Democratic party is to drift into a political declaration that these bonds shall be paid in greenbacks; and great masses of patriotic men all over the country of the political faith to which
'"'Congressional Globe, January 9, 1868, p. 408.
^ Cong. Globe, 40th Cong., 2nd Sess., part V, Appendix, p. 188.
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the majority of the Senate belong have come to the same conclusion. We are, therefore, compelled to consider the question. It will be made the basis of every election next fall in nearly all the north-western States. No man can be elected to Congress unless he commits him- self for or against this proposition." ^® By all means the government was bound to express its good faith by backing the notes with as good credit as that which stood behind the bonds : "I say that equity and justice are amply satisfied if we redeem these bonds at the end of five years in the same kind of money, of the same in- trinsic value it bore at the time they were issued. Gen- tlemen may reason about this matter over and over again, and they cannot come to any other conclusion ; at least, that has been my conclusion after the most careful consideration. Senators are sometimes in the habit, in order to defeat the argument of an antagonist, of say- ing that this is repudiation. Why, sir, every citizen of the United States has conformed his business to the legal-tender clause. He has collected and paid his debts accordingly. Every state in the Union, without excep- tion, has made its contracts since the legal-tender clause in currency and paid them in currency." ^o * * * "There is a wide discrimination made between the bond- holder and the noteholder, which gives rise to popular clamor and is the cause of a great deal of just complaint. In 1863, we were compelled for wise purposes to take away the right of the holder of the greenback to fund it, because we wished then to force our loans upon the market ; and while that right was outstanding we could
^'Ibid., p. 181 ff. ''Ibid., p. 184.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 255
not do it. Now that the war is over, that the whole process of funding is intended to be voluntary at the discretion of the noteholder, we ought promptly to re- store this right to allow the note to be converted at any time into some kind of bond; and we propose also to allow the bond to be converted into notes keeping within the limit of notes fixed by law. Then there is no dis- crimination; the bondholder and the noteholder are both public creditors; both depend upon public faith. The noteholder may go to the Treasury of the United States and demand his bond; the bondholder may go also and demand his note. They are put on a basis of equality. This destroys all speculation in government securities. Both will then stand on the same footing, and both will be of equal value. The noteholder may at his option draw interest in gold by converting it into bonds, and the popular cry of demagogues that we have provided gold for the bondholder and notes for the peo- ple will be silent." ^i * * * jj^g peroration identified the poHcy with an ideal of social justice that has ever animated men of altruistic mold since property holding became a recognized privilege.
"Senators often tell us that we must not be influ- enced by public discontent or clamor. I agree with this when the discontent is not founded upon substantial equity, but when it is founded upon equity it will make itself felt through you or over you. And Senators must remember that this is a government of the people, for the people and by the people. It is not like the Govern- ment of Great Britain, a despotic oligarchy, where the rights of property override the rights of persons ; where
Ibid., pp. 187-188.
256 Ohio ArcJi. mid Hist. Society Pitblications
the laws are made to add to the accumulations of the rich, though hundreds of thousands may thereby be pinched with poverty. That is the land of entails, where the offices of the church are bought and sold as property, and where all that is good in life — office, honor, prop- erty— is confined to less than one-tenth of the popula- tion— where the laws are studiously formed to exclude the poor from all political rights. We borrow from these people of kindred blood many of the best guards of liberty, but we must take care not to engraft on our republican system the leading feature of their present government, the supremacy of property over labor.
* * * To encourage, maintain, and reward labor must be the principal object of our legislation. Capital can take care of itself. It has many advantages in com- petition with labor. It may be idle — labor cannot be.
* * * No privilege should be granted to the bond- holder that is not granted to the noteholder. Both are public securities, and both, and equally, can appeal to the public faith. No privilege should be granted to the bondholder unless it is compensated for by some advan- tage reserved by the Government, and the whole public debt should be made to assume such form that it may be a part of the circulating capital of the country bear- ing as low a rate of interest as practicable, and with only such exemptions as will maintain it at par with gold." ''
Here indeed, was an issue, irrespective of the rela-
''Ibid., pp. 188-180. Under date of March 9, 1868, Joseph Medlll of the Chicago Tribune wrote to Sherman as follows: "... You have demon- strated unanswerably to my mind that while we must not water the c*y> yet the bondholders cannot require any better money than greenbacks for the principal of their debt " Sherman A'ISS.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1S96 257
tive merits of the conflicting financial ideas, worthy of the best mettle of statesmanship.^^ The national fiscal poHcy thenceforth became the important pivot of the new era. It carried important social as well as eco- nomic implications and threatened the unity of the new nation much as it had that of the British Empire in 1776. Was the West ready to join the bankrupt South in overthrowing the program of industrial finance, as it had joined the East in overthrowing the agricultural system of the South? Apparently Ohio was all but a unit in influence to that end. During the time that the issue was under debate, H. D. Cooke declared Garfield "the only member of the entire Ohio delegation who would vote aye on a square proposition that the bonds should be paid in gold and he says that it will defeat him for reelection."^* At all events the popularity of the "Ohio Idea" possessed an immediate political signifi- cance; while threatening the unity of the Republican party, it promised to advance George H. Pendleton to the Presidency.'^
Before the Democratic National Convention met in
^ Sherman shortly afterward attempted to cast this record into ob- livion. Cf. Recollections, II, p. G24 ff.
'* Oberholzer, Jay Cooke, II, pp. 40-41.
^ The State Journal became especially apprehensive. In a long edi- torial of February 27, 1868, it made the following plea: "Whatever may have been done elsewhere, whatever weakness and fear may have given up, whatever short-sighted and timid policy may have yielded in other quarters, here in Ohio, where so many Statesmen and Generals and Soldiers have made us a name and a praise in the whole earth, whose sons have fallen on so many fields for the government and Union, whose own faith has been kept with its creditors in spotless purity, here, in the stronghold of prtriotic devotion and scrupulous integrity, let there be no symptoms of weakness or wavering."
Vol. XXXVII— 17.
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New York, however, various political developments mili- tated against the success of the Pendleton program. The New York and Indiana delegations were headed by factions openly and determinedly hostile to the Ohio group. A strong sentiment was yet evident that the campaign should center in the issue of the Fourteenth Amendment. In Ohio the State Legislature, encour- aged by the 50,000 majority against amending the state constitution in behalf of negro suffrage, passed a reso- lution retracting the act of ratification by the previous Legislature. The so-called "Visible Admixture" law, designed to disfranchise at least 2,000 voters, was passed. By it any person challenged at the polls must swear and procure the oath of two witnesses that his freedom from an admixture of African blood was prac- tically absolute. Although this law was soon declared unconstitutional, it served to keep the issue of negro suf- frage before the public. Another phase of the legisla- tive program prompted Republican leaders to arouse suspicion as to the sincerity of Democratic proposals. Legislation designed to disfranchise college students and the inmates of the Soldiers' Home enabled the Re- publicans to act on the offensive when the National Con- vention met in New York on July fourth.
A source of friction overshadowing all others had resulted in the redivision of party spoils made necessary by the partial success in the election of 1867. A legis- lature had been secured upon terms which represented a revolutionary reaction to the vindictive attitude threat- ened by such men as Wade. A popular reaction to the crusading spirit had been uncovered, and astute party managers were not slow to see that it stood in the way
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 259
of crystallizing about the person of their most radical party leader — the man who had been most uncompro- mising at the moment when it was apparently political suicide to do so; Pendleton's personality and financial program did not stand in distinct relief to Vallandig- ham's enthusiastic and idolizing audiences.^" More pli- ant politicians whose control rested upon influences which must frequently defeat popular tendencies, could not therefore look with equanimity upon so complete a vindication as that connected with Vallandigham's elec- tion. Without regard to the agreement of the year before, Pendleton and the Enquirer turned to squaring the Legislature to the election of Thurman — a choice that squared better with promoting Pendleton's presi- dential chances. Vallandigham was bitterly disappointed by his defeat. His vindication had been near at hand. It
'" A leading correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial at various times insisted that in case the election were left in the hands of the masses, Vallandigham would undoubtedly be elected. Under date of October 25, 1867, he wrote : "I shall not attempt to account for Mr. Vallandigham's popularity among the Democratic masses ; least of all shall I attribute it to the same cause to which I attribute his unpopularity among the Demo- cratic politicians. I have attended two 'jollification' meetings recently, and have seen at each such demonstrations in the direction of hero-worship as are seldom exhibited in this country
The speech occupied a little over an hour in its delivery, and I thought that at its conclusion the assembled Democrats would quietly disperse to their respective homes. But not so. The ovation, instead of having ended, had just commenced, and for about an hour there was such a scene of wild confusion, produced by attempts to congratulate the speaker, as is seldom witnessed by any one, and I hope will never again be witnessed by me except from a respectful distance. They crowded around his carriage, they choked every avenue of travel around him, and conducted them- selves in a general way like so many lunatics." Cited in Vallandigham, Life of Vallandigham, p. 421. Accounts in the same tenor are given in the Commercial, November 24 and 25, 1867.
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was beyond the nature of things to expect him to be- come aggressive in behalf of the man who had failed to stand by him. He was shortly to reveal his hand in another enterprise.
The day before the Convention, Pendleton with his "body-guard" of three hundred men clad in linen dust- ers and caps, paraded the streets bearing a banner in- scribed, "The people demand payment of the bonds in greenbacks and equal taxation. One currency for all. Pendleton the people's nominee." Despite the selection of New York over St. Louis as the place for holding the Convention, commonly regarded as a blow at Pendle- ton's chances, the delegation was determined upon a conspicuous part in the Convention proceedings. A few days previously, five members of the delegation were in- duced to withdraw in favor of Vallandigham, Pugh, Jewett, Thurman, and Morgan — the five most influen- tial Democrats of the state, with the exception of the candidate for the Presidential nomination. The contest as developed in the Convention resolved itself into a duel between New York and Ohio. The platform as adopted on the third day embraced the Pendleton pro- gram and went on record against the Reconstruction Acts as "usurpations, unconstitutional, revolutionary, and void." The "Ohio Idea" was safely launched, but as the result of maneuvers designed to break the deadlock between candidates, the Ohio delegation became the victim of one of the most peculiar ironies in political history. As a result of Vallandingham's cooperation in an attempt to secure the nomination of Chase, an Ohio delegate led a stampede of the Convention to the New
Ohio in National Politics, 1863-1896 261
York nominee, Horatio Seymour, a recognized oppo- nent of the Pendleton program.'"
During the impeachment trial of President John- son, it became evident that the Republicans must nomi- nate General Grant. The program was backed by the Ohio press from the beginning — as soon as it became known that Grant would not be the Democratic candi- date. His election was represented as a patriotic duty, and the campaign resolved itself into an incrimination of Seymour, the "Mephistopheles of the riots," and the "guiltiest of the murderers of that bloody mob.""'* The Pendleton program was represented as merely a step in the direction of a general program of repudiation — if not actually in itself repudiation. The Democratic cam- paign in the state, ow4ng to the fiasco in New York, never assumed significance. The Enquirer expressed its determination to stand back of its candidate in 1872.
The success of the Republican party in electing Gen- eral Grant by an overwhelming electoral vote and by a popular majority of 300,000 left the Democratic party in practically the same position it had occupied in 1865, with the exception that it had involved itself with an additional discredited program. The Republican party, which had emerged from its previous Unionist factions, stood practically unchallenged as the embodiment of na- tional patriotism. While there was no real unity among Republicans on the financial issue, the success of 1868 contributed toward incorporating the ideal of bank
^'The plan was that Seymour should refuse the nomination and trans- fer his support to Chase. Cf. Ann. Rep't. of the Am. Hist. Assoc, 1902, Vol. II, pp. 520-521.
^ In reference to the draft riots in New York in 1863.
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credit and "sound money" as a party tradition. Grant's majority in Ohio reached 40,000 — 20,000 less than that of Lincoln in 1864.
By clever maneuvering, the Democrats were in po- sition to cause the Republicans considerable anxiety. By combining with a "Reform" movement in Hamilton County in 1869, they succeeded in maintaining a nomi- nal majority in the state Legislature. On party issues, however, that combination acted with the Republicans. As candidate for governor the same year, the Demo- crats, under Pendleton's direction, had nominated Gen- eral Rosecrans. The latter, much to the satisfaction of many Democrats, declined the nomination in a letter in which he scored the party for its erratic course. Pen- dleton, to save the situation, was forced to accept the state committee's nomination and suffer defeat by a margin of 7,500 votes.
Before the next Presidential election a series of events and factors in state and nation combined to awaken new hope on the part of disappointed Democrats and stranded Conservatives. In the light of these de- velopments it will be seen how remote from certain pop- ular interests was the canvass of 1868 with its election of a national hero and ambiguous appeal to national honor on an "honest money" platform.^^
^° The Committee on Resolutions of the Republican Convention is re- ported to have struggled four hours before securing a resolution that was sufficiently ambiguous regarding "honest money."
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 263
CHAPTER III THE NEW DEPARTURE
The election of General Grant in 1868 was secured without reference to the fundamental problems of the newer era; the keynote, "Let us have peace," the plat- form and the candidates merely asked the voter's ap- proval of what had been achieved in reconstruction. This program proved expedient in carrying the election, but involved serious difficulties the moment the adminis- tration assumed responsibility for concrete action. The execution of the enforcement acts committed the ad- ministration to a radical policy against which a very powerful element of the Republican party was in a posi- tion of vehement protest. The disregard of the Presi- dent for the conventions of his office, connected with his inability to judge men for their political capacity, had led to evils which gave rise to severe criticism and pro- test throughout the nation. The many sources of op- position, both social and economic, attested a national in- terest in the practical problems of the future, while in- dicating a flagging interest in the issues of the war.
An immediate effect of the Grant regime was to create a situation altogether favorable to the establish- ment of political alliances on issues more real than those of the shadow conflict of 1868.' As early as 1867, Ham- ilton County had furnished a conspicuous example of the possible success of such movements. Samuel F. Gary, who had been passed over by his party convention
^The break between Sumner and Grant had early in 1871 aroused apprehensions of a serious break in the Republican party. Cf. Ohio State Journal March 22, 1871.
264 Ohio A)-ch. and Hist. Society Publications
for the Second Congressional District nomination, opened an independent campaign against the regular nominee as a "Working-man's Candidate" and with the aid of his 'Tin Bucket Brigade," gained recognition of the Democrats by his aggressive campaign." His suc- cess was not lost sight of in the years immediately fol- lowing. The partial Democratic success of 1867 had convinced many that the future of the party rested in acting "with such moderation and sotmd discretion that it may permanently convert them (the Conservatives) to the Democratic organization."^ It was in pursuance of this policy that party leaders had elected Thurman to the Senate over V'allandigham in January, 1868.
Vallandigham's retort was in the form of one of the most far-reaching political alliances consummated be- fore 1871 — that between himself and Chase before the National Convention which had nominated Seymour. It demonstrated at all events the degree to which politi- cal lines might be crossed during that era. The Pen- dleton men had saved themselves from Vallandigham's promotion of the Chase movement in the New York delegation only by uniting in advance upon Seymour.
'October 4, 1867, when Gary's election became a practical certainty, the Enquirer openly supported him. October 8, his name was inserted in the Democratic ballot.
''The Cincinnati Enquirer (October 14, 1867) asserted: "We could have given the Conservative Republicans one-half of the County offices, and made a clean sweep of the negro-worshiping, bank aristocracy and tax exempting bondholders of Hamilton County. Let us in the future fight the Devil with fire on a larger scale than we did in this County at the late election." The same paper, October 15, clipped the following from William D. Morgan's Newark Advocate: "Let it be the care of the Demo- cratic party not to drive these men away from their new association; but let it act with such wisdom, moderation and sound discretion, that it may permanently convert them to the Democratic organization."
Ohio ill National Politics, 1865-1896
265
An attempt at a "New Departure" in the Democratic party had been side-stepped in a manner that encour- aged renewed attempts.
JOHN R. McLean
Owner and publisher of the Cincinnati Enquirer and long prominent in the Democratic Party of Ohio
In the state elections of 1869 and 1870, combination tickets were an altogether frequent experiment and ex- tended to the nomination of General Rosecrans for gov-
266 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
ernor.* Representatives James M. Ashley and Robert Schenck, of the Toledo and Dayton districts respect- ively, lost their seats in the elections of 1868 and 1870 by effective party and factional combinations. Such proofs of political instability were disconcerting to the established party leadership, but a source of encourage- ment to those who had ambitions or had experienced recent disappointments.
State and national elections from 1871 to 1873 were conditioned by the same attitude which had character- ized the elections immediately preceding them. From the camps of both parties issued factional expeditions which held forth the hope of being offered favorable terms of leadership in the opposing camp, or of being met half way in the formation of an entirely new or- ganization. Also an actual step was to be taken in the direction of shifting political issues from their former channels.
Cincinnati was fertile soil from which new political ventures were in the habit of springing. The instability of its voting elements was ever the hope and despair of aspiring politicians. The city's immediate touch with sectional interests, on the other hand, commended its at- mosphere as peculiarly favorable for maturing political schemes which were in the grafting process. It was the vantage point from which Salmon P. Chase had aided in articulating the Republican party when he had first hoped to become President of the United States.
* In remonstrating against the "miscellaneous" tickets in the election of 1869, the Ohio State Journal scored the "Republican Soreheads" in the following terms : "They are simply playing into the hands of our political enemies and damning themselves politically forever." Ohio State Journal, September 14, 1869.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865- 1896 267
March 10, 1871, the city was again the scene of an event which promised at least future influence for the men who promoted it. Quickened by the success of the Liberal movement in Missouri and the cause of "re- union and reform" which Carl Schurz was at the time promoting among the border states, a dozen disaffected Republicans took council with each other. ^ Prominent among them was J. D. Cox, who had recently broken with Grant and resigned from the Cabinet. With him were associated George Hoadly and Stanley Matthews, prominent attorneys, Fred Hassaurek, editor of the city's most important German paper, and J. W. Hart- well, Vice-President of the Dayton and Hamilton Rail- way.^^ They declared as their program the common pur- pose of cleansing the Republican party, or starting a new one. The report of principles, embracing amnesty, civil service reform, specie payments and a revenue re- form was signed by one hundred prominent citizens. The "Reunion and Reform Association," which grew out of the movement, although originally intended as a Republican affair, enlisted the interest of Democrats — especially those who felt their political discouragement most bitterly.® The Enquirer was sympathetic. Some Republicans were hopeful and others were cynical." Sherman's sympathizers knew that the immediate ob- jective was to secure their leader's seat in the United
°Cox was at that time in intimate correspondence with Schurz. See especially Schurz's letter of April 4 in Schurz's Speeches, Correspondence and Political Papers, II, pp. 254-255.
'^Cincinnati Enquirer, March 28, 1871.
'Cf. Schurz's op. cit., II, p. 255.
' See especially Cincinnati Enquirer, March 23, 1871.
268 OJiio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
States Senate.® The New York Tribune, whose editor was to figure prominently in the movement a year later, expressed the suspicion of regular party men when it scored the promoters "for oiling their favorites pre- paratory to getting them comfortably swallowed by the Sham Democracy as candidates for the Presidency.""
As the campaign of 1871 approached, the Democrats laid their plans with the growing Republican defection clearly in mind. With the exception of Pendleton, all proposed candidates for gubernatorial honors were at one time or another of Unionist or Republican ante- cedents. Naturally "the thoroughgoing Copperheads" must be kept in abeyance while the gap between the lib- eral elements of the two parties was closed.
Since 1868, Vallandigham had nursed his resent- ment in comparative silence.^" Pendleton was appar- ently in complete control of his party as he surveyed the possibilities of succeeding Sherman in the Senate. On May 19, however, Vallandigham's silence was broken by newspaper accounts of a Democratic county convention held in Dayton the preceding day. Under his leadership an elaborate program, characterized as a "New Departure" of the Democratic party, had been
^L. H. Bond wrote to Sherman October 16, 1874: "Three years ago I ran for the legislature and lacked only 150 votes of an election in a poll of thirty-nine thousand votes, and I carried the weight of Hassaurek's op- position and the enmity of all your rivals in Hamilton County, such as Cox, Hassaurek, Matthews and several others. These men have since assured me that personally they would have rejoiced in my success, hue they knew I would support you, and therefore were not enthusiastic." Sherman MSS.
° Cited in the Cincinnati Enqtiirer, April 13, 1871. The Cincinnati Enquirer, May 20, 1871, contains a collection of news- paper editorial reactions.
"Cf. Vallandigham, op. cit., pp. 422-423.
Ohio in National Politics, iS6j-i8(j6 269
adopted and submitted as a model for the State Conven- tion called for June 1. The event was a clear challenge to the McLean-Pendleton dictatorship, as well as an overture to schismatic Republicans. The essential fea- tures of the program attacked the Radical party of 1871 as one different from the Republican organization pre- ceding the war and as an "Administration or Grant party" dating from March 4, 1869. The term ''New Departure" was drawn from the set of resolutions which dismissed the issues of the war, the Constitutional amendments, slavery, inequality, and "all that is of the dead past." "The Resolutions of '68, States' Rights, Negro suffrage, greenbacks for public debts, our South- ern brethren, justice to the South and everything else which Democracy had held destructive as opposed to Black Republicanism, was turned into the hopper to be seen no more in the original," commented the Dayton Journal}^ On its positive side the platform declared for universal amnesty, a strictly revenue tariff, elimination of extravagance, woman suffrage, and "reform of the extortionate system of banking" — a more compre- hensive program than that offered by the Cincinnati movement.^"
The essential features of the program were adopted by the State Convention, although the resolution con- cerning the Constitutional Amendments was strongly opposed by a minority group led by Frank Hurd of To-
" Dayton Journal, May 19, 1871.
" George Houk explained the philosophy of the movement by the fol- lowing simile: "A great earthquake occurs. A mountain sinks and a lake appears in its stead. We must accept the lake for we cannot restore the mountain." Dayton Journal, May 19, 1871. Vallandigham declared it "not a New Departure but a return." Cleveland Leader, May 19, 1871.
270 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Fublications
ledo." A resolution to the effect that greenbacks be made convertible into 3 per cent bonds redeemable in greenbacks on demand, was conceded to the Pendleton group. The nomination of George W. McCook of the famous family of fighting McCooks was an additional bid for conservative support.
The Vallandigham coup attracted favorable and un- favorable comment throughout the nation. A congrat- ulation from Chase for the great "service to your coun- try and the party," was immediately forthcoming.'* The New York Sun, the New York Herald, the Philadelphia Evening Herald and the Louisville Courier- Journal were among the more conspicuous newspapers endors- ing the program — the first named declaring that it placed "Mr. Vallandigham among the most conspicuous political leaders of the day."'^ The Enquirer was at first non-committal, inviting "criticism and improve- ment if not opposition to the main idea.'"" The Repub- lican press naturally spared no effort in attempting to
" Kurd's minority resolution that "the 14th and loth Amendments, having been made parts of the Constitution by violence and fraud, are revolutionary and void," was voted down 169-296. Cleveland Leader, June 2, 1871.
" Vallandigham, op. cit., p. 446.
"^Ibid., pp. 446 flf.
"Cincinnati Enquirer, May 19, 1871.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer (quoted in Vallandigham, op, cit.„ p. 448) offered the following explanation : "While it makes no apology for the position the Democratic party has held in the past, it recognizes the situa- tion, accepts facts that are accomplished, refuses to play heads and tails on the grave of issues that were live ones only in '62, '63, '64, and '65; it refuses to allow the Republican party to put a ring-fence around us and keep us dancing to the same old tunes and rattling the same old bones."
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 271
discredit Vallandigham as a perpetrator of fraud and promoter of treasonable hypocrisy/^
The program was accordingly not without its em- barrassments. An advance movement of the sort natu- rally stood in danger of rear-guard defection. Thur- man had just advanced to leadership of the Democratic minority in the Senate through his aggressive opposi- tion to the Amendments, the Civil Rights and the Force Bills. The success of the movement inferred a loss of his leadership."
The slight hold of the "Departure" upon the party was soon demonstrated. Shortly after the tragic death of Vallandigham, which occurred before the con- test had fairly begun, the campaign languished in inter- est." Party leaders were soon convinced of the imprac- ticability of shifting the issues too radically. Further- more, the Republicans nominated General E. F. Noyes,
" An observation of the Ohio State Journal is typical : "The whole game is plainly a ruse to catch the votes of colored men and those conser- vative Democrats who were driven into the Republican party by the treason
of the Democracy during the war The New Departure, Bah !"
Cleveland Leader, May 22, 1871. The Ohio State Journal under the same date declared: "It would be out of the course of nature for the Republican party not to feel some gratification that the great archtraitor of the peace Democracy has been brought by any means to get down on his belly and humbly eat the many dirty words which have defiled his mouth in the utter- ance during the past ten years. If his repentance were sincere, and his desire to atone for his miserable past by some good in the future could be accepted as reliable, the very angels in Heaven would rejoice over the salvation of this meanest of sinners." June 12, 1871, Hayes made the following entry in his diary : "I say with the Albany Journal, 'The voice is the voice of Jacob but the hand is the hand of Esau'."
'" "I regard this new move as one to foist you — your friend Thurman — Pendleton and others and place you as impracticable fogies ..." James Fergerson of Center Point, Indiana, to Allen June 19, 1871. Allen MSS.
" Vallandigham was accidentally shot while demonstrating the use of a pistol before a jury.
272 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
who had suffered the loss of a limb in the recent war, and who, as a young Republican was capable of show- ing how "thoroughly alive and vigorous are the prin- ciples that slew slavery and made the Union the guar- antee of liberty.'"" The Republicans carried the elec- tion by 20,000 majority — three times that of 1869.
The Republican majority in the Legislature elected at the same time was not proof, however, that the first objective of the program — that of defeating Sherman for the Senate — was not to be realized. Shortly after the election, rumors gained currency that the Senator was to be sacrificed to the new political order. James Ashley attempted the part of chief ritualist. He had been a Representative from the Toledo district during and at the close of the war, and had been among the first to advocate impeachment proceedings against Pres- ident Johnson. During the party tangle he had lost his seat in Congress.'^ His scheme during the latter part of 1871 was to secure a defeat of a caucus nomination by the Republicans preceding the actual election by the legislature." By throwing the election directly into the latter body and securing the nomination of three or four Republicans, he contemplated the ultimate support of the Democrats for some candidate who had been deter- mined upon as agreeable to both groups. Governor Hayes, Robert Schenck and J. D. Cox were prominent
""Harper's Weekly, July 8, 1871.
*' An account of Ashley is found in Winter's History of North-zvesfern Ohio, pp. 294 fif. Grant had later given him a "lame duck" appointment as Governor of the Territory of Montana, and shortly afterward dismissed him from that position.
"J- R- Wing to Sherman, December 31, 1871. Under date December 4, 1871, Rush R. Sloane wrote : "Ashley will do his best against you and yet I think him only dangerous on account of his dishonesty." Sherman MSS.. ..
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 273
among those considered for the position. The plan failed primarily because of the prompt action of Lieutenant- Governor Jacob Mueller. At the close of the first ballot, and before the result was announced, a Democrat changed his vote from General Morgan (the recipient of the complimentary vote of the Democrats) to Cox. The presiding officer refused to recognize others who attempted similar changes and declared Sherman duly elected.''
The reelection of Sherman marked the failure of the first phase of the "New Departure," but did not check the plan to name Grant's successor as President. The call for the Liberal Convention at Cincinnati in 1872 marked Ohio as the storm center of what was now regarded as a national movement. The fiasco connected with the attempt is familiar history. The original pro- moters lost control of the convention proceedings amid political manipulations which paralleled, if they did not surpass, those of the older parties. Only the advance- ment of Greeley to the nomination w^as needed to dem- onstrate the lack of a serious or consistent purpose on the part of the delegates. As a result Ohio Democrats and Liberals faced a common impasse. George Hoadly and Stanley Matthew^s, the two Republicans of the state most conspicuously identified with the Convention, shortly declared that they would not support the "Whi-
^ According to the Plain Dealer he was declared "elected President frum te state off Ohio in te Conkgress of te United States fur six years frum de furst of March eighteen huntred and seventy-two."
Vol. XXXMI— 18.
274 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
tey-Brown" ticket/'' The Democracy on the other hand came to the support of Greeley, if one may call it sup- port, only after hesitation and clear evidence that such action formed the expedient program. Following the lead of the party at Baltimore, the Democratic State Convention at Cleveland, June 27, "pronounced for the heartiest endorsement of the Cincinnati movement and its candidates, without abating one jot or tittle of the Democratic organization.""^ Thurman accepted the in- evitable by a letter published July 15. He declared the election of Greeley preferable to that of Grant. "Indi- vidually," he wrote, 'T preferred fighting under the Democratic banner, with a straight Democratic ticket; but I could not shut my eyes to the fact that a great many good Democrats were of a different opinion. And to me it seemed clear that any course that did not emanate from the masses of the party, would surely fail. Acting on this principle I have not answered a single one of the many letters that I have received upon the subject. * * *"'*' Throughout the campaign the Democratic organization remained intact — an excellent safety de- vice in the face of the impending fiasco.
The defeat of the Liberal Republican ticket con- vinced many that the cooperative scheme was imprac- ticable— "would not wash," according to the political parlance of the day. A final attempt, however, was yet to be made, which, preceding the election of the follow-
** The latter, who had denounced the Grant administration as con- sumed by the "slow poison of corruption," explained his defection on the basis of the principle of reform being in Adams but not in Greeley. Cleve- land Plain Dealer, August 6, 1872.
"" Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 28, 1872.
^' Ibid., July 15, 1872:
OIlio in National Politics, i86j-i8p6 275
ing year, and although not assuming the importance of 1872, presented the occasion for a noteworthy coup — a reversal of the political strategy underlying the devel- opments of the preceding year. The "Allen County Movement," as the "New Departure" of 1873 was called, was an echo of the preceding year. The occasion was the recurring Senatorial election: the Legislature elected that year would name Thurman's successor to the Senate. Administration influence had already man- ifested itself in behalf of Columbus Delano, successor to J. D. Cox as Secretary of the Interior in Grant's cabinet in 1870. The Credit Mobilier scandal and "Salary Grab" had succeeded other issues in nursing popular opposition to the Grant administration. Symp- toms of a period of economic depression were becoming evident. A new impetus of unrest manifested itself among farmers and laborers; conventions voicing a spirit of opposition gained in frequency. One of these, a Workingmen's and Farmers' Convention, met at Mansfield, where Senator Sherman maintained his resi- dence, early in June to register opposition to the "cor- rupt rings" of both parties. ^^ A few weeks later a more important convention was held in Allen County. The leaders, T. E. Cunningham, Shelby Taylor and others, whom the press identified as "Johnsonizers," drew up an indictment against "moneyed corporations" and their influence in Congress and connected it with a demand for governmental efficiency, revenue tariff and a repeal of laws "favorable to the capitalist to the prejudice of labor. "^® Every one soon knew that the "Allen County"
*^ Cincinnati Commercial, June 9 and 10, 1873. ^ Nation, August 14, 1873, p. 105.
276 OJiio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
movement was nothing less than an attempt to resurrect the Cincinnati movement of the preceding year. The Cincinnati Commercial published a list of one hundred and twenty Hamilton County Democrats, which it char- acterized as "the brains and wealth and energy of the Democracy in this quarter of the state," who stood ready to support the proposed program."'' The State Convention was called to meet at Columbus, July 31 — one week before the Democrats were scheduled to meet at the same place.
Before either convention met, however, Thurman's hand began to be felt. He let it be known that he had no sympathy for any movement which proposed to elim- inate him as unfit for further service in the Senate. Until his hand was felt the Enquirer lent its support to the program with undivided enthusiasm. ^° Within a week, however, the editors could find no invective too bitter to be heaped upon the "obstinate Allenites and pig-headed Liberal Republicans."^^ Aside from the Enquirer the movement met with slight encourage- ment from Democratic organs. The Plain Dealer gave expression to its attitude and at the same time undoubt- edly represented the convictions of numerous other dis- appointed Democrats:
"The result of the Greeley Deal in Ohio last fall is not calculated to make the old straight haired moss-
"" Cincinnati Commercial, July 18, 1873.
^Cf. especially Cincinnati Enquirer, June 24, 1873. The Commercial afterward frequently called attention to the Enquirer's readiness to scrap the Democratic party. Cf. Cincinnati Commercial, January 3, 187G.
^'"There will be men there like the mule that could not be kept in a pasture unless put in a meadow alongside and allowed to jump out." Cin- cinnati Enquirer, July 29, 1873.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865- 1896 277
covered Democrats enthusiastic about 'fusing all the ele- ments.' The Democracy then did the principal voting — the Liberals the principal boasting; and if those Repub- licans who do not like the Credit Mobilier business, the back-sway swag, and the general demoralization of their own party, cannot form an alliance with us to free the Government from the depredations and blunders so apparent to all, without they break up the old Demo- cratic organization, make it lay aside forever its historic and noble old name, then how can we admit there is any more honesty about them than about anybody else?"^"
July 31, when the State Convention met at Colum- bus, the program had become a distinct third party movement, backed primarily by the Commercial, and resolved that "neither of the old parties are to be courted or affiliated with.'"' Thurman, from his headquarters at the Neil House, kept watch over the actions of the Democratic element.'* Before final action was taken, a committee was sent to make formal inquiry as to the Senator's attitude. In quite definite and emphatic terms he declared the room too small to serve as a burial-place for the Democratic party. By an eloquent plea he pre- vailed upon certain Democratic leaders to discounte-
^ Clipped in Cincinnati Enquirer, July 3, 1873. The Enquirer (July 2, 1873) declared: "The Democrats are perfectly willing to cooperate with Republican reformers. They will even, as they did in 1872, put them in the lead, backing them up with all their strength, but further than that they will not go and it is idle to talk about it."
^ Cincinnati Commercial, July 30, 1873.
^ July 7, 1873, Thurman declared the Allen County movement "hasty, ill-advised and not calculated to meet the approbation of the Democratic party at large." Cincinnati Commercial, July 7, 1873.
278 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
nance the Liberal and await the Democratic Conven- tion.''
A faction of the Convention, however, nominated a state ticket, placing Isaac C. Collins, a Cincinnati Democrat, at the head of it as the candidate for gov- ernor.'^ The Commercial became eloquent in commen- dation of the "People's Party" and in defiance of Thur- man and the "battered, dilapidated and spoiled" Democ- racy:'^ "He (Thurman) has said continually that the thing to do was to 'blow the trumpet and rally the boys.' Let us see him do it now. He preaches a great Demo- cratic revival. Very well. Produce it. Show us the mighty magic, the consummate chemistry, that will yield the result from the conditions of the country. * * *" '*
August 6, when the "old Democratic wheelhorses" met at Columbus, the program was practically fixed. Thurman had secured the assurances of his uncle, Wil- liam Allen, popularly known as "Roaring Bill Allen," that he would accept the nomination for governor.'^ The latter, one of the most striking characters in Ohio poHtics, like his nephew, was of southern birth and a rigid disciple of the Democratic faith in the days of
'''The Cincinnati Enquirer, July 31, 1873, declared that the program was designed to supersede Thurman by Hassaurek or Brinkerhofif. "Too much Brinkerhofif," was a common opposition criticism of the movement.
^'Collins was formerly Matthews' law partner. Ford and Ford, His- tory of Cincinnati, p. 416.
^' The Commercial was frank in announcing the objective of the move- ment : "The present fight in Ohio is on the ground whether Mr. Thurman shall be Senator, or somebody else." July 19, 1873.
** Cincinnati Commercial, July 31, 1873.
" "A sobriquet gained by speaking successfully in a freight depot against the shrieking whistles of two locomotives." Cincinnati Enquirer, August 12, 1873. "The Ohio Gong" and "Fog Horn" were also sometimes applied.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 279
Andrew Jackson. Tall, aggressive and commanding, he bore many points of resemblance to his earlier contem- porary/" Although he had now been twenty-five years in retirement and was almost seventy years of age, his name bore the magic of twelve years' association as the "peer of Clay, Webster and other intellectual giants."" "One blast from this old Jackson Democrat would be worth ten thousand men," declared the Enquirer in ad- vocacy of the nomination."*^
The platform declared against the revival of dead issues and resolved to stand by its [Democratic] princi- ples as "suited to all times and circumstances."" From the beginning, the Democratic campaign was aggressive. General Noyes, the Republican candidate for re-elec- tion, had met with embarrassments during his adminis- tration. The candidacy of Collins never passed a de- sultory stage — was in fact practically lost sight of in the heated campaign conducted by Allen and Thurman. The Republican attempt to ridicule the candidacy of Al- len served only to advance the latter's cause. The slighting remarks of O. P. Morton, who came from In- diana to assist in the campaign, struck at state pride and aroused the resentment even of RepubHcans.** As the campaign progressed it became increasingly evident that the man of Virginia was gaining the ascendency
^°He was, traditionally at least, the originator of "fifty-four forty or fight."
" Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 7, 1873.
^ Cincinnati Enquirer, August 1, 1873.
*^ Annual Cyc, 1873, p. GIO.
" In a speech at Athens, Morton said : "As well attempt to restore the customs and manners of ancient Egypt by presenting for our admiration and pattern well preserved mummies from her Pyramids." Cincinnati Commercial, August 25, 1873.
280 Ohio ArcJi. and Hist. Society Publications
over the former native of New Hampshire. The Demo- cratic party was triumphant. The faikire of Jay Cooke and Company in September, and financial reverses fol- lowing, contributed to the political reaction; it lent an element of reality to the bitter attack levied by the Dem- ocratic candidates upon the National Banking System and "bondholders who practised extortion through per- petuating the national debt." Allen's majority was somewhat less than 1000 votes; a Democratic Legisla- ture assured Thurman a continuance in the Senate.
The "New Departure" and Liberal Republican movements were more than "spasms of political enthusi- asm of a negative character." They did not pass away as quickly as they came, as one writer has declared. It is true that Sherman, Grant and Thurman in turn weathered opposition in the retention of their offices. Each of the old parties likewise retained its name and continued to insist, whenever circumstances demanded it, upon former traditions. Much that was prominent was staged by self-seeking politicians, and the impor- tance of the movement might easily be over emphasized. For after all, the program, even as originally advanced, advocated little that was not at the time continuously professed by one or other of the existing organizations. Civil service reform — a self-denying ordinance for the party leaders in control of office — capitalized the popu- lar opposition to jobbery in the administration, and en- listed the lip-services of all grades of office seekers as well as the support of the conscientious. At no time did the promoters of the movements profess a program that was not in accord with the tendencies that dominated in one way or another each of the older parties. The
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 281
real significance must be sought in the subsequent for- tunes of the chief promoters. Thenceforth the "Stal- wart" supporters of the administration were forced to call a halt upon certain of their more excessive prac- tises. A party cleavage had been created which estab- lished a counterpoise to fast and loose methods. Staunch partisans might sneer in public at the Inde- pendent or "mugwump" for his "better than thou" atti- tude and party perfidy, but nevertheless they weighed his influence in party deliberations. In the next Presi- dential election they were forced to countenance as their candidate one whom they could only hope would prove amenable to their practices. With chagrin they saw the most prominent leader of the Liberal movement ap- pointed to a cabinet position and exercise great influence upon the administration. In Ohio as elsewhere, Liberal leaders became available candidates for office in both parties. J. D, Cox was returned to Congress in 1876. Matthews was promoted for a brief period to the Sen- ate and later awarded a seat on the Federal Bench Democratic ranks were at the same time liberally re- cruited. Thomas Ewing, Jr., son of the great Whig leader, became influential in promoting the greenback cause among Democrats and was finally a candidate for governor. George Hoadly became a Democratic gov- ernor and entertained an ambition to become a Presi- dential candidate. In brief, after the days of Governor Allen, the selection of Democratic candidates who had formerly been Republicans was all but a universal fea- ture of the party's strategy. The process also was in- dicative of the fact that the party was becoming a con- venient alternative to Republicanism.
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The complexity of party membership and the weight of tradition prevented a shifting of the political stage. The party stereotype was too firmly fixed and was in no way of becoming easily shattered. And yet the political center of gravity had been disturbed ; it will be seen that the relationship of party tradition to the newer issues was thenceforth a matter of greater emphasis.
CHAPTER IV
DEPRESSION AND THE FINANCES
The Democratic coup of 1873 served to check some- what the political maneuvering designed to promote third party movements. Through at least two decades following, party solidarity was to form the chief source of unity in the face of disruptive tendencies occasioned by the growing multiplicity of social and economic in- terests. Somewhere between the extremes of unity on the one hand and the atomizing tendencies of democ- racy on the other must be established a new order — one whose fundamental features were to be determined largely by the newer economic and social influences. The role of each party was to represent itself as more thoroughly identified with a higher ideal of unity than its rival and at the same time more thoroughly respon- sible in the task of reconciling individual and group interests with its attainment. This role of party or- ganizations was naturally involved with a great de- gree of obscurantism. Programs designed to meet new issues were read into party traditions by empirical processes. The popular mind, obsessed by an ap- proved legalism, constituted a high expression of na-
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 283
tional optimism: from its texture politicians, in much the manner of mediaeval scholastics, spun new rules for the safekeeping of society, and received public office as their reward. Accordingly the catholicity of an ac- cepted doctrine was declared: by some sort of anamor- phosis the new issue was squared with it and the voter left no choice other than following the line of patriotic duty in voting the ticket. The outward party tradition was preserved; voters in the mass were willing if not eager to be convinced of the transcendent wisdom of their party. A national election became for many, in consequence, the occasion for reconsecration to a chosen faith. While in outward manifestations, such as cam- paign speeches and legislation, government conformed to the popular image of democracy, social, economic and poHtical readaptations were all but invisibly cloaked.
The medium of political methods as just outlined provided, at any rate, a practical basis of unity. Through a hierarchy of symbols, the party secured har- mony, and in no other way, perhaps, could an organi- zation have served the demands of its age. When Ed- ward McPherson, in 1888, wrote that the Republican party is "both in the purity of its doctrine, the beneficent sweep of its measures, in its courage, its steadfastness, its fidelity, in its achievements and in its example, the most resplendent political organization the world has ever seen," he lent expression to a more or less articu- late and powerful mass sentiment. Many inclined to discontent and open to convictions of injustice were en- abled to bury their differences on the basis of a patriotic duty.
In Ohio, as might well be expected in a pivotal state,
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voters were particularly subjected to those influences which molded the paramount convictions of their time. The observations of Brand Whitlock from the stand- point of experiences in a Republican stronghold were drawn with literary effect:
"In such an atmosphere as that in Ohio of those days it was natural to be a Republican; it was more than that, it was inevitable that one should be a Republican; it was not a matter of intellectual choice, it was a process of biological selection. The Republican party was not a faction, not a wing, it was an institution like those Emerson speaks of in his essay on "Politics," root- ed like oak-trees in the center around which men grouped themselves as best they can. It was a fundamental and self-evident thing like life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, or like the flag, or the federal judiciary. It was elemental like gravity, the sun, the stars, the ocean. It was merely the synonym for patriotism, another name for the nation. One became in Urbana and in Ohio for many years a Republican just as the Eskimo dons fur clothes. It was inconceivable that any self-respecting person should be a Democrat: there were, perhaps Democrats in Lighttown; but then there were rebels in Alabama, and in the Ku-Klux-Klan, about which we read in the evening, in the Cincinnati Gazette. -^ * * xhe Republican party had saved the Union, won liberty for all men, and there was noth- ing left for the patriotic to do but to extol that party, and to see to it that its members held office under the gov- ernment." ^
' Whitlock, Forty Years of It, pp. 27-
Ohio in National Politics, 1863-1896 285
Supplementary to party organization as an agency of unity, was a generally accepted economic and social philosophy hitherto common to an expanding frontier; and neither party was inclined to depart radically from its tenets. The laissez-faire ideal, which had found classic expression upon the advent of European expan- sion, met ready acceptance with the pioneers of Ohio industry.' In the days when the state passed through an agricultural stage of development, the idea that the chief function of government was to act as a supple- ment to individual effort with a minimum of restriction, had met with no serious difficulties. This idea, applied to an industrial community in its extreme form, counte- nanced an exploitation of human agencies on the same level with inanimate resources. Although producing commendable results, it frankly professed a callousness to all other theories of abstract justice.
The era was productive, as other eras are pro- ductive, of programs in opposition to dominant tenden- cies. Labor groups were experimenting with unions, and farmers began to visualize benefits in uniting with ne'ghbors in the formation of granges. These associa- tions professed a recognition of common interest and registered a protest against consequences which were held to be in need of popular control.
The dominant press on the other hand was con- strained by the forces of opposition to lend concrete ex- pression to the tenets of accepted philosophy. The Cleveland Leader was especially frank in its tendencies to dogmatize the relative rights of employers and em-
^ For a discussion of laissez-faire ideals in national life, see Merriam, American Political Ideas, 1865-1917, chapter XI.
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ployees. Accordingly it insisted that before the laws of business all were equals and "laboring men have no more rights than others."^ Higher wages might well work an injury through higher prices and fewer sales abroad: "If we aspire to be a manufacturing nation and to compete with the world in our sewing-machines, our agricultural implements, our edge tools and our pianofortes, the scale of wages must approximate (all things being equal) to that prevailing abroad."* Labor, indeed, had the right to combine and strike, and no em- ployer or company "can in this country legally compel the humblest working-man to labor one hour for wages lower than the latter is disposed to accept. It follows conversely — and here is the point of the whole matter — that no working-man or working-men can legally or with any prospect of public support, endeavor to coerce the employer to pay more wages than he feels disposed to pay. This is a free country; labor, like flour and coal, is worth what it will sell for in the market, not more. The working-man is entitled to the best wages he can get; the employer — even though it be a corporation — has the fullest right to buy labor as cheaply as pos- sible." ° It was against an all but universal acceptance of this principle of industrialism that labor was remon- strating; something of a reversal of the process was being sought through legislation and unionism.
The advent of an industrial hierarchy implied social readaptations which stood in striking contrast to the
^ Cleveland Leader, May 29, 1874. This was the answer to the argu- ment for an eight-hour day.
■•Cleveland Leader, January 25, 1868. * Cleveland Leader, July 23, 1877.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 287
simple order of pioneer days. Even before the war period, various groups had ambitions to parallel the bet- ter social standards of eastern or southern society. Cincinnati had long been a favored resort with the southern aristocracy; and eastern visitors never failed to pay tribute to its exclusive residential district among the hills above the river. At the same time Euclid Ave- nue in Cleveland set Fifth Avenue in New York as its model, and one might observe here the same standards that held forth in Boston or Philadelphia. The day had all but passed when the state could not "boast a hundred silk hats."® The problem was to secure a serving class which was likewise subservient in its attitude. The ar- rogance of household servants, "servant-galism" ac- cording to the Toledo Blade, might even command edi- torial attention.^ The strike of 1877 inspired John Hay, at the time resident in Cleveland, to write a novel which undertook to analyze the problem and indicate its solu- tion.^ By its implications the American social tradition was in need of being fundamentally recast. The pseudo- romantic style strongly suggested Sir Walter Scott in its appeal to mediaeval tradition in support of social cleavage. Neither Hammond nor Calhoun, when they had been compelled to defend their system most stub- bornly, had been more convincing. The European model, which Sherman had so spectacularly criticised in 1868, was after all the very ideal which commanded the admiration of the industrial parvenu.
The process by which the new order was being
"Cf. Atlantic Monthly, Vol. LXXXIV, p. 684.
'Toledo Blade, February 26, 1867.
* The Breadwinners first appeared anonymously in 1883-84.
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achieved was by no means uniform nor without protest. The period brought to the surface many and varied pro- grams in conflict with it and each other. The State Con- vention called in 1873 to organize a new fundamental law, illustrates to a degree the extent of diversified in- terests, when the situation, detached somewhat from the element of party interests, was actually tested. Various provisions which were understood to threaten or be inconsistent with the demands of political rings, religious sects, temperance elements, liquor interests and others, were listed among the leading causes for the overwhelming defeat accorded that instrument. Very few approved of it entirely. One critic enumerated twelve issues which had alienated support. The prob- lem of securing government responsible for increasingly intricate responsibilities connected with the new age was further complicated by the continuous struggle for political advantage. The domination of national issues in a pivotal state even in "off years" frequently sub- ordinated local issues and converted the contest into a preliminary of a national election. The task of recon- ciling these interests and at the same time subordinating them to political advancement was worthy of the best efforts of any politician.
Prominent among local problems which at various times became issues were those especially which per- tained to the control of liquor interests, taxation, main- tenance of secular education, city government and elec- tions, factory, mine and transportation regulation and the care of dependents and delinquents. Each of these at various times became prominent ; occasionally certain features conditioned national campaigns. The natural
Ohio in National Politics, 1863-1896 289
tendency, however, was to clear the path to solidarity of the national program by subverting these issues as stumbling-blocks in the path of the opposition.
The most threatening issue of a local nature to party solidarity was that growing out of recurring threats of a Hquor revolt: the Western Reserve, which had been staunch in abolitionism, was especially open to moral convictions on the subject. Owing to a lack of restric- tion under which intoxicants were sold, practices had arisen which shocked an ordinary sense of decency. Due to a popular conviction that all citizens would be- come thereby party to the traffic, the state constitution forbade the licensing of saloons. Without restraint street peddlers with push-carts or drays and "alley rum- holes" dispensed the "vilest liquids ever poured into a human stomach." ® The Cincinnati Commercial de- clared it a shame "to see, wherever there is a shop em- ploying a score of men, a great hulking fellow, squatted with his beer keg, snatching for the nickels that were much better spent for bread." The wave of protest of 1873 and 1874 in the form of a temperance prayer cru- sade which swept the state was the culmination of a movement which thenceforth became a relatively fixed issue. Under the leadership of Dr. Dio Lewis, a lec- turer, women's bands were formed, first in Hillsboro and Washington Court House, whose program con- sisted in visiting places where liquor was sold, to sing and pray and to plead with the proprietors to close. If the doors were closed against them, the crusaders knelt
Cleveland Leader, January 27, 1871. Vol. XXXVn— 19.
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in the snow and prayed. The movement spread through- out the state and gained attention through occasional scenes which approached riots/" From the "Washing- ton Court House Movement" was finally evolved the National Women's Christian Temperance Union — a permanent institution of the anti-Hquor forces.
Second only to the liquor issue for a brief period in the seventies, figured the problem of sectarianism and the public schools. The decade characterized by threat- ening labor revolts, witnessed extensive legislation rela- tive to the establishment of compulsory state education. The advent of this feature of the new age naturally in- volved difficulties with sects, especially the Roman Cath- olic, whose ideals and traditions were infringed upon by this expansion of secular activity. The issue as to whether the Bible should be read in the public schools and whether public funds should be divided between secular and parochial schools, at various times threat- ened solidarity. A defeat of the Democratic party, how- ever, at a time when the Republicans declared it most inclined toward serving the Catholic cause, went far in eliminating the controversy.
The relationship of the party organization to state issues was, from the nature of things, a haphazard one. It was from the standpoint of a broader relationship that the party claimed its special significance. It not only articulated the political activities of a state with those of the federal government, but it represented in large measure the bond which held together the greater and conflicting sectional interests. It was primarily in
" Cleveland Leader, March 20, 1874, contains a characteristic ac- count of one.
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this capacity that a party discipHned voters, sought office for its candidates and attempted to intrench itself in power. The period from 1873 to 1879 was one which tested the efficacy of party government to the utmost. Although a partisan warfare was threatened, it was a spirit of party loyalty which became effective in restor- ing a degree of intersectional and group comity.
The difficulties of the nation after 1873 rested upon a series of complicating factors. Farmers, for the most part unorganized, industrial, railway, banking interests and rising labor groups were inclined to view the new problems from highly divergent standpoints. The first named was concerned with meeting financial obligations in the face of uncertain seasons, markets and conditions of transportation; railway magnates had frequently built on a faith in the future or with an eye to financial manipulation rather than with reference to legitimate public service; industrial interests were linked with banking institutions in demanding the liquidation of in- vestments and credits in terms of "sound" finance; labor groups, comparatively silent during the war, were aris- ing to protest once more against conditions which lay beyond their control as individuals. Supply and de- mand, the theoretical tyrants of a laisseB-faire ideal, failed to keep credit, wealth and wages in a state of harmonious relationship. It was, consequently, against centrifugal forces no less than national in scope that party machinery operated ; success in this field only con- stituted a worthy criterion of political effort.
The period of economic depression, the beginning of
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which was signalized by the Wall Street panic in Sep- tember, 1873, accentuated the primary issue about which party dogma tended to crystallize. The "dismal tale of declining markets, exhaustion of capital, a lowering in value of all kinds of property, including real estate, con- stant bankruptcies, close economy in business and grind- ing frugality in living, idle mills, furnaces and factories, former profit-earning ironmills reduced to the value of a scrap heap, laborers out of employment, reductions in wages, strikes and lockouts, the general railroad riots of 1877, suffering of the unemployed, depression and de- spair," ^^ were, according to Mr. Rhodes, indicative of how seriously the elements of economic life were dis- jointed. Between laborers and employers developed a degree of suspicion and cynicism hitherto scarcely par- alleled in the hundred years of national life. Spokesmen for discouraged farmers and laborers with destitute families quoted the pulpit, the press and industrial mag- nates as proof that the latter were not only unsympa- thetic with the poverty and sufifering of the unemployed, but were designing a dictatorship in order to protect their fabulous fortunes. The behavior of the parvenu in riotous squandering was to a discontented workman a sufficient answer to the argument that no greater com- pensation was possible for him and his associates. ^^
Industrial depression, the real cause and nature of which has consistently baffled the American business mind, dealt severely with the economic interests of Ohio.
"Rhodes, History of the United States, Vol. VII, pp. 52-53.
" Brice, Financial Catechism, pp. 195-199, contains a collection of such statements. The Annual Cyc. for 1877 under "Labor Strikes" con- tains a statement of the labor point of view.
Ohio in National Politics, 1863-1896 293
Over half of its iron furnaces went out of business be- tween 1873 and 1878. Wages were reduced on an aver- age of 33 per cent. ; forty-six miners in the Mahoning Valley receiving from $2.50 to $3.00 in 1873 received scarcely $1.50 in 1878," The scrip system was resur- rected. The laboring man was thus directly confronted with evidence that some agency stood between him and the liberty to exact a legitimate compensation for his ef- forts." The argument that Wall Street controlled busi- ness with a direct interest in its own profits only, became more than an empty theory.
When Congress assembled in 1873, the state and nation at large turned to that body in hopes of some solution to the difficulty. No less than sixty financial schemes were proposed — an evidence of a multiplicity of ideas if not of true financial wisdom.'" After four months of discussion relating primarily to the question as to how much the greenback circulation should be in- creased, a bill passed both houses which set $400,000,000 as the maximum total. The President's veto of the bill stimulated popular discussion and subjected party lines
"Ohio Labor Statistics, 1878, p. 59.
^*Ibid., pp. 43-49, contains an estimate of the situation.
"When financial discussion was at its height in 1868, Joseph Me^iH visited Washington and later wrote Sherman the result of his observa- tions : "The trouble is that not one M. C. in ten has any clear ideas of the financial problem. I came away from Washington very much dis- gusted at the stolid ignorance anr" sneering indifference I found among many members who boasted to me that they did not understand finances and did not want to." Sherman MSS. March 9, 1868.
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inside Congress and out to further confusion/® Sher- man, turning to a "redistribution" bill, which was de- signed to increase the circulation of money in the west, and other legislation designed to promote banking in the same section, finally secured a law designed to har- monize all interests and eliminate the issue as a source of embarrassment to his party/^ This was the Specie Payments Law of 1875. It promised through securing a gold reserve by the sale of bonds to secure for treas- ury certificates a circulating value equivalent to that of gold by January 1, 1879. Excepting the votes of a score of "hard money" Republicans who attacked the bill as perpetuating an unwarranted inflation, it was passed as a party measure.
"Thurman, upon the passage of the bill, bade farewell to honest money and crooked his finger at the Republican party: "I doubt very much, Mr. President, whether the history of this or any other country in which free institutions have existed ever presented such a spectacle as was beheld here this afternoon. . . . The great Republican Party of the Senate of the United States has agreed to take the measure of a Democrat and place it upon the statute-books of the country, in defiance of the recommendations of its Secretary of the Treasury, and in utter scorn and contempt of the recommendation of its Committee on Finance. . . . Sir, I can take no credit for this triumph that my Democratic friend from North Carolina (Mr. Merrimon) has achieved. The Senator from Indiana, (Mr. Morton), the Senator from Illirois, (Air. Logan), the Senator from Michigan, (Mr. Ferry), were looked upon as that paper-money trinity which was to be exalted above all other gods in the country ; but all their glories have gone and faded, and it was reserved for the pine woods of North Carolina to shape the financial destiny of the country. Disband your party. . . ." Cong. Rec, April 6, 1874, p. 2833.
" A number of such bills were introduced at various times as reme- dies for the lack of circulating media in the west. They in general pro- posed to remedy the agricultural difficulty by extending the advantages of the banking system to that region. They may be considered the pre- cursors of many "rural credit" schemes that have since been advanced.
Ohio in National Politics, 1863-1896 295
The popular response to the financial issue was im- mediate. The election of 1874 returned thirteen Demo- crats and only seven Republicans from Ohio to the Na- tional Legislature — a significant contribution to rhe Democratic majority in that body. Such an overturn, however, was not due to any measure of solidarity among Democrats on the leading issue. Two party or- gans no less conspicuous than the Enquirer and States- man proceeded to quarrel over Thurman's opposition to the inflation bill of 1874. The former leveled its attack upon Thurman as an agent of Wall Street; the latter declared the Democracy to have been a hard money party always, and supported Thurman in his vote. The Democratic State Convention, August 26, was presided over by Thomas Ewing, Jr., a recruit by way of the New Departure, and was dominated by a majority favorable to the payment of bonds, interest and one-half the reve- nue duties in greenbacks. This action presaged the serious breach in the Democratic ranks during the cam- paign of the year following.
June 17, 1875, brought the issue, so far as the De- mocracy was concerned, to a crisis. Pendleton, Morgan and Ewing headed the "rag baby" faction in the Demo- cratic Convention; the renomination of Allen was se- cured on a platform which declared for the retirement of all national bank currency and its replacement by legal-tenders — the circulating value of the latter to be brought to a parity with gold by "promoting the indus- tries of the people, and not by destroying them." ^^ An
^Although the platform declared against sumptuary legislation, as to the liquor question, Samuel F. Gary, noted as an anti-liquor crusader, was nominated for second place.
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influential group of Republicans had broken from their party in order to secure this unreserved commitment." " Thurman was especially embarrassed by the radical turn of events. He refused to deliver a ratification speech at Columbus at the time of the Convention. On July 31, at Mansfield, he opened the campaign by a speech which illustrates how slightly a difference of opinion need stand in the way of party unity: "* * * Understand me," he declared, "I am not de- fending the platform, for in some particulars I do not like it, and I leave to those who approve it the task of its advocacy. Nor am I criticizing it, for I have no dis- position to be critical and I leave that role to our com- mon adversaries. But I think it but justice to say that the platform has been construed to mean more than is expressed in it, and more than was meant, as I believe, by those who framed it. In saying this I do not lose sight of the interpretation placed upon it by some of its friends. I know that some of its warmest advocates regard it as a declaration against gold and silver and for an irredeemable greenback currency now and forever, coupled with great and permanent inflation; but for reasons that I have partly stated and others that I have no time to state, I believe that these men are compara- tively few in number. * * * The question is not strictly a party question. Honest men of all parties may be found on its opposite sides, and so it has ever been after every great panic by which the country has been af- flicted. * * *" At this point he switched to other is-
" In the words of the Cleveland Herald, hard money Democrats were asked to swallow a platform made by men "who have not been Democrats long enough to let the dirt accumulate under their nails."
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 297
sues and explained his continued adherence to the Dem- ocratic Party because of its fundamentally sound prin- ciples.'°
Despite the serious lack of solidarity within the party, the Democrats inaugurated a campaign which compared in aggressiveness with those of 1863 and 1867. Newspapers and stump speakers made finances a household topic. A correspondent described popular interest graphically: "They think about it before they get up in the morning, discuss it at the table, turn it over on the street, talk upon it over the bar when solacing themselves with spiritual refreshment, and expound their favorite theory wherever and whenever they can find an audience.
"Some of their theories are wilder than the figments of a diseased brain but in most cases they seem to be honestly entertained, however crazy and impractical they may be." ^^
The passage of the Resumption Act secured for the Republicans a comparative element of unity. At least it was the basis of an efifort to assure the farmer and laborer that shortly the bondholder would have no bet-
" In August, Republican papers drummed up campaign material from statements attributed to Thurman in a conversation with one Theodore Cook, at Put-in-Bay. The following and other quotations were featured: "The d — d priests have overdone this thing by sticking their noses into our politics." "Gary is an out and out communist." The Dayton Journal subsequently supplied Allen with the following "elegy" : "Now I miss my lovely nephew, Who so often spoke me fair ; He didn't keep his promise true, He has climbed the golden stair, Gone to Cali- fornia." August 17, 1875.
"Cleveland Leader, September 24, 1875.
Governor Allen in the course of the campaign coined an epithet which became popularly attached to the Republican program ; this was his reference to the Resumption Act as "a d — d barren ideality."
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ter money than their own. And yet the party faced em- barrassments. "The prospects of an election seem to me to be not good," Hayes wrote in his diary: "The third term talk, civil rights bill, the partisan appoint- ments of the baser sort, in other words the Butlerism of the Administration, are all bad, and weights on us." " The Republican Convention had apparently no other choice than to confer the nomination on the candidate who had twice before led his party through a crisis. Judge Alphonso Taft of Cincinnati was the only candi- date other than Hayes to receive serious consideration. His recent attitude, however, relative to the rights of the Cincinnati Board of Education to require the read- ing of the Bible in the public schools, stood in the way of compelling the Democrats to stumble over that issue. Hayes was disinclined to jeopardize party harmony through committing himself to a contest with the gen- erally accepted candidate. Charles Foster, the Congres- sional Representative from Hayes' district, however, encompassed Taft's defeat before the convention; the latter was led into a trap on the school issue which de- stroyed him with the "rural districts" : "You need not feel any delicacy about the Taft matter," wrote an ad- viser to Hayes afterward, "for in no possible event, would or could Judge Taft have been nominated. The "Rural Districts" did not want him and were deter- mined not to have him in spite of Dick Smith or any- body else." "
Following the nomination of Hayes, the redemption of Ohio became a problem of national necessity to
= Hayes' Diary, April 18, 1875.
"R. P. Kennedy to Hayes, Hayes MSS.. June 3, 1875.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 299
the Republican Party. Prominent leaders from other states joined their influence in the common cause. Carl Schurz was prevailed upon to return from Switzerland in order to win over Cincinnati Germans and help smash "Old Bill Allen." Charles Francis Adams pictured the situation in terms of despair : "Allen's election will be our destruction; his renomination on the rag money issue was a defiance and insult to us, and his success would render us contemptible.^* If we don't kill him he will kill us." An old Jacksonian "wheelhorse" was promising to duplicate the work of his earlier contem- porary in smashing a credit system that, since the days of Alexander Hamilton, had been a recurring source of controversy. Fortunately for Republican success, a de- fence of the banking system did not enter seriously into the contest. The extreme views of Cary that a stamped paper currency made a legal tender in all cases, "formed a currency as nearly perfect as possible," enabled the Republicans to take the offensive in behalf of "hard money." Hayes made above fifty speeches and effectively attacked any governmental scheme of inflation not con- vertible into coin as "a violation of the national faith and a destruction of national credit." Sherman was effective, on the other hand, in turning the inflation side of his Resumption measure to his audiences. After one of the most memorable campaigns in national politics the Republicans claimed the state by a margin of 5500 votes.
The narrow margin of defeat, coupled with certain other untoward features of the campaign, afforded the Democracy excellent reasons for feeling that their
" Schurz' Speeches, Correspondence, etc., Ill, p. 156.
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financial policy had continued political possibilities. The Republicans had forced an issue in accusing the Demo- crats of designing to divide public funds between public and parochial schools. Cowles of the Cleveland Leader especially urged that issue against the liberal financial tendencies of the Reserve. A Republican organ frankly attributed the heavy vote of its party in the Reserve to the Catholic issue : "The currency issue appealed to the heads of citizens; the school question went straight to their hearts." "" Shortly after the election General George W. Morgan, formerly a Democratic Congress- man and candidate for Governor, wrote Allen: "Out- side of the financial issues we did not make a vote, and all we lost, and they were not a few, were on the Church Question." "^
While Ohio Republicans thanked the school issue and the "solid South" for the margin of their victory and sought to escape the financial issue in another cam- paign, the national currency Democrats planned to force their candidate and platform upon the national conven- tion. As early as January, 1876, the Enquirer advocated holding the state before the national convention, adopt- ing the platform of the previous year, demanding a western candidate, "and then see w^hether the Tildenites will dare go back on us.""^ As in 1868, the Ohio Democ- racy was determined to lead a popular cause in efifecting the overthrow of the Republican machine: J. J. Faran, an editor of the Enquirer, and Governor Allen's closest adviser, was convinced that the "Ohio idea" was the
=' Cleveland Herald, October 13, 1875.
''^ Allen MSS. October 16, 1875.
"Quoted in the Cincinnati Commercial, January 29, 18'i
Ohio ill National Politics, 1865-1896 301
only fit instrument with which to counter the Republican "Confederate Brigadier" and secure the Presidency/®
The circumstances under which the Allen endorse- ment was ultimately secured, however, did not promise well for his candidacy in the National Convention. Thurman continued to entertain hopes of support in spite of his defeat in the State Convention. The nomi- nation of Tilden had already become a foregone conclu- sion, and, as in 1868, the New York wing of the De- mocracy was able to override the schismatic Ohio Democracy to its own ends. "Tilden was nominated before the Convention and it was not in the power of man to beat him," wrote General Morgan to Allen after-
* His representations in a letter to Allen, who, in spite of recent defeat, was courting the hope of becoming the Presidential nominee, infer all that is necessary in the way of commentary : "The Democratic party seems to be in a pretty 'torn' condition, and the prospect is that it will not be much improved by the time the Convention meets, in June, or July next. It does not seem possible for there to be a common agree- ment on the currency question. It is even doubtful whether the Demo- cratic House can be brought to vote in favor of repealing the resumption law. The movements of the business men of Cleveland and Toledo in favor of the repeal of that law show how the general public is coming to regard the matter. And the most of these very men voted against you last fall.
It must be evident to every candid and thinking Democrat, that nothing but our Ohio currency views can secure to the Democratic party success in the Presidential race. "It is too soon yet, to entrust the Demo- cratic party with its rebel element, with the control of the General Gov- ernment" is the sentiment of the Republican leaders, which presses are now inculcating and it will be their main reliance in the campaign. And I know its power among the people. We can present nothing that can down it like our currency plan, which takes with the people the more it is known and understood — it is so right, and just and Democratic in itself." Allen MSS, February 3, 1876.
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ward.-^ The third national campaign since the close of the war thus found the Ohio Democracy in the same plight as in each of the preceding campaigns: Tilden was "crow pie" just as Seymour and Greeley had been.
For the first time since 1860, the Republican nominee for the presidency was not a foregone conclusion. The party approached the contest with serious misgivings. When the National Convention met at Cincinnati, Conk- ling, Blaine, Bristow, Morton, Hartranft, Jewell and Hayes were backed by leaders who attributed pecuHar availability to their respective candidates. Subsequent events, however, justified an estimate of one of Hayes' followers as essentially sound:
"The people are disgusted and mad with the abound- ing corruption at Washington and elsewhere, and feel more keenly on that subject just now than any other. Hence the cry for Bristow — and in the other party for Tilden. But Bristow will not have the hearty support of the friends of Grant, Conkling, or Morton. Blaine in losing Massachusetts will sufifer severely, besides not being acceptable to the Independents and his residence is at the extreme East and sectional, and he is no- toriously too active and self-seeking. At the Conven- tion some man identified with the great Mississippi Val- ley and the West, of sterling character and ability, with administrative reputation and experience, a good war
-^ The letter continues : "The South did the decisive work, and I believe her representatives as a rule acted from honest but mistaken mo- tives. ... In consequence of trouble of my throat, I was not able to announce your name. I had intended doing so with an aggressive at- tack on the money power, but the result would not have been changed. . . . . A considerable portion of the press was subsidized to Tilden's interest and the discipline of his friends was like that of an army." Allen MSS. August 1, 187G.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 303
record — and in sympathy with the people, whose senti- ments on the subject of good money, free schools, po- litical morality and civil reform, are not merely ex- pressed, but acted upon and are known to everybody, who has not been mixed with the corruptions and jeal- ousies festering in Washington, will be selected and all Republicans will be satisfied and will join in electing him."^" By making no mention of Sherman's Resump- tion Law, the Cincinnati Convention contributed still further to Hayes' availability. His candidacy was a guarantee to the East against the aggressions of the "rag baby.''''' The party was accordingly free to take the offensive in Ohio and Indiana against the "Confederate Brigadier."
The political situation in Ohio and the West gener- ally forced a truce on the money issue. Despite the Democratic nomination of a "hard money minion of Wall Street", a '"cold-blooded Vampire of Western Railroads," Republican hegemony was threatened. A common bankruptcy threatened again to restore the southern-north-western alliance which had been effective in 1828 and 1844. Ex-Governor Morton estimated that $100,000 would be required to hold Indiana within the Republican ranks.^' Blaine, Sherman and Morton es- sayed to check the tide by waving the "bloody shirt."^^
'"H. S. Noyes to Hayes. Hayes MSS. May 12, 1876.
'^Hayes to Schurz, June 27, 1876, in Schurs' Speeches, Corres- pondence, etc., Ill, p. 254.
"^ Hayes' Diary, August 13, 1876.
*" Sherman and Hayes had, of course, long before the canvass of 1876, made use of the great expedient of capitalizing war enmity and suspicion as implied by the "bloody shirt" and "Confederate Brigadier." In 1871, Hayes, in reference to one of Sherman's speeches on the Ku-Klux outrages, wrote in congratulatory terms : "You have hit the nail on the
304 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Hayes was convinced of the expediency of that device. He counseled Blaine, just as the latter started on his tour of Indiana and Ohio: "Our strong ground is the dread of a solid South, rebel rule, etc., etc. I hope you will make these topics prominent in your speeches. It leads people away from 'hard times' which is our dead- liest foe." ^* A margin of only 7,500 votes in the can- didate's native state indicated how necessary had been the need of capitalizing the emotional heritage of the war. Although the voters were given no real oppor- tunity to register their attitude on the financial issue, it was altogether clear that a popular protest was weaken- ing the hegemony of the Republican party. In fact, it was necessary to consult the interests of the "Confed- erate Brigadiers" themselves before it became entirely clear that the Democratic candidate was to be counted out.
The circumstances under which the Hayes adminis- tration subsequently entered office were in every way discouraging. The Democratic candidate had secured a popular majority of 250,000. Hayes' claim to office rested upon a margin of one vote in the electoral college,
head. Nothing unites and harmonizes the Republican party like the con- viction that Democratic victories strengthen the reactionary and brutal tendencies of the late rebel states. It is altogether the most effective thing that has lately been done." Sherman MSS. April 1, 1871.
"■* Under date of August 9, 1876, Hayes wrote Schurz as follows: "A vast majority of the 'plain people' think of this as the main interest in the canvass. A Democratic victory ivill bring the Rebellion into pozuer. They point to a host of facts and are greatly moved by them." Schurz' Speeches, Correspondence, etc., Ill, pp. 284-285.
Again under date of September 15, 1876: "The canvass daily brings to the front more and more as the leading topics, the danger of a 'United South' victory, and Tilden's record as a reformer." Schurz, op. cit. Ill, p. 338.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 305
and that secured only after negotiations which involved threats of open revolt. Democratic newspapers dis- cussed "fraud" and the "Presidential steal" in terms which carried conviction with an electorate which faced continuously falling prices and stagnant business. It was incumbent upon the President to be as much of a Democrat as his opponent would have been, if not more so, in order to restore a degree of equilibrium. But a Democratic majority in the House was more inclined to embarrass an administration program than to assume the responsibility for one of its own. The narrow Re- publican plurality in the Senate contained only three men willing to accept the President's leadership. ^^ At the the end of six weeks, Cabinet appointments and a south- ern policy which circumstances had forced upon the President, precipitated a party schism against which no element of unity seemed possible. Before the summer following the inauguration had passed, the party had lost its identity in factions.
Hayes' southern policy broadened the schism in the Republican party, and it was further complicated by an attack upon Sherman's plans for resumption under the leadership of politicians of both parties. A beginning was made in a House bill revoking all power of bond issues for resumption purposes. This was followed shortly by another bill to open the mints to the free coin- age of silver. Bills of a similar nature had been intro- duced during the preceding summer ; the increased pro- duction of silver furnished the key to a type of credit
""Hoar, Autobiography, Vol. I, p. 429 and Vol. II, Chap. II. For a "Stalwart" excoriation of Hayes, see Piatt, Autobiography, pp. 84-97.
Vol. XXXVII— 20.
306 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
inflation as an antidote to business depression which to all appearances eliminated the embarrassing features of the greenback movement. The author of the bill of 1876 declared for the program of "free and unlimited coinage of silver" or a resort to "issuing paper money enough to stuff down the bondholders until they sicken." The measure, moreover, side-stepped the argument of "rag babyism," which had embarrassed the greenback program. Silver as "coin" fulfilled the specifications of bonds. One of Allen's correspondents stated the possi- bility squarely when he inquired: "Does it (the Bland Bill) not enable us — of the East at all events — to throw the "rag baby" off on the radicals, by assuming to cham- pion the word of the bond — coin?"
The passage of the Bland Bill in the House in No- vember, 1877, was secured with the aid of sixty-seven Republican votes — this out of the total affirmative vote of one hundred sixty-four. Influence favorable to silver coinage rested without reference to party lines in the delegations of states west and south of Pennsylvania. The bill repealing the power of the Secretary of the Treasury to sell bonds for the purpose of securing coin for resumption was defeated in the Senate. Also the silver coinage act was ultimately modified into a com- promise requiring the government to purchase and coin only two or four millions' worth of silver monthly. In this form the law passed over the President's veto.
Throughout the period of financial manipulation, the Ohio delegation played a conspicuous part. Thomas Ewing, only recently converted to the Democratic ranks, led the fight for the repeal of the Resumption Law. Stan- ley Matthews, who had failed to follow the Liberal Re-
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 307
publican movement after the nomination of Greeley, championed the movement "to do something for silver" in the Senate. He had been selected to com- plete Sherman's unexpired term when the latter en- tered the President's cabinet. In December, 1877, shortly after the Bland bill passed the House, he in- troduced a resolution explicitly declaring that in the opinion of Congress, all the bonds of the United States issued or authorized to be issued were payable in the silver dollars of the proposed Bland Law. His eloquence in behalf of the necessity of relieving a condition of national bankruptcy was a feature of the Congressional session. Sherman had not been more eloquent in 1868 in reference to the justice of paying the bonds in greenbacks : ''* * * It can be demonstrated by an impregnable array of facts, that silver can today buy more of every other known product of human labor than it could in July, 1870, gold alone excepted: lands, houses, stocks of merchandise, machinery, labor, every- thing but gold; here and elsewhere. In Asia, in Europe, throughout this whole continent, nowhere, measured by the average price of the general commodities of the world, has silver depreciated the breadth of a hair. * * *"^^ And Sherman had evinced no greater defer- ence to popular demands : "* * * What else means all this cry of discontent? What else means all this half- suppressed murmur of dissatisfaction? Do gentlemen suppose that people are crying out when they suffer no pain? Do they suppose that the voice of lamentation comes up from the homes of the people merely that they may hear themselves speak and cry? Or is it the truth
Cong. Rec, 45 Cong., 2nd Sess., Vol. 7. pt. 1, p. 91.
308 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
and is it the fact that the distress of the country is be- yond all historical comparison in our country, and that to-day it will require but a few more turns of the wheel to submerge the majority of the body of the people into hopeless bankruptcy?
"So then, Mr. President, on any ground and in any view that I am able to take, if we restore the silver dol- lar to its former and accustomed place in our legislation, in our coinage, and in our currency, we are still paying the public debts according to a large and a full and over- flowing measure of value." " When interrupted by a question as to the rights of foreign subscribers to American bonds, the speaker retorted, "What have we got to do with abroad?" Thus Sherman's resumption scheme was threatened by the same sort of party op- position as the Secretary had himself led ten years before against McCulloch.
Nor was the position of Secretary Sherman a happy one. Caught between "two clouds, one East and the other West," the latter giving "wrathful token" against treasury schemes "for making dearer the money in which these enormously usurious bonds are to be paid," he grasped for some program for placating both ele- ments.^® During the campaign of 1876 he had aroused the "bullionists" as if he were an "inflationist of the worst type."'^'' His scheme, as advocated at that time, declared for the payment of greenbacks in silver. This policy he declared a safe middle ground between the extremes of opinion in the East and West. In subse-
Cong. Rec, 45th Cong., 2nd Sess., Vol. 7, pt. 1, p. 91. ' Cincinnati Enquirer, June 18, 1877. 'Toledo Blade, July 21, 1876.
Ohio in National Politics, 1863-1896 309
quent interviews he reiterated this, his so-called Mari- etta doctrine/" He undoubtedly experienced the full impact of the silver movement. One of his most trusted Ohio advisers warned him that the urgency to coin and is- sue silver was so great that unless complied with it would result in the issue of more greenbacks "in spite of fate * * *" " Sherman at any rate advised the President against a veto of the Silver Bill/" At the same time he sought a supplement to the Resumption Law in the form of authority to issue bonds for currency. In this he fell squarely back upon his financial program of 1868 — namely, that of restoring specie payment through the issuance of bonds. He held that the process of selling bonds need not go far before the mere fact that the legal-tenders were receivable for bonds "would bring them up to par, and that is specie payment".*^ And yet this program was opposed through fear of over contrac- tion.
Sherman had thoroughly aroused all factions of na- tional credit advocates through his Resumption Law without having satisfied those opposed to every form of government credit. Under the caption "Manhood and honor should have hard hearts," Harper's Week- ly ridiculed the Secretary's temporizing attitude. His interview with a correspondent of the Cincinnati Com- mercial was quoted as illustrative of his attitude against the coinage of silver. Accordingly, he had declared the funding operations checked, "if not all broken up, and
^Cleveland Herald, June 12, 1877.
" C. W. Moulton to Sherman, August 14, 1877. Sherman MSS.
■'"Sherman, Recoil., II, p. 623.
*'Ann. Cyc. 1877, p. 239.
310 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
we shall have to wait for the sober second thought from the people themselves, who will set this thing- right." Before the Finance Committee he stated the effects of the silver bill as having been adverse in stopping refund- ing operations. "On the other hand," he added, "I will give the favorable effects: In the first place, the Silver Bill satisfied a strong public demand for bimetallic money, and the demand is, no doubt, largely sectional. No doubt there is a difference of opinion between the West and South and the East on this subject, but the desire for the remonetization of silver was almost uni- versal. In a government like ours it is always good to obey the popular current, and that has been done, I think, by the passage of the Silver Bill. Resumption can be maintained more easily upon a double standard than upon a single standard." *****
Throughout the entire period of the controversy, members of the Ohio delegation were subjected to strong pressure by their constituents. In January, 1878, the State Legislature resolved upon ''the common hon- esty, true financial wisdom and justice to the taxpayers of this country" connected with the "immediate restora- tion of the silver dollar to its former rank as a legal- tender for all debts, public and private." President Hayes and Secretary Sherman, in their opposition, were declared as not representative of the "views nor wishes of the people of the State of Ohio on this vital issue, as is shown by the passage of a resolution by the Sixty-second General Assembly of Ohio, in its regu- lar session of 1877, asking Congress to restore the said
** Harper's Weekly, April 13, 1878.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 311
silver dollar, with only three negative votes in the House of Representatives and but one in the Senate, and by the passage of a bill by the House of Representatives of Ohio at the same session, making silver coin a legal-ten- der for all debts and demands throughout the State of Ohio in conformity to the universal voice of the people of Ohio, irrespective of party." Thurman presented at the same time another petition for the repeal of the Re- sumption Law, which he declared to have been signed by prominent men irrespective of party/^ The anti-silver advocates were alarmed by the sweep of silver sentiment which became manifest in the state during the campaign of 1877, and were cynical toward Republican leaders who made haste to make political capital of the indus- trial panacea. On one occasion, Senator Matthews, hop- ing to be reelected to a full term in the United States Senate, in the course of a stump speech, held a silver dollar to the crowd and declared himself ''in favor of coining as many of them as might be necessary" with gold and greenbacks, "to oil the machinery which shall keep the great business of the world in free and har- monious action, so that every man shall be busy in keep- ing up with the wheels of industry."*^
And there was need for haste if Republicans were to shelter themselves in the apparent neutrality of the silver zone. The Democrats were already claiming pre- emption rights to the issue. The Cincinnati Enquirer boasted itself the high-priest of the new order, the first paper to call attention to the fact that "if the dollar of antiquity should be respected, the silver dollar shone far
'Cong. Rec, 45th Cong., 2nd Sess. Vol. 7, pt. ^. p. 953. 'Nation. August 9, 1877, p. 81.
312 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
above all other dollars; that if the ancient halo were of consequence, the white gold was the most venerable." The editor declared his attitude consistent with his pre- vious record: "The greenback heresy of 1867-68 is identical with the silver heresy of 1876-77. The Ohio Democrats are not unwilling to be regarded as the lead- ers in these movements. We called attention to these facts a year and a quarter ago, substantially as we have now stated them." '"
The financial issue represented but one phase of the political tangle from which Ohio Republicans sought to extricate themselves. The President's southern policy, his insistence upon placating the Liberal elements through greater efficiency of the civil service, each threatened serious defection. By yeoman service the State Convention in 1877 was brought to pay lip serv- ice to the administration. "If an attempt had been made to endorse Hayes' southern policy, two-thirds of the Convention would have been against him," a prom- inent Cleveland attorney wrote Sherman. ''It ivas a personal acquaintance of most of the delegates with the man and a desire to help him in the delicate position in which he found himself placed that gave him the en- dorsement of the Convention. Had he been elected as a resident of any other state, the Convention would have done just what the Iowa Convention did. * * * The last order of the President 'decitizenizing' Federal office- holders * * * takes an army of workers out of the con- test." *' In seeking a parallel to the President's difficul- ties as he attempted to serve honest convictions, one may
*' Cincinnati Enquirer, June 4, 1877.
**W. C. McFarland to Sherman, August 4, 1877. Sherman MSS.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 313
recall the days of President Johnson just a decade be- fore. But it would be more difficult to determine just which party was more willing to lead the assault.
Out of respect for the "Murphy movement," as the labor crisis of 1877 was called, the Republican Conven- tion of that year overreached itself in respect to both the candidate and platform. The party viewed "with alarm the present disturbed condition of the country" and as an earnest of desire to find a remedy recom- mended first, that Congress establish a National Bureau of Industry. Second, that Congress exert its authority over all national highways of trade by prescribing and enforcing such reasonable regulations as will tend to promote safety of travel, secure fair returns for capital invested and fair wages to the employes, preventing mis- management, improper discriminations, and the aggran- dizement of officers at the expense of stockholders, ship- pers, and employes. Third, that provision be made for statutory arbitrations between employers and employes, to adjust controversies, reconcile interests and establish justice and equality between them." Business men openly avowed that they would not support the ticket.^" Laboring classes had only contempt for the statutory arbitration provision. One, listening to Matthews' elab- oration of the platform, was satisfied that "Tom Scott can buy them ofT again. "^^ If business men were alarmed by the platform and a candidate who declared his adher- ence to it, the laboring classes were unwilling to accept the party's overtures in good faith. Without placating
'Annual Cyc, 1877, p. 620.
"T. Ewing Miller to Sherman, August 20; 1877. Sherman MSS.
^Nation, October 11, 1877.
314 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
either set of interests, Ohio Republicanism reached the lowest ebb of its fortunes since it had secured national control.
The Democracy was, in consequence of Republican schism and defection, for a second time since the war, able to elevate its candidate to the governorship. Wil- liam M. Bishop, a wholesale groceryman of Cincin- nati, untried in politics, but reputed to be a millionaire, was nominated on an anti-resumption, free silver and greenback platform dictated by the Enquirer. Disaf- fected Republican business men and politicians were apathetic in the face of his election. The Democratic State Legislature elected Pendleton as Thurman's col- league in the Senate. In control of the State Governor- ship and Legislature, its members commanding two- thirds of the state's apportionment of seats in the House and both Senatorships, the party planned optimistically to take charge of the Presidency in 1880.
CHAPTER V
A POLITICAL TRUCE
Both parties encountered difficulties in squaring their ranks for a Presidential campaign which at best promised neither more than a narrow margin of victory. Industrial depression had produced a labor movement by far the most pretentious that the state had thus far experienced; and it had clouded political reckoning on either side. After the Republican socialistic dip of 1877, the party faced apparent difficulties in extricating itself from a serious dilemma. It had betrayed those very principles which made it an acceptable association
Ohio in National Politics, 1865- 1896 315
among those who gave it influential support. Defeat offered a welcomed opportunity for repentance. The Democratic victory, on the other hand, had been won under any but fortuitous circumstances. To face the situation or to ignore it was equally hazardous. The party turned to a positive program. A solution to the prevailing industrial and social anarchy was sought through the enactment of such broad socialistic meas- ures that the Republicans were able to take the offensive.
The decade ending in 1875, under the shadow of war issues, had been free from any great difficulties arising from concerted labor movements. Ohio, like other states possessing industrial pockets, had been threat- ened by independent labor movements, but none had reached significant proportions. Major parties had been proof against a schism of that sort producing any great rift in the political structure. Campaign speeches and newspaper editorials had preached the party gospel with conviction.^
Nor did Ohio farmers threaten seriously to oppose accepted practices. Their support of the Granger movement did not reach the proportions accorded it by their fellow-workers to the South and West." Agricul- tural conditions had in the first place become compara- tively stabilized. Farmers who could not secure ample
^ "Republicanism, strongly and faithfully supported, is the besi and only agent through which true reformers of labor laws, intemperance and other evils, can attain their end." This was a declaration of the Cleve- land Leader and was repeated in various forms. It was of course a form of ballast with which a party was inclined to face any threatening circumstance, as indicated in the first part of Chapter IV.
^In 1876 the number reached 305 organizations to each 100,000 en- gaged in agriculture. Buck, The Agrarian Movement, pp. 68-69.
316 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
returns from the sale of crops found some satisfaction in the increment of land values. At the same time urban development furnished an expanding market for the products of diversified farming, and the flood of migration westward tended to drain off the unfavor- ably situated.^
The years 1876 to 1878, however, formed an epochal stage in the attempt of labor leaders to establish an independent party movement on a national scale. In 1877, the success of such a program appeared immi- nent. Two conventions, one at Cincinnati and the other later at Columbus, placed candidates in the field. Their platforms differed primarily in respect to the financial issue. The latter among other provisions de- clared for the remonetization of silver, the payment of the bonds at or before maturity, repeal of the resump- tion law, and "a wholesome control over corporate bodies and the fostering of resources in order to fully and profitably employ labor." An income tax and provision against "store script" for labor was also advocated. The combined votes of the tickets was somewhat less than 30,000, almost ten times the vote Peter Cooper, the Greenback Presidential candidate, had polled the year before. In 1878, the two factions succeeded in combining their tickets, and Ohio again promised to become the stage of an important national movement. February 22, 1878, Working-men, Greenback and Labor Reform organizations met at Toledo and launched the National party. July 23, various factions of the state pooled their interests at Columbus and
^ Kuck, op. cit., pp. 4 and o. Industry, besides absorbing many im- migrants, made exactions from the agricultural population.
Ohio in National Politics, i86yi8g6 317
placed Anarew Roy, a Jackson County coal-miner, at the head of their ticket. The new organization clearly threatened to command more votes than ordinarily de- termined the balance of power between the other parties.
The Democrats especially faced a dilemma as the new party threatened its hegemony. It was without a clear record on the financial issue except its opposition to the resumption act which both "hard" and "soft" money men could oppose or advocate for opposite rea- sons. Thus while Thurman was being attacked as hav- ing not "a single idea in his head which was not pumped into it by August Belmont,. . . ." Ewing was leading the attack against the Resumption Law as a de- flation measure.*
Before the election of 1878, however, an apparent agreement had been reached: Thurman and Ewing at any rate came to a closer understanding.^ Whatever opposition existed to the former's financial views was designed to be eliminated by a key-note speech deliv- ered at Hamilton, August 11. He declared squarely for the party platform (a national currency instrument) and astounded "hard money" Democrats by declaring his stand consistent with his former record: "Inasmuch as, in certain quarters, I am denounced as a man who has surrendered his conviction to appease a popular clamor, it may be pardonable in me to occupy a few
*Ohio Statesman, July 25, 1878.
Since 1875, when Thurman broke with his venerable uncle regard- ing the financial issue, and especially since 1876, when the two had been rivals for the Presidential nomination, the Enquirer has been opposed to Thurman's political interests.
'Ohio Statesman, July 11, 1878.
318 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
moments in replying to the charge." Accordingly he had steadily opposed contraction, spoken and voted against resumption and for its repeal, and worked hard to restore silver to the place it held before its demoneti- zation. He had proposed that greenbacks be received for custom duties and had been against an increase of the bonded debt. After the manner of his day he at- tacked the National Bank which drew interest on its indebtedness, perpetuated the national debt and "tended to combine, concentrate and intensify the money power.""
The Dayton Journal thenceforth declared the En- quirer appeased.' The Cleveland Leader stated that Thurman had knowingly embraced the false God, just when the tinsel and glitter was being torn away.^
A Democratic reversal in the election, however, was a set-back to Thurman's ambition. The National party reached its high water mark in casting 38,000 votes for its leading candidate. A new Democratic organ, es- tablished in Columbus, thenceforth attempted to re- kindle enthusiasm for an enfeebled candidacy. The next year Thurman refused to risk his political dignity as a candidate for governor. His influence was thrown to Americus Rice, a crippled soldier who was "not ob- noxious to hard money men." The strength of the Bishop delegation, however, compelled him to accept the nomination of Ewing, who was still fighting that "hellish measure," the Resumption Act.
" Ohio Statesman, August 13, 1878. Many other papers published the speech.
''Dayton Journal, August 16, 1878.
'Cleveland Leader, October 16, 1878. Thurman's program did not, however, differ essentially from that of Sherman's.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 319
The Republicans, as had the Democrats, hoped for some element of unity as the critical campaign of 1879 approached. The air had been cloudy indeed in 1877 and in 1878 when Republicans had been so determined to read Hayes and his program out of the party. In the convention of 1878 the demand of the Stalwarts be- came emphatic. General John Beatty, out of regard for his former abolitionist proclivities, essayed to direct the insurrection from the floor. He was unsparing in his invective against a President who had turned disgrace upon Republicans of the South, "who went through hell-fire to put Rutherford B. Hayes in the executive chair." His civil service was declared a sham and the veto of the silver bill an effort to destroy "the only meas- ure that made resumption possible.'"* But the ranks were not converted to drastic action. Shrewd leaders were hoping for the success of resumption and a re- turn of economic stability as a "pillar of fire" to fellow partisans who had lost their bearings in troublous times. The party resolved to oppose further agitation of the financial question as "injurious to business," and to satirize the Democratic legislation — "O'Connor legislation"^" — relative to providing public works for the employment of labor. The nominee for governor in 1879 promised an efficiency in campaign methods hitherto unapproached in Ohio politics.
The Republican who essayed to retrieve the gov- ernorship and establish state hegemony in national affairs was Charles Foster. His advancement on the
* Ohio Statestmm, June 13, 1878.
"So called from the name of a reputed bounty jumper who had become a member of the legislature.
320 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
ticket came as the result of a type of political effort that was thenceforth a more pronounced feature of the state's politics. His political record before nomination was an exposition on "efficiency and organization" in the attainment of political results.
Foster was born in Seneca County in the north- western part of the state. With his father he became a great promoter in the material development of that section. Fostoria had been founded by and named in honor of the father. The son became the controlling agent of the town's merchandizing and banking inter- ests. His influence encouraged factories and led rail- roads to build lines through the city for which he en- tertained great ambitions. A generous nature and affable manner made him a popular idol. He carried successful business methods into politics and became a recognized power in the state. By a thorough canvass in 1870, he had transferred a Democratic stronghold into a Republican district and gone to Congress. In 1872, he had been able to override a Liberal-Democratic combination in his district, as he also had the Demo- cratic landslide of 1874. In 1876, he secured reelec- tion by running ahead of his ticket 271 votes. The Democrats gerrymandered his district by an insur- mountable margin in 1878. In all but the last of these campaigns success was attained by most thorough or- ganization. Paid workers dispensed liberal sums. Critical districts were located by pre-election polls and prompt attention given to making them safe.
Foster's influence was demonstrated in other ways than those connected with his individual fortunes. His instinct as to the expediency of political measures se-
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896
321
cured him an influence in the House: he was as inti- mate with Democrats as with fellow partisans. In the disputed election of 1876, he and Matthews were lead- ing influences in the decision of "long-headed men" of
CHARLES FOSTER
Representative in Congress, March 4, 1871-March 3, 1879; Governor of Ohio, January 12, 1880-January 14, 1884; Secretary of Treasury of the United States, February 25, 1891-March 3. 1893.
the South that the Hayes candidacy offered them the better terms of political security. He was aided by Matthews also in 1877 in flanking an attempt of Taft to become a candidate for governor — a program that
Vol. XXXVII— 21.
Z22 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
would have blocked Matthews' ambition to return to the Senate.'^ The strategy of 1877 was applied with exceptional efficiency in 1879: Taft was again out- flanked even in his own stronghold, (Cincinnati) and Foster himself claimed the nomination/'
The election of 1879 became memorable. Foster was liberal in the use of his purse in promoting the campaign. A special train was employed in order that every critical district might be canvassed. The Demo- crats attempted to hold up the Republican candidate to ridicule in reference to his merchandising business and jeeringly attached the epithet "Calico Charlie." Women of Republican sympathies replied by donning calico dresses. As frequently happens in such cases the popu- larity of the candidate was promoted. Efficiency at any rate prevailed. Foster carried the state and humiliated the most popular if not the ablest national credit advo- cate of the opposition — a task that Sherman had held below his political dignity. By this blow, Foster as- sured himself a place of influence in national party councils. And there was evident need of capitalizing just such energy and resourcefulness in staving ofif disaster in the impending Presidential campaign.
After four troublous years, consumed primarily in wrangling over the financial issue and characterized by
"Political expediency demanded that the gubernatorial and sena- torial candidates be not taken from the same sections of the state. Taft and Matthews were both from Cincinnati. This canon of expediency was observed with comparative regularity in Ohio politics. Taft was also considered as "committed to a contest with Matthews for the Senate through an election as governor." W. C. McFarland to Sherman, Sherman MSS..^ August 4. 1877. Also press reports.
'" Myers, Bosses and Boodle, pp. 143-153, describes shameful manipu- lations connected witli the Convention.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896
323
temporizing that did not promise well for the poHtical future of many of the participants, the leadership of both parties evinced greater anxiety to declare the issue closed. Contests in Congress connected with the fraud
JOHN SHERMAN
Representative in Congress, March 4, 1855-March 3, 1861 ; United States Senator, March 21, 1861-March 8, 1877 ; Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, March 8, 1877-March 3, 1881 ; United States Senator, March 4, 1881-March 4, 1897; Secretary of State of the United States, March 5, 1897-April 25, 1898.
issue, the cipher dispatches, the army bill and the elec- tive franchise in the South afforded a much safer basis on which to muster forces for the impending battle. Each party turned to squaring the political mind to its
324 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
own ends; Democrats courted sympathy for a great injury in 1876; Republicans found, in the trumped up issues, color for then- cause of "national supremacy in national affairs." The growth of the Greenback party in the face of financial agitation threatened insecurity to the traditional appeal of both parties.
From visible evidence the political redemption of Ohio was to become an asset in advancing Sherman's candidacy for the Presidency. The abundant agricul- tural harvests of 1878 and 1879, which a distressed Europe was eager to command, enabled the farmer again to enter the market for the products of industry. Unemployment was relieved, and the laborer became less willing to listen to "addle-brained lunatics who were endeavoring to ruin the credit of the nation." Sherman had exhibited the dexterity of a shrewd business man in securing a favorable sale of bonds and a coin re- serve with which to secure the greenback circulation.^^ The triumph of resumption at the moment that business activity became manifest formed conclusive evidence to Sherman's mind of ''patient courage and unswerving conviction" of the Republican party." He felt there- fore that his financial wisdom had been justified and his claim upon his party for its highest reward fully vindicated.
With the fixed purpose of promoting his candidacy, Sherman lost no opportunity to encourage every favor- able prospect. "What I would aspire to," he declared in a letter which soon reached print and excited criti-
" Sherman deserves credit for being able to dictate for the first time since 1860 the terms of the government's credit. "Sherman's Memoirs, II, 743.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 325
cism, "in case public opinion should decide to make me a candidate for President, would be to unite in co- operation with the Republican party all the national elements of the country that contributed to or aided in any way in the successful vindication of national au- thority during the war. I would do this, not for the purpose of irritating the South or oppressing them in any way, but to assert and maintain the supremacy of national authority to the full extent of all the powers conferred by the constitution. This, as I understand it, is the Jacksonian as well as the Republican view of national powers. . . ."^^ These terms of ambigu- ity may be better understood in relation to the type of political career that had elevated Sherman to political eminence. Moreover, it forms an illuminating com- mentary on a career that was molded by the forces that dominated a sort of political "No man's land."
When the slavery issue was disrupting party lines in the decade of the 'fifties, Sherman's candidacy, in view of no particular identity with the great problem that threatened to disrupt the union, had united dis- affected factions in advancing him to Congress. Thenceforth he trailed rather than advanced with his party to the extreme stand it ultimately occupied in defiance of the South. When the impeachment of President Johnson demoralized political lines, Sherman as Senator drifted without reference to consistency in attitude toward the Tenure of Office act.'*' He embraced the greenback issue in 1868 to the extent of declaring for the payment of bonds in certificates then afloat.
"Sherman op. cit., II, 730.
'" Oberholtzer, Hist, of U. S., II, 129-130.
326 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Following the election of 1868, his convictions did not stand in the way of retrieving his political position somewhat through introducing an act to strengthen the public credit, pledging the United States to payment "in coin or its equivalent," of notes and interest-bear- ing obligations, "except in cases where the law author- izing the issue of any such obligations has expressly provided that the same may be paid in lawful money or other currency than gold and silver." The removal of the discrepancy between the circulating value of coin and greenbacks formed Sherman's real hope of escap- ing the dilemma. During the great controversy of 1877, he was willing to compromise by removing all discrimi- nation in favor of the bondholder, preventing him any longer from being a "privileged person" by a treasury sale of bonds for "currency at par with gold."^^ His declaration that the existence of the national banks was a question of "policy" and not of "principle," the right conferred upon them to issue circulation "not for their profit but for the public convenience," indicated how readily he could quibble over the issue when expediency demanded it. As to silver, he declared the difference among Republicans would be settled "by the use of the silver dollar to the extent that it can be kept in circula- tion at par with greenbacks," and as a "pure question of detail."''
Sherman believed in the rule of political parties. The period offered its challenge to robust statesmanship ; but temperamentally, Sherman was not explosive nor was he gifted with that rare quality of firing men's
"Sherman's Recoil., I, 594. "^Ibid., p. 594.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865- 1896 327
imaginations with phrases which they could not forget. In later Hfe he declared himself in essential accord with the ideal of governmental control of credit and adverse to the banking system/'' His services, in compromising the issue, were similar to those of Clay when slavery threatened the union.
As Sherman approached the political crisis of his career in 1880, he was without particular political preferment at the hands of either of the sets of con- flicting interests he had striven for fifteen years to compromise. He was well aware of the necessity of being acceptable to "monied men" of Wall Street; he appreciated likewise the importance of a recognition of his personality and adaptability to the popular cause. Interests peculiar to party promoters he knew must be met, and reasonably satisfied in case they committed the fortunes of party in making him President. In all respects, however, Sherman found himself facing a dilemma. He was without that personal magnetism which made Clay, Blaine and Roosevelt practically in- evitable candidates of their day: there was nothing stimulating or romantic in his career that transcended his record in office.^"
The more Sherman called attention to his past rec- ord as an endorsement of his qualifications for the Presidency, the more skeptical all interests became. His text was the Resumption Act and the return of pros- perity. A great banker had assured him that the suc-
" Cf. Sherman's Recoil, II, pp. 755 ff.
""Cf. Hoar, op. cit., I, p. 394: "There was nothing stimulating or ro- mantic in the plain wisdom of John Sherman. It was like reading a pas- sage from 'Poor Richard's Almanac' after one of the lofty chapters of the Psalms of David."
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cess of that measure would do more "to strengthen and retain the ascendancy of the Republican party than any and all other reasons. "^'^ Sherman's speeches in 1879 assured those men who thought that the control of American finances should center at Washington in- stead of Wall Street that they had secured all they had been asking." "We have crowned them (the treasury certificates) with honor. They are no longer depre- ciated, but they travel the circuit of the world equal to the best coin ever issued from the mint."
But the very elements which Sherman most as- siduously attempted to placate resented his overtures most. The height of the greenback movement in 1878 had identified the Treasury Secretary's name with the program of the "money sharks." In Toledo, the center of the Independent party movement, he had been all but driven from the stage when attempting to defend the policy which had "given gold to the bondholder and burned up the poor man's money." Eastern interests were provoked to the point of ridiculing the Secretary for suggesting for a moment that the certificates were to be kept in circulation." New York banking interests
^Jay Gould to Sherman, Sherman MSS., October 17, 1878. ^'Regarding Sherman's Portland (Maine) speech of July. 1879, the New York Evening Post declared : "These may serve to catch the votes of the Greenbackers but they are not the words we ought to hear from the chief financial ofificer of the government. Mr. Sherman knows or should know, that there is absolutely no safety so long as a single greenback remains in existence. He knows or should know, that so far as the relations of the government to its promissory notes are concerned, redemption means payment, cancellation, destruction. It does not mean the exchange of gold for the greenback, the payment of the promissory note, and its immediate reissue as a new promissory note. Does Mr. Sherman believe that the Treasury should be a bank of issue for all time to come? If he does, he is yet far from sound on the financial
RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
Major in the Union Army, June 27 — October 24, 1861 ; Lieutenant Colonel, October 24, 1861-October 24, 1862; Colonel, October 24, 1862- October 19, 1864; Brigadier General, October 19, 1864-March 15, 1865; brevetted Major General, March 15 — June 8, 1865; Representative in Con- gress, March 4, 1865-December, 1867; Governor of Ohio, January 13, 1868- January 8, 1872, January 10, 1876-March 2, 1877 ; elected President of the United States in 1876, inaugurated March 4, 1877, and served until March 3, 1881.
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were apathetic."'' Nor was his candidacy prom- ising from the standpoint of powerful party in- terests. Hayes' civil service program had led to a stroke at political jobbery in the New York Custom House. Chester A. Arthur, one of Conkling's place men, had been dismissed, and Sherman, as Secretary of the Treasury, shared with Hayes the wrath of the New York Senator. And yet Sherman came to the assistance of Arthur in the election of 1879, despite his later as- sertion that the latter had been dismissed solely be- cause he was unfit for the position. Independents, con- cerned with civil service reform, were reticent. They were convinced that Sherman's administration of the Treasury did not promise well for their program. Schurz and others of the group debated the candidacy only in terms of its expediency in defeating the nomina- tion of Grant."*
The atmosphere even in Sherman's native state was
question. If he does not believe so, the words are disingenuous. As to silver, while Mr. Sherman shows distinctly why there should not be free coinage now, at eighty-five cents to the dollar, he trifles with the question and seems to hold out a promise that we may have it presently. The Secretary of the Treasury sees clearly the folly and danger of free coinage, but the politician throws something very like a silver tub to the whale." New York Evening Post, July 24, 1879.
^W. L. Strong sent a check for $1,000 to Sherman, "to use as he sees fit," and apologized for the apathy of banking interests : "I regret that we cannot get up more interest among the bankers and moneyed men of N. Y., but while they all seem to be friendly to you they do not feel like putting up money until after the nomination. Then they will all come in." Sherman MSS., May 4, 1880.
April 16, 1880, Sherman wrote to John P. Kumler of Toledo: "I wish above all things to carry Lucas County. You need spare no efforts or expense. Talk to Locke and tell him to aid and he will never regret it." Sherman MSS., April 16, 1880.
^* Schurz, Reminiscences, III, p. 394.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 331
clouded with uncertainty as Republicans professed their program for the future. In April, 1880, however, Sher- man was duly endorsed as his party's favorite son. Charles Foster, who had been inaugurated as Governor in January, and Garfield, who had at the same time been elected to succeed Thurman in the Senate, were two of the delegates whom Sherman selected to promote his cause as delegates at large. Long before the National Convention had met, newspapers had become free in their gossip relative to the latter's predilections for Grant or Blaine."^ By a stroke designed as political strategy, Sherman named Garfield as the spokesman for his candidacy before the Convention.
The Republican National Convention met in Chi- cago, June 2. Conkling and Cameron were confident of securing Grant's nomination and were anxious to secure a safeguard against a ''bolt" in consequence.'"
^ E. g. the Cincinnati Commercial, March 31, 1880, or Cleveland Leader, February 7, 1880.
^The following letter illustrates the attitude of a prominent political adviser toward the nomination of Grant: "I cannot think Grant will be nominated, and yet, money, money, any amount of money.
"I am prepared for the worst. Grant would be beaten in nearly every state. The triumvirate has made the people frantic. Should they now switch from Grant and nominate Edmunds, the Democrats would still have an immense advantage. Fully one-half the Republicans of this state are in open revolt. Edmunds against such a man as Jewett would be beaten 50,000 and no help for it. Anything hence but the machine in any form. Sherman would walk over the course in New York. Blaine would, I am quite sure, carry the state. Tilden would beat Grant 50,000. Jewett would lead him 150,000. Any machine man, or anybody nominated by the machine is gone. . . . Should you, in event some dark horse nominated by machine votes, conclude to give support to the candidate, most of the independents of this state could be brought in. Blaine and yourself would, however, completely command the situation in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, etc., and could turn the 'horse' black or white at will.
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Against him were the "allies" — the Blaine, Sherman and Edmunds forces, bound by the common purpose of "anything to beat Grant."" Sherman's hopes of secur- ing the nomination rested upon a favorable break in the impending deadlock."^ He had less than one hun- dred pledged delegates, and they were recruited pri- marily from southern states that could not have deliv- ered an electoral vote for any nominee. They formed a "Swiss Guard," which political managers knew could never be remobilized once their line was broken.
Organization maneuvers resulted in Conkling's first serious defeat. The unit rule was broken, and in consequence sixty delegates were released from the "immortal 306." At the same time a serious lack of solidarity in the Ohio delegation was disclosed. Pre- liminary arrangements had not gone far, before it be- came noticeable that Garfield was attracting a marked
"I have conferred fully with Governor Fenton. We shall no longer train under Conkling, Cornell, Cameron and Logan personally or by proxy. Any candidate who carries their flag, will be buried out of sight. I know what I am writing about, and you can depend on what I say. We shall not act rashly but deliberately, desperately, if need be." A. N. Cole (writing from Belmont, Allegany Co., New York) to Sher- man, June 3, 1880. Sherman MSS.
^ The Cincinnati Commercial, May 31, 1880, covered its first page with the names of men who would not vote for Grant in case he were nominated.
^ In hopes of securing the ultimate support of the Grant and Blaine forces, Sherman naturally evaded the point of arousing antagon- ism on either side. April 19, 1880, he wrote William Henry Smith: ". . . . Your conversation with Logan was a very interesting one, but the best thing to say to him is that, while I have the warmest per- sonal feeling for Gen. Grant, I still think his nomination would be fatal to us in the election, and therefore, I ought not to take any position as between him and Blaine." Sherman MSS.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 ZZZ
attention from the galleries and delegates.'^ The Con- vention had not long been in session before Sherman was being advised repeatedly that a design other than that connected with securing his nomination was on foot : if Blaine should be nominated Foster was hopeful for second place; if Garfield should be nominated Fos- ter could still hope to succeed him in the Senate.^" Sherman in Washington received contradictory reports as to subsequent transactions.^^ Delegates of their own initiative warned him of untow^ard developments. Many declared both Foster and Garfield guilty of ''treachery," "sickly support" and "selfish ambitions" : ^" Garfield in
-■^A despatch to the New York Herald declared Garfield's name a possible choice in case it became necessary for Sherman to withdraw : "Mr. Garfield will present the name of Mr. Sherman, and his speech and manner, it is thought, will make a very favorable impression on the convention. The applause which greeted the name today when it was announced that he had been selected by the Ohio delegation to serve in the Committee on Rules was a marked compliment to him, which has not been forgotten to-night in the calculations of the thoughtful men." McCabe, The Life of James A. Garfield, p. 422-423.
Beyond a reasonable doubt Sherman was aware of the instability of the Ohio delegation many weeks in advance of the Convention. May 1, 1880, W. D. Bickham advised : ". . . . You will see everything goes right now but your friends may do much to make Ohio solid for you by personal attention to the five or six who are sentimentally against you in the delegation."
On the second day of the Convention, B. D. Fearing wrote : "Gar- field and Foster are the only weak points in our line. Our friends say if they are true, you will win. If they are not, I promise you the young Republicans will revenge their treachery." Sherman MSS.
'^ A mass of telegrams among the Sherman papers furnish many interesting commentaries on the convention procedure. The opposition to Sherman was furthered by a check, purported to have been written by Sherman, in the hands of a negro delegate by the name of Smith. A telegram informed Sherman that Smith professed that he had had his pockets picked, "which I seriously doubt." Sherman MSS. June 2, 1880.
^A telegram marked private and dated June 6, was forwarded by W. P. Nixon: "My information is that Foster is conspiring with others
334 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
to bring Garfield out as a candidate and transfer your forces to him. I think Garfield has full knowledge of the fact. This is only for your information and does not require answer. This is sent without the knowledge of others and is my act only."
A political convention, especially if the contest of candidates is long drawn out, becomes a scene of nervous tension interspersed with occasional outbursts of excitement. Suspicions are rife and charges of bad faith are often recklessly made. The looming up of a "dark horse" in the early stages of his advance, however it is regarded by the world outside, is an occasion for disappointment and resentment of delegates where the chances of their favorites begin to zvane. All this zvas exemplified in the Repub- lican National Convention of 1880.
As ballot after ballot was announced without a choice and intimations became more frequent that Garfield zvas the candidate upon whom the op- position to Grant would ultimately unite, it was but natural that the dele- gates from Sherman's state, who had labored long and arduously for him, should raise questions in regard to the loyalty of Garfield and Foster. If the former should be nominated it zvas pointed out that Foster could still hope to succeed him, in the Senate. Sherman, in Washington, received con- tradictory reports in regard to the attitude of the Ohio delegation. He zvas warned that he was the victim of the "selfish ambitions" of men zvho had been chosen to support him faithfully to the last. Garfield and Foster were the chief objects of stispicion. Governor William Dennison, however, ad- vised Sherman that Garfield's conduct from the beginning had been "frank and manly," and years afterzvard when the passions incident to the contest had subsided, Senator George F. Hoar, in his Autobiography paid high tribute to the attitude of Garfield.
In his Autobiography, I, pp. 397 and 400, Senator George F. Hoar, after quoting from the proceedings of the Convention, left the following record with reference to tJic remonstrance of Garfield:
"This verbatim report is absolutely correct, except that where there is a period at the end of Mr. Garfield's last sentence there should be a dash, indicating that the sentence zvas not finished. I recollect the incident per- fectly. I interrupted him in the middle of his sentence. I was terribly afraid that he zvould say something that would make his nomination im- possible, or his acceptance impossible, if it zvere made. I do not believe it ever happened before that anybody zvho attempted to decline the Presi- dency of the United States zvas to be prevented by a point of order, or that such a thing will ever happen again."
In tribute to the sterling qualities of Garfield, Senator Hoar added: "He stood like o rock when Ohio and the whole West seemed going against him, and when the statesmanship even of John Sherman was of the willow and not of the oak. * * ♦ Next to the assassination of Lincoln his death zvas the greatest national misfortune ever caused to this country by the loss of a single life." — Editor.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 335
his nominating speech "must have intended not to help you nor hurt himself. He cherishes the hope that he may be the coming man and your nomination would close him out now and hereafter." Another declared: "If defeated thank the ambition of Garfield, the defec- tion of Foster, the cowardice of Bateman and the imbe- cility of the Ohio delegation." A few were inclined to exonerate Garfield. William Dennison advised that Garfield's conduct from the beginning had been "frank and manly."
The first ballot of the Convention registered nine Ohio delegates for Blaine. They "not only disregarded the request of the State Convention but opposed Sher- man in the interest of Blaine." ^"^ This action subse- quently precluded all hope of marshalling Sherman's Ohio forces behind Blaine : since the nine would not go to the thirty-five it was hardly to be expected that the thirty-five would go to the nine. On the thirty-fifth bal- lot the landslide to Garfield began.^*
After the bitterness and struggle of a national con- vention, the conduct or attitude of defeated factions is always of extreme importance. Sherman was not, of course, inclined to embarrass party fortunes by serious
""C. S. Dyer to Wm. Dennison, June 6, 1880. Sherman MSS.
^*At this point in the proceedings Garfield rose to a point of order and remonstrated aj follows:
"I challenge the correctness of the announcement. The announcement contains votes for me. No man has a right, without the consent of the per- son voted for, to announce that person's name, and vote for him in this convention. Such consent I have not given."
The president of the convention declared that Garfield had not stated a question of order and the balloting proceeded. On the thirty-sixth ballot Garfield secured a total of 399 votes, and was declared the nominee. — Editor.
336 -^ OJiio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
threats of defection/' Quite the reverse, he was among the very first to congratulate the nominee who had
''The observations of Warner M. Bateman, Sherman's financi; manager at the Convention, form an interesting commentary on thi. convention procedure: .... "At last it was apparent that the Blaine forces were the ones we could draw from only. They would not yield to us. We spent — Dennison, Garfield, Butterworth and I — Mon- day night until 3 o'clock trying to prevail upon Hamlin, Frye and Hale to come over to you, but it ended where it began in the conclusion of
both to go on in the morning
/ want to say here that after much reflection and a close watch of
Garfield from the beginning I am satisfied he was not a party to it. . . . . During the progress of the last ballot, in much apparent emo- tion, he came to me to enquire what it meant. He protested in the ut- most earnestness that he had nothing to do with the movement, and asked me whether I thought he had. He said he would rather be shot to death by the inch than than to have furnished any just ground for such suspicion, and desired if I could that I should vindicate him against any charge of unfaithfulness to you. I told him, as I have told you, that I did not believe him guilty and told him that I should say so to you. You can tell him I have said so, if you find suitable opportunity. But of Foster I cannot speak so favorably. I do not think he gave you an hour of honest service the whole time he was in Chicago. This is strong but what everybody believed. At the outset he sought companionship with Hale and Frye and gave an encouraging ear to the talk of his being a candidate for Vice-Presidency with Blaine. I did not get a five-minute interview with him during the whole two weeks we were together. He treated me with the most constant evasion as he did also Gov. Dennison. Upon a failure of an arrangement to transfer your strength to Blaine, which he advised on Monday night, the vision of the Vice-Presidency disappeared. He and Nichol I think, then agreed upon an experiment in favor of Garfield, beginning with the Wisconsin delegation, which was very unsettled, and among whom Nichol had a great deal of influence. This was followed by Harrison. This scheme opened to Foster the vision of the Senate. I believe him a cold-blooded and thoroughly selfish man, rich and entirely prodigal of the use of his money for his own ends. I trust if Garfield is successful that you will disappoint him as to succeeding G. in the Senate. ... As to Arthur's nomination I agree with you that it was ill-advised. So far as the Ohio delegation was concerned, their vote was the result of Den- nison's haste in pledging Conkling that Ohio would follow him on the Vice-Presidency. Our Massachusetts friends remonstrated and at first D. could not get many votes in our delegation to support him. but the anti-
•^' ;'^^'s\^l
ALLEN G. THURMAN WILLL\M ALLEN GEORGE H. PENDLETON
Vol. XXXVII-22.
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Conkling men in New York yielding, most of our men gave way. It was a mistake. . . .
Enclosed I send you two drafts drawn by the Merchants' Loan and Trust Co., Chicago, upon the National Bank of Commerce of New York dated the 10th inst., one for $800.00 payable to my order which I endorse payable to you and the other for $1,700.00 payable to your order making a total of $2,500.00.
As soon as the nomination was made, I notified Nichol that Gar- field's friends must assume your obligations. It was already agreed upon by Foster and Everett to do so to amount of $l,o00. They at once paid the cost of our headquarters which amount to about $1,200. There were about $1,600 of liabilities for the expense of delegations, etc., etc. They assumed most of this. I had paid $800 of this which they refunded to me and it is included in the $800 draft which I enclose. I was com- pelled to hand over management of money affairs to Nichol. He handed back what he had not expended, and I am able in these two drafts to refund the $2,500 draft No. 2 you sent me at Chicago. I did not use any of the $10,000 privilege you gave me on Tuesday. I have still a balance of the first $2,500, a small one — which I will ascertain as soon as I can and forward to you.
[These tivo comunimcations arc the impressions of the active support- ers of Sherman immediately following the convention, zvhen the feelings aroused by the contest had not wholly subsided. The sums of money which Senator Sherman's manager was authorised to expend in his behalf look ■very small compared with the amounts used in the interest of presidential aspirants in succeeding years. The "reforms," including the popular pri- mary do not seem to have diminished the "legitimate" expenditure in the interests of presidential candidates. — Editor.]
Now as to your friends. You had some as true as ever. . . . Cassidy, Hill, Buck Warner, Butterworth, Smith of Florida, DeMortie and Norton of Virginia, Harris and Gary, Sanderson of Milwaukee, Amos Smith, Holland, Mulloy, Daggett, Dumont, etc., etc. Woltz dis- gracefully betrayed you. He is a treacherous dog. After he had sold out to Grant for a consideration, he went to Nichol and by lying to him got $250. Under pretext of supporting your delegates in his charge he voted them all against you. Brady worked actively against you for Grant; Russell and Bowdin most of their time for you. Darnell left you at last for Grant just in time to turn pale at the nomination of Garfield. ..." Sherman MSS., June 12, 1880.
Benjamin Butterworth contributed his "confidential" version on June 11: One great need was a competent major-general; the delegates worked at cross-purposes. "Belcher of Virginia sold out and delivered his men to Grant." South Carolina did the same. Dennison didn't know each minute what was going on. "Blaine could have sent a telegram that would have electrified the convention." Sherman MSS.
Ohio in National Politics, 1863-1896 339
"saved the Republican party and the country from a great peril and assured the continued success of Re- publican principles. "^^ He wrote numerous letters de- claring that he would support Garfield and that he re- lieved him from all "suspicion of perfidy." To a promi- nent newspaper editor he declared that he was glad that Garfield "did not commit any act or do anything that could imply bad faith on his part."" As to Gov- ernor Foster, however, the charge had given him more "real pain than all others combined." His chief er- rors had been those of generosity.^® He regretted that he had "assisted Cameron in being made Chairman of the National Committee." Also he "should not have designated either Foster or Garfield as delegates at large." "The errors," he added, "contributed to my defeat."^° On June 30, however, Sherman wrote Fos- ter an extended letter in which, after reciting many of the latter's misdeeds, he agreed to treat him "as of old, with hearty good-will and respect," with assurances that he would give no furil:er credence to the stories he heard.*"
"'June 8, 1880. McCabe, Garfield, p. 487.
" Sherman to Richard Smith, June 14, 1880. Sherman MSS.
"'Sherman to W. D. Bickham, June 17, 1880. Sherman MSS.
"Sherman to Smith, June 14, 1880. Sherman MSS.
*"Sherman, Memoirs, II, pp. 776-778.
Sherman's reaction to Arthur's nomination was expressed in a letter to James M. Hoyt: "As for Arthur, I suppose he is connected with the ticket and we must vote for him, although it is rather a scandalous proceeding. The only reason for his nomination was that he was discharged from an office that he was unfit to fill." Sherman MSS.. June 12, 1880.
340 OJiio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Garfield had points of weakness as well as strength as a "dark horse" candidate. He had served in Con- gress continuously for sixteen years as a Representative of a Connecticut Reserve constituency. During that time he had not kept his name clear of those questionable practices by which men in public life had too commonly pursued their personal interests. His explanation of a connection with the Credit Mobilier, Salary Grab and De Golyer scandals had never been such as to inspire confidence." Continuous contact with political life served him much as it had Sherman. His attitude to-
''Cf. Oberholzer, History of the U. S., II, pp. 605-607.
Hayes' Diary (February 21, 1883) contains the following estimate: "I have just read President Hinsdale's account of Garfield as a student and teacher. Here was his strength. In both capacities he was a model. He had large faculties, memory, analysis, fluency, the debating faculty. He was the best popular debater of his time. He was not executive in his talents, not original, not firm — not a moral force. He leaned on others — could not face a frowning world ; his habits suffered from Washington life. His course at various times, when trouble came, betrayed weakness. The Credit Mobilier affair, the De Golyer business, his letter of acceptance, and many times his vacillation when leading the House, place him in another list from Lincoln, Clay, Sumner and the other heroes of our civil history."
For a more tolerant estimate of Garfield see Hoar, Autobiography, I, pp. 399-404.
In charging Garfield with corrupt intent in his contact zuith the Credit Mobilier his political enemies over-reached themselves. They Jiad made, as the chief basis of their attack, the charge that he had accepted a bribe of $329.00. Somezvhat early in the campaign, after Garfield's nomination, by preconcerted arrangement, "$329.00" was zvritten in chalk on the pavements of many of the cities of Ohio, on the doorsteps and buildings of prominent Republicans, and tallow was used to mark the same figures on the zvindows of many business concerns. This aroused the ire of many of liis suportcrs, who up to that time had taken but indifferent interest in the campaign. They began the organization of Republican clubs with 329 members, carried banners inscribed zmth these figures and made frequent allusions to the charge in their public speeches. One popular campaigner advised the Demo- crats "to abandon the rooster as a party emblem, to substitute an old hen and set her on 329 eggs just to see her spread herself."
Ohio ill National Politics, 1865-1896 341
ward the financial issue of 1876 was indicative of this tendency. He inquired of Hayes as to the "drift of senti- ment among our friends in Ohio," and while declaring his opinion "that an appeal to what is true and honest is always safest," insisted that ''still we want to put the issue in the best shape."*^ Once a policy was fixed upon, few men of the day could ad-vocate it more ef- fectively.
While partisan advocates were soon to find that Gar- field's record was to demand defensive tactics as well as representations that turned him "black or white" as expediency demanded, there were, on the other hand, positive points of availability. On the w^hole, he had been perhaps the most consistent opponent of govern- ment inflation, of the Ohio Congressional delegation; he alone, of the representatives of his state, had voted in opposition to certain features of legislation designed to expand the government's credit issue. During the period of party disruption of the later seventies he had maintained an acceptable relationship with all factions. He was one of Blaine's closest companions; in 1879 he had paraded himself before the Ohio convention as a converted liberal, as good a Stalwart "as could be
The rank and file of his party seemed to siving into hearty agreement •with his mill statement in his published defense: "If there be a citizen of the United States who is willing to believe that for $329. I have bartered away my good name, and to falsehood have added perjury, these pages are not addressed to him."
They could not believe that, for such a sum of money, he had sold himself to an ignoble cause. — Editor.
"Williams, Hayes, I. p. 428. Taussig, History of the Tariff, p. 178, gives another example of Garfield's tendency toward expediency; in sup- port of the tariff of 1867 he appealed to his party to vote so as to make up the two-thirds majority necessary for its consideration, declaring that later they might make up their record by voting against it.
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found anywhere." " And he had become Sherman's spokesman in 1880. Immediately preceding the Na- tional Convention no one had vindicated a more accept- able attitude from the standpoint of financial interests. From January to April during the campaign year, rep- resentatives of the National party labored incessantly and against the intentions of dominant groups of both major parties to bring their resolutions bearing upon their favored issue before the House. On April 5, Weaver of Iowa w^as successful. His resokitions de- clared for the issuance and control of the volume of all currency, whether metallic or paper, "by the gov- ernment and not by or through the bank corporations of the country * * *" and against the refunding of "that portion of the interest-bearing debt of the United States which shall become redeemable in the year 1881, or prior thereto * * * beyond the power of the government to call in said obligations and pay them at any time, but should be paid as rapidly as pos- sible and according to contract." ** Garfield led the assault for the opposition: "* * * never was there a measure offered to Congress of so vast and far-reach- ing centralism. It would convert the Treasury of the United States into a manufactory of paper money. It makes the House of Representatives and the Senate, or the caucus of the party which happens to be in the majority, the abosolute dictator of the financial and business affairs of this country. This scheme sur- •
*" Nation, June 5, 1879.
** To enable the government to meet these obligations, the mints of the United States should be "operated to their full capacity in the coinage of standard silver dollars, and such other coinage as the business interests of the country may require."
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 343
passes all the centralism and all the Caesarism that were ever charged upon the Republican party in the wildest days of the war or in the events growing out of the war * * *."
"* * * The government should prescribe general laws in reference to the quality and character of our paper money, but should never become the direct manu- facturer and issuer of it." *^ Nothing in Sherman's rec- ord had ever approached these assurances.
Garfield's nomination was nevertheless a source of inspiration to the Ohio Democracy. The Republican candidate's popular strength had never been tested be- fore the people of the state for any office. There was a general impression that his nomination had been secured through treason to party instruction and false betrayal of his state. Thurman regarded his own candidacy as the logical one by which to swing Ohio to the Demo- cratic column. In 1879, the "National Side Show" had been largely absorbed through holding the two state conventions at the same time, selecting a candidate ac- ceptable to the "Wicked Seven" and adopting an anti- resumption platform." Thomas Ewing had exacted for the party the second highest popular vote in the history of the state but was unable to match the efficient meth- ods of Foster. His defeat advanced the influence of old party leaders, insistent upon fighting it out "along old lines." Thurman was unanimously endorsed by his state convention in 1880 as the first choice of his party
"Cong. Rec, 46th Congress, 2nd Sess., p. 2140.
" The Greenback leaders ; Sherwood of the Toledo Commercial, Gary, Sturgeon, Odell, Linton, Johnson and Throckmorton. Cleveland Leader August 30, 1879.
344 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
for the presidency. By previous agreement, no plat- form declarations were made — a safeguard against a "double-decked platform like that of 1876." ''
But at the very instant that the Ohio Democracy was professing its purpose of promoting Thurman to the presidency, methods, just as patent as those which had prevented the nomination of Sherman, were all but open- ly employed. The uncertainty of the Tilden candidacy gave rise to two lines of political maneuvering. One was designed to test the availability of the New York candidate as a result of the "Fraud of 1876" and the Matthews' investigations. The other centered upon the selection of a candidate capable of honoring Tilden's mantle in case it became evident that he should not re- tain it. Even before the launching of Thurman's "favorite son" candidacy, certain Ohio Democrats were bargaining in advance as to the terms which New York managers might be willing to consider. As the pledge was being secured to promote Thurman's candidacy "by all honorable means," party workers were busily repre- senting a popular demand for two other aspirants. These men were Hugh J. Jewett, until 1874 a resident of Columbus, and Henry B. Payne of Cleveland.
Of the two candidacies, that of Jewett was by far the weaker. He was a corporation lawyer and had gained renown in connection with railroad bankruptcy cases. A few years earlier he had removed to New York City in order to accept the receivership of the Erie
*^"Who does not remember the ludicrous spectacle of about 10,000 Democrats with linen dusters on their persons, the pockets filled with Enquirers, invading New York, and demanding the nomination of George H. Pendleton on the issue that bonds should be paid in greenbacks only." Cleveland Plaiti Dealer, March 16, 1880.
Ohio in National Politics, i86j-iSc)6 345
Railroad. He had been the defeated candidate for gov- ernor in 1861 and had since that time been inconspicu- ous in politics. But in 1880 the Plain Dealer conducted a publicity campaign in his behalf, while David R.
HENRY B. PAYNE
Representative in Congress from Ohio, March 4, 1875-'March 3, 1877; United States Senator, March 4, 1885-March 13, 1891
Paige, later to gain unenviable notoriety, undertook to lay the wires. The candidate's connection with railroad affairs did not comport well with popular inter- ests. He was "too cold, like John Sherman." More- over it was the Payne "boom" that was more seriously
346 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
at work. It bore a direct connection with the manipula- tion of the New York machine and was directly convert- ing Thurman's endorsement into a mockery.
Payne was a Democrat of New York and Connecti- cut antecedents. He had come to Cleveland in 1833, and had established himself in the practice of law. He inclined toward business and became identified with real estate, industry and railroads. He married a daughter of one of the wealthiest men of the city. He acquired wealth also through his own efforts. Within a few years he was prominent in politics, and in 1851 was de- feated by Wade for the United States Senate by one vote. Chase defeated him for the governorship in 1857 by 1500 votes. He was a delegate to the National Con- ventions of 1856, 1860 and 1872. In the famous Charleston Convention he had led the fight for Doug- lass, who was his relative and with whom he had studied law. In 1874, he had carried the Cleveland district as a candidate for Congress. In that body he had been in- strumental as a member of the Committee on Banking and Currency, preventing "hard" and "soft" money men from disrupting the party.
It was of course pure historical irony which placed Payne in the same political party with men of the ante- cedents of Thurman, Allen and Pendleton. It was a matter of gossip that Payne had failed to defeat Chase in the critical election of 1857 because of the failure of Thurman and other "People from the Southward" to render cordial support.*^ The impending contest for the presidential nomination was significant, however, from an angle other than that of the rivalry between two men
Ci. Powell, The Democratic Party of the State of Ohio, I, p. 187.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 347
of conflicting antecedents. Payne's two sons, Oliver and Nathan, lived in Cleveland. The first-named held a high position with the Standard Oil Company. William C. Whitney of New York, who had married Payne's daughter, headed his state's delegation to the National Convention. While the two sons were obliterating the Thurman "boom" by every knowable intrigue, they were hoping to cooperate with their brother-in-law in adjusting political accounts.
Thurman was fully aware of all that was transpir- ing and made desperate efforts to counter the results of a lost battle. He called upon the delegation to meet him at Columbus on June 18. Less than half of the mem- bers responded and adjourned shortly to meet in Cincin- nati. Before the National Convention had become or- ganized the delegation was so thoroughly under the con- trol of the anti-Thurman group that one of their own number was selected chairman of the delegation. The Democratic "favorite son" candidacy was thus rendered far more hopeless than ever that of Sherman had been.
The first ballot in the Convention indicated General Hancock as the leading candidate. The New York and Pennsylvania delegations were torn by dissensions equal to those of Ohio, but an attempt was made to kill off Hancock by mustering the Tilden forces to Randall. During the roll call, the Ohio delegation retired for con- sultation and returned only in time to cast its vote for Hancock, whose nomination was already assured. On the vote for Vice-President, the behavior of the delega- tion was equally ludicrous. Ex-Governor Bishop had been presented for nomination. The Ohio delegation withdrew again, however, and resolved to support Dur-
348 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
bin Ward, a loyal Thurman supporter. While they were out, an Ohio delegate cast the state's vote for William English, and his nomination had been secured before the Ohio delegation had returned.
The presidential campaign of 1880 was directly con- ditioned by the same type of political attitude that had pervaded the pre-convention manipulations. Neither party dared to risk the hazards connected with the finan- cial question. It was entirely clear that a reopening of that issue would have diverted greater prominence to the National party which was at the very moment holding votes enough to turn the balance of power in the House. Prosperity was entirely too concrete an argument to make an attack upon Resumption an expedient proce- dure on the part of the Democrats. The agitations of the greenback advocates were all but smothered in a bitter campaign of personalities. In order to veneer the real character of the campaign each of the major parties resorted to every possible device in order to rep- resent an issue at stake. Personal charges against the candidates were supplemented by representations of the dire consequences connected with the possible success of the opposition. The assumed hysteria of the Cleveland Leader was typical : The Democrats entertained schemes to "divide Texas into five states, to admit Romish Ari- zona and New Mexico, and a repudiation of the Amend- ments by twelve more judges to be added by a Demo- cratic President * * *" Toward the close of the can- vass Republican conjurors were certain that the Demo- cratic platform declaration for a tarifif for revenue fur- nished the basis for a fight against "free trade."
Beneath all the artifices of a national campaign.
Ohio in National Politics, 1863-1896 349
however, a fundamental feature stood out significantly : Republicans found their treasured appeal to sectional prejudices a less valid instrument for the promotion of party solidarity; and the Democracy advanced no com- mon program in opposition to the new industrial struc- ture which had advanced as if by magic under Repub- lican auspices. A conflict to win over stragglers from an opposing camp forbade even great emphasis of tra- ditional differences. The campaign, primarily a dynastic struggle for office, signified little beyond the power of tradition in poHtical combat.
CHAPTER VI
THE CHALLENGE OF A NEW DECADE
The inaugural at Washington, March 4, 1881, wit- nessed five native Ohioans prominently identified with the ceremony. The retiring President, the President- elect, the Chief Justice administering the oath, the Com- mander-in-Chief of the Army, and the Secretary of the Treasury stood upon the platform of the east portico of the Capitol. The spectacle was a source of congratula- tion to Ohioans; their traditions respecting the ability of the Ohio man appeared fully vindicated. One writer declared it a positive demonstration of ethnographic in- fluences.^ Each was there, however, through a multi- plicity of circumstances.
The conditions which confronted the new President were in every way as complex as those which had ele- vated him to the offfce. Every faction had been await- ing the day which should reveal the status of its political
Howe, Historical Collections of Ohio, II, p. 127.
350 Ohio Arcli. and Hist. Society Publications
fortunes for the next four years. The quaHties of a "dark horse" candidate remained even on inaugural day somewhat concealed. Conkling, thwarted by the last administration, was sparing no threat nor device in prosecuting efforts to recoup his damaged machine in New York. Independents, upon vague convictions of Garfield's adaptability to reform of the civil service, had supported his candidacy. Their faith had at various times been shaken by evidences that did not reflect de- cided immunity from machinist influences.^
Before the inaugural year had closed, the assassina- tion of the President sobered the national mind and led to momentary reflection upon the consequences of zeal- ous demand for office. The political readjustments which the President had attempted had led to all but inextricable tangles. Among other things he had faced the necessity of securing harmony in his own state. The selection of Blaine as Secretary of State made Sher- man's continuance in the Treasury impossible. Conk- ling's selection of Morton for that position was passed over for various reasons. His appointment would have been a direct repudiation of the Hayes-Sherman admin-
" Garfield's message of acceptance aroused the criticism and apprehen- sion of various prominent members of the party. Both Sherman and Hayes criticised his stand relative to civil service. Carl Schurz did not hesitate to warn against the consequences of compromise : "No skill in nice balancing will save you from the necessity of choosing between two roads, one running in the reactionary tendencies and machine politics, and the other in the direction of intelligent, progressive and reformatory poli- tics. Following the latter you will -be supported by the best intelligence and moral sense not only of the party but of the country. Following the former, you will have the political machinists around you and will be their slave." Schurz, Speeches, Correspondence, etc., IV, pp. 1-5. For Piatt's account of his "bargain" with Garfield, see Piatt's Autobiography, chapter VI.
Ohio in National Politics, 1863-1896
351
istration and a shock to western interests as well.^ Sher- man's continuance would have been a final blow at Conkling's demands. The solution was to award Sher-
JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD
Lieutenant Colonel in the Union Army, August ■21-Xovember 27, 1861 ; Colonel, November 27, 1861-January 11, 1862; Brigadier General, January 11, lS(i2-Septem'ber Ifl, 1863; Major General, September 19-December 5, 1863; Representative in Congress, March 4, 1863-Kovember 8, 1880; elected United States Senator, but did not take his seat as he was elected President of the United States before his term in the Senate bejan ; fatally wounded by an assassin, July 2, 1881, died September 19, 1881.
man the President's vacated seat in the Senate and ap-
^ Morton was unqualified because of his business interests. Windom's anti-monopoly record supplemented Garfield's "sound money" record.
352 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
point Foster to a Cabinet position. The latter part of the program became deranged through the war with Conkling, and Foster was compeUed to surrender and seek re-election to the governorship/
Even with this arrangement, the party situation was not altogether satisfactory. The apportionment of ex- penses for the Chicago convention continued to threaten the party truce for some time after the election. Again Sherman's willingness to compromise served good pur- poses. Nichol, the dispenser of finances at Chicago, performed successfully the duties of an intermediary. In December, Sherman agreed to pay any part of the debt that Foster demanded with the understanding that the latter should be renominated for governor.^ This meant also that Foster could look with encouragement to succeeding Pendleton in the Senate two years later. Matthews, whose ambition to return to the Senate had been thwarted by the Democratic reaction in 1877, oc- cupied himself in overcoming opposition to his con- firmation to the Supreme Bench.® His record as a cor- poration lawyer was held up as an argument against his confirmation. This opposition was ultimately allayed, but only, however, after Sherman had counseled Foster that "either Matthews himself or someone for him should be here to help the matter."^
The State Convention, in June, 1881, witnessed the consummation of the recast political program. Threats
*Cf. The Nation, December 23, 1880. Hayes Diary, December 14, 1880.
^Sherman to Bateman, Foster and Grosvenor, December 6, 7, and 8, 1880, respectively. Sherman MSS.
* His nomination by Hayes had been defeated a few months earlier.
' Sherman MSS., March 19, 1881.
Ohio in National Politics, i86^-i8p6 353
of a revolt had been made in case Foster should be re- nominated. Sherman, as agreed upon, came to the rescue. He presided at the Convention, plead support for Garfield's administration and gave Foster his full endorsement. His speech was identical in spirit with the platform. The latter in brief form, one of the brief- est on record, endorsed the Republican party on the basis of its past performance.® Sherman recalled it afterward as an exceptionally good set of resolutions.® Foster was nominated according to schedule, and the party again moved to overcome its adversary.
The Democrats were at the same time seeking a working program with which to match that of the Re- publicans. The schism of 1880 had riven the party into two factions between which there appeared to be no hope of future cooperation. One group, that which had been identified with the Payne interests, had become popularly designated as the "kid" element. Colonel Oliver H. Payne of Cleveland and John R. McLean of the Cincinnati Enquirer were its most prominent lead- ers. The other faction, designated as the "mossback," still looked to Thurman and Pendleton for leadership. The immediate need was to declare a truce and select a candidate acceptable to both factions — so much of a "dark horse" that it would take "two weeks to find out who he is." The honor was finally settled upon John W. Bookwalter of Springfield, a wealthy manufacturer
^ Ohio State Journal, June 9, 1881.
Annual Cyc, 1881, p. 699. ' Sherman, RccoU., II, p. 8-20.
Vol. XXXVII— 23.
354 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
of steam engines.'" He had formerly been identified with the RepubHcan party, but was reputed to have carried a torch in a recent Democratic procession. The "mossbacks" failed to become enthusiastic for their candidate. The circumstances of the President's as- sassination cast a gloom over the campaign. Foster was re-elected by 24,000 less votes than he had polled in 1879. Bookwalter received 30,000 less than Ewing had received. The truce of party leaders became a voters' truce as well.
Of more significance to the immediate future than the vote of either major party was that cast by the Pro- hibitionists. Their candidate for Governor received above 16,000 of the 23,000 cast for minor party can- didates — 6,000 more than the highest record of the crusade of 1873. Foster succeeded only in bringing disaster upon his party when legislation was secured against the interests of the liquor traffic. Two separ- ate laws were passed providing for regulation through taxation. Each was in turn declared unconstitutional. The Democracy therefore held a distinct advantage in 1883 with its opportunity of nominating a candidate on an "anti-sumptuary" platform.
But the factional war was resumed. The candidacy of Durbin Ward was promoted by the "mossback" fac- tion. No name in the political annals of the state com- manded higher respect from the standpoint of charac- ter and popular esteem. He was not pliant in poHtics. During the war he had won a Brigadier-General's com- mission, and in the midst of the great struggle had given
" Bookwalter bore the reputation of never having had a strike among his employees.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 355
expression to the famous phrase, "I am a Democrat." After the hardships of farm Hfe in Kentucky and In- diana he had, like many of his compatriots, taught school and studied law. Later he entered into a partner- ship with the celebrated Thomas Corwin at Lebanon. He had never won signal success in politics, but many of his friends were hopeful when the Democratic Con- vention met in 1883.
Ward's opponent for the nomination was George Hoadly of Cincinnati, a Puritan of the Puritans. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and was a lineal descendant of Jonathan Edwards and Timothy Dwight. He had grown up in Ohio, and after graduating from the Harvard Law School, had entered the law office of Salmon P. Chase in Cincinnati. Hoadly had originally been a Democrat. During the war he had been a Re- publican. He was one of the most prominent Liberal Republican leaders in 1872, and in 1876, just in time to argue before the electoral commission that a Tilden elector from Oregon was entitled to a vote, he again became a Democrat. As a recent Democratic ''re- cruit," his candidacy had advantages of an overture to disaffected Republicans — especially those alarmed by recent prohibitive tendencies of their party.^^
The renewal of the factional fight of 1880 with all its questionable manipulations was signalized by the rivalry between Ward and Hoadly for the guber- natorial nomination. Pendleton was interested in se- curing his re-election to the Senate. He had quarreled
" Hoadly was the leading attorney for the liquor interests in a suit to test the constitutionality of the Scott law, which provided for the taxation of saloons.
356 OJiio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
with the McLeans, and their paper, the Enquirer, opened its columns to a warfare of invective. Pendle- ton and Hoadly secured the support of a rival paper, and the Enquirer turned to the support of Durbin Ward/" The result of the convention fight, probably the "noisiest, the most disorderly and altogether the most remarkable political gathering" that Columbus had ever seen, and characterized by "a few instances that led to accusations of crookedness," was the nomination of Hoadly." At the close of the proceedings the de- feated candidate for the nomination was called upon for a speech. He declared that he would be a candidate for the United States Senate, but that he would not use one dollar to secure his election.
The hopes of both Pendleton and Ward were framed without sufficient reference to the strength of a com- bination that was set on foot immediately after the election. Hoadly was elected Governor, and Pendleton was certain that a majority of the Democratic caucus would secure his nomination. Between the election and the meeting of the caucus, however, his pledges began to be seized by an enthusiasm for Payne. The latter's name had not been mentioned during the legislative can- vass in connection with the Senatorial honor. On Janu- ary 8, 1884 — an appropriate date for awarding Demo- cratic offices — the Payne agents had squared a major- ity of Democratic legislators with their program."
^The News- Journal. •
" Cincinnati Enquirer, June 22, 1883. Myers, op. cit., pp. 214-220, describes the Convention in detail.
"For testimony as to their methods see Senate Miscellaneous Docu- ments, 49th Cong., 1st sess., Vol. V, No. 106, and Cong. Record, 49th Cong., 1st Sess., pp. 7308-7361.
Ohio hi National Politics, 1865-1896 357
Payne was a man of vast wealth. "Hereafter, if we elect him senator, there will be plenty of money to con- duct the campaigns in the state of Ohio."^^ Pendleton was ''penurious," and General Ward was poor. Pen- dleton had also sponsored the disreputable Civil Service Law; Payne "believed in delivering the spoils around among the victors."" The real explanation was that men connected with one of the greatest industrial con- cerns of the age had united their forces with those of a powerful newspaper editor" and completely eclipsed the agencies of feudal warfare employed by the "moss- backs."^^
The election of Payne was a natural culmination of a movement set up in the Democratic party to counter the Foster machine. The magnitude of its manipula- tions cannot, of course, be accurately estimated. In
^^ Senate Misc. Docs., 49th Cong, 1st Sess., No. 106, p. 122.
''Ibid., p. 122.
"John R. I^IcLean of the Cincinnati Enquirer. In August the so called Highland House Convention had been held in Cincinnati in order to control the nomination of legislative members and secure Pendleton's de- feat. Its high-handed methods became traditional in the annals of cor- rupt politics. For various accounts of its proceedings see the Cincinnati News Journal, of August 19, 1883 ; Commercial-Gazette, July 4, 1884, and September 7, 1889 ; Myers, op. cit., chap. IX.
^ During the procedure, Thurman issued a statement vi^hich was aimed as a bomb against the Payne manipulators. Relative to the attack upon Pendleton in re his Civil Service Reform bill, Thurman replied : "I hear Payne men say: 'We can not support Pendleton because we disapprove of his civil service reform bill', forgetting that convention after convention of the Democratic party, both State and National, had resolved in favor of civil service reform, and also forgetting that the Republicans now in office are just as liable to be turned out as if the Pendleton bill had never been passed .... But if these gentlemen cannot support Pendleton, why can not they support Ward? He is not responsible for the civil service re- form bill. Indeed, I have always understood that he disapproves of it. . Why then prefer Payne to him? The answer, I fear, is per-
358 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
January, 1886, one Colonel S. K. Donavin published an open letter in the Cincinnati Commercial specifically nam- ing a number of men who had received from $1,200 to $5,000 for their votes. The State Legislature instituted an investigation. About fifty witnesses were examined by a special committee. A wealth of damaging evidence was secured and forwarded to the Senate. The major- ity report of the Committee on Privileges and Elections held that there was no evidence that Payne himself was charged with irregularities. It was the business of Ohio to prosecute its own corruptionists. Senators Frye and Hoar of that committee made a minority report which declared that sufficient evidence had been produced to warrant an investigation. The former declared the issue was "whether or not the great Standard Oil Com- pany, the greatest monopoly of to-day in the United States of America, a power which makes itself felt in every inch of territory in this whole republic, a power which controls business, railroads, men and things, shall also control here; whether or not that great power has put its hand upon a legislative body and undertaken to control, has controlled and has elected a member of the
fectly plain. There never has been any machine politics in the Demo- cratic party of Ohio. We have, as a party, been freer from bossism than any party that has ever existed. But some men seem to think that we ought to have a machine amply supplied v^rith money to work it, and under absolute control of a boss or bosses, to dictate who shall and who shall not receive the honors and rewards within the gift of the party. To set up such a machine it is necessary, in the first place, to kill the men who have heretofore enjoyed the confidence of the party — the men whose ability, hard labor, and principles did so much to keep the party together in the terrible ordeal through which it has passed .... I want to see all true Democrats have a fair chance, according to their merits, and do not want to see a political cut-throat bossism inaugurated for the benefit of a close party corporation or syndicate."
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 359
United States Senate. . . ." The body could not afford to sit silent and not let its voice be heard as to the truth of the allegations/^ During- the entire procedure Payne made no move to vindicate himself by urging an investigation. The Senate accepted the majority report and refused to investigate."*^
^^Cong. Rec, 49th Cong., 1st Sess., pp. 7322-7323.
*The evidence gathered by the investigating committee of the State Legislature is in Senate Miscellaneous Documents, 49th Congress, 1st sess., No. 106. The Senate debate introduced a measure of additional evidence Cf. Cong. Rec, 49th Cong., 1st Sess., pp. 7203-7210, 7251-7272, 7308-7329, 7350-7362. A series of newspaper editorial declarations, chiefly Democra- tic, is given on page 7327.
John Hay, in a letter dated January 18, 1886, summarized for Sherman his views relative to the investigation: "I hasten to reply to your letter of the 16th. I entirely agree with you in your repugnance to go into the matter. I should certainly advise you to keep out of it if po:sib'e — for two reasons. First it is so disagreeable in itself. Second I helieve it will be Impossible to prove Donavin's charge.
Of course everybody believes money was used. Col. Payne has a passionate devotion to his family (he cares little for politics per se) and would as freely give a hundred thousand as a cent for his father's or Whitney's success. But from the nature of the case these things are un- provable. Col. Thompson, w^e will say, paid the money. A member re- ceives it. They are solus cum solo. Nobody else can swear they saw it. Both siJes will of course deny it. A man who will take a bribe will not stick at perjury. Even those who have blabbed about it will deny and say they were joking.
If the investigation is ordered and nothing is proved, where is the gain? And in the last resort, I am sure the matter was never mentioned t>etween Mr. Payne and the Colonel .... Sherman- MSS.
Newspapers of both parties, immediately after the election and for several years afterward, denounced the corruptionists in bitter terms. January 9, 1884, immediately after the caucus, the Columbus Times (Demo- cratic) declared: "The Democratic clock is put back four years, and cor- ruption is given a new leasehold in our land. Syndicates purchase the people's agents, and honest men stand aghast."
The Cincinnati Commercial-Gazette, September 9-14 inc., 1889, con- tains a detailed "History of the Payne Purchase" by General H. V. Boyn- ton.
360 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
The Payne election shattered every hope of the party of exercising any influences whatever upon the National Convention of 1884. The tariff bill of 1883 furnished additional grounds for disunity. Payne was convinced that it had been a source of embarrassment in the elec- tion of 1883. He spoke his convictions frankly in a long- letter to Doolittle of Wisconsin: "But for the in- sanity at Washington, we could have carried the state in October by 25,000 or 30,000. ... But devils and fools would have it otherwise. Carlisle was made speaker. Hurd, the fanatic free trader, was, against the united protest of all our members and and the known wishes of the entire party of the state, placed on the Ways and Means Committee, and under the leadership of Watterson and the Kentucky statesmen, a crusade was commenced for "Revenue only" and against the "Ohio platform." All that was wanted to secure suc- cess on our part was that the tariff for this Congress should be let alone."'' In addition labor strikes threat- ened a defection which would partially recoup the Re-
^Payne to Doolittle, April 10, 1884, in the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society Publications, Vol. 22, p. 544.
Additional extracts furnish a commentary on the character of the tariff and political struggle: "The present law had not been tested. No man could tell wherein it was defective. Nobody asked for change or agitation. No amendatory law could be passed. Evil and only evil could result from the attempt. But demented, conceited, desperate schemers would have it so. They proclaimed "free trade or defeat" ! Hence the "Morrison Bill," with its senseless, illogical and ridiculous horizontal strike. Last October the reduced wool rate gave us at least 10,000 votes. Both parties pledged their efforts to restore the former rate. M's bill, instead of restoring it, deducts 20 more and the recent vote of the House shows an immense majority of Democrats in that direction. Now how can we expect that the wool growers can be induced to vote with us in October or November? Unless the Democratic members by some bad step rebuke this free trade madness, and with the coming convention pronounce distinctly for
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 361
publican loss of Prohibition and saloon votes." Hoad- ly's administration, through its recognition of the Payne faction and its "coal oil" legislature was a party disaster. There was, from the standpoint of disunity within the state, even less hope for the success of an Ohio candidate than there had been in 1880.
The state delegation was headed by representatives of both factions. Thurman and Ward were associated with Hoadly and McLean. Thurman's name was pre- sented by a Kentucky delegate. T. E. Powell, a recent convert, nominated Hoadly. On the first ballot, Thur- man received a total of 88 votes including 23 from his own state. Hoadly received 3, including 2 from his own state. The remaining 21 were cast for Cleveland, who was nominated on that ballot.
The election of the first Democratic President since the Civil War was accomplished with Ohio remaining in the Republican column. The circumstances carried little significance beyond exhibiting the demoralized
the Ohio Platform it will, in my opinion, be utterly useless to enter a can- vass to carry Ohio in October .... Yet if, on the Morrison Bill, it appears that a majority of the Democratic party are free traders, I doubt much whether the Ohio Platform adopted at Chicago would recover us from the shock which this agitation has given in alarming the business men of the country." .... Without recovery a defeat of at least 30,000 votes was prophesied.
'^In October ex-President Hayes estimated the changes in votes as follows: "On a full vote the Republican majority I put at 30,000. From this deduct 10 to 15,000 Prohibition votes and 10,000 saloon votes. Add 5,000 Irish and Labor votes and we have left at least 10,000 majority. I hope for this result." Hayes Diary, October 14, 1884.
362 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
State of the Democratic party.'' And developments im- mediately after the Presidential inaugural promised no immediate return to the better. The election of 1885 was a demonstration of political corruption in its worst form. Intimidation at the polls, stuffing of the ballot- boxes by gangs of hired repeaters and the forging of tally-sheets were combined in the mad scramble to con- trol office.'* Since the election involved Sherman's seat in the Senate, serious charges were brought against men high in Democratic ranks. By clever manipulation the Republicans were able to prevent a majority of Demo- crats being seated in the Legislature. Sherman's elec- tion ultimately rested upon a narrow majority on a joint ballot. The Republicans were in suspense until the last moment, and their success was a matter of joy and con- gratulation. Sherman had, according to William H. Taft, ''overcome one of the most scoundrelly conspira- cies ever conceived in the history of American poli- tics.'"^
® During the canvass Payne in outlining the prospects to Senator Doolittle of Wisconsin remarked : "This scandal affair is unfortunate to say the least. Some of the tenderest portion of the goody good people may be frightened away from us." Ohio Arch. aiid Hist. Soc. Pub., Vol. XXII, p. 547.
'* Two wcrds, one in Cincinnati and the other in Columbus became classical examples of tally sheet forging In the first case 726 was made to read 926 by affixing a 0 on the 7. In the latter case 208 was converted into 508. These manipulations were committed in be!;alf of Democratic candidates. The numbers became stereotypes of Democratic corruption in Republican newspapers. They were invariably reproduced in such a manner as to illustrate the method of the forgery. Extensive accounts are in Foraker's N'otcs, I, pp. 213-223 ; Cincinnati Commercial, January 10, 1886, September 7, 1889.
^ Ta.it to Sherman, January 14, 188G. Sherman MSS. Under date of January 13, 1886, John Hay congratulated Sherman and declared : The state not only secures your inestimable services for six years to come, but Ohio
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 363
The Democracy had no opportunity of vindicating itself as a state organization before the Presidential campaign of 1888. Hoadly was defeated after his re- nomination for Governor in 1885. T. E. Powell, an- other recent recruit to Democratic ranks, who had en- gineered the scalping of Thurman in 1884, was ineffec- tive as a candidate in 1887. Again the delegation had no commonly accepted program and was without influ- ence in determining the action of the National Conven- tion. The renomination of Cleveland was a foregone conclusion. His selection of Thurman for the Vice- Presidential candidacy was effective in securing the latter's nomination."*' At the same time a considerable contingent of the Ohio delegation was busily intent
escapes what would have been an indelible disgrace, if fraud and envy had been able to accomplish your defeat."
Irregularities were not of course confined to Democratic manipu- lators. The October election of 1884 was, in Cincinnati, an occasion for exceptional irregularities. U. S. Marshal Lot Wright testified that he had received a shipment of 600 English bulldog pistols, presumably from the Republican National Committee, with which to arm deputy-mar- shals. The weapons were placed in the hands of men with slight regard for their character and with due reference to their Republicanism. Testimony relative to the results covers almost 600 pages of a House Report. Cf. House Reports, 48th Congress, 2nd Sess., No. 2681.
'^A correspondent of the Cincinnati Enquirer (June 4, 1888) wrote: "It (the Thurman boom) does not come from Ohio and the tendency in that state seems to throw the entire responsibility for it outside. It is the product, not to use the term in an offensive sense, of the machine. It is an invention of that child of genius, William L. Scott, stimulated no doubt by that gentleman in the White House, who has long been in friendly relations with the Ohio veteran." The California delegation, out of respect to Thurman's attitude toward Chinese exclusion and the regulation of the Pacific Railway, led the demonstration.
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upon "kicking him through the ropes."'' A sea of red bandanna handkerchiefs, the battle emblem of the "Old Roman," completely swept aside the white hat emblem of Governor Gray of Indiana. The nomination of Thurman and the subsequent defeat of the Democratic ticket may, from the standpoint of subsequent develop- ments, be regarded as the final scene in an era of Ohio Democratic politics. A new generation of leaders was no longer hindered in availing itself of the legacy.
The decade ending in 1888 had indeed been a bar- ren and demoralized period of Democratic politics. It was for the most part devoid of meaning, other than its demonstration of commercialized politics incidental to an advancing industrial age. Republican opponents derisively referred to the Democracy as the C. O. D. party, and suggested that the terms represented also the "Collapsed Ohio Democracy." But the Repub- licans shared in the experiences of a "Slough of De- spond." Sherman remained the visible leader of his party and was in 1884 and 1888 hopeful that it would pay a just indebtedness by promoting him to the Presi- dency. His shadow, like that of Thurman, lay athwart the paths of younger men with growing ambitions. It was well for his party that he could accept with appar- ent stoicism an extraordinary degree of political disap- pointment.
After the successful campaign of 1881, the liquor is- sue had become an important stumbling block in the way
"June 5, 1888, Charles Hedges telegraphed Sherman from St. Louis: "Ohio delegation very sore at being whipped in for Thurman; Indiana intensely disappointed over Gray's defeat. Leading members both dele- gations privately predicting your nomination and election,"
OJiio in National Politics, 1865-1896 365
of Foster's election to the Senate.'^ The party had at- tempted in vain to read the issue out of the campaign of 1883. A RepubUcan sally on the ''free trade" here- sies of the Democracy failed to break the drift. Con- stitutional amendments relative to the traffic were sub- mitted to popular vote, but disaffected contingents had turned either to the Democratic or the Prohibition party, and Foster saw the coveted honor captured by the Payne machine. Joseph B. Foraker, a young Cin- cinnati lawyer, had been chosen with the consent of all factions to oppose Hoadly for the Governorship. His advent secured for the Republicans one of the cleverest campaigners of his generation. He became a past-mas- ter in turning every opening afforded by the opposition to the account of his own party. Later the acts of a Democratic President were converted into an outrage on a patriotic conscience. The ''rebel flag" order, the "gone a fishing," the lowering the flag for "old Jake Thompson" and the "Gettysburg snub" affairs became the material which fired a "blazing spirit of patriotism and Republicanism that filled the minds of the people who listened and then voted." '^ An attempted "Rebel Invasion," i. e., aid to a Democratic candidate by a southern governor, was swept back by a fife and drum corps to the tune of "Marching Through Georgia."
Despite untoward events and circumstances, Sher- man entertained hopes of becoming the available candi- date of his party in 1884. His hopes were so ill founded, however, that he later denied having had any interest
^At times Sherman's critics blamed him for "letting the ship go down" as a defence against a Republican colleague in the Senate. "Foraker, Notes, I, p. 279.
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whatsoever in securing the honor. '° And yet he was in continuous touch with poHtical advisers as to how his nomination could best be promoted. PoHtical honors, like lightning, sometimes play freakish tricks, and it is always well to be prepared for the shock.^' Foraker, Warner Bateman and C. W. Moulton advised Sherman and received directions as to the tack to be pursued. The intention was to conduct the Sherman candidacy in such a manner that the Blaine men could turn to Sher- man as they had not been able to do in 1880.^'
The nomination of Blaine was not, therefore, with- out its disappointments. The Ohio delegation did not measure up to Sherman's expectations, and he was con-
'" Sherman Recoil., II, pp. 885-886. "I had not expressed the slightest desire to make such a contest. When approached by personal friends I dissuaded them from using my name as a candidate. I neither asked nor sought anyone to be a delegate. When the convention met, the Ohio delegation was divided between Blaine and myself, and this necessarily prevented any considerable support of me outside of the state. I was not sorry for it. I regarded the nomination of Blaine as the natural result under the circumstances."
" Foraker reproduces in his Noics extensive correspondence relative to promoting Sherman's candidacy.
*'The following excerpts from letters in the Sherman manuscripts indicate the methods by which this end was being promoted : On May 4, Warner Bateman declared the advisability of avoiding "irritation or oflfense to those having Blaine preferences in Ohio. These matters could probably be best determined on the ground. If it is so determined it could be very safely left with such men as Robinson, Craighead, Foraker, Amos Smith, etc. These are valuable and discreet men. But these for purposes of counsel should be so increased as to include every sincere and discreet friend of yours, in the delegation, that the jealousies that impaired the effectiveness of your support in 1880 might be avoided. l! is also desirable that as much individual work should be put in as possible toward abating the ardor of the positive Blaine support as dull and feeble in its influence on the convention and in the best condition for an early abandonment of him. I am satisfied that the condition could not be more favorable for this work. West can be handled by those who
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 Z67
vinced that it was chargeable to Wilham McKinley's timidity and unreliabiHty. This conviction he expressed to a friend and adviser: "McKinley only demonstrated the characteristics he has always shown of being timid, uncertain, changeable and utterly unreliable. He de- ceived my friends from the beginning to the end, and, without exception, they feel for him marked ill-will tinctured with contempt. He certainly misled me and was the fatal cause of most of the dissensions in the Ohio delegation, which, if he had acted firmly for me, would have been two-thirds or three-fourths in my favor. His pretended friendship was a lure and a snare, and far worse than his open opposition. I trust the good people of his District will not nominate him
know him. He is fearless and aggressive in a fight but is not stubborn. He could be employed in many things in which his enthusiasm as well as his partisanship could be safely worked off. He would be good on resolutions in the judicial work of contests in delegations. He is a noble hearted but ambitious man and must be dealt with accordingly. Mack and Conger can be used to advantage. If Colonel Moulton will keep sufficiently to the rear, his capacity to learn what is going on and the access to persons to be reached will be of great value. . . ."
Another letter after Moulton had arrived in Chicago preceding the Convention was of the same tenor : "Upon arriving here, I find that the delegates here will not take any excuse and that I must go with them this evening.
The story that proposals have been made to Foraker have just this foundation. Mr. Scarlett, a Kentucky delegate, called upon Foraker with a proposal to make him (F.) the nominee for the second place Presumably this came from the law firm of which Arthur was a member in New York City as that firm are attorneys for Mr. Scarlett, who is manager for Dun's Commercial Agency in New York. It is stated that Mr. Butterworth made a similar proposition to Foraker not long since. There is no doubt about these ofifers — and I give them to you so that you may know the story. No one believes that Foraker could consider the matter other than to reject it. But it serves to illustrate the diffi- culties of preserving strict methods in politics where such trading is resorted to on all sides."
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for Congress. If they do, they will certainly have cause to regret it. . . . All this is in the confidence of private friendship, although I shall probably openly state the substance and have no objection to stating without you quoting me the effect of McKinley's defec- tion and how I feel about it."'"* Subsequent events were to produce a noteworthy change in the relationship be- tween the two men.
On the other hand the Convention had its compen- sations. Sherman was notified of the efifective work of a new-comer in national politics: Marcus A. Hanna of Cleveland received an expression of the candidate's gratitude and hopes for a more intimate acquaintance.^*
Sherman in 1887, as in 1879, engaged himself in the task of formulating a nationalistic program toward which men of all sections and interests could look with favor. In March he delivered a speech in Nashville, Tennessee, marked by a conciliatory attitude toward the "Confederate gray." He declared that the war was over and that the interests of Tennessee and other southern states must naturally draw them into the Re- publican party. A speech in Cincinnati proclaimed the benefits of an impending imperialism as a solution of the difficulties between labor and capital: "Let us stand by the Republican party, and we will extend in due time
" Sherman to J. S. McClure, June 9, 1884. Sherman MSS.
The letter from Sherman here quoted ivas zvritfen shortly after the convention, while the disappointment over the result -ccas acute. Soon after- ward he paid generous tribute to William McKinlcy, and in a speech at a ratification meeting of the nuniinations made in the Republican Na- tional Convention of iSq2, "he eulogized McKinlcy most eloquently and de- clared him to be one of the best men in public life." Sherman, Recollections, Vol. II, p. 1161.— Editor.
''Sherman MSS., June 12, 1884.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 369
our dominion and power into other regions; not by an- nexation, not by overriding peaceable and quiet people, but by our commercial influence, by extending our steamboat lines into South America, by making all the Caribbean Sea one vast American ocean; by planting our influence among the sister republics, by aiding them from time to time, and thus, by pursuing an American policy, become the ruler of other dominions." It was indeed an extreme nationalism upon which Sherman proposed to lead the Republican party back into power. The South in its most militant days had not demanded a more far-reaching program of expansion in support of its system. The effect of this venture was some- what broken by a subsequent speech delivered in Springfield, Illinois. Here his attack upon the stupidity of the Democratic party in dealing with the tariff and all national problems degenerated into a "bloody shirt" harangue. Sherman realized the equivocal effect of his speeches by attempting to reconcile their temper. ^^
The Republican party found the real clue to an at- tack upon the Democracy in the message of the Presi- dent to Congress in December preceding the campaign year. A Democratic revision of the tariff with a view to the reduction of the surplus as the President recom- mended, could mean nothing else from the standpoint of the opposition than an effort to strike down the pros- pering industries of the country. The Republican party was on the offensive; labor and capital in every section of the nation was open to representations of just how their respective interests were being threatened.
"Cf. Sherman Recoil, II, pp. 987-988. Vol. XXXVII— 24.
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The promises for a "Republican year" were fair when the party met in National Convention to select their standard bearer. The circumstances surrounding Sherman's candidacy were similar in many respects to those of 1880. The Ohio delegation again embraced two men who were reputed to be entertaining ambitions similar to those of Garfield and Foster in the former contest. They were, however, revolving in opposition to each other. Foraker had twice carried the state as a candidate for Governor, and had a claim to influence similar to that of Foster. William McKinley, on the other hand, had been playing a role relative to the tariff issue similar to that of Garfield to the financial issue in 1880.^" It was to him that the Sherman forces were willing to turn in the extremity of their avowed pur- poses becoming quixotic as it formerly had.
The division of party forces of the Ohio delegation, which led to no end of recrimination, dated from the state canvass of the year before. A dispute had arisen between Sherman and Foraker regarding the advisa- bility of securing a resolution endorsing the former for the Presidency by the State Convention. Sherman had from all evidences grown suspicious of the growing popularity of the young Governor and his known sym- pathies for the Blaine candidacy. Many of Sherman's correspondents assumed a cynical attitude as to the avowed unity of the Ohio delegation, and memories of
^'' Murat Halstead to Sherman, June 12, 1888 : "The Ohio delegation will, I think, be reasonably steady — and the fact that there is talk of two of the delegates as dark horses may have a conservative influence."
Ohio in National Politics, 1865- 1896 371
1880 validated their insinuations." The State Conven- tion ultimately passed the desired resolution but it con- vinced nobody, least of all perhaps, Sherman himself. ^^ The Blaine men became all the more anxious to secure delegates who were not "offensively Sherman. ''^^
In spite of all protestations to the contrary the Ohio delegation to the National Convention was not a source of strength to the Sherman candidacy. The readiness of delegates to "sneak away" from Sherman became a commonplace in newspaper gossip.*" The candidate was
^' On July 18, 1887, Sherman declared his impatience in the following letter : ". . . . Amid the many kind things said and many friendly letters received, at the end of them all was the inquiry "What will Ohio lo? Will Ohio be solid?" sometimes with a sneer at the position of Ohio in the past two conventions. I confess I am always irritated at the inquiry, and cannot answer it. And now the signs of the times indicate Ohio will present a divided delegation, especially if the present con- vention should fail to express any choice. I think it due to my personal honor not to give my encouragement to residents of other states to sup- port me as long as there is any doubt about the position of Ohio. Nor will I go into a convention with a delegation broken up as it was es- pecially in 1880, unless that fact and the precise condition of it is known beforehand to all the people of the United States. Sherman to John C. Entrekin, Sherman MSS., July 16, 1887.
''Cf. Harper's Weekly, August 13, 1887.
^'Foraker op. cit., I, p. 335. A conference, attended by Sherman, McKinley, Foster and others, was held in Canton during July, relative to Sherman's endorsement. Foraker was overlooked in this "social and agreeable" visit and afterward learned of it through Hanna. He had his reasons for feeling that too many "moccasin" tracks were being made. The story is outlined in his Notes, Vol. I, Chapters XIX and XXI.
■'"Walter Wellman made the following criticism of the delegation: "Friends of Joseph B. Foraker are beginning to make known the fact that Ohio's support of Sherman is formal and half-hearted. It is a singular situation. The men who are supposed to be Sherman repre- sentatives declare that only seven of the Ohio delegates are so wedded to Sherman that they are ready to stick to him to the last. . . . For- aker is their choice. They may vote for Sherman but they are talking for Foraker. Their desire is to make the Governor a dark horse. Sher- man they say is an old man of the sea, dragging down all the young men in the state. . . ." Chicago Tribune, June 15, 1888.
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in reality courting other and more important sources of support. His mainstay in the Ohio delegation was Mark Hanna, and through him he was attempting to secure an effective combination.
Since the convention of 1884, the relationship be- tween Sherman and Hanna had grown more cordial. The latter had, because of Sherman's influence, been appointed a member of the Board of Directors of the Union Pacific railroad." During May and June pre- ceding the date of the convention he made an exten- sive trip through the north-west. He kept in intimate touch with Sherman and volunteered suggestions as to the promotion of the campaign. His letters suggest not only the intimacy of the relationship between the two men but something of the nature of their program. One of May 26 informed Sherman of a proposed con- vention procedure: "I have a letter from Mr. Conger by which I find there has been a change in the arrange- ments of rooms as I proposed, therefore I may be obliged to make a change in regard to the Sherman Headquarters when I get to Chicago Monday. Please have Gen. Raum notify the Chairman of the Southern Delegation to report to me on his arrival and say to them that I will be prepared to purchase surplus tickets of their Delegation for members of the Sherman Club. . . .""^ By the time the Convention opened Sherman had secured a large proportion of the south- ern delegates. His chief concern was to augment these delegations by a creditable showing of support from
"Croly, op. cit., p. 131. Foraker, Notes, I, p. 313. "^ Hanna at the time of the Convention bought a large number of ;uch tickets. Cf. Croly, op. cit., p. 136. Foraker, Notes, I, p. 368.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 373
the mid-West and East, especially from New York and Pennsylvania delegations. Piatt and Quay, who prac- tically controlled these delegations, were sedulously solicited to this end." Sherman early in June consulted with them in New York. Hanna, writing from Omaha, felt free to offer suggestions and seek counsel in refer- ence to both features of the program. Under date of May 30 he wrote :"....! shall be very anxious to know the result of the consultation between Quay and Piatt. If Piatt only wants New York City patron- age — let him have it — provided that satisfies Morton and does not interfere with Miller. ... I did not ask you a question while in W — that I wanted to, fear- ing that I might interfere with some of your agree- ments with Foster and the others — that is, may I de- pend on proper recognition being given to such men as I may select in several states, provided we are success- ful. You may depend on my selection of men because if you are elected I want to see you surrounded by the very best class of men in the party. I do not promise offices, but I do to such men. Whoever is for Sherman in time of need is Sherman's friend and Sherman never forgets his friends."" Quay from all evidences became thoroughly converted to the Sherman cause."
*° Sherman's Recoil, II, p. 1025. *" Sherman MSS.. May 30, 1888.
*° Sherman's mainstay is not any of his Ohio supporters, but is Senator Quay, of Pennsylvania. Ben Butterworth, ex-Governor Foster, M. A. Hanna did the pleasing and ornamental at the Grand Pacific head- quarters yesterday, while Quay kept closely to his rooms at the Richelieu and gave orders about the tack to be taken. Chicago Tribune, June 16, 1888.
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His services were at any rate sufficient to exact a hearty expression of gratitude.**'
The first ballot of the Convention was, nevertheless, a source of disappointment. Sherman, indeed, was the leading candidate from the standpoint of number of votes received, but his strength did not measure up to the boasted estimate of his promoters. Piatt cast the major portion of his state's votes for Depew, but im- mediately sought terms with other candidates when he found that his favorite could command little support from the north-west. His lieutenants had practically secured an arrangement whereby William B. Allison of Iowa was at the point of securing the honor. Piatt was at last convinced, however, that Harrison's name satisfied his requirements, and threw his forces to the latter's support. *'' Had this attempt proved abortive, Sherman might have been the favored recipient.*^
The failure of Sherman to receive votes from New York at scheduled periods tended to break the Ohio delegation and drive its members to consider other pro- grams in case of an emergency. On the afternoon of June 23, rumors gained currency that a Blaine test vote was forthcoming. Hanna feared that it would sweep the Convention and requested Sherman by telegraph to permit him to counter it through McKinley's candi-
*" A telegram to Hanna during the convention reads : "Say to Quay — Thanks, a thousand thanks — call for anything you want. Let Ohio stand firmly and unitedly until convention by majority decides and heartily acquiesce. Hope for success." Sherman MSS., undated but in files with other documents pertaining to the convention.
'*'' Cf. Piatt's posthumous statement in the Chicago Record Herald, March 7, 1910, as given by William E. Curtis; also Charles Edward Rus- sell, These Shifting Scenes, pp. 126-129.
*' Piatt's statement, op. cit.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 375
dacy.*^ Sherman counseled both Hanna and Foraker to stand firm. Although the Blaine movement came to nothing, the Sherman candidacy was swept aside when Piatt's arrangement to nominate Harrison began to materialize. Its success was attained without regard for the interests of either faction of the Ohio delegation. It was indeed, as Mr. Croly has stated, a "seething caldron" of intrigue which took place behind the rather tame procedure of the Convention. Sherman declared a few years afterward that his defeat had been due to the "bargain" between Piatt and Harrison. "'' Alger's supporters had been active in turning southern dele- gates to his support."'^ William Henry Smith attributed a degree of Sherman's weakness to the influence of railroad interests: "One very striking feature of the Convention was the extent of the representation of railroad corporations — New York, Nebraska, Colorado and California were absolutely under their influence. The delegates of this class not only al- ways voted against you, but always spoke against you."^^ With Piatt's support, however, Sherman might have become the nominee instead of Harrison. Just before the Convention met, John Hay, writing from
^* The telegram read : "Blaine move to be made on next ballot. We think McKinley the only man who can defeat him. Who do you advise? Can Ohio afford to lose the opportunity? I regret the situation but fear I am right. Hanna. Foraker says he wW\ go to Blaine. Sher- man MSS.
'"' It was in response to this assertion that Piatt confided a post- humous statement to Curtis. According to its tenor, Sherman was favor- ably considered as a recipient of Piatt's influence.
" Charles Foster and E. E. Wood, a patent attorney of Cincinnati, each emphasized this charge in letters to Sherman after the Convention. Sherman MSS, June 26 and 27, 1888. ^'Sherman MSS., June 25, 1888.
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New York City, with more accuracy undoubtedly, de- fined the difficulties that stood in the way of Sherman securing the nomination. First was Piatt's hostility because Sherman had written slightingly of the former to someone in New York. Second was the hostility of the old Arthur and Conkling element, and finally "the bankers and brokers who thought they had not had their share of the funding operations. "^^ The suc- cessors of the old "Stalwart" faction were in the saddle in 1888. They had no particular reasons for fitting one into the new scheme of things who had not served their interests better in other days. Neither Sherman's career nor record squared with the interests which he was attempting to command. He neither weighed po- litical forces accurately nor held the confidence of the "interests" which supported them.
Harrison's election was for the most part a political reaction against a Democratic administration. By 1884, Cleveland's party had usurped the ground for- merly occupied by the liberal elements of Republican- ism. It rapidly proved to be an untenable position from the standpoint of practical politics. Cleveland shortly found himself situated as Hayes had been eight years before. It needed but the degree of courage and in- sight connected with the tariff message of 1887 to en- able the Republicans to capitalize the forces of opposi- tion and identify them with a program that carried an appeal for industrial support. The "Stalwart" forces of Republicanism shared liberally in the dicta- tion of methods and rewards. Liberals and Inde- pendents ignored, if they did not accept outright, the
' Sherman MSS,, June 14, 1888.
Ohio in National Politics^ 1865-18^6 Z77
new dispensation in the common cause of repudiating Cleveland. It was a campaign of "great importance to business," and as such received financial support beyond former campaigns.
Owing to the factional break in the Democratic ranks of Ohio, the state was regarded as "safe" for the Republicans. Indiana, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey became the battle-ground. Cleveland's se- lection of Thurman as a candidate for the Vice-Presi- dency accentuated rather than relieved the factional breach. The recognition of "mossback" leadership in direct opposition to the "kid" program was little short of treason; and the Chairman of the Democratic Cam- paign Committee had no more reason for promoting the success of the party than Zach Chandler had in secur- ing Republican success in 1876. The Republican tri- umph in Ohio was due therefore to the negative tenden- cies of the opposition rather than to an endorsement of extreme principles.^* True enough, the state had its particular interests which were hopefully seeking to be subsidized. But there was no opportunity of securing this end without apparently endorsing the full scheme, and the party that had won the election was shortly to find that a horizontal increase of tarifif rates was al- most as precarious as a horizontal reduction. The fu- ture was shortly to disclose just how great were the reservations that had attended the lease of power to the Republican party.
^The writer does not feel that Ohio had been successfully con- verted to protectionism in 1888. Perhaps Mr. Dooley's assertion that "one does not vote for a candidate but against his opponent" more nearly explains the vote of Ohio in this election.
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CHAPTER VII
OHIO AND THE "FIRST BATTLE'^
Preceding the Republican Convention of 1888, Mark Hanna declared his convictions to Sherman in the fol- lowing terms: "You know our four delegates at large are all in each other's zvay — and no man can do the same work in such a cause as this with any other thought than the one great object sought. . . ."^ The failure of Sherman to receive the nomination sub- stantiated the validity of this observation. Connected with it was Hanna's conclusion, as it was undoubtedly that of his fellow-countrymen, that Sherman had be- come a Presidential impossibility. Without effort, Mc- Kinley had appeared to have greater availability than even Sherman, though the latter had had the benefit of long and painstaking preparations. The pursuit of the nomination, on the other hand, had afforded Hanna an opportunity to observe political methods in two na- tional conventions. He was destined to turn his les- sons to account and achieve even more significant re- sults than his former masters had.
The task and its accomplishment are without a strict parallel. Few men have been animated by an enthusiasm equal to that of Hanna in securing the end to which he had set himself. Energetic, shrewd and affable, he had extraordinary capacity for leadership. His career, coincident with the great period of indus- trial expansion, and his method and outlook were molded by the atmosphere of his day. His life had been identified with practically every phase of expand-
Shennan MSS., May 30, 1888.
Ohio in National Politics, i86j-i8p6 379
ing industry connected with the city of Cleveland. After a measure of success in business, he turned to politics. Like other men of his day, he became devoted to the same methods in politics as had brought results in his former activity. A sense of loyalty, even devo- tion, to his friends, led him to direct his energy to the political interests of others. In this pursuit, dictated as it was by a conviction that he was serving the best in- terests of good government and industry, he expressed his Republicanism and his patriotism.^
The situation which Hanna faced in 1889 was in striking contrast to that of just eight years before. The intervening period had witnessed little if anything that might be regarded as practical success on the part of Ohio Republicans; and from many angles the imme- diate future was scarcely more promising. The break between Foraker and the Sherman forces was a her- itage of the Convention which had nominated Harrison. The charges regarding Foraker's conduct both before and after the Convention had been menacing.^ News-
*Croly, Marcus A. Hanna, His Life and Work, is a critical bi- ography.
^ On May 28, preceding the Convention, E. E. Wood, a patent at- torney, informed Sherman that the "position of the Governor is giving me some alarm as he has a following enough to raise a split which must not be allowed. You will of course assume to consult him and other leaders about procedure at Chicago. If you have not done so, you could write words of assurance, etc., and assume that he is satisfied. I don't want you to show this letter to Grosvenor, Butterworth or McKinley, the two latter are not close mouthed and the latter I believe to be treacherous. Still you can use your own judgment even in this matter. Col. Thompson is a prudent man. Perhaps it would be well for Thomp- son to write to the Governor. If we can get our forces from Ohio in half working shape we will nominate you this time and the Governor will be boasting among the loudest. . . ." Sherman MSS.
During the convention preliminaries, one of Sherman's trusted lieu-
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papers took up the quarrel, and many in the spirit of Richard Smith, at the time editor of the Toledo Com- mercial, hoped that it spelled the end of Foraker's po- litical life.* After a brief correspondence, the friendly
tenants (Green B. Raum) declared the most serious trouble to be in the attitude of Governor Foraker : "He is prepared to make a speech against Mahone if the majority report is resisted by the friends of Ma- hone — this would result in a division of the Ohio delegation and would no doubt be very damaging. The fact cannot be too highly emphasized that Gov. Foraker has hindered and not helped your cause. If you are defeated, the Governor will have contributed to the result. When the delegation was organized, he recognized a favorite to make the motions and General Gibson was put on the committee of credentials instead of Mr. Butterworth as was arranged. Foster, McKinley, Butterworth and Hanna find it necessary to make concessions to the Governor to prevent a breach.
Last evening when the Ohio Clubs were in procession they halted to hear addresses by Butterworth and Grosvenor. In the midst of this the Foraker Club deliberately left the procession and disbanded. All these things have entirely shaken the confidence of Butterworth and others in the Governor's fidelity. He may vote for you all the way through, but I fear that some of his strikers on the delegation may at a critical point fail you. . . ." Sherman MSS., June 20, 1888.
Henry C. Hedges, Sherman's closest neighbor in Mansfield, on the same day expressed himself in similar language, and while he feared the worst was still hopeful, "for F. is after all a weak man, with all of his ambition, and some way must be found to control him, but you must be prepared for disaster."
Two letters of Foster, one to Sherman and the other to the accused man, serve to illustrate how these charges might be framed in the face of political circumstances. To Sherman he wrote : "We were constantly met by it (i.e. the charge that eight or ten delegates were ready to leave Sherman at any time) from our friends; we insisted that it was not true. Charles Foster to Sherman, June 27, 1888. Sherman AISS. Two weeks later he addressed a letter of sympathy to Foraker in which he said : "I have no doubt of your good purposes; if any errors were committed they are not chargeable to a disposition to be other than faithful to Mr. Sherman's interests." Foraker, op. cit., I. p. 376. Foraker states his reply to these indictments in his Notes, I, Chapters XXI-XXIII, inc. "* I'oraker, op. cit., I, p. 379.
He makes it very clear that there was no foundation for the reports of his factional opponents above quoted. John Sherman, himself, writing
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 381
relationship between Foraker and Hanna was broken. The former, however, retained a very real political in- fluence and by way of vindication was able to command for the fourth time the nomination for the governor- ship. He dictated the issues upon which the campaign was conducted and defied his opponents by taking the canvass into his own hands."
The Democratic candidate for governor in 1889 was, from the standpoint of the newer political age, all that could have been demanded. As late as 1879, James E. Campbell of the Dayton district had been a can- didate for oflice on the Republican ticket. He came
of the charges years afterwards, disposed of these reports as follows: "I have no right to complain of anything done by the members of the dele- gation during the convention. There was a natural rivalry between For- aker and McKinley, as they were both young, able and eloquent men. Rumors prevailed at times that the Ohio delegation coidd be held solid no longer, but if there was any ground for these rumors it did not develop into a breach, as the delegation, from beginning to end, cast the entire vote of Ohio for me on every ballot, except on the last tzvo or three, only one of the delegates, * * * voted for Harrison, placing his action on the ground that he had served with him in the Army and felt bound to vote for him."
Foraker had reached the zenith of his popularity in 1888. As many newspapers stated, he was the idol of the convention. His speeches before that body were most generously applauded. Years afterward, in 1896, Hon- orable Samuel Fessenden and Senator Elkins, both friends of James G. Blaine, united in a statement that they went to Senator Foraker's room at "2 o'clock" on Monday morning and "made it very clear to him that if he would consent to become a candidate he could be nominated without fail and ziithout difficulty on the first or second ballot Monday."
Foraker refused to consent to the use of his name and voted for Sher- man on every ballot. In view of these facts, the suspicions voiced in the preceding quotations became a portion of the "chaff" which has probably been evolved at every national convention since the first. — Editor.
'Cf. Foraker, op cit., I, p. 379.
"C. W. Wooley (writing from Old Point Comfort, Va.) advised Sherman that Alger financed the campaign. Shertnan MSS., December 29,
382 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
from a family that had already gained prominence in politics and had just vindicated his ability as a Demo- cratic politician by overcoming ordinary Republican ma- jorities in his Congressional district and serving three successive terms in Congress.
The circumstances of the campaign were altogether favorable to the young Democratic candidate. The struggle early took on an aspect of personal abuse sel- dom equaled in political canvasses. Campbell's record in the navy during the war was held up to ridicule. For- aker had undertaken to advance certain proposed con- stitutional amendments as issues. Among these was one providing for extensive authority of the governor over election boards in cities as a remedy for extensive corruptions at the polls. To this scheme the Democrats replied by declaring for home rule — for Ohio as well as Ireland. The Foraker program as applied to Cin- cinnati was bitterly attacked, and in the course of the campaign Campbell read a so-called "Topp letter" which reflected discredit upon the Cincinnati administration. A counter irritant was demanded.^ October 4 it was forthcoming in a charge so serious that had it been true, it would have discredited Campbell for all time to come. A document was printed in the Cincinnati Com- mercial as irrefutable evidence that the Democratic candidate's record in Congress in behalf of a "pure bal- lot" was nothing less than an attempt to further a scheme of forming a monopoly for the manufacture of ballot-boxes. A memorandum of the contract support- ing the charge was published with three of Campbell's
°HaIstead to Sherman, Sherman MSS., December 4,
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 383
signatures attached/ Republican organs seized upon the scandal with all the ardor of a neighborhood gos-
JAMES EDWIN CAMPBELL
Served in the navy in the War for the Union ; Representative in Con- gress, June 20. 1884-March 3, 1889; Governor of Ohio, January 13. 1890- January 11, 1892.
sip. The Cleveland Leader and Herald declared that the transaction proved Campbell "hand in glove with
' The original document also had the signatures of Sherman, Mc- Kinley and other prominent Republicans. These were of course with- held. According to Foraker no part of the paper was to be published until after the election. Halstead had failed to receive an expected ap- pointment by the Harrison administration to a foreign diplomatic post. He was undoubtedly irritated by Campbell's continuous reference to him in his stump speeches as "the late Minister to Berlin."
384 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
the unprincipled and disreputable element of the Demo- cratic party that stuffed the ballot-boxes at Cincinnati and Columbus. ... in a vain effort to steal the Legislature, and that negotiated the purchase of Henry B. Payne's seat in the Senate."^ Campbell was defied to prove his innocence, and a week's silence was freely interpreted as a tacit confession of guilt. But the out- come was as sensational as the charge had been. On October 11, Halstead himself meekly confessed that he had blundered. The paper was a forgery. The Repub- lican indictment of Democratic unreliability utterly collapsed, and an insistence upon the point merely stressed the party's confusion."
Foraker's defeat was a matter of chagrin and ela- tion at the same time to many of his party associates. Richard Smith, the newspaper editor who had declared war upon the candidate shortly after the convention in 1888, was furious, in fact "full of ugliness" and ad- vised Sherman accordingly. Referring to the episode and its relation to the Republican debacle he declared: "He (Foraker) did sacrifice it (the party). Fortu- nately he sacrificed himself also."^°
Foraker's defeat, at all events, temporarily eclipsed
'Cleveland Leader and Herald. October 4, 1889.
* A "saloon keepers' rebellion" also added to Republican difficulties. An amendment to the licensing law was aimed at the practice of keeping beer gardens open on Sunday. The German ideal of "personal liberty" was a2:ain challenged. Cf. Foraker, Azotes, I, Chap. XXV.
^"Sherman MSS., December 4, 1889. For Foraker's apology see his Notes, I, pp. 402-411. A brief account is given in Sherman's Recollections, II, pp. 1053-1056. The full testimony, secured by a Congressional investi- gating committee, is given in House Reports, 51st Cong., '2nd Sess., Vol. I, p. 3446.
Neither Foraker nor Halstead was guilty of the forgery. In their zeal to counter Campbell they fell victims to the wiles of an office-
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 385
his leadership. It at the same time afforded Hanna a much coveted opportunity to advance the interests of his faction of the party. But it was an altogether un- promising circumstance which the immediate future was offering. After the election of 1888 the Repub- licans were for the first time in many years in com- plete control of both departments of the Federal Gov- ernment. They were committed to the passage of legislation looking to the reduction of the surplus with- out injuring the protective system. McKinley, as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, be- came conspicuously identified with and nominally re- sponsible for the bill which was to raise rates all along the Hne. The surplus was extensively reduced by spending it, or by enlarging appropriations for pensions beyond all previous records. A reduction of the reve- nue was secured by making many duties prohibitory and by the abolition of the duty on raw sugar. De- spite the overture to farmers in the way of a heavy duty on many agricultural products which were not and could not be heavily imported, the bill embodied an altogether too radical form of the industrial pro- gram. Various classes failed to be convinced of any great "prosperity" connected with increased prices, es- pecially in case their own purchasing capacity did not proportionately advance. The reaction not only swept the Republicans from power, but gave new impetus to
seeker. Their embarrassment consisted in having countenanced a docu- ment that brought disrepute upon so many prominent names, especially since it had been very awkwardly executed. Foraker had promised to recommend one of the chief perpetrators for a smoke inspectorship in case he secured such a paper. Vol. XXXVII— 25.
386 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
minor party movements which had, since the closing of the financial issue in 1879, assumed only momentary or local flashes of prominence. McKinley, with many of his Ohio associates, went down in the Democratic landslide of 1890. His district was gerrymandered in the hope of permanently ending his political career.
The succession of party reverses was not, however, without its compensations. As a matter of fact, many obstructions connected with the past were being swept aside in such a manner that greater opportunities for newer foundations became possible. Since the fiasco of Sherman's candidacy in 1888, Hanna had turned his political enthusiasm almost entirely to the interests of the candidate whom he had at one stage of the Con- vention held capable of securing the nomination. The schism with Foraker left McKinley definitely in the center of Hanna's political plans for the future. Dele- gates had been attracted by the steadfastness with which McKinley played the political game at Chicago." Hanna had been particularly impressed and was de- termined that his favorite should have a new field of activity in retrieving the governorship. Foraker was extended an opportunity to do party penance by out- lining before the Convention the candidate's qualifica- tions for office.^"
" The same men who wrote with disparagement of Foraker's be- havior usually had a note of commendation for McKinley. William H. Smith accorded high praise for "the firmness with which he withstood all temptation. If he had been a weak vessel like Garfield, he might have been tempted to his destruction. . . ."
"Foraker, in his Notes, Vol. 1, p. 444, outlines with some detail the circumstances which made this act possible. There was no personal friction between the men, and McKinley had made the request.
Ohio in National Politics, 186^-1896
387
The election of 1891 offered Hanna a real oppor- tunity to vindicate his skill as a political manager. The renomination of Campbell by the Democrats offered one point of vantage to the Republicans in so far as
JOSEPH BENSON FORAKER
Enlisted in the Union Army July 14, 1862, served through the war and retired with brevette rank of Captain; Governor of Ohio, January 11, 1886- January 13, 1890 ; United States Senator, March 4, 1897-March 4, 19U9.
the latter party was able to assume the offensive. The tariff naturally became the chief topic of campaign oratory, although "free silver" in the hands of Alli- ance advocates threatened to defy the efforts of both
388 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
parties to stifle its prominence. An additional source of difficulty rested in Foraker's cherished ambition to secure Sherman's seat in the Senate. The latter's in- fluence was essential, and it was necessary to carry him along through a continuance in the Senate and the en- tertainment of his cherished hope that he might even yet become a Presidential candidate. Every artifice of campaign management was essential in checking vari- ous sources of threatened defection and in encouraging the best efforts of party workers. McKinley, Sher- man and Foraker carried through a campaign which from visible evidences professed party unity. Sherman was convinced that the campaign was important from the standpoint of the financial issue; eastern interests were entirely too apathetic as to its significance." He was gratified in the end that an abundant crop ren- dered Republican farmers immune to the appeal of silver as a form of agricultural credit.
Hanna in the meantime performed a service as es- sential as that of party advocates, if not more so. He was effectively resourceful in raising campaign funds and vigilant in expenditures." In return, McKinley's
" Sherman Recoil, II, pp. 1125 ff.
At least one banker, however, was convinced of the importance of the campaign to the extent of $1,000. John Jay Knox, President of a Wall Street bank, wished "every success in the campaign." Sherman MSS., September 19, 18W.
Foster wrote that he had sent Hahn (the state chairman) $5,000, "received from a gentleman in Philadelphia." Sherman MSS., October 3, 1891.
"Something of the character of his services may be gathered from extracts of two letters to Sherman. The following is taken from one written September '28, and indicates the nature of precautions taken against Foraker : ". . . . It is well I took the position I did in the start. For if we had not insisted in having the Senatorial question in it at
Ohio in National Politics, 1863-1896 389
majority, while not large, represented a substantial vic- tory in the face of untoward circumstances. Foraker was not disillusioned as to how well Hanna had done his work until after the caucus had met; the former found that the vote stood in reverse proportion to his estimates/^
McKinley's election was practically the only bright spot in what was, generally speaking, a disastrous Re- publican year. But the situation was still a difficult one to deal with. Harrison, according to political prece- dent, was entitled to the vindication of a renomination. He had, however, incurred the disaffection of a large number of influential leaders of the party — especially Piatt and Quay. The uncertainty of the Blaine move- ment formed sources of hope and discouragement at the same time, so far as the plans of securing McKin-
least seventy-five per cent, of the delegates would have been pledged to Foraker. They were thoroughly organized in every ward and town- ship and Taylor was playing it "low down" on us all tlie time. Oh ! he's a daisy — second only to his Creator in his own estimation. But I will give you the particulars when we meet — "
The problems of organization are indicated in the following of October 7 :
"I am in receipt of your favor of the 5th inst., and reply that I fully appreciate the necessity of giving personal attention to the legis- lative ticket in close counties. I have been raising considerable money for the State Committee and have accepted the chairmanship of the Finance Committee of this county, so that what I do here must come from the same source. However, I will not send any funds collected in Cleveland to the State Committee until I find out what will be the application of it. I had to pay pretty well to get the workers on my side for our candidates in the convention here. You know that element are not cheap. . . ."
McLean and Brice were probably no whit less active. T. C. Wil- liams, of Salesville, Ohio, advised Sherman on October 10: ". . . Demo- crats. . . . are flooding the entire county with money. I can see the Italian hand of John R. McLean and Cal Brice wherever I go." Sher- man MSS.
"Foraker, op. cit.^ I, p. 445.
390 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
ley's nomination were concerned. Hanna, at all events, was resolved upon securing harmony in his state dele- gation and taking advantage of whatever opportuni- ties he found open. Preceding the National Conven- tion in 1892 a conference was called for the special purpose of harmonizing the past differences of the party. A solid vote of the delegation should at any rate advertise the fact that the former schism was healed and that thenceforth Ohio delegates should not be looked upon by rival delegations as legitimate prey to hostile designs. Foraker and Hanna resumed an in- timate relationship, and the former was pledged to vote for his former rival for the Presidential nomination.
Hanna elected to attend the Convention unham- pered as a delegate and free to negotiate independently. He was on the ground at work before the delegation arrived. ^^ His sole hope rested in defeating the re- nomination of Harrison on the first ballot. But the Harrison forces proved to be altogether too well or- ganized. On the second day of the Convention, Hanna was practically convinced that his fears for the nomina- tion of Harrison were justified.'^ Great as was his
" Sherman was still hoping for the nomination under certain con- tingencies. He had however given Hanna authority to act fully in Mc- Kinley's interests. Sherman MSS., May 9, 1892.
"The following telegram, dated the second day of the convention (June 8, 1892) and addressed to Sherman, indicates Hanna's interests in the developments :
"The bitterness of the contest here seems to preclude the possibility of the exercise of good judgment. Outside of the leaders the sentiment is strong in favor of a compromise candidate. The west favors Mc- Kinley; the east Sherman. Can be harmonized if a choice is not made on first ballot ; but with present feeling I ibelieve it will be pushed to a conclusion on that ballot. The result of that I am unable to predict. I consider the situation very unfortunate for the party." Sherman MSS., June 8, 1892.
Ohio in National Politics, 1863-1896 391
apparent disappointment, he was not the man to be seriously discouraged by the darker side of his failure. Certain aspects of the situation justified a degree o£ optimism."
" The following letter (the original an autograph) is clearly in- dicative of Hanna's reaction :
Cleveland, June 14th, 1892.
Hon. John Sherman, Washington, D. C. Dear Sir : —
I returned 3-esterday from the Minneapolis convention and desire to give you something of an idea of the course of events as they transpired there.
On my arrival Saturday morning, June 4th, I found that the leaders of the Blaine faction had started out for a very active campaign and were doing most of the talking. By Sunday there were a large number of delegates on hand which seemed to increase the possibilities for Blaine so that by Monday their efforts had materialized into a demonstration that to an outside observer would make it appear as if Blaine might be nominated. The Harrison men pretended to feel confident and indiffer- ent, but both Depew (and I understood Senator Sawyer) with others expressed themselves on Sunday and Monday as believing it for the interests of the party that a third man be chosen.
This was the opportunity I waited for, and immediately upon hearing it I went to Quay and Piatt suggesting that efforts be made to bring about a conference. Both seemed to think that the time had not then arrived, Mr. Piatt stating very positively that any overtures of that kind must come from the other side. When I came to make an effort in that direction I found the Harrison men taking exactly the same posi- tion— that no overtures or compromise would come from them. In fact, they pretended to believe that no third man would be considered.
For the next twenty-four hours things drifted in that direction, each side claiming strength and confidence. Meantime I was busily at work trying to bring about a condition of things which would prevent a choice on the first ballot. In canvassing the situation with reference to a choice for a third candidate I found New York, a portion of Pennsylvania and a portion of New England favoring you as that can- didate, while in the West, particularly the Silver States and California, Kansas and Nebraska, the choice was almost unanimously for McKinley.
In studying the situation for your interests, I was firm in the belief that your name should not be put in the field to make a contest, for to
392 Oltio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
be put in that position the drift would have been to make you as ap- pearing in opposition to the re-nomination of Harrison. I told your friends of the East that in my judgment your name should not be con- sidered except in case of a dead-lock, when it would be ascertained that neither of the principal candidates could be chosen ; then if it could be agreed on both sides that you should be the choice and be made so unanimously as a compromise candidate it would be the proper thing to do. I considered that there could be no honor to you in making a contest, but that if coming to you in the way I had mentioned, it would be a just tribute and would be a fortunate deliverance of the situation.
On Tuesday after the arrival of about all the delegates it became evident to me that the Blaine faction had over-rated their strength and by that time I began to find a disposition on the part of many of them to go to McKinley ; therefore I renewed my efforts to prevent a nomination on the first ballot. It was discovered that a great many men inside and outside of the convention were earnestly and sincerely opposed to Mr. Harrison's nomination on the grounds of a second term and from the fact that his support in that convention was by this time clearly proven to be largely from such states as could not give him an electoral vote and many more from the so-called doubtful states. I found also that many of the delegates who had been instructed for him and many more who were under promise and control by office-holders, North and South, would vote for McKinley as their second choice. I had many assurances and expressions from such men that they hoped a choice would not be made upon the first ballot in which case they considered that (they) would be released from such promises and would vote for McKinley. At the time I wired you to this effect. Had we been able to have secured a support of thirty to fifty votes from a few of the Western States like Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, Mr. McKinley's nomination was assured. 1 believe that a word from Allison at the time to Governor Greer would have changed the situation and made Governor McKinley's nomination not only a possibility but a reality.
By Thursday the Harrison men had gained so much confidence that it was utterly impossible to get any consideration from them in the in- terests of party harmony or for any other purpose a single concession.
By Thursday afternoon the Blaine men were willing to cooperate in the nomination of McKinley. The test vote made upon the report of the Committee on Credentials was purposely forced by the Blaine men and the result was not discouraging, so that at a conference Thursday night after adjournment, it was shown that there was a possibility and even a probability of preventing a nomination upon the first ballot. To do this of course it became necessary to secure some Harrison votes for the Governor. Our New York and Pennsylvania friends told me that if I could secure the solid vote of the Ohio delegation for McKinley it would certainly prevent a choice upon the first ballot and his nomination
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 393
on the second. I spent the entire night in accomplishing this, which while it did not succeed in resulting as we could have wished, did result in great benefit to our party in Ohio because it laid the foundation for carrying out the Cleveland agreement made with Governor Foraker and his associates to do away with these factional fights in the State.
I do not consider that Governor McKinley was placed in any false position by what was done. I do not consider that the administration have any right to criticize his actions because of his friends ^ — and I was at the head of it — took the responsibility of doing just what we did do. Governor McKinley's position to-day as the result of all that transpired at Minneapolis is in the best possible shape for his future. His bearing and conduct and personal magnetism won the hearts and respect of everybody.
So much for the nomination.
And now let me say a word about what is to follow. I am sorry to say that the re-nomination of President Harrison seemed to fall like a wet blanket upon those in attendance upon the convention outside of the ones most interested in his nomination. I found a good deal of that same feeling in Chicago where I spent Sunday ; and on my return home I learn that the feeling here is even more intense in that direction. There is an utter indifiference manifested toward his success, and I want to go 3n record now by saying that nothing except a change of his manner and policy toward the leaders of the party and the utmost consideration toward the men who have contributed so much by their efiforts and work m the ranks of the party will save President Harrison from defeat in next November.
I have heard such talk that the attitude of Ohio in the convention would be visited by his displeasure toward our State as to affect the political prospects of our leaders in Ohio. Therefore I can only say to Mr. Harrison and his friends that any of that sort of feeling or talk will greatly endanger the prospects of his carrying even Ohio. I know that I am as well qualified to speak for the Northern part of the State as any other man, and he knows the loyalty and the support that he has had from the business and manufacturing interests of Cuyahoga County in the past, so that should there be any manifestation of that kind toward Ohio he would lose all the material aid and support that did so much for him in '88. I do not use this language as a threat but more as a warning that it would be a dangerous experiment for the President's friends to take any such attitude toward Ohio. For my part I feel loyal enough to the party to do all I can to secure the success of the ticket next Fall if the proper spirit is shown by the managers of the campaign, and I hope and trust that will be done. Yours truly,
M. A. HANNA.
394 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
The action of the Ohio delegation at the Conven- tion, notwithstanding the fact that it became among Ohio partisans a subject of vindictive charges and criticisms, was in accordance with Hanna's wishes. Among other things it was charged that the support of Foraker's faction was not given in good faith but in order to put McKinley in a false light by advancing him as a candidate when his defeat was a matter of certainty. Even Charles Grosvenor, a recognized ad- herent of the Hanna faction, was skeptical as to its effects." Hanna found excellent reasons, on the other hand, for congratulation: The Ohio delegation had for the first time in more than a decade been a practical unit;'" a working agreement had been reached with Foraker; and Ohio Republicans escaped embarrass- ments connected with the derelict Harrison adminis- tration. Hanna realized the positive advantages of his position, felicitated Foraker for his cooperation, ignored the "foolish talk" connected with the action of the delegation and trusted time to educate "friends on bo.h sides. . . . to do away with these factional jealousies."^^
The election returns insured the defeat of Har- rison and contributed definitely to McKinley's avail-
" On June 14, he wrote Sherman as follows : "The casting of the vote of Ohio for McKinley at the time it was given was not in my opinion good politics. It was simply putting the Ohio men in an attitude of hostility to the administration without a possibility of his nomination. On the whole, the men who sneered at us at Chicago four years ago, Clarkson, Payne, Alger, Piatt, Warner Miller, Fessenden and others got a pretty serious set- back." Sherman MSS., June 14, 1892.
*" McKinley alone of the Ohio delegation had cast his vote for Harrison.
-^Foraker, op. cit., I, pp. 449-450.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1806 395
ability in 1896. Ohio was carried by the Republicans but by the narrowest plurality in a national election since the Republicans had gained control of the state. One Cleveland elector was elected, and the average plurality of the Republican ticket did not exceed 1,000 votes. Ohio was beyond the shadow of a doubt a pivotal state whose interests must be carefully con- sulted in the future. The period of the incoming ad- ministration was one which would doubtless have proved disastrous to any party. Legislation touching upon any phase of the national fiscal system was certain to bring disastrous political results, and yet the situa- tion was such that it could not have been ignored. As in 1884, Cleveland had inherited "a condition and not a theory" in respect to keeping the nation's finances balanced. Tariff reform was attempted in conformity with the campaign pledge, and an attempt was made to secure the gold reserve through repealing the silver coinage act. The sale of bonds to prevent the treasury reserve from becoming depleted convinced impatient debtors that the finances were again being manipulated to the interests of Wall Street. More favorable cir- cumstances for an opposition party, and incidentally the program of Mark Hanna, could scarcely have been imagined. It only remained for him and his co-work- ers to turn the opportunity to account.
Meanwhile, developments were maturing in state and nation which were to make the political struggle of 1896 an epochal event — the first important Presi- dential contest since that of 1860. Preceding the re- election of Cleveland, the country had enjoyed above a decade of practically uninterrupted prosperity, and
396 Ohio ArcJi. and Hist. Society Publications
no popular reaction to dominant tendencies greater than could be bridged by the oscillation of control from one party to the other had arisen. At the same time the great West had been settled as far as the Rocky Mountains, and the lands of western Kansas and Ne- braska had been capitalized in a spirit of over-confi- dence in their productivity; new farms had extended the production of agricultural commodities in excess of the world's demand. Railway mileage had been ex- tended upon an unprecedented scale and with faith in the future to secure adequate returns." In all these activities, credits had frequently been extended in be- half of expectations that had fallen short of realization. Farmers suffered severely — prices of commodities fell so low that they were unable to meet their obligations, and many lost their farms. Industrial depression and unemployment were augmented by these circumstances. The contraction of credit extended itself to the national treasury, and it became doubtful whether the govern- ment could maintain gold payments — especially in the face of a persistent exportation of that metal. As in 1876 it was only natural that men embarrassed by these circumstances should lend a sympathetic ear to some scheme of public credit. A free issuance of silver money to take the place of a credit system that had all but evaporated, again had the appearances of a logical solution to the difficulty. As under former circum-
^' Railways were also constructed with motives other than their divi- dend earning capacity. The relationship between the East and the South and West was, at the time at least, in many respects similar to that be- tween European nations and the outlying regions of the world which had been placed under imperialistic control.
Ohio in National Politics, i86^-i8p6 397
stances it side-stepped the "system of extortion" of the national banks.
The movement to achieve a program in conformity with the objective just outHned was naturally along lines of economic interests, rather than those of for- merly accepted party lines. The burden of depression rested most heavily upon the debtor and laboring classes — the farmer and the propertyless. The ques- tion was, would these classes be able to strike hands in common opposition to the established system of fi- nance and industry? The threat had gained momen- tum at the time that the most extreme form of Re- publicanism was registering its fiscal policy of 1890. The cloud gathered in the west and swept eastward with unexpected momentum.
In May, 1891, representatives of the discontented classes met in National Convention in Cincinnati and sought to give principles advocated in earlier conven- tions and held primarily in the West, a nation-wide significance. Their problem held all the complexities that naturally accompany such circumstances; there could be no unity as to how far established ideas were to be discarded, nor just what lines the program for the future should follow.^^ The new movement of
'^One observer was struck by the array of discordant elements and described their dilemma with a note of cynicism : "Perhaps never in the history of politics were there gathered together a more incongruous body than that which yesterday morning began its sessions at Cincinnati. There is not one element whose ideas are not violently antagonized by half a dozen other elements and no two elements probably that agree exactly upon the same thing. Here, for instance, are the various Farmers' Alli- ances, representing a vast class of men who recognize a day's work of anyone :n their employ as beginning as soon as the dew is off the grass and lasting as long as one can see in the evening, meeting with the Knights of Labor, and hundreds of industrial unions, whose cardinal idea is the
398 Oliio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
discontent was significant, therefore, even beyond the immediate circumstances connected with the threat- ened revolt: it indicated the practical value of party dogma in having secured unity in the past: it also revealed a new problem for the future in case the older parties lost their validity in the face of discour- aging realities.
There was, of course, no way of determining in advance just how high the tide of discontent would rise. The more threatening it became the more interest it was bound to enlist from the leadership of the old parties. Each naturally attempted to stem it in behalf of its own interests, while in its incipient stages, through the hitherto effective device of ambiguous platform phrasing and a more intensive use of other party in- struments. Leaders identified with conservative poli- cies anxiously hoped that they would prove adequate for the purpose. , >
reduction of a day's work to eight hours. Here are the enthusiastic Kansas men demanding above all other things the organization of a new political party, yet seeking to coalesce with the cunning Bourbon politi- cians of the South who have no use for Farmers' Alliances or anything of the sort except as they may be used for putting the old Democratic party in power.
Here are the laboring men of the North, East and West, who know more keenly than they have ever known before that the very life breath of American industry is involved in maintaining the principle of protection, yet striving to strike hands with cranky 'doctrinaires' on one side and Jeflferson Davis's principles on the other, whose devotion is as fanatical as a Mussulman's is for free trade.
There are organizations which look with undisguised contempt upon all the machinery of secret rituals, grips and pass words, yet whose mem- bers, nevertheless, are met to form a political alliance with other organiza- tions into whose meetings they cannot secure a moment's admittance with- out first giving the necessary 'sign' . . . ." Ohio State Journal, May 20, 1891, reproduced in the Ohio Arch, and Hist. Soc. Pub., Vol. XXV, pp. 149 ff.
Ohio in National Politics, 1863-1896 399
As was the case a score of years earlier, the tide struck most menacingly at the strongholds of the Demo- cratic party. The region west of the Mississippi was most strongly affected by the inequalities of a fluctuat- ing credit system; even under normal circumstances farm mortgages operated as a sort of refined absentee- ism in drawing off scant accumulations; and indebted- ness effected a pressure which defied the laws of "sup- ply and demand" in stabilizing markets.'* It was no chance circumstance that the "sixteen to one" program offered an appeal to men who faced such untoward realities.
The Ohio canvass following the Cincinnati Alli- ance Convention of 1891 brought a sense of uneasiness to men prominent in each of the major parties. Sher- man knew that his continuance in the Senate was threatened and declared that eastern men were not fully awake to the recurring danger. He answered Alliance advocates by extolling the financial system as it was — a system that made 77 cents worth of silver the equal of a dollar in gold.'^ He was, moreover, aggrieved when Campbell, the Democratic candidate for gov- ernor, did not readily shoulder the embarrassments of economic heresy.
And there were patent reasons for the Ohio Dem- ocracy attempting to remain impervious to a recru- descent Jacksonianism. By dismissing the financial
" The cause of the farmer during this period has not as yet been adequately treated. His heresies have been fought and grievances acknowl- edged but their origin and extent have not been adequately surveyed.
^ Accordingly free coinage would demonetize gold, which constituted one-half the coin in circulation, and drive it from the country. Cf. Sher- man, Recoil., II, p. 1133.
400 Ohio Arch, mid Hist. Society Publications
issue in 1880, the party had declared a truce and sig- nalized itself a convenient alternative to Republicanism. The subsequent promotion of the Payne candidacy had not only been an attempt to end the regime of men identified with a passing tradition but also a positive efifort to place the party in direct harmony with the interests which had consistently thwarted it. During the decade of the eighties, Ohio Republicans might well be alarmed at seeing their own ground so rapidly usurped by Democratic polity. Even Democratic tar- iff declarations were so worded that Republicans could impute danger for various protected interests only by attributing extravagant interpretations. A partisan of the type of C. H. Grosvenor had been apparently more alarmed at seeing an outright protectionist like Payne elected to the Senate in 1884, than he was concerned with the questionable methods by which the election was secured.'® The action of a Democratic President in 1887 in declaring for a general tariff reduction had been as great a source of embarrassment to many Ohio Democrats as it had been a source of gratification to Republicans.
^ Grosvenor testified as follows before the Ohio investigating com- mittee in 1886 : "I did not hear that Mr. Payne was a candidate during the canvass. I had no knowledge of his being a candidate or that any person was proposing him. When I first heard about it, some time, perhaps, in December — I met a number of gentlemen in Cincinnati, Republicans. I met them one at a time; and then finally we had a meeting in the evening of three or four of us. We decided then that somebody was making a serious effort to nominate Mr. Payne, and we volunteered to endeavor to defeat Mr. Payne's election because of the supposed perils that we thought would result to the Republicans in Ohio by his election. And I may say wherein that existed as we understood it. We had made the campaign largely on the question of the protective tariff and free trade. We had lost the state, nevertheless. We thought — ^that was the opinion of the party
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896
401
Following the election of 1889, Payne had not, it is true, been returned to the Senate. But his successor
CALVIN STEWART BRICE
Entered the Union Army as a volunteer in April. 1861, and served to July, 1865, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel ; United States Senator, March 4, 1891-.March 3, 1897.
in no wise represented a denial of the method and at- titude that had previously triumphed. Calvin S. Brice,
that I consulted with — that the election of Mr. Payne, himself an avowed protectionist, would be an injury to the party in the country, because we believed it would be giving a false position to the Democratic party on that leading issue that we had made in the state. The Cleveland Leader
Vol. XXXVII— 26.
402 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
although he had some years before estabHshed himself in New York City, awarded the honor to himself: the election formed a striking climax to a spectacular career. Thenceforth the new incumbent was resolved to make the fortunes of the Democratic party his own. In temperament and attitude Brice presented points of contrast to his opponent, Mark Hanna. Whereas the latter impressed one as an aggressive and prosperous business man, Brice's wiry and slight stature suggested the type that secures results by indirect method. An abundance of sandy hair and a beard of similar nature bespoke his Scottish ancestry. A prominent nose and deep set sapphire eyes pronounced him a man of "gen- erous disposition" and "singular mental alertness." Newspapers sometimes caricatured him as "the smart- est man in America." His physical make-up and career presented a study in contrasts, and it was not completely out of the nature of things that this son of a Presby- terian minister, born in the Black Swamp wilderness of north-western Ohio, should become a master manip- ulator of industrial interests and politics.'^
and Herald, then a separate and independent paper, independent in the sense of not being merged at that time, and the Sunday Voice, edited by- Mr. Hodge, had all begun vociferously to endorse and further the election of Mr. Payne. It was decided that I should go up to Cleveland and see if I could not pull ofif that Republican support from him . . . ." Senate Misc. Docs., 49th Cong., 1st Sess., No. 106, p. 78.
In 1884 only three Ohio Democrats out of a total of fifteen in the House voted for the enacting clause of the Morrison Bill — a measure that provided for a horizontal reduction. Cong. Rcc, 49th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 3908.
^ Myers, op. cit.,, p. 267 ff., contains an arraignment of Brice's character and methods. Mercer and Vallandigham, Representative Men of Ohio, pp. 28-36, and Winter, History of Northwestern Ohio, vol. I, p. 287 flf., contain brief biographies.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 403
Brice's career in business, as that of Hanna, fur- nished an enlightening clue to his method and attitude in poHtics. After graduating from the Ann Arbor Law School he had attempted to establish a legal practice at Lima. A few years later he became associated with Foster, Samuel Thomas and others in various schemes of railroad promotion. Among others, the Ohio Cen- tral and the Nickel Plate roads were built, the former paralleling the Hocking Valley and the latter the New York Central. Through manipulation, each venture was made to realize munificent profits for their pro- moters; the returns on the latter road, which was sold to the Vanderbilts, were reputed to have enabled Brice to become a fixture on Wall Street. ^^
Party traditions counted for little in the politics of such men as Brice."^ His ideal, like Hanna's, was po- Htical results. "Reforms" or readaptations to the newer industrial age that looked to greater measures of popular justice were as foreign to his imagination as had been the building of railroads for legitimate pubHc service. He had been active in Democratic poli- tics since 1876, when he had been a delegate to the National Convention. In 1888, he escorted the Ohic delegation to the St. Louis Convention on a special train. He was chosen as the Ohio member of the National Democratic Committee and became the chairman of
^ Brice's interests also extended to the promotion of a road in the Gogebic range, the Tennessee and Georgia Southern System and extensive enterprises in China.
Cf. Mercer and Vallandigham, o[>. cif., p. 31 and Frank G. Carpenter's interview in Buffalo Illustrated Express, June 12, 1892.
^ Myers relates that when Brice became a lawyer he and his partner flipped a coin in order to determine their respective party affiliations. Myers op. at., p. 269.
404 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
the Campaign Committee. In that capacity he spon- sored a scheme of converting western states, especially Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois to the Democratic ticket. He and his committee were suspected of party treason. Newspapers derisively caricatured him as the "Rain- bow Chaser," and charges were made that he had be- come annexed to Quay's organization. After the elec- tion he imitated Zach. Chandler in 1876 in telegraphing that his candidates had been elected.
In claiming the Senatorial honor Brice had "par- alleled" his competitors just as effectively as had the Payne agents six years earlier. Moreover, the can- didate had been more directly connected with the manipulations. His associate in railroad affairs, Charles Foster, had been hopeful of obtaining the honor in case of Republican success. But the pupil bested the master, and the latter was compelled to ac- cept a "lame duck" appointment in Harrison's cabinet.^"
But Democratic optimism aroused by the success of 1889 was short lived: Campbell's candidacy for re-elec- tion in 1891 was unable to withstand Hanna's efficiency. The young Governor's hopes, damaged by defeat, be- came evanescent as it became evident that the Hill forces of New York were to be over-ridden by Cleve- land's renomination. The Ohio state delegation pro- fessed no common program beyond an expectation of acting "for the best interests of the party." Brice, Campbell, Lawrence T. Neal of Ross County and Rob- ert Blee of Cuyahoga were chosen to head the delega-
™ Myers, op. clt., pp. 286-293, o.tlines the activities of a bi-partisan machine in connection with Brice's election. For an account of Payne's attitude in the confirmation of Foster, see Lloycl, Wealth against Common- wealth, p. 400.
Ohio in Notional Politics, 1865-1896 405
tion. No one professed to know with any degree of accuracy just what was to be done. Brice, through his relationship with Gorman's "Senatorial Syndicate," was interested in any scheme which promised to defeat the ex-President's renomination. Newspapers circu- lated reports of his reputed offer to bet $1,000 that Cleveland would be re-nominated and defeated. Camp- bell headed a faction of the state delegation that was known to be inclined to join Whitney's procession in reindorsing the ex-President. Henry Watterson at the same time declared that the former Ohio Governor was not so strong for Cleveland but that the Anti-Cleveland forces would be willing to support him.^^ Cleveland's manager, however, had his organization of delegations completed in time to secure a renomination on the first ballot. The result indicated that every prominent can- didate had made inroads among the Ohio delegates. Boies led with sixteen. Cleveland secured thirteen. Hill six, and Gorman and Carlisle secured five each. The delegation was not, therefore, sufficiently "in" in re- spect to the nomination to secure great influence with the administration after its inauguration.^'
Brice's grip upon his party became less firm with the progress of events during 1894 and 1895. Various
^' Interview in the Chicago Post, June 16, 1892. Campbell supported Cleveland.
^ The nearest approach to an outright sensation afforded by the Convention was an attempt of Neal, the Ohio member of the Committee on Resolutions, to secure a free trade plank in the platform. On the strength of his convention performance he was nominated for governor in opposition to McKinley the following year. His overwhelming defeat was a tribute to McKinley 's rising popularity, and a result in part of the general reaction which was already setting in against the Cleveland ad- ministration.
406 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
forces began to crystallize against him in spite of a publicity campaign which he directed in support of his interests. As the "free silver" issue gained momentum various leaders, who had been compelled to stand aside in the past, grew in influence. Among them was Allen William Thurman, '''' who had been passed over as a delegate to the Convention in 1892 because he was too pronounced in his support of Cleveland. Another was General A. J. Warner of Marietta, who was willing to lead a crusade for silver irrespective of party lines. In the north-western section of the state, L. E. Holden ex- pressed his convictions and defied Brice to declare ex- plicitly for a single standard. The Cincinnati Enquirer endorsed "free silver" with an enthusiasm equal to that of 1876. Each joined in the common cause of attempt- ing to force a specific declaration into the state platform of 1895. But Brice succeeded in procuring a statement as ambiguous as the one Sherman had at the same time written for the Republican platform. Thurman, who headed the opposition to Brice in the Convention and had failed, contented himself with picking phrases from the "revolving platform" which gave him com- fort. Campbell was nominated for a third time, al- though he had insisted that he was "too poor" to make the contest.
Brice was compelled to ward off opposition from still another angle. His activity in the Senate, con- nected with his inability to make a creditable public address and an insistence that a citizen of "Yorkohio" could not speak for Ohio interests, compelled a counter publicity. His acts of public charity and interests in
Son of the ex-Senator.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 407
pension services to old soldiers became subject matter in many stereotyped editorials.'* His remarks before the Democratic State Convention in 1895 were estab-
MARCUS ALONZO HANNA United States Senator, March 6, 1897-January 15, 1904
lished as proof that he could acquit himself creditably in that respect. At that very moment, however, he
^* The following defence was addressed from Washington and ap- peared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and a great number of other papers during the campaign of 1895: "There are over 15,000 (pension) cases on his books in which he is aiding the soldiers to secure pensions. A num- ber of these have been allowed — some original, some renewals and many increases. His labors in this field have been prodigious, and when properly
408 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
had reached the zenith of his power/^ His platform had been made the confession of faith of his party; and his name was beside the President's as deserving commendation in respect to the fight for tariff reform \^^ But the recurrent "Ohio idea" was rapidly passing be- yond his control, and the preliminaries of the Demo- cratic Convention in 1896 evinced a more stubborn de- termination to abandon the ambiguous phrasing of 1895.
Both Brice and Campbell had hoped that the silver "craze" would pass before the summer of 1896. The latter desired, as did McKinley, to make the tariff the pivot of popular interests during the campaign. He had, during the summer of 1895, been willing to de- clare for "free and unlimited coinage of silver," but insisted that it must be "AT ITS PROPER RATIO."" During the summer of 1896, however, a new and clever escape from the dilemma opened itself to conservative men of both parties. Campbell declared his willing- ness to accept it in an open letter to W. R. Hearst, dated June 4. His conviction was that free silver was inevitable, and that it should receive international ac- ceptance at a convention to be called at Washington.
and thoroughly understood will call forth high praise rather than censure, and nobody knows this better than the many old soldiers whom he has served.
In January, 1893, he distriibuted 100 tons of coal and 100 barrels of flour to the poor of Lima. He received extensive newspaper publicity for the act.
^^ Mercer and Vallandigham state that Brice practically financed the campaign of 1895. Cf. Mercer and Vallandigham, op. cit., p. 35.
""Brice, as a member of Gorman's "Senatorial Syndicate" which de- feated the intentions of Cleveland's tariff program in 1894, was un- doubtedly uppermost in the President's mind when he wrote his famous letter to Representative Catchings.
'' Cf . Toledo Bee, May 14, 1895.
Ohio ill National Politics, 1865-1896 409
Tariff favors should be extended to those nations agreeing to the bimetallic standard; in case no nation agreed, the United States should declare for it on its
WILLIAM McKINLEY
Enlisted as Private in the War for the Union and rose to the rank of Captain; brevetted Major; Representative in Congress of the United States, March 4, 1877-May 21, 1881 ; March 4, 188o-March 3, 1891 ; Governor of Ohio, January 11, 18fl2-January 13, 1896; President of the United States, March 4, 1897-September 14, 1901 ; when he died, September 14, 1901, as a result of wounds at the hand of an assassin, September 6, 1901.
own responsibility and fix a date, ''for instance, Janu- ary 1, 1899, for meeting gold and silver on equal terms." He was not a candidate for the Presidency but would accept in case the nomination was tendered.
410 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
But the State Convention in 1896 fell completely under the control of the "sixteen to one" silver men. Brice and Campbell were completely routed. In con- sequence John R. McLean reached the height of his political influence; the state delegation was committed to his dictation, and he was recognized as the "favorite son" for the Presidency of the United States. Thur- man was later vindicated through an appointment to the Committee on Resolutions. And the prospects con- tinued favorable to an acceptance of the latest version of the "Ohio idea" and a nomination of a candidate who had unequivocally endorsed it.
The story of the Democratic Convention in Chicago is one of the most familiar in national history.^' The outcome indicated definitely that the farmers and the masses who had been subjected to economic distress were ready to turn to the Federal government for a redress of their grievances. It was more than a mere demand for "soft money" for the sake of "repudiat- ing" debts. Specific remedies had their place, but be- hind these was a general urge that the masses be given a greater share in the matter of governmental policies. Such ends naturally involved a direct threat to the order of things as they were.
While it is not the way of heresies, in any age, to be greatly concerned with the consequences of their doctrines upon established practices and creeds, neither is the heresy spared the distorting invective and ridicule at the hand of the intrenched power. These observa- tions hold true in respect to the battle of 1896. The
''The nomination of William Jennings Bryan on a free coinage of silver platform.
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(411)
412 OJiio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
national credit system had assumed the form of a huge inverted pyramid, and men could only speculate as to the consequences in case silver inflation was made to strike at the base of the financial structure, "Bryan- ism" was therefore more than a taint of socialism; in terms of opposition propaganda, it even transcended repudiation: "the campaign from beginning to end was marked with such a flood of blasphemy, of taking God's name in vain, as this country, at least, has never known before. . . . Why, almost every appeal made by Bryan, or for him, has been addressed directly to the covetousness, the envy, and all the unhallowed passions of human nature."^^ Prominent clergymen joined in denouncing the dishonesty connected with paying debts in coin worth only fifty cents to the dollar. One de- clared the platform "had been made in hell" and an- other characterized Bryan as "a mouthing, slobbering demagogue, whose patriotism was all in his jawbone"." The candidate's frank appeal to class interest threat- ened to defy even the threats of unemployment that were thrust before the eyes of wavering laborers. Varied emotional and intellectual appeals were re- sponsible for a great popular hesitation to embrace a program which promised the consequences of a revo- lution. Business men acknowledged their conviction as to the seriousness of the struggle through the magnitude of the campaign budget.
In time of depression, "prosperity" has an appeal like "peace" in time of war. In that fact Hanna found his opportunity. A publicity campaign was launched;
New York Tribune quoted in Lingley, Since the Civil War, p. 373 Bryan, The First Battle, pp. 473-474.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 413
its object was to make Republicanism, protectionism and prosperity synonymous with the candidacy of William McKinley. The slogan became a living symbolism through newspaper editorials and cartoons; it fixed it- self upon the popular imagination much as the colors of the rainbow fired the enthusiasm of the ancient He- brews in time of flood. It was an altogether fitting climax to the gospel of Republicanism which had been in process since the foundation of ;he republic.
Other great labors were yet to be exacted, however, in case success were not to prove elusive. Powerful leaders must be reconciled to the proposed order in suffi- cient numbers to secure a cooperating organism. Mc- Kinley's attractive and ingratiating personality served good purposes in this respect." He was able to attract friends and admirers when they were most needed. Before eastern managers of political afifairs had bestirred themselves, Hanna and McKinley with their co-workers had achieved substantial results. In order to devote his entire time to politics, Hanna with- drew from active business interests. He rented a house in Thomasville, Georgia, as a winter residence. He was joined by McKinley as a guest, and the latter was given an opportunity of ingratiating himself with influ- ential southern leaders. Eastern managers were beaten at their own game in seizing these "rotten boroughs" as political pawns. According to Piatt, "He [Hanna] had
*^ H. H. Kohlsaat relates a story illustrative of a rare quality in human nature. McKinley was approached by an office seeker whose re- quest could not be granted. Before dismissing the applicant McKinley presented him with a flower from the button hole of his coat as a token for his wife. The man went away happier than if the original request had been granted. Saturday Evening Post, May 13, 1922.
414 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
the South practically solid before some of us waked up." *' Various western states were brought to McKin- ley's support by devious methods. Pro-McKinley or- ganizations were established in every state worthy of the contest, and no opportunity was overlooked in rep- resenting McKinley's nomination as inevitable.*^ All were encouraged to join the procession while that action appeared to be a rational choice rather than a belated act of necessity.
The canvass was not without its periods of discour- agement. Shortly before McKinley made his canvass for the governorship in 1893, a friend, whose business was secured by the Governor's signature, went into bankruptcy. It was soon discovered that McKinley's liabilities were many times greater than he could hope to meet. Friends came immediately to the rescue; criti- cism was forestalled; the obligations were more than met; and McKinley's reputation for honesty was ef- fectively enhanced.** People of limited means ex- pressed their esteem in contributing collectively a con- siderable sum. The Governor's re-election was subse- quently secured by the largest majority accorded any candidate since the defeat of Vallandigham in 1863.
Another source of danger became evident when the "bosses" of other states became fully aware of the progress of the McKinley "Boom." Various devices were sprung on all hands in order to offset a political
*^ Piatt, Autobiography, p. 331.
*' Croly, op. cit., Chapter XIV, is an excellent detailed description of Hanna's and McKinley's efforts.
** Cf . Kohlsaat's account in the Saturday Evening Post, May 13, 1922, and Olcott, Life of IVitliam McKinley, Vol. I, pp. 288-292.
Repub/ican Democratic
The comparafive majorifies are /'ncficcrfed by shading -f he hea^'/er //nes representing the /arger majorifies.
(415)
416 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
movement which had not been made with due reference to the confronted interests. "Favorite son" candidacies were encouraged in various sections of the union in order to effect an opportunity for an aUiance along more acceptable lines. Hanna's organization of the "Solid South" was endangered, and there was no way of de- termining just how far the opposition was proving ef- fective.*' McKinley's popularity continued to gain strength, however, and opposition gradually weakened in the face of it.
But, notwithstanding the growing popularity of the candidate and the many circumstances favoring Hanna's plans, there were difficulties yet to be overcome. The irrepressible Foraker gained control of the State Convention in 1895, and, with the aid of George B. Cox, who had placed Cincinnati under machine control, put through his slate as the state ticket. All state precedents were broken when a resolution was passed endorsing Foraker as a candidate for the Senate.''^ Although For- aker had succeeded in taking control of the state organi- zation, which was to cause Hanna trouble in the future, McKinley was duly endorsed for the Presidential nomi- nation.
While the silver issue was wrecking the Cleveland administration, it carried serious threats at the same time for the Republicans. The party threatened to divide just as the Democrats had done. McKinley's record had been equivocal in the past; he had voted for the Bland free-silver bill in 1877 and for the passage of the Bland-
*'Cf. Croly, op. cit.. Chapter XIV.
"Foraker had, however, attempted to secure such a resolution in 1891.
Ohio ill National Politics, 1865-1896 417
Allison act over the veto of President Hayes in 1878. And his recent commitments on the subject had been designed to allay the demands for silver.*' The State Convention met early in the campaign year, and the nation awaited eagerly an announcement of the pro- gram. But a resort was made to ambiguous phrasing regarding "sound" and "untarnished" currency, and the use of both metals to be "kept at a parity by legislative restrictions" — phrases which had become all but thread- bare by services in platforms of both parties in the past.
McKinley's unwillingness to depart radically from his support of a bi-metallic standard promoted rather than retarded his candidacy. The resurrection of his silver record, for example, enabled at least one western state to instruct its delegates for him and at the same time declare for the free and unHmited coinage of silver.*^ Various spokesmen for the party were able to impute for their constituencies whatever doctrines best suited their purposes. Sherman was generously quoted by magazines and newspapers alike in support of the can-
"Cf. speeches and Addresses of William McKinley, p. 454. June 25, 1890, McKinley declared: "I do not want gold at a premium, I do not want silver at a discount, or vice versa, but I want both metals, side by side, equal in purchasing power and in legal tender quality, equal in power to perform the functions of money with which to do the business and move the commerce of the United States." He frequently commended the Sherman Law of 1890 as one which "purchases all the silver product of the United States and utilizes it as a part of the money currency of the country." Cf. Tippecanoe banquet speech as reported in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 1, 1891.
** Croly, op. cit.. p. 194.
Vol. XXXVII— 27.
418 Oliio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
didate's "soundness" on finances." McKinley continued to hope, even until the time of the National Convention, that the currency issue would be subordinated to that of protection.''*'
The duty of reconciling "gold" to McKinley's can- didacy, without at the same time creating too great a defection among the "silver" men, devolved upon Hanna. Although convinced on his own part, of the vital relationship between gold as a standard of values to banking operations, political expediency demanded that he appear to have his hand forced in regard to the matter. This was astutely managed in the Convention; and various other political managers were left to dispute among themselves the credit for the gold plank in the party platform." Hanna at any rate gained his great objective; a spectacular silver defection was precipitated, but it was undoubtedly kept within the lowest possible proportions under the circumstances." But even then McKinley was not satisfied but that the financial decla-
" An editorial extract from the Cincinnati Commercial, (May 1, 1896) was typical of the method of assuring anti-silver men that they had noth- ing to fear from McKinley : "We have not had the least doubt, at any time, that he was opposed to the free coinage of silver. We care not for any vote he may have given in the past. The logic of events has taught him as it has others, that free silver means ruin to the great interests and industries of the country."
^ Croly, op. cit., p. 193 ff.
" Piatt, Lodge, Kohlsaat and Foraker, each, claimed primary credit for the performance. Cf. Croly, op. cit., Chapter XV; Foraker, op. cit., I, Chapter XXVIII; Kohlsaat's article in the Saturday Eifening Post, May 27, 1922, and Piatt, Autobiography, p. 313 ff.
■" Disaffected California leaders could, for example, direct their con- stituents to the promised hope of an increased tariff on citrus fruits. Kohl- saat, op. cit., p. 120.
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420 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
ration had been altogether too explicit.''^ The Bryan movement gathered momentous headway during August and September ; and men f amihar with the situation be- lieved that, had the election been held at that time, the Nebraskan would have been elected. Nothing less than an intensive campaign to rectify the popular judgment could change the tide and save the day.
While Bryan traveled thousands of miles and ap- pealed directly to the masses with telling results, McKin- ley remained at his home in Canton. He received a con- stant stream of delegations, and exercised care that no untoward incidents should arise to create embarrass- ments. At the same time an army of speakers was or- ganized; literature, posters and buttons were distrib- uted by the car-load. The relative merits of gold and silver became matters of discussion even among school- boys. The Republican party drew heavily from the great banking and business interests to meet the sudden demand for financial ''education." Before the close of the campaign the Democratic tide had begun to ebb.
Mathematically, the election result was decisive. Bryan was defeated by a half million votes, and he did not carry one state identified primarily with industrial- ism nor any of the large cities where the great wealth of the nation was concentrated. But the defeated can- didate was inclined to be optimistic and regarded the rebuff as merely the results of "The First Battle". He found a measure of comfort in reflecting that the elec- toral college, a device that had been devised to check ir- responsible selections of Presidents, might have secured him a favorable majority had 20,000 more Democratic
' Croly, op. cit., p. 209.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 421
votes been cast in critical districts." The cause of ''free silver" had been defeated; but it was not a definite meas- ure of discontent that had failed to embrace "Bryanism" as a remedy for grievances.
The contest of 1896 may be regarded as marking a distinct epoch in national history. Many thoughtful men, who did not commit themselves to the silver pro- gram, were free in admitting that Bryan forces had been recruited because of certain untoward features in the economic structure. They were alarmed by Bryan's appeal to class and sectional interests; the respects in which the economic structure of society had thrust itself through the veneer of party organization were disquiet- ing. For men had in a groping manner become con- scious that certain forces had made inroads upon spheres of freedom which they had formerly held even above the government's intrusion." The conviction that politicians had been playing fast and free with popular grievances in return for political favor had a foundation in fact. After three decades the shadows of the sec- tional conflict had lifted, and in a less hampered atmos- phere a new humanistic doctrine was in the way of as- serting itself. The election had taken place at the very time that the agricultural frontier was no longer afford- ing an outlet for social pressure. The party in power had a manifold obligation in taking an inventory of re- sources to be commanded in making valid for the future the traditional promises of national life.
^ Bryan, op. cit., pp. 606-607.
"For a contemporary estimate of the social significance of the "Poli- tical Menace of the Discontented" see the Atlantic Monthly, Vol. LXXVIII, pp. 447-451.
422 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
The great referendum carried likewise a significant result in the political life of the commonwealth whose "favorite son" had been elevated to the Presidency. The tradition of the "Ohio man" appeared to have been vin- dicated. But of greater significance was the transition which had taken place since the close of the great sec- tional conflict. A defensive revolt against the advance- ment of the Industrial Revolution westward had been overridden ; the state was clearly within the zone which had formed the stronghold of the dominant forces.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A, Manuscript Sources. In the Library of Congress :
The William Allen Papers.
The Salmon P. Chase Papers.
The Thomas Ewing Papers.
The John Sherman Papers. In the Rutherford B. Hayes Memorial Library (Fremont, Ohio) .
The Rutherford B. Hayes Papers. In the Ohio Arch?eological and Historical Society Library :
Rutherford B. Hayes' Diary (typewritten copy).
B. Newspapers. Cincinnati Commercial. Cincinnati Commercial-Gazette. Cincinnati Daily Enquirer. Cincinnati Gazette. Cincinnati Nczvs Journal. Cleveland Herald. Cleveland Leader. Cleveland Plain Dealer. Columbus Gazette.
Dayton Daily Ledger.
Ohio State Journal (Columbus).
The Crisis (Columbus).
The Statesman (Columbus).
The Times (Columbus).
Toledo Blade.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 423
The following "scrap-books" contained very extensive col- lections of news items and editorials from great numbers of newspapers representing all sections of the country :
Scrap-books of newspaper clippings concerning Ohio politics and Calvin S. Brice. Seven volumes in the Library of the Wis- consin State Historical Society. (Shelf mark, F8921.)
The Sherman Scrap-books (In the Ohio State Library, Co- lumbus).
C. Periodicals.
American Historical Association, Annual Report, 1902, vol. 2, pp. 520-521.
Atlantic Monthly, vols. 20, 78 and 84.
Foniin, vol. 3.
Harper's Weekly, 1865- 1896.
Harper's Magazine, vol. 72.
Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, Quarterly Pub- lication, vol. 8.
Nation, 1865- 1896.
Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society Publications, vols. 22, 25 and 31.
Saturday Evening Post, May 13, 1922, and numbers follow- ing.
D. Political Documents.
Adel, J. G. — Official Report of the Proceedings and Debates of the Third Constitutional Convention of Ohio, 4 vols., Cleve- land, r873.
Appletons Annual Cyclopedia, New York, 1865-1896.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Annual Report, Columbus, 1877- 1889.
Congressional Globe, Washington, 1865-1873.
Congressional Record, Washington, 1865- 1893.
House Reports, Forty-eighth Cong., 2nd Sess., No. 2681, and Fifty-first Cong., 2nd Sess., vol. i, No. 3446.
McPherson, Edward — A Hand Book of Politics for iSyd and i878. Washington, 1876 and 1878.
Ohio Secretary of State. Annual Report to the Governor of Ohio, 1 870- 1 876.
Senate Miscellaneous Documents, Forty-ninth Cong., First Sess., No. 106.
Tribune Almanac, New York, 1865- 1896.
424 OJiio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
E. Biographical.
Brinkerhoff, General Roeliff — Recollections of a Life-time, Cincinnati, 1900.
Cox, Samuel S. — Three Decades of Federal Legislation, Providence, 1856.
Croly, Herbert — Marcus Alonzo Hanna — His Life and Work, New York, 191 2.
Foraker, Joseph Benson — Notes of a Busy Life, 2 vols. (2nd ed.), Cincinnati, 1916.
Hamilton, Gail, pseud. — Biography of James G. Blaine, Nor- wich, Conn., 1895.
Hoar, George Frisbie — Autobiography of Seventy Years, 2 vols.. New York, 1903.
Ke:r, Winfield S. — John Sherman — His Life and Public Service, 2 vols.. New York, 1908.
Mercer, James K. and Vallandigham, C. N. — Representative Men of Ohio, Columbus, 1896.
McCabe, James D. — The Life and Public Services of General James A. Garfield, Fond du Lac, Wis., 1881.
Oberholtzer. E. P. — Jay Cooke — Financier of the Civil War, 2 vols., Philadelphia, 1907.
Olcott, Charles S. — The Life of William McKinley, 2 vols., Boston, 1916.
Piatt, Thomas Collier — Autobiography. Edited by Louis J. Lang, New York, 1910.
Schuckers, J. W. — The Life and Public Services of Salmon P. Chase, New York, 1874.
Schurz, Carl — Reminiscences, 3 vols.. New York, 1907-1908.
Schurz, Carl — Speeches, Correspondence and Political Pa- pers of Carl Schurc. Frederick Bancroft, editor. 6 vols., New York, 19 1 3.
Sherman, John — Recollections of Forty Years in the House. Senate and Cabinet, 2 vols.. New York, 1895.
Thayer, W. R. — Life and Letters of John Hay, 2 vols., Bos- ton, 1915.
Vallandigham, James L. — A Life of Clement L. Vallandig- hawir, Baltimore, 1872.
Ward, Elizabeth Probasco — Life, Speeches and Orations of Durbin Ward of Ohio, Columbus, 1888.
Warden, Robert B. — An Account of the Private Life and Public Services of Salmon P. Chase, Cincinnati, 1874.
Whitlock, BrsLud— Forty Years of It, New York, 1914.
Williams, Charles Richard— 7/i^ Life of Rutherford Birch- ard Hayes, 2 vols., Boston, 1914.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 425
F. Special Studies.
Bogart, Ernest Ludlow — Financial History of Ohio, Urbana Champaign, 19 12.
Chaddock, Robert E. — Ohio before 1850, a study of the influence of Pennsylvania and Southern populations on Ohio. (Columbia University Studies in History, Economics and Public Law, vol. XXXI). New York, 1908.
Patterson, Isaac Franklin — The Constitutions of Ohio, Cleveland, 1912.
Porter, George H. — Ohio Politics during the Civil War Period. (Columbia University Studies in History, Economics and Public Law, vol. XL, No. 2.) New York, 1911.
G. General and Miscellaneous Works.
Andrews. E. Benjamin — The History of the Last Quarter Century in the United States, 1870-1895, 2 vols., New York, 1896.
Bible in the Public Schools, The. Cincinnati, 1870.
Blaine, James G. — Tzventy Years of Congress, 2 vols., Nor- wich, Conn., 1886.
Brice, S. M. — Financial Catechism and History of the Finan- cial Legislation of the United States, fifth publication, Winfield, Kans., 1890.
Buck. Solon Justus — The Granger Movement, Cambridge,
1913-
Commons, John R. and Associates — History of Labor in the United States, New York, 1918.
Dewey, Davis Rich — Financial History of the United States, seventh ed., New York, 1920.
Dewey, Davis Rich — National Problems, 1885-189/, New York, 1907.
Dunning, William A. — Reconstruction, Political and Eco- nomic, New York, 1907.
Dunning, William A. — The Second Birth of the Republican Party. American Historical Review, vol. XVI, pp. 56 ff.
Ford, Henry A. and Ford, Mrs. Kate B. — History of Cin- cinnati, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Cleve- land, 1881.
Gibson. Albert M. — A Political Crime, the History of the Great Fraud, New York, 1885.
Gilkey, Elliot Howard — The Ohio Hundred Year Book, Cin- cinnati, 1901.
Hawarth, Paul Leland— T/?^ Hayes-Tilden Disputed Presi- dential Election of 18/6, Cleveland, 1906.
426 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Hawarth, Paul Leland — United States in Our Oivn Times, i86yig20, New York, 1920.
Haynes, Fred E. — Third Party Movements since the Civil War, Iowa City, la., 1916.
History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio, Cincin- nati, Ohio, 1894.
History of Dayton, Ohio. Dayton, 1889.
Howe, Henry — Historical Collections of Ohio, 2 vols., Cin- cinnati, 1904.
Kennedy, James Harrison — A History of the City of Cleve- land; Its Settlement, Rise and Progress, 1796-18^6, Cleveland. 1896.
King, Rufus — Ohio, First Fruits of the Ordinance of i/Sy, Boston, 1888.
Lingley, Charles Ramsdell — Since the Civil War, New York, 1920.
Lloyd, Henry Demarest — Wealth against Commomvealth, New York, 1894.
McKinley, William — Speeches and Addresses of William McKinley, New York, 1893.
Mitchell, Wesley Clair — A History of the Greenbacks unth special reference to the economic consequences of their issue: 1862-1865, Chicago. 1903.
Myers, Allen O. — Bosses and Boodle in Ohio Politics, Cin- cinnati, 1895.
Noyes, Alexander Dana — Forty Years of American Finances (1863-ipo/), New York, 1909.
Oberholtzer, Ellis Paxson — A History of the United States, vols. I and H, New York, 1917 and 1922.
Orth, Samuel P. — A History of Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, 1910.
Patterson, Isaac Franklin — The Constitutions of Ohio, Cleve- land, 1912.
Paxson, Frederick L. — The New Nation, Boston, 1913.
Pearson, F. B. and Harlor, J. D. — Ohio History Sketches, Columbus, 1903.
_ Powell, Thomas E. — The Democratic Party of the State of Ohio, 2 vols., Columbus, 1913.
Randall, Emilius O., and Ryan, Daniel J. — History of Ohio; The Rise and Progress of an American- State, 5 vols.. New York, 1913-
Rhodes, James Ford — History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 to the Final Restoration of Home Rule in i8yy, 7 vols.. New York, 1906.
Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896 427
Rhodes, James Ford — History of the United States from Hayes to Mc Kinky, New York, 1918.
Roy, Andrew — A History of Coal Miners of the United States, Columbus, 1907.
Russell, Charles Edward — These Shifting Scenes, New York, 1914.
Smith, Joseph P. (editor) — History of the Republican Party in Ohio, 2 vols., Chicago, 1898.
Sparks, Edwin Erie — National Development, New York, 1907.
Stanwood, Edward — A History of the Presidency, 2 vols., New York, 1912.
Taussig, F. W. — The Tariff History of the United States (sixth edition), New York, 1913.
Taylor, William A. — Ohio in Congress from 180^ to ipoi, with Notes and Sketches of Senators and Representatives and Other Historical Data and Incidents, Columbus, Ohio, IQOO.
Taylor, William A. — Ohio Statesmen and Hundred Year Book, 1288 to 1892, Columbus, 1892.
Thomas, Harrison Cook — The Return of the Democratic Party to Potver in 1884. (Columbia University Studies in His- tory, Economics and Public Law, vol. LXXXIX, No. 2), New Yoik. 1 91 9.
Waggoner, Clark — History of the City of Toledo, New York, 1888.
Wallen, James — Cleveland's Golden Story, Cleveland, 1920.
Winter, Nevin O. — A History of Northwest Ohio, 2 vols., New York, 19 17.
OHIO STATE ARCHiCOLOCICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
REVIEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS
BY THE EDITOR
NEWLY ELECTED OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES
HENRY CLYDE SHETRONE
Henry Clyde Shetrone was born in Millersport. Fairfield County, Ohio, August 10, 1876. He was edu cated in the public schools and attended Denison Uni- versity. At an early age he became interested in archae- ology and museums and soon began gathering the litera- ture relating to these.
In 1913, the opportunity came to him to engage ac- tively in a work which had for years remained in the realm of his fondest desires. He was invited by Dr. William C. Mills, the late Director of the Society's Museum, to come into that institution as Assistant Curator of Archaeology. In this position he at once en- gaged actively in mound explorations, and through the years following became practically and thoroughly ac- quainted with the prehistoric mounds and earthworks of the Ohio Valley. Under the direction of Dr. Mills he explored the Hopewell Group, the Seip Group, and others of less importance. His publications include the official reports of explorations, as set forth in volume IV (428)
Reviczcs, Notes and Comuients 429
of the series, Certain Mounds and Village Sites in Ohio; a volume entitled, TJie Indian in Ohio, and a number of contributions to magazines and the press. He is, at pres- ent, engaged in the preparation of a book on the Mound
HEXRY CLYDE SHETRONE
Builders, which will later be issued by an eastern pub- lisher.
Mr. Shetrone is a veteran of the War with Spain, in which he was affiliated with the Signal Corps Service. After the War, he remained three years in Cuba as man-
430 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
ager and superintendent of telegraph for the Cuban gov- ernment. He subsequently was engaged in newspaper work prior to his appointment as Assistant Curator of Archaeology.
Soon after Dr. William C. Mills was elected Director of the Society, which took place on October 18, 1921. Mr. Shetrone was made Curator of Archaeology. On February 24, 1928, he was elected by the Board of Trustees Director of the Museum of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society.
The Society is fortunate in having a man of Mr. Shetrone's experience who is so especially fitted to carry on the work inaugurated by Dr, Mills.
HARLOW LINDLEY— LIBRARIAN AT SPIEGEL GROVE
Harlow Lindley, recently elected librarian of the Hayes Memorial Library at Spiegel Grove State Park, Fremont, Ohio, was born in Sylvania, Parke County, Indiana, May 31, 1875. He was educated in the public schools, at Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, and for brief periods in the University of Wisconsin and the University of Chicago.
He received the degree of A. M. from Earlham Col- lege, in 1899, and the degree of Litt. D. from Hanover College, Hanover, Indiana, in 1923.
From 1899 to the beginning of the present year, he was librarian at Earlham College and Professor of His- tory and Political Science in that institution from 1905. He was Director of the Department of History and Archives of the Indiana State Library from 1907-1923; Director of the Indiana Historical Commission 1923- 1924. He is a member of the American Historical As-
Reviews, Notes and Comments
431
sociation, the American Political Science Association and the Mississippi Valley Historical Association. He has written much on historical subjects relating chiefly to Indiana and the Northwest Territory.
HARLOW LINDLEY
Soon after his election he moved with his family to Fremont, Ohio, and entered actively upon the duties of his new position.
EMERSON F. GREENMAN Emerson F. Greenman was born at Owosso, Michi- gan, September 10, 1895. He was educated in the pub- lic schools of his native state and in the University of Michigan, from which he received his degree of Ph. D.
432 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
in 1927. For some years past he has been engaged in anthropological and arch?eological research work in Michigan. Recently he completed a catalogue of the Michigan Pioneer Museum at Lansing and was en-
EMERSON F. GREENAIAN
gaged in preparing for the transfer of the Michigan University Museum of Anthropology to its new build- ing in Ann Arbor. On February 24, 1928, he was chosen by the Board of Trustees to succeed Mr. Shet- rone as Curator of Archaeology.
Reviews, Notes and Comments 433
DEATH OF SENATOR FRANK BARTLETTE WILLIS
On the evening of March 28, 1928, when he was about to deliver an address in his campaign for the nomination of President of the United States, at a home-coming celebration in his honor at Gray Chapel, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, United States Senator Frank B. Willis was stricken and died while 2,500 of his friends and neighbors were waiting to hear him.
Senator Willis was born in Delaware County, Ohio, December 28, 1871.
The newspapers of the day following paid tribute to his character and worth. We quote here only a few lines from an editorial in the Detroit Free Press:
The death of Senator Frank B. Willis has robbed Ohio of a citizen of outstanding ability who served his state with dis- tinction and with devotion, and who made his mark far beyond the border of his native commonwealth ; it has deprived the Upper House of Congress of a member the body could ill afiford to lose in these days of its diminishing prestige, when men of genuine sen- atorial size — and Mr. Willis unquestionably was such a man — are becoming fewer and fewer within the precincts of the chamber.
This testimonial from a paper and a state that were not supporting Senator Willis for the presidency con- veys an intimation of the great loss that Ohio and the nation have sustained in his death. He was the friend of every worthy enterprise and institution in the state which he served with such distinguished ability. He was much interested in the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and seemed always alert to aid in its
Vol. XXXVII— 28.
434 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
upbuilding. To his sympathetic action was due the prompt transfer to this Museum of the silver service and bell of the Battleship Ohio, when that vessel was scrapped in accordance with the Washington Confer- ence agreement for the limitation of naval armaments. It was at a suggestion from his office that Dr. J. Morton Howell, the first Minister from the United States to Egypt, gave to the Museum the Egyptian mummy which attracts many visitors. From his office also came bound volumes of the Congressional Record covering the entire period of the World War and numerous other valuable documents.
Ohio officials, generally, have been good friends to the Society. None has been a better friend than Senator Frank B. Willis.
More may be said of him in these columns later. Less should not be said of him now.
JUST JUDGMENTS
There was a time when American history and biog- raphy written by American authors was a continued paean of praise. In the opinion of disinterested judges recent tendencies have been toward the opposite ex- treme. Our modern writers are devoting much time to the delinquencies of the so-called great. They are look- ing for the spots on the sun. They are examining news- papers and manuscript records with the evident purpose of showing weakness in the character of the public men of the past. So far as this tendency of the moderns is a reminder that the wise and good and great were not always so, that they had alloys of human foibles and
Reviezvs, Notes and Comments 435
frailties, that they had much in common with men whom we have all known in public life, — the modern tendency may be defended. It has its limitations, however.
It will be unfortunate indeed if the rising generation concludes from the portrayal that some modern writers are placing before us, that the men who have attained eminence in the public service have been masquerading in an attractive veneer to conceal their hypocrisy and rascality. The worth of a public servant is determined by his achievement. His character is revealed in the sum total of his life and activities. It is not fair to judge a public servant by the mean things that are said of him in the heat of a public campaign by his partisan oppon- ents; or by his factional opponents in contests within his party. If these were taken as a standard of judgment our statesmen of the past and present would present a very sordid and sorry picture in the history of our state and nation.
In this connection the Editor wishes to make a few observations on the principal contribution to this issue of the Quarterly. Dr. Moore devotes much space to the activities of prominent Ohioans in political conventions and campaigns. He has industriously and faithfully reported critical opinions of leaders prominent in the history of our state. Many whose opinions he has quoted were not themselves prominent and some belonged to the class that might properly be denominated "obscure." This of itself does not necessarily detract from their testimony. It must be remembered, however, as we have observed in a few notes on this contribution, that many of these opinions were pronounced under circumstances that were not favorable to just judgments. It would be
436 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
a serious mistake to reach conclusions in regard to the men thus criticised on the basis of their partisan or fac- tional detractors — as unjust as to pass an opinion on the fulsome laudation of their supporters.
After the criticisms of John Sherman that were aimed at him almost continuously through his notable and at times stormy career, the student and impartial reader will not forget his early espousal of the cause of the liberation of the slave ; his loyal and effective support of the Union through the Civil War ; and his great serv- ice in the United States Senate and the cabinet of Presi- dent Hayes that was so potent in bringing about a resumption of specie payments and the establishment of our monetary system upon a more substantial basis.
Nor will they forget the service of James A. Garfield in the Civil War ; his courageous advocacy of a sound and stable currency in the Congress of the United States ; and his effort, as President, to give the people a wise and just administration, a service in which he died with the words, "Strangulatus pro Republica" on his lips — "Tortured for the Republic."
They will not forget the services of Joseph Benson Foraker in the office of Governor and the United States Senate where his service in behalf of the liberation of Cuba entitles him to enduring fame. When the Cuban cause was in the balance in the upper branch of the American Congress, when the position of the adminis- tration itself was in doubt in regard to certain features of the Cuban question, the voice of Foraker rang out dis- tinctly without equivocation or compromise in favor of the independence of Cuba. The attitude of the United States government with reference to Cuba is remem-
Reviews, Notes and Comments 437
bered by the people of that Island with gratitude, and with respect by the civilized world. No man had more to do with the altruistic settlement of the War with Spain, so far as Cuba is concerned, than had Senator Foraker.
Nor will they forget William McKinley, who in the United States Congress labored long for the upbuilding of the industrial interests of the country ; who adminis- tered with increasing popularity the office of Governor ; and whose services in the Presidency of the United States brought a re-election by overwhelming major- ities to that high office. Like Garfield, he, too, gave his life to the service of his country.
Nor will the people forget Foster and Thurman and other leaders in both political parties who served their state and their country eminently and faithfully in the period following the Civil War — a period which, what- ever the personal defects or delinquencies of those in eminent authority may have been, has been character- ized by a progress unrivalled, we might say without ex- aggeration, in the history of the world.
To get a correct estimate of the men who have served in state and nation we must have the opinion of those who were their faithful followers, as well as of those who were their detractors. Fortunately, the materials are at hand from which historians of judicial tempera- ment may arrive at just conclusions.
OHIO, SCENIC AND HISTORIC There Is a growing interest in places of local scenic beauty and historic association. "See Ohio First," is now an effective appeal. It has finally caught the atten- tion of the public. The automobile has brought all parts
438 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
of the state within reach of a rapidly increasing number of its citizens and tourists from other states. The de- mand for information on points of local attractiveness, of course, keeps pace with the growing interest.
The issue of five thousand copies of Scenic and His- toric Ohio, originally compiled by P. H. Elwood, former Professor of Landscape Architecture in Ohio State Uni- versity, and published by the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society in 1924, was promptly exhausted. A second edition of twenty-five thousand copies, pub- lished in the following year, is now almost all distrib- uted. Provision will probably be made for its re-issue with corrections and additions.
The Ohio Department of Education is preparing a publication which will be illustrated by over three hun- dred cuts of interesting objects and sites in Ohio and accompanied by descriptive sketches. It will be avail- able to the public. This will materially assist tJiose wishing to select points to be visited.
PARTY POLITICS IN OHIO, 1 840-1 850'
BY EDGAR ALLAN HOLT, B. A., M. A., PH. D.
PREFACE
It has been my purpose in this study to trace the po- litical history of Ohio during the 'forties in relation to state and national problems. The period under investi- gation affords an interesting cross section of American political history, revealing appeals to party prejudice, conflicting economic and social interests, political ma- nipulations and "log-rollings," and the emergence of the Northwest as a powerful section demanding in vigorous terms a new consideration in the councils of the Na- tional Government. The period also marks the growing divergence of northern and southern interests which ended in the Civil War, for the Northwest, like the South, was developing a peculiar sectionalism which threatened the integrity of the Union. Ohio's economic interests and the personal ambitions of her political lead- ers seemed to be menaced by southern combinations. The press of both parties breathed open defiance to the slaveholder, although the wealthier classes of southern Ohio deprecated the agitation of a question which threat- ened their commercial connections in the South. Prob- ably of greater importance was the growing conflict be-
* Dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University.
(439)
440 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
tvveen the masses of the people and the privileged classes. Although Ohio had lost many of the characteristics of a frontier state, the followers of Jackson still dominated this commonwealth at the opening of the decade. This control was only temporarily challenged by the fantastic Whig Log Cabin campaign of 1840 and the Democracy reasserted its power within a year after that episode. But the growing conservatism among the professional classes and men of wealth during this decade prevented the Democratic party from advocating extreme meas- ures and transformed the Whig party into a still more reactionary organization. Throughout the decade the struggle of the radicals and conservatives furnished the underlying motive on state issues. If the Liberty and Free Soil parties aided the forces of liberalism, this was not because a majority of those parties favored a greater degree of democracy, but because these minor parties tended to break up the conservative Whig party, and thus enabled the radical elements to realize their program.
My materials have been drawn from the Ohio State University Library, the Library of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, the Library of the Archae- ological and Historical Society of Ohio, the Library of Congress, and the Library of the Pennsylvania Histori- cal Society. The officials of these institutions have been most helpful in placing their materials at my disposal.
I wish to acknowledge my obligations and express my deep appreciation for those who have directed my studies either in the way of helpful advice or formal in- struction. I owe especial obligations to Professor Carl Wittke, of the Ohio State University, who directed the course of my researches, for his kindly advice on the
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications 441
gathering of the materials for this study and for his helpful and penetrating criticisms of the dissertation it- self.
Edgar Allan Holt, Ohio State University,
June, 1928.
CHAPTER I
THE ELECTION OF 1840 IN OHIO
Ohio, the first fruit of the Ordinance of 1787, en- tered the Union in 1803. By that Ordinance, it was de- termined that Ohio's economic growth should be based on free rather than slave labour. This factor became the basis of the later alignment of the State in opposi- tion to the South. However, the proximity of Ohio to slave-holding States forced it to adopt a conciliatory pol- icy toward the slave system in order to retain close com- mercial relations with the South. Throughout the early history of the State, southern Ohio and particularly Cin- cinnati, the commercial metropolis of the State, were anxious to ally the economic and political interests of Ohio with those of the South.
Richly endowed with a fertile soil and numerous streams suitable for navigation, Ohio experienced a rapid growth in wealth and in population. Although this economic development was primarily agricultural, thriving factories soon grew up at such points as Cin- cinnati, Zanesville, Chillicothe, and Steubenville. After the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, Cleveland became the entrepot of raw farm products from north- ern Ohio destined for New York and the distribution point of eastern manufactured products bound for the Northwest.
The expansion of the factory system in Ohio, which resulted from the federal tarififs of 1816, 1824, and 1828, led to a demand for an extended market. The commer-
(442)
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 443
cial needs of southern Ohio were met by the southern slave system which afforded a market for the food sup- plies and manufactured products of the Ohio Valley. This situation produced an economic alliance between southern Ohio and the slave states which explains much of the political dift"erences between the former and northern Ohio which was bound to New York by com- mercial ties.
Up to 1850 the tremendous development of the wealth of Ohio was due largely to the construction of a network of one thousand miles of canals through thirty-seven counties, connecting Lake Erie and the Ohio River by two continuous routes, one with termi- nals at Cleveland on the Lake and Portsmouth on the Ohio and the other joining Toledo and Cincinnati. By 1850, Ohio ranked third among the states in the cash value of her farms, Cincinnati was the chief packing center in the West, the annual value of the products of the gristmills and sawmills of Ohio was more than $9,000,000, and the total capital investment of the State in banking institutions and in the manufacturing of such articles as hardware, iron, crockery; and in the packing of meats, had grown from $4,000'!oOO in 1822 to $28,- 000,000. At the same time the population had increased to 2,000,000, most of whom were located in counties served by Lake Erie, the Ohio River, and the canals. In 1850, Cincinnati had a population of 115,000 drawn from all parts of the United States and Europe, and Hamilton County held almost one-third of all the Euro- pean immigrants who came to the State.
The source of Ohio's population determined the political history of the State, producing sectional lines
444 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
almost as marked as those dividing the sections from which each of the elements came. One of the largest single elements entering into the racial composition of the State's population was the Scotch-Irish frontiersmen of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky. The Scotch- Irish from Pennsylvania overflowed into central and eastern Ohio in quest of fertile lands as soon as the region was opened to settlement, while those from Ken- tucky settled in the southern portion of the State. The latter were composed largely of the poorer, more demo- cratic and non-slave-holding classes of the South, many of whom were opposed to slavery and all of whom were anxious to better their economic situation. Chaddock asserts that "The influence of this Scotch-Irish stock in southern Ohio was very marked. They brought with them their religion; they asserted their ideas of indi- vidual freedom and economic independence, and they supported the political principles of Jefiferson and the rising democracy." ^ Another element was the Germans, who came in large numbers both from Pennsylvania as a part of the frontier class, and, during the 'forties, di- rectly from Germany. Although scattered over the State in respectable numbers, a large proportion of the Germans settled in Cincinnati. Most of them formed a close political alliance with the Scotch-Irish followers of Jefl^erson and Jackson, opposing corporate interests and a high protective tariff during the later 'thirties. Another, but smaller element, was the Quakers who came to Ohio from Virginia and North Carolina as a result of their lack of sympathy with the slave system.
* Robert E. Chaddock, "Ohio Before 1850," in Cohimbia University Studies in History, Economics and Public Lazv, v. XXXI, p. 33.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 445
Probably the most distinctive contribution in this mix- ture of Ohio's population was the settlement of New Englanders on the Western Reserve. As a result, the Reserve became the backbone of opposition to Jeffer- sonian and Jacksonian Democracy until 1848 when the voters of that section became convinced that the Whig party was the tool of the "slave power."
From the earliest days of its organization as a State, Ohio was dominated by the followers of Jefferson. This unanimity of sentiment tended to disappear after 1812, and crystallized into definite political parties after 1824, when the economic needs of the West enabled Clay and Adams to unite the East and West in behalf of a pro- gram calling for a high protective tariff and internal im- provements. " This coalition threatened to dominate the political situation, but the frontier character of Ohio made its conquest by the Jacksonian Democracy a com- paratively easy task. The masses of the people, filled with the frontier dislike for banking institutions, rallied behind Jackson in his war on the United States Bank. But as Ohio increased in wealth, the conservative forces gathered strength and began to oppose the levelling ten- dencies of the Democracy with some degree of success. Moreover, Jackson's popularity did not descend to Van Buren, his designated successor, and the Panic of 1837 prepared the way for a general debacle in the ranks of the Democracy. ^ To the Whigs, it appeared that the
^ Eugene H. Roseboom, "Ohio in the Presidential Election of 1824," in Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications, v. XXVI, pp. 153-224.
^For a resume of the political situation in Ohio before 1840, I have relied upon Eugene H. Roscboom's "Ohio Politics in the 1850's," a doctoral dissertation in the course of preparation at Harvard University. See also Chaddock, op. cit., in Columbia University Studies in History, Economics
446 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
widespread distress which resulted from that panic was caused by the Democratic program of a "war on the cur- rency." The Whigs therefore hoped to appeal for sup- port to an increasingly large number of laborers thrown out of work by the effects of the financial depression which continued throughout the remainder of Van Buren's term.
The Van Buren administration had scarcely begun in 1837 when the opposition party began to lay plans for the next campaign. * The problem for the Whigs was to unite under one leader the discontented Democrats, the land tenants of New York who were dissatisfied with the old patroon system, the abolitionists, the friends of Harrison, Clay and Webster ; and those along the north- ern border who felt that Van Buren was a tool of the British because he had not avenged the burning of the Caroline. ^
This incident grew out of the efforts of Canadian revolutionaries in 1837 to obtain American aid. The Caroline, an American vessel, which had been engaged in carrying supplies from Fort Schlosser, New York, to the Canadian rebels on Navy Island, was boarded and burned on the American side of the Niagara River by Canadian militarv authorities." There was intense ex-
and Public Law, v. XXXI ; Homer J. Webster, "History of the Demo- cratic Party Organization in the Northwest," in Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications, v. XXIV, pp. 1-120; Homer C. Hockett, Western Influences on Political Parties to 1825.
* A convention of the Ohio Whigs as early as 1837 suggested a national convention for the following year to select candidates for the campaign of 1840. Niles' Register, v. LII, p. 329.
° McMaster, John Bach, A History of the People of the United States, V. VI, p. 550.
' Ibid., V. VI, pp. UO-Ul.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 447
citement all along the northern border over this incident and because of the arrival of Canadian political refugees in the border towns, and the Whigs seized the oppor- tunity to charge the Democrats with being pro-British. A war with England was happily averted by Van Buren who pursued the wise policy of enforcing strict neutral- ity along the border. To these discontented elements whom the Whigs sought to unite, must be added large numbers of voters who blamed the Panic of 1837 upon the Van Buren administration. Although the first po- litical effects of the panic naturally were disastrous to the party in power, a distinct reaction set in in favor of the administration as the years passed. In New York a Whig majority of 15,000 in 1837 fell to 10,000 in 1838 and to 5,000 in 1839. '' In Ohio, the political current was running in the same direction and the Democrats won the state elections of October 1838 and 1839 on a poHcy of bank reform. ^
Early in 1838, the Ohio Whigs began to put their faith in William Henry Harrison as the one candidate who could unite under his banner all the forces in oppo- sition to the Van Buren administration. In January, 1839, the Belmont Chronicle put the slogan, "For Presi- dent: William H. Harrison, Subject to a National Con- vention," at the head of its editorial column. ^ The Whig State Convention of 1838 also endorsed Harrison, subject to the action of a national convention, but prom- ised that the Whigs of Ohio would be satisfied also with
^ Greeley, Horace, Recollections of a Busy Life, p. 129. " Ohio Statesman, October to November, 1838 ; Ibid., October to November, 1839.
'January 1, 1839.
448 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Clay or Webster. '" The Cincinnati Republican, a for- mer Jackson paper edited by James Allen, came out so uncompromisingly for Harrison that it was warned by the Whig organ of the State to be more circumspect in order not to antagonize the Clay Whigs of the State. "
The Whig program in Ohio was primarily one of unification. Availability, not principle, was the essen- tial quality sought in prospective candidates. James Allen, '* in control of the Ohio State Journal since April, 1839, deplored the "unfortunate centrifugal tendency" in the Whig party. "To be successful" in 1840, Allen declared, "nothing must be hazarded that shall tend, however remotely, to increase the dissonance and disaf- fection that, just now, disturb our ranks.'"^ On April 19th, the Ohio State Jonnial announced that it would support William Henry Harrison. The Whigs were agreed that it would be wise to concentrate early on one candidate, and thus prevent trouble between the follow- ers of various rivals.
The friends of Webster were not without some hope of securing support in Ohio for their favorite, but Wil- liam Greene, a prominent Whig leader of Cincinnati, assured them that western sentiment demanded a west- ern candidate. In reply to queries as to what pledges
'"Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), May 10, IS^^H.
^^Ihid., April 26, 1839.
*^ Allen stated that when he was editor of the Cincinnati Republican he endorsed Jackson's vetoes and abused Hammond of the Gazette "with a political unction that must have been truly edifying to the enemies of poor Nick Biddle." When Jackson removed the deposits from the United States Bank in 1834, Allen resigned as editor of the Republican because he disapproved of the removal. He then raised Harrison's name over the editorial columns of the Cincinnati Courier, the first Harrison paper in Ohio. Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), April 26, 1839.
'^Ohio State Journal, (Semi- weekly), April 12, 1839.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 449
Harrison would make concerning Webster, Greene skil- fully replied that "He does not choose to pledge himself to any human being . . . nor will he say what he would probably do. But there are delicate modes of intimation which have, if possible, more than the au- thority of express terms — and my opinion is (and I be- lieve no human has better means of forming a correct one upon this particular) that if the General be elected to the Presidency, he would not only prefer, but rely upon it, that Mr. Webster should hold the first place in his cabinet relations." "
Although the Whig State Central Committee, on May 21, 1839, in an official call for delegates to a Na- tional Convention in Harrisburg six months later, gave its support to Harrison, ^^ the Clay forces of Ohio, led by Charles Hammond, were not ready before October to admit the defeat of their hero. " The Cincinnati Daily Gazette refused to join in the hue and cry for Harrison, and during Clay's tour in the Northeast printed daily accounts of his speeches and triumphal re- ceptions. ^^ Clay's candidacy seemed to gather strength until he reached Saratoga. Here he met Thurlow Weed, who informed him that he could not carry New York and that for the good of the party he should withdraw from the contest. ^^ It was impossible to stem the Har-
" Greene to Levering, May 28, 1839, Greene MSS.
^^ Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), May 21, 1839. The members of the State Central Committee were Alfred Kelley, chairman; Joseph Ridg- way, Warren Jenkins, Lewis Heyl, and Samuel Douglass.
'® Cincinnati Daily Gazette, October 4, 1839.
" Ibid., August 16, September 3, 1839.
" McMaster, op. cit., v. VL p. 555.
Vol. XXXVII— 29.
450 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
rison current. ''' Clay was not deserted on account of a lack of faith in his program but on grounds of political expediency. Union was necessary and it seemed un- likely that Clay could unite all the fragments of the opposition. The Cincinnati Daily Gazette, moreover, frankly acknowledged that "Clay is not popular with the people, a fact demonstrated twice, in direct appeals to their suffrage. Then, as now, his friends stood stiff in pertinacity — ought they now after two signal defeats, to press their favorite again, without some tangible, in- disputable change of position, favorable to his success." As a fatal objection to Clay, especially for the Jackson men whom it was necessary to conciliate, was the per- sistent charge of "the corrupt bargain" of 1824, when Clay had turned his strength to Adams and helped to defeat Jackson for the presidency. '*' Harrison leaders paid fulsome compliments to Clay in order to take away the sting of defeat and obtain the support of his follow- ers.'^ The middle ground taken by the Ohio State Jour- nal in the interest of a perfect reconciliation of all fac- tions was somewhat distasteful to the Clay papers in northern Ohio and to the rabid Harrison papers in the southern portion of the State; " but as the summer wore on, the former fell into line for Harrison. "^
There was some sentiment in the State for Winfield
" The Carroll Free Press in May declared that Harrison was more popular with the "bone and sinew" than any other man whom the Whigs could name. Carroll Free Press quoted in Ohio State Journal ( Semi- weekly), May 14. 18^9.
=" Cincinnati Daily Gazette, October 4, 1839.
■^ Chillicothe Gasette quoted in Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), May 14, 1839; Circleville Herald quoted in Ohio State Journal (Semi- weekly), May 10, 1839.
'■'Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), May 31. 1839.
^'Ibid., June 4, 1839.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 451
Scott, but the Ohio State Journal shared the view of the Baltimore Chronicle that it was too late to introduce new and untried champions into the field, "* Oran Follett, ^^ a Clay Whig, considered Scott a good candidate to at- tract former Jackson Democrats, after he saw that there was no enthusiasm among the Whigs of Ohio for his favorite. In September, as a delegate to a district con- vention to name representatives to the Harrisburg Con- vention, Follett had announced his preference for Clay- as the most politically available candidate. '*' Hardly two weeks later, Follett was urging George H. Flood of Virginia, a Democrat, and James T. Morehead, a for- mer Whig governor of Kentucky, to support General Scott, apparently on the ground that Clay could not win for the party in 1840, because the anti- Administration Democrats would not rally to his support. -'' The Scott candidacy was never very significant in this State, and by November only two papers in Ohio, the Conneaut Gazette and the Sandusky Whig (edited by Follett) were openly in favor of Scott's nomination.^^ The se- lection of delegates to the Harrisburg Convention re- vealed an overwhelming sentiment for Harrison in Ohio. By November, 1839, of the one hundred Whig papers
'^Oh'w State Journal (Semi-weekly). April 12, 18^0.
"^ Follett was a staunch Whig leader in Ohio throughout the decade. Originally from New York, he became, upon removal to Ohio, editor, first of the Sandusky Whig and then of the Ohio State Journal, and later a leader of the Corwin movement for the presidency.
^° Follett and Camp to the chairman of the District W"hig Convention, September 30, 1839, quoted in "Selections from the Follett Papers, IV" in Quarterly Publications of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, 1916, V. XI, No. 1, pp. 15-16.
^ Follett to Morehead, October 18, 1839, quoted in "Selections from the Follett Papers, IV," loc. cit., v. XI, No. 1. pp. 18-20.
'^Ohio State Journal (Weekly), November 13, 1839.
452 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
in the State, five supported Clay, two clung to Scott, and the rest favored "Harrison and Reform.'"'*
The defeat of the Whigs on the banking and currency issue in the fall elections of 1839 created havoc in the party in Ohio, and led Follett to comment bitterly on the "state of the public morals, the heresies in government, and the ignorant prejudices of the multitude in relation to the Treasury . . ."^'^ The chief issue between the two parties in 1839 had been one of the extent to which the government should go in regulating the banks of the State, which had undergone a succession of failures since 1837. The Democrats favored a vigorous program of reform but the Whigs were inclined to defend the banks, asserting that their opponents really intended to destroy the currency.^^ The defeat of the Whigs was attributed to various forces. The St. Clairsville Chron- icle blamed the supineness of the Whigs,^' and the Cin- cinnati Gazette refused to close its eyes to the fact that the party was prostrate, and suggested that the Harris- burg Convention fold up the Whig banners forever. ^^
In spite of such pessimistic conclusions, delegates were appointed to the Whig National Convention at Harrisburg. Foremost among the representatives from Ohio were Jacob Burnet, of Cincinnati; Reasin Beall, of Wooster; the sturdy John Johnson, of Piqua, who
"^Ohio State Journal (Weekly), November 20, 1839.
^Follett to Morehead, October 18, 1839, quoted in "Selections from the Follett Papers, IV," Inc. ctt., 1916, v. XL, No. 1, p. 19. The Ohio State Journal exclaimed in despair that "It seems like madness to contend against an overwhelming fate — against a force that is sure to crush us." Ohio State Journal (Weekly), October 16, 1839.
'' See Chapter II.
''0/t/o State Journal (Weekly), October 16, 1839.
" Cincinnati Daily Gazette, November 7, 9, 1839.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 453
rode to Harrisburg on horseback; and N. G. Pendleton, of Cincinnati, who served on the committee to select the officials of the Convention. When the Convention assembled. Clay had the greatest number of pledged delegates, but there were indications that the political managers were not willing to have him lead the party again in 1840. On the second day of the balloting, New York, Michigan, and Vermont transferred their support from Scott to Harrison and thus brought about his nomination, much to the satisfaction of the Ohio delegates, who had voted steadily for their favorite son. The Convention then nominated John Tyler of Virginia for vice-president."* The Convention recommended a rally of the Whig young men of the nation at Balti- more and then adjourned, without drawing up an address to the people or framing a platform.^^ This proved to be good political strategy, because any pro- gram would have divided the Whigs and made defeat certain. Party leaders in each section of the country thus were left free to stress those political considera- tions which most appealed to the voters of their partic- ular section. To the Whigs of Ohio, the election of 1840 was a referendum on "Executive usurpation." They condemned the frequency with which Jackson and Van Buren had resorted to the veto as a usurpation of power which belonged only to Congress.
The nomination of Harrison and Tyler was received with great enthusiasm in Ohio. "Now is the winter of
^Niles' Register, v. LXI, p. 232; Tyler, Lyon G., The Letters and Times of the Tylers, v. I, p. 595.
''Proceedings in Weekly Ohio State Journal, December 14, 1839; Mc- Master, op. cit., v. VI, pp. 556-559.
454 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
our discontent made glorious summer by the nomina- tion of this son of a Revolutionary sire," the Belmont Chronicle declared. "Now do we breathe freer and deeper than we have for the last three years." ^'^ The Cincinnati Daily Gazette saw in Harrison's nomination certain defeat for the "fell disorganizing spirit" of "locofocoism" and the "certain restoration of sound republican doctrines; the security of our institutions."^^ Spontaneous and enthusiastic gatherings were held all over the State to respond to the nomination. At a convention in Cincinnati on December 16, speakers who had supported Clay pledged their support of the nominees. ^^ The earlier despondency of the Whigs now turned into confidence and all elements of the opposition found it easy to support a candidate whose principles no one knew. Reform of the "aristocratic" government of Van Buren became the catch-phrase of the hour, and in this program State Rights men, led by John G. Miller in the Ohio Confederate and Old School Repub- lican, as well as Jacksonians, discontented for various reasons with the \^an Buren administration, and Nation alist Whigs could join heartily in the great attempt to oust the Democrats. The Ohio Statesman, chief Demo- cratic organ of the State, pointed out quite correctly, that "The Federal party has no policy of its own — no principles — no cohesion — no unity of sentiment upon which to found a campaign, or concentrate their forces
=■• December 17, 1839.
" December 14, 1839.
^Cincinnati Daily Gazette, December 16, 1839.
'» December 10, 1839.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 455
to a combination of abolitionism, "Bankery" and anti- masonry/"
The Democrats, of course, could do nothing but re- nominate Van Buren. Their nominee had reached the White House because of the spell of Jackson's popu- larity, but he gradually had acquired an effective fol- lowing of his own, while his policies were gradually accepted by the masses of Democratic voters in the North. In Ohio, resolutions of county and district con- ventions forecast the renomination of the Democratic president." The radical anti-bank faction of the party was in control of the party machinery in the State and was completely satisfied by Van Buren's policy toward the banks. The recommendation of an Independent Treasury, in the president's third annual message, had given Ohio Democrats their issue. Van Buren had attacked the suspension of specie payments, and had charged that it was not due to a lack of confidence in the banks, but that it had been brought about merely for the convenience of the banks. The President pointed to the widely expanded system of bank credit as evidence of the unsoundness of those institutions, and expressed the fear that capitalists were using the banking system, then in vogue, to exert powerful and insidious influence over the entire country. As a remedy for these evils, Van Buren, as is well known, urged the creation of public depositories for the revenues of the nation in order to "divorce" the funds of the government from the intrigues of bankers and politicians."'
*" December 11, 1839.
" Ohio Statesman, August, December, 1839 ; January, May, 1840. "Richardson, James D., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1897, v. Ill, pp. 540-547.
456 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
The Whig press of Ohio greeted Van Buren's mes- sage as another Locofoco attack on credit and com- merce. The Cincinnati Daily Gazette (W) beHeved that the President intended to turn over his party to the radicals after he saw the burst of enthusiasm for Har- rison. "Perish credit, perish commerce! Down with the checks and balances, the restraints imposed and the rights secured by the Constitution," commented the Gazette. "The tyrant locofocos with the Executive their instrument, are to administer the government under the guidance of party impulse and party intri- gue."*^ Wilson Shannon (D), elected governor of Ohio in 1838 on a policy of bank reform, had, however, re- ceded somewhat from his former position ; and his mes- sage to the General Assembly, in December, 1839, dif- fered considerably from the views set forth in the Presi- dent's message. The Ohio governor recommended a system of independent banks under state regulation.** The Whig press commended Shannon's message, the Cincinnati Daily Gazette declaring that there was not one "Jacobinical feature in the whole document."*' As a result of Shannon's new position some Whigs actually planned, for a time, to support him for re-election in 1840. But these plans were abandoned when the Dem- ocratic State Convention of January 8, 1840, named Shannon as candidate for governor on a platform of bank reform.*"'
The same Convention endorsed Van Buren for the
*' Cincinnati Daily Gazette, January 6, 1840.
" See chapter on "Banking and Currency in Ohio Politics, 1840-1850.
^^ December 6, 1839.
" Ohio Statesman, January 8, 9, 10, 1840.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 457
presidency, praising his proposal for an Independent Treasury. It also declared its opposition to a hig-h pro- tective tariff and a system of internal improvements. Van Buren was represented as a follower of Jefferson and an advocate of a simple and economical govern- ment.*' There were no more ardent supporters in the country, of Van Buren's proposal to separate the public money from banking corporations, than Moses Dawson of the Cincinnati Advertiser; Samuel Medary of the Ohio Statesman; John Brough, auditor of state; or Benjamin Tappan and William Allen, the two senators from Ohio. Nearly every Democratic local convention in Ohio adopted resolutions commending Van Buren's policies and approving the candidacy of the "Little Magician." *^ Ohio senators and representatives were instructed by the Democratic General Assembly to sup- port the Independent Treasury Law.*^ Its passage was hailed by the Democrats as a second declaration of independence ^° and the Ohio Statesman praised it as the only constitutional plan ever devised to care for the public money. The clause providing for the payment of government dues in specie found especial favor with Medary, the editor of the Statesman, because it would take from the monopolies of the country much of their "ill-gotten power of oppression." ^^
The Democratic National Convention of 1840 organ- ized with Governor William Carroll, of Tennessee, as
" Proceedings of the Democratic State Convention in Ohio Statesman, January 8, 9, 10, 1840.
** Ohio Statesman, January 8, May 5, 1840. ** Cincinnati Daily Gazette, January 16, 1840, " McMaster, op. cit., v. VI, p. 547. " Ohio Statesman, June 24, July 7, 1840.
458 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
chairman. Among the prominent Ohio delegates were Samuel Medary, John B. Weller (afterwards candidate for governor and at this time a representative in Con- gress), James J. Faran, of Cincinnati, S. A. Barker, Peter Kauffman, a prominent German from Akron, and C. J. McNulty. In contrast to the action of the Whig Convention, the Democrats drew up a platform, which, among other things, approved a strict construction of the Constitution, to the extent of condemning a "general system of internal improvements," or the assumption by the General Government of state debts "contracted for local internal improvements or other State purposes . . ." Other features included a declaration against the fostering of one branch of industry at the expense of another, a statement denying the power of the Federal Government to establish a national bank, and a condem- nation of the efforts of abolitionists "to induce Congress to interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in relation thereto" as "calculated to lead [to] the most alarming and dangerous consequences ..."
During the latter part of the 'thirties, an increasing number of abolition petitions asking the Federal Gov- ernment to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia led to the adoption of a rule in the House by which such petitions were laid on the table without being read or printed.^'
A resolution professing sympathy for the immi- grants was adopted in order to catch the foreign vote. Van Buren was nominated for president, but no one
"McMaster, op. cit., v. VI, pp. 29o-296. The Ohio Democracy de- nounced abolition petitions as attempts to disrupt the Union.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 459
was named for the vice-presidency, since the local con- ventions had not indicated an outstanding favorite/^ The Democratic national organ described the contest of 1840 as one "between privileged orders and the great mass of the people." "It is, in fact," the Globe contin- ued, "only a new, more invidious, and dangerous modi- fication of the old feudal system of the middle ages. At that period, the great instrument of oppression was the sword; now it is the purse. By the former, the feudal baron carved out his fortunes ; by the latter, the rag baron acquires power and influence through means of exclusive privileges, from which the great mass of the people are forever barred." ^* This idea of a class conflict was mirrored in the Democratic press of Ohio, which also represented the issue, as one between the rights of the masses, and the privileges of the few, as a second contest for first principles in government, and as an avowal that the people's money would never again be placed at the disposal of a few swindling bankers. °^
The Harrisburg nominations, in December, 1839, were followed by enthusiastic preparations by the Whigs throughout the State. Victory seemed imminent since the campaign for unity had succeeded in drawing many of the Jacksonians, who were dissatisfied with Van Buren as a party leader, into the ranks of the Whigs.^* On February 21 and 22, 1840, one of the most important and enthusiastic Whig gatherings ever held
^^ Proceedings of the Convention are taken from the Washington Daily Globe, May 7, 1840.
"Washington Daily Globe, May 12, 1840.
""Oliio Stalesman, March 2, 1840.
^ Ohio Wliig Standard and Cincinnati Daily Gazette quoted in Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), January 8, 11, 1840.
4^60 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
in the State assembled at Columbus. The proposal for such a mass convention had been opposed by the staid Cincinnati Ga::cttc, a reform paper which opposed horse- racing and coffee-houses, on the grounds that a conven- tion was not conducive to cool deliberation." But the enthusiasm of the hour was irresistible, and the Gazette soon joined the chorus in praise of Harrison. The Ohio State Journal claimed that "Men who claimed member- ship with all the political parties into which the country was divided, are around us, resolved to merge their differences of opinion on minor topics, in the one all- absorbing, paramount question of Reform; determined that the reins of government shall no longer remain within the grasp of those who are driving to destruction every interest and doctrine upon which the Confederacy was based and upheld." ^^ During these convention days, glorious for Ohio Whiggery, a continuous stream of cheering thousands poured into Columbus undeterred by muddy roads and intermittent rain. "Banners, in- genious in device, and splendid in execution," an eye- witness wrote, "loomed in the air; flags were streaming, and all the insignia of Freedom swept along in glory and in triumph — canoes planted on wheels and manned by the brave and generous friends of Harrison and Tyler — square-rigged brigs — log cabins — even a minia- ture of old Fort Meigs — all these and more, made up the grand sum of excitement and surprise." The same eye-witness estimated the crowd at 20,000.
By February, 1840, the Whigs were thoroughly intoxicated with their hard cider campaign, and in a
"' Cincinnati Daily Gazette, December, 1839 ; February, 1840. ^ Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), February 21, 1840.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 461
frenzy over the rather dubious mihtary glamour which had grown up around Harrison with the passing of the years since Tippecanoe and the War of 1812. Hard cider and log cabins became the emblems of the Whig cause, following an unfortunate remark of a corre- spondent of a Baltimore paper to the effect that if Harrison were given a pension of two thousand dollars a year, plenty of hard cider, and a log cabin, he would not concern himself with the presidency.^^ Instantly, the phrase was seized by Whig campaigners and turned to the advantage of the old General. Through these emblems of western democracy, Harrison was identified with the cause of the common man, and the campaign became a kind of frenzied crusade to render justice to the old Hero who had long suffered from popular neglect. Democratic sneers, that Harrison was an old granny, albeit a deserving old gentleman, who should remain quietly in his cabin at North Bend, only served to stimulate the popular imagination and to make Har- rison the hero of the masses. Drunk with hard cider and hero worship, the assembled thousands at the famous February Convention indulged in all the fan- tastic orgies of a revival.
The throng was called to order by Judge James Wilson, of Steubenville. Reasin Beall, of Wayne County, a senatorial delegate to the National Con- vention, became permanent chairman. Amid great en- thusiasm, Thomas Corwin, the "Wagon Boy," was nominated for governor. At the time, he was a repre- sentative in Congress where he had achieved something
McMaster, op. cit., v. VI, p. 562.
462 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
of a national reputation by his sparkling defense of the military record of General Harrison. Previously, he had served in the General Assembly of Ohio. The nom- ination conformed to the specifications laid down by the Cincinnati Ga::ctte previous to the Convention; namely, that no one should be selected who had taken a promi- nent part in the abolition movement. For this reason, Charles Anthony, President of the Colonization Society of Ohio, and an opponent of abolitionism, and Judge James Wilson, identified with the anti-slavery interests, had proved unavailable.*"'
The keynote of the resolutions of the Convention was opposition to "executive" usurpation. It was de- clared that the power of the president to appoint and remove officers should be restricted within the "narrowest limits allowed by the Constitution." Other resolutions favored a single term for the president, condemned the use of the veto "except to preserve the Constitution from manifest violation," and denounced the "spoils system" as well as official interference in elections and the assessment of office-holders for elec- tioneering purposes. It is particularly important to notice the Whig declaration concerning a national bank, because that question became the great issue during Tyler's administration. The Columbus Convention re- solved "That it is the duty of the General and State Governments to secure a safe and uniform currency, as well for the use of the people, as for the use of the Government, so far as the same can be done without transcending the constitutional limits of their authority
Cincinnati Daily Gazette. February 4, 1840.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 463
— and that all laws, calculated to provide for the office- holders a more safe or valuable currency than is pro- vided for the people, tend to invert the natural order of things — making the servant superior to the master, ' — and are both oppressive and unjust." This declara- tion was at once an effort to salve the feelings of State Rights Whigs, like John G. Miller, and to satis f 3^ the Nationalist Whigs who wanted something done to sta- bilize the currency. It aimed, moreover, to unite all elements of the party in behalf of a system of currency for all classes of the people. The resolution was a clever reference to the Democratic scheme for an Inde- pendent Treasury which was portrayed as a plan to pay the officers of the Government in gold and silver while the people were forced to rely upon a depreciated paper currency." The Convention concluded its labors by urging the organization of "Harrison Reform Clubs" all over the State, to be composed of former Jackson and \^an Buren followers.*^' The Democrats described this enthusiastic assemblage of Whigs as a "Federal Con- vention of Abolitionists, Bankers, Officeholders, Mer- chants, Lawyers and Doctors," and a list of delegates most of w^hom were bank directors, bank stock-holders and lawyers, was drawn up to expose the nature of the party. ^■'' Whig pretensions to love for the common peo- ple, moreover, were derided by the Democrats as mere mockery.
" Ohio Statesman, January 8, 9, 1840.
^" Proceedings of the Convention are taken from the Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), February 26, 1840. The State Central Committee for the ensuing year was to be composed of Alfred Kelley, Joseph Ridgway, John W. Andrews, Robert Neil, John L. Miner, Francis Stewart, Lewis Heyl, Dr. John G. Miller and Lyne Starling, Jr.
^ Ohio Statesman, February 22, 1840.
464 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Both parties, in 1840, threw the issues and principles to the winds. The lack of a Whig platform and the am- biguous character of their candidate made such cam- paign strategy easy. The Democrats challenged both Harrison's bravery and his genius as a commander. "If a great General," wrote the Globe, "such was the ecjuiv- ocal character of his exploits that, whenever a victory had been gained, it was difficult to tell whether it was owing to his fortunate blunders, or won by others, in spite of his imbecility."*'* As the Democratic Globe pointed out, Harrison was, without doubt, "preferred to his distinguished competitors, on the score of that ex- emplary mediocrity for which he is so singularly illus- trious." Corwin set out to rebut these reflections on Harrison's military successes, in the halls of Congress, ^'^ and so withering was his reply to General Isaac Crary, of Michigan, who had attacked Harrison's record, that the venerable John Ouincy Adams's reference to the "late General Crary" on the following day convulsed the House with laughter. ^'^
Giant rallies and conventions, at which the Whig emblems of the log cabin and hard cider were much in
"Washington Daily Globe, March 16, 1840.
'"Cincinnati Dailv Gazette, March 26, 1840; Eaton Register, April 9, 1840.
'^Greeley, op. eit., p. 132; In the course of his defense of Harrison, Corwin ridiculed the military qualifications of Crary declaring that "we all, in fancy, now see the gentleman from Michigan in that most dangerous and glorious event in the life of a militia general on the peace establishment — a parade day! The day for which all other days of his life seem to have been made. We can see the troops in motion; umbrellas, hoe- and ax- handles and other like deadly implements of war overshadowing all the field, when lo ! the leader of the host approaches ... his plume, white, after the fashion of the great Bourbon, is of ample length, and reads its doleful history in the bereaved necks and bosoms of forty neighboring hen-roosts I" Josiah Morrow, Life and Speeches of Thomas Corwin, p. 250.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 465
evidence, marked the campaign. One of the most notable was at Fort Meigs, a spot almost sacred to the Whigs because of the exploits of Harrison in that vi- cinity. The old General himself promised to attend and for days excited crowds from all over the State streamed to that point. Alfred Kelley, one of the most prominent Whigs in Ohio, who accompanied Harrison to the scene of his earher triumphs, described the journey as a "tri- umphal procession" made so by large assemblages who gathered at all the stopping places, and mingled their shouts with the booming salutes fired in honor of "Old Tip." ^' At Fort Meigs, 40,000 milled around endlessly to get a close view of their Hero. There was a sham attack on the old fort by a band of Indians, a speech by Thomas Ewing, as chairman of the Convention, and some remarks by the old General himself. An eye-wit- ness described the appearance of the mob after Harri- son came out to speak, as follows : "What now shall we say of that multitude ? Could the presence of Van Buren inspire such a feeling as at that moment animated every bosom? Here was no selfish feeling — the merchant — the farmer — the mechanic — the rich and the poor — all were here united in one thought. They were here in their might — and in the venerable form before them, they recognized a connecting link in that great chain of patriotism, which had bound a Republic together, from its birth to the present day. A chieftain was there who led their armies on from victory to victory — one who had been clothed with trust without abusing it — whose fame was written in the crumbling breastworks, bastions, batteries and traverses, which everywhere surrounded
^ Alfred Kelley to Follett, June 14, 1840, quoted in "Selections from the Follett Papers. IV," 1916; loc. cit., v. XI, No. 1, p. 21. Vol. XXXVII— 30.
466 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
them. . . And well did they appreciate his services — for sure never before, was enthusiasm greater — never before was a loftier shout borne upon the breezes of heaven." *"* The state was tilled with stories of General Harrison's devotion to the welfare of the poor.
Conventions of a similar nature were held at Cin- cinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton and at many other points. At Cincinnati, the attendance was estimated at 25,000. Numerous banners proclaimed the issues of the campaign and bore inscriptions like "Farmers, Me- chanics, Manufacturers, Merchants, Laborers, against Locofocism," "Van Caught in a Whig Trap," (showing Van Buren caught in a log cabin baited with hard cider), "For Jackson we did but for Van we can't," and "No Standing Army ; Resistance to Tyrants is Obedience to God." ^^ The last evidently referred to the proposal of the Secretary of War, Joel R. Poinsett, for a standing army of two hundred thousand men to be distributed over the United States in eight military districts. '" In point of numbers, however, the greatest rally of the whole campaign was held at Dayton, on September 1. The estimate of 100,000 people was undoubtedly an over-statement. Thousands gathered around the Gen- eral's stand to hear him deny the many charges which the Democrats had made against him. Harrison de- clared that he was opposed to the use of the veto except in extreme cases and that he favored a single term for the president. He firmly denied that he had ever been
"'Perrysburg Whig quoted in Ohio State Journal (Weekly), June 24, 1840 ; an account is also given in Randall and Ryan, History of Ohio, V. IV, pp. 37-39.
°" Cincinnati Daily Gazette, October 3, 1840.
'"Cincinnati Daily Ga::ette, July 22, 1840.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 A67
a Federalist, but would not commit himself on the ques- tion of a national bank. Apparently, there was no spe- cific power in the Constitution to create a bank. Harri- son asserted that he thought that he would favor a bank if the powers granted to Congress could not be carried into effect without such an institution, and if the wishes of the people were made manifest in favor of a bank. The remainder of his speech consisted of typically dem- agogic appeals to the provincialism of the frontiers- man. '' The Ohio delegation to the Whig convention of young men in Baltimore carried the banner of the State with the inscription "She offers her Cincinnatus to re- deem the Republic." ^-
Another characteristic feature of the campaign of 1840 was the effective use that was made of the "Buck- eye Blacksmith," a man who, by his character and meth- ods, typified the Whig appeal to the country in 1840. The "Buckeye Blacksmith," John W. Bear of Zanes- ville, first attracted public attention by his oratorical efforts at the Whig State Convention of February 21-22, 1840. Without the least pretense to an education, this natural-born orator appealed to the prejudices of the
" Harrison's speech and the account of the meeting is given in Ohio State Journal (Weekly), September 23, 1840; account of meeting given in Cincinnati Daily Gazette, September 12, 1840, and in Randall and Ryan, op. cit., V. IV, pp. 39-40.
"The Cincinnati Daily Gazette appealed to the Whigs of the State, and particularly of Cincinnati to send a large delegation to a meeting held in Nashville, August 17, because of the close commercial relations existing between Cincinnati and the South and West. Bellamy Storer and S. S. L'Hommedieu of Cincinnati took prominent parts in the Nashville meeting, and Senator Hugh L. White of Tennessee was lauded for his refusal to follow the Van Buren administration and for his resignation from the senate when instructed by the Tennessee Legislature to support the Independent Treasury scheme. Daily Gazette, August 8, 1840.
468 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
poor against the rich, and soon won the name of "rab- ble-rouser." His mere support of the Whigs was an effective argument against the Democratic claim that their party represented the "bone and sinew" of the land. Bear's fame spread throughout the State and mul- titudes flocked to hear him. From Ohio he was taken to other states where he continued his phenomenal suc- cesses. For his services he later was appointed by Pres- iden Harrison to the Wyandot Indian Agency, only to be removed by Tyler. '^
As an aid in the contest to end "executive usurpa- tion" the Whigs started many campaign papers. One of these, the Harrison Flag, announced itself as a volun- teer in the cause of the people in order to furnish an "anti-dote" for the "poisons" spread abroad by Demo- cratic papers like the Globes and Statcsmans. ^* The Daily Political Tornado declared that its chief purpose was to expose the greatest liar of the age, Samuel Med- ary, editor of the Ohio Statesman.'"' Other new Harrison papers were the Investigator and Expositor of Troy, the Calumet and the War-Cluh of Springfield, the Harrison Democrat of Hamilton, the Log Cabin Herald of Chilli- cothe, the Straight-Out Harrisonian of Columbus, and the Axe of Cleveland. ^^ These new papers, adept as they were in broadcasting the homely virtues of their own candidates and in repeating the stories of the aristo- cratic tendencies of Van Buren, exercised a tremendous influence over the voters of Ohio. Their appeals were the essence of the log cabin arguments.
"Randall and Ryan, op. ctt., v. IV, pp. 34-37. '"The Harrison Flag, (Delaware, Ohio), April 28, 1840. '^ Daily Political Tornado, October 6, 1840. ''Cincinnati Daily Gazette, May 14, 1840.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 469
In Ohio, the Independent Treasury constituted a con- venient point of attack for the Whigs and upon this measure they poured all the venom of their denuncia- tions. It became a definite issue in Ohio politics when the General Assembly (D), in January, 1840, adopted resolutions instructing the Ohio senators and requesting the Ohio representatives to vote for the Independent Treasury. "^ The Ohio Whigs considered it as little short of "national suicide to add the weight of the public treasury to a power so fearfully vast, and consign the entire charge of the National purse to a band of trained partisans, who have never been remarkable for honesty. . . ." ^^ They declared that the Independent Treas- ury Bill contained no provision for the benefit of the people, nothing to restore healthy exchanges, nothing to place the people's and the Government's money on a par, and nothing to correct a disordered currency or encour- age the laboring class. "The money goes from its iron cages to pay office-holders and great contractors, who are enriching themselves from the national funds." '^ The Eaton Register described the passage of the Inde- pendent Treasury as the triumph of "Vandals" and the "minions of a contemptuous Executive." ^'^ The Whigs argued, furthermore, that the measure would reduce the price of labor and lands, and enhance the value of slave labor, and predicted the direst consequences. ^^ The
"Cincinnati Daily Gazette, January 16, 1840.
''Ohio State Journal (Weekly), August 21, 1839.
''Ibid., September 10, 1839.
*" Eaton Register, July 16, 1840.
*' An editorial in the Albany Daily Advertiser described the Independ- ent Treasury as "a moneyed despotism in its most odious form — the despot- ism of a central consolidated government, strengthened by a monster bank, owned and controlled by the officeholders . . ." quoted in Eaton Register, January 16, 1840.
470 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
measure was designed, according to the Ohio Whigs, to depress the commercial, industrial, and agricultural in- terests of the North in favor of the "grasping avarice of the pampered South."^" Most of all, it involved a union of the purse and the sword and endangered the liberties of the people. In developing this last point, the Whigs made a great deal of the proposals of V^an Buren's Secretary of War, Joel R. Poinsett, to increase the size of the army. "The whole shows plainly, to our mind," declared the Cincinnati Daily Gacettc, "that the great thing which Martin Van Buren's administration contemplates, and which it is endeavoring by all means to bring about, is a full and effective union of the purse and sword;"'" and the Eaton Register saw in this scheme real danger to the liberties of citizens and a violation of the Constitution. ^* Samuel Medary recognized that Democratic strength was crumbling under these attacks, and complained to Van Buren that it was remarkable what a "humbug" had been made out of Poinsett's pro- posal. "The standing army of 200.000 men is wrung on every change," he wrote, "and every attempt to ex- plain only seemed to give force to their declarations."^^ One of the most damaging charges of the Democrats against Harrison was that his ignorance of public af- fairs made it necessary that he be guarded by a com- mittee from makiner indiscreet utterances during the
''Eaton Register, April 23, 1840.
'' Cincinnati Daily Gacefte, April 29, 1840.
^ Eaton Register, April 30, 1840.
"^ Medary to Van Buren, August 18, 1840, Van Buren MSS., v. XL. The Columbiana County Democrats defended the Poinsett plan on the grounds that it was the true English policy of resistance to tyranny, and pointed out that in 1817, while a member of the House, Harrison had urged a system of general military instruction. Ohio Statesman, April 17, 1840.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 471
campaign. A letter of inquiry from Niles Hotchkiss of the Union Association of Oswego, New York, addressed to Harrison, seemed to give some support to this charge. The reply to Hotchkiss's letter came from David Gwynne, John C. Wright, and O. M. Spencer of Cincin- nati, who described themselves as Harrison's "confiden- tial committee." This triumvirate, referred to by the Democrats as the keepers of the General's conscience or the muzzling committee, announced that it was the pol- icy of the General to make no more public declarations of principles because his views on present policies might be judged by his past actions and utterances. ^^ The Globe described the committee as the "mysterious con- clave that presides over his conscience and opinions" and declared that Harrison's public utterances convicted him of "Abolitionism, Bankism, Latitudinarianism," " and the Ohio Statesman ridiculed Harrison and his commit- tee of politicians. ^* Whig orators and Harrison him- self denied these charges vigorously, declaring that there was no attempt to conceal the candidate's views, but that so many letters of inquiry had arrived that it was necessary to establish a committee to answer them.^^ In an effort to counteract the growing wave of de- mocracy behind Harrison's candidacy, the Democrats dug up a charge that he had voted in favor of selling
*° Letters from Hotchkiss to Harrison and from the committee to Hotchkiss are taken from Washington Daily Globe, March 25, 1840. The Globe reprinted them from the Oswego Palladium. Wright became editor of the Cincinnati Gazette upon the death of Hammond in 1840. In 1840, he ran for the Ohio Senate but was defeated by Holmes (D) after a contest which stretched out over a large part of the legislative session of 1840-1841.
'' Washington Daily Globe, March 25, 1840.
"' Ohio Statesman, June 9, 1840.
*' Cincinnati Daily Gazette, April 6, June 30, 1840.
472 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
poor white men into slavery. "'* So damaging was this accusation that the Whigs found it advisable to conduct a minute investigation into the records of the General Assembly of Ohio. This brought to light that Harrison, in 1820-1821, had voted against an amendment to abol- ish that feature of a law authorizing the sheriff to sell offenders to those persons who would pay the fine and costs of his prisoners. The Whigs defended Har- rison's position by pointing out that the prisoner, dur- ing his period of service, was protected from abuse in the same manner as apprentices; that if the offender were willing, he could work out his fine on the public highways; that if he were unable to pay the fine and physically unable to work he might be discharged from prison ; and that only convicted offenders of the penal laws of the State could be sold into service. ^^ Repre- sentative Mason of Ohio undertook to defend Harrison from this charge in Congress. ^"
In spite of the efforts of the leaders of both parties to keep it out, the anti-slavery question was injected into the campaign of 1840. Chiefly as the result of a strug- gle in Congress over the right of petition in which Cal- houn and Adams represented the extreme viewpoints of the South and the North on the slavery question, the one favoring the right, the other opposing it, the right of petition had become a burning issue all over the coun- try after 1837. In reality, the Congressional contest was a struggle for the constitutional right of petition which was assailed by the friends of slavery because it endangered the security of slave property and even the
'"'Ohio Statesman, April 7, 1840.
^'Ohio State Journal (Weekly"), April 22, 1840.
»= Cincinnati Daily Gazette, April 30, 1840.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 473
existence of the Union. Calhoun had stated his position in the form of six resolutions designed to protect slavery against further attack from abolitionist petitions. He was answered by Thomas Morris of Ohio in a set of resolutions asserting that slavery was sinful and im- moral, and that Congress had a constitutional right to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia and in the Territories. °^ The result of this debate was the passage, by the House of Representatives, of the Patton "gag" resolutions by which that body refused to print or read abolition petitions. ^* The immediate effect of this ef- fort at repression was an increase in the number of such petitions. Protests against the gag resolution as a vio- lation of the Constitution poured into Congress, Ohio alone sending thirty, "' but the House adhered to its res- olution. ^^ Anti-slavery sentiment increased as a conse- quence throughout the free states. The issue now in- volved a struggle for the right of petition. Many w^ho scorned connections with the abolitionists, were alarmed by the constitutional issues raised by the struggle in Congress.
The Ohio Whigs Insisted that the gag resolutions were violations of the sacred right of petition, and pointed out that the six Ohio votes cast in its favor were the votes of Democrats, ^^ The Ohio Statesman, how- ever, declared that the controversy over the reception of abolition petitions was merely a "humbug branch of
'' McMaster, op. cit., v. VI, pp. 482-484.
" Ibid., op. cit., V. VI, p. 489.
'' Ibid., V. VI, p. 490.
''Ibid., V. VI, pp. 510-511.
'\ Cincinnati Daily Gazette, February 13, 1840. The Ohio Democrats who voted for the gag resolution were John B. Weller, Isaac Parrish, D. P. Leadbetter, William Medill, Jonathan Taylor, and George Sweeney.
474 Ghio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Harrison Whiggery," and maintained that by "putting this federal firebrand to rest Congress [had] saved the nation a milhon a year.'' ''' All the rioting over the slav- ery issue during the past few years, was attributed by the St. Clairsville Gazette (D), to abolitionists whose "spurious" martyrdom failed to aid the slave and only served to alienate one portion of the country from another. '' Clay's opposition to the abolitionist petitions was strongly condemned by the Cincinnati Daily Ga- zette, a Clay paper. On the 25th of May, 1839, Clay wrote a letter to a Whig county committee in Kentucky justifying his position. He argued that "In the Consti- tution of the Union there is not a solitary provision, fairly interpreted and fairly administered, which au- thorizes any interference of Congress with Domestic Slavery, as it exists in the United States." To this as- sertion the Gazette took exception, and pointed to in- stances where the Government had aided in the return of slaves. ^°° Partly in consequence of this issue, the abolition press hailed the selection of Harrison over Clay as a victory for their cause. This was especially true of the Emancipator, the Liberator and the PJiilautJiropist, which chose to interpret the nomination of Harrison as a concession to the anti-slavery sentiment of the coun- try; and the Oberlin Evangelist argued that no slave- holder could ever again be president of the United States. ^''^ The Democratic Ohio Statesman, anxious to fasten the taint of abolitionism on the Whigs, told its readers that Harrison, if elected, would use the surplus
"' Ohio Statesman, February 3, 1840.
'° St. Clairsville Gaceffe quoted in Ohio Statesman, February 6, 1840.
"" Cincinnati Daily Gazette, August 26, 1839.
"" McMaster, op. cit., v. VI, pp. 560-561.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 475
revenue of the Government to buy negroes "to be set free to overrun our country," "" and the Democrats ap- pealed to the economic interests of northern white la- bourers by the argument that the abolitionists would fill the towns and villages of the North with blacks, thus "degrading labor where they could get it, and stealing and robbing where they could not." "^
The position of the anti-slavery men in Ohio was not as yet sharply defined. To 1839, they had generally repudiated separate political action and had resorted to questioning the candidates of both parties on the slavery issue in order to throw their votes to those who gave the most favorable replies. In this manner, for example, they had aided in the election of Joshua R. Giddings to Congress in 1838. But this method proved disappointing in 1839 when several men supported by the Anti-Slavery Society voted for a Fugitive Slave Law at the request of Kentucky slaveholders. As a result, the anti-slavery men in the Western Reserve forced the Whigs to repudiate some of the men who had voted for the Fugitive Slave Law, and to accept other candidates, notably Benjamin F. Wade. But Wade was defeated because of Whig antipathy to his strong anti- slavery position. '"* Although the American Anti- Slavery Society in July, 1839, resolved to support no one who was not an abolitionist, the Ohio branch, meet- ing at Massillon, June 10, 1840, decided that it was
"^ Ohio Statesman quoted in Washington Daily Globe, January 13, 1840.
^"^ Ohio Statesman, January 17, 1840.
"*T. C. Smith, Liberty and Free Soil Parties in the Northwest (Har- vard Historical Studies, v. VI, pp. 30-32.) I have relied upon this study to a large extent for the history of the Liberty party but I have supple- mented it in some particulars, such as the attitude of the old parties toward the Liberty and Free Soil parties.
476 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
strictly a "moral" society and each member should de- termine his own political course. ^"^ Both major parties naturally were unfriendly to all proposals to have the Society resort to separate political action. The Cin- cinnati Daily Gazette declared that "A resort to the ballot-box. . . [was] a resort to means illy in ac- cordance with the kindly influences upon the judgments and Christian feeling of the community."^"*' The Whig state organ condemned, in vigorous terms, the sending of abolition petitions to Congress, although it upheld their constitutionality, and explained that it seemed ''to follow that no attempt should be made on the part of those not directly interested, to lessen the security by which this species of property is held, or to diminish its value in the hands of its holders." Anti-slavery organi- zations should not send publications "into the slave- holding states for the purpose of creating disaff"ection in the minds of their citizens in regard to their municipal regulations; much less to foment a spirit of insubordi- nation among the slaves.""^
The leaders of the Anti-Slavery Society in Ohio pre- vented the American Anti-Slavery Society, meeting at Cleveland in October, 1839, from taking action looking toward the organization of an independent political party, ^°* but anti-slavery men who favored the forma- tion of a separate political party met in April, 1840, and formed the National Liberty Party, nominating James G. Birney for president and Thomas Earle of Pennsyl- vania for vice-president. For many years, Birney, a
Cincinnati Daily Gasette, June 10, 1840. Cincinnati Daily Gazette, August 22, 1840. Ohio State Journal (Weekly), July 22, 1840. T. C. Smith, op. cit., pp. 36-37.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 A77
former Kentucky slave-holder, had been active in the anti-slavery crusade, and, by his work as editor of the Philanthropist, he had become the recognized leader of the anti-slavery forces in the United States. The Lib- erty party had only one idea, to prevent the extension of slavery and to abolish that institution in the District of Columbia. The Ohio Anti-Slavery men thus were faced with a dilemma, but the split of the National or- ganization of the American Anti-Slavery Society on this issue in 1840 made it easy for the Whig and Democratic elements to remain in their old parties. The Ohio Anti- Slavery Society, on May 27, 1840, refused to take inde- pendent action as an organization. However, those who favored separate political action met in September and formed the Ohio Liberty Party, whose prime movers were Dr. Gamaliel Bailey, editor of the Philanthropist, 2l mild advocate of separate political action, and ex- Senator Thomas Morris, who had just been discarded by the Democrats on account of his attitude on the recep- tion of anti-slavery petitions. "''
The Whigs were anxious to secure the support of the abolitionists, but feared the efifect of such a coalition on the party in the South. ^"^ The praise bestowed on Har- rison by the abolition press led the Democrats to charge
"' T. C. Smith, op. cit., pp. 41-42.
"" The Belmont Chronicle, September 17, 1839, reproved an ardent anti- slavery correspondent with the assertion that "The men of the Southern states, having been accustomed to the system or institution of slavery from their infancy, are so familiarized to it that they cannot view it in the same light that most men in the free states do, and though even slaveholders themselves might and did admit that it would be morally wrong if the immediate abolition of it were at all practicable, immediately to abolish, but also that they do no wrong in holding them to service ; since it is in accord- ance with law and recognized by the constitutions of the slave states; while they are well used — humanly treated."
478 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
a coalition between the Whigs and Abohtionists and to claim that Harrison was an abolitionist. Indeed, in a speech at Vincennes, Indiana, three or four years pre- viously, Harrison had apparently favored the use of the surplus revenue of the General Government for the emancipation of slaves. "^ Moreover, a statement by Bailey, the abolitionist leader, that Harrison was a warm friend of the abolition cause was circulated widely over Ohio. This report, Bailey took occasion to deny in a letter to the Cincinnati Gazette, although he weakened the effect of his letter by the statement that from con- versations with Harrison he judged him to be a "very good anti-slavery man.""' The Globe saw proof in this tone of the Pliilanthropist of a coalition of Abolitionism and Federalism. ""^ In view of the fact that the anti- slavery forces were divided on the advisability of inde- pendent political action, and that such abolition papers as the Elyria Atlas, the New Lisbon Aurora, and the Xenia Free Press openly supported Harrison,"* it was plain that most of the abolition votes would go to the old General. Moreover, the Liberty party in 1840 did not yet include such able strategists as Salmon P. Chase, Benjamin F. Wade, Edward Wade, Leicester King, and Samuel Lewis. "^
In the interests of national success the Ohio Whigs were anxious to disavow any connection with abolition- ism because of the effects on the party in the South. Professor A. C. Cole has clearly shown that the Whig
^^ Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), January 18, 1840. '"- Cincinnati Daily Gazette, July 9, 1840. "Washington Daily Globe, March 7, May 8, 1840. " Ibid., June 9, 1840. '' T. C. Smith, op. cit., p. 40.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 479
party in the South was preeminently the party of the slaveholder, "® and that the southern Whigs consciously modified their position on slavery questions in order to conciliate the northern wing of the party. ''' The north- ern Whigs were anxious to meet their southern allies at least half-way. The Political Tornado, a campaign sheet, assured the Whigs of the South that the rumors of Harrison's abolitionism were unfounded, and pointed to one of Harrison's speeches in Indiana condemning "measures of emancipation" as "weak, presumptuous, and unconstitutional." ^^® Harrison, himself, specifically denied the abolitionist connection, in a speech at Colum- bus, by pointing to his vote, while a member of Congress, against restrictions on the admission of Missouri. "^ These charges and denials continued to the close of the campaign. ^"°
In an efifort to distract public attention from Harri- son's connection with the anti-slavery movement, the Whigs charged that Benjamin Tappan, the Democratic United States Senator, was not only an abolitionist but an "amalgamationist." He was accused of having said, in a court decision in 1818, that he knew of no principle of ethics or law "which w^ould forbid a descendant of the fair-haired and ruddy Teuton from marrying the swarthy native of Africa; good taste and refinement, but neither law nor morals forbid such connections."^"^ The
""A. C. Cole, The Whig Party in the South, p. 104.
'"Ibid., pp. 106-108.
""Daily Political Tornado, October 17, 1840.
"' Cincinnati Daily Gazette, June 30. 1840 ; Eaton Register, July 9, 1840.
''" Cincinnati Daily Gazette, October 28, 1840.
"' Steubenville Herald quoted in Belmont Chronicle, March 17, 1840. The reference is to Judge Tappan's decision in the case of Barrett vs. Jarvis, Tappan's Reports, v. I, p. 211.
480 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Democrats hastened to protect Tappan, who had been sent to the Senate by the Democrats of Ohio after they had discarded Morris because of his ardent support of the anti-slavery movement from such charges. Tappan refused to present aboHtion petitions to the Senate, al- though he informed the Senate that he held them, and he was commended highly by the Globe for his action/" The OJiio Statesman declared that "At this moment, while abolitionism is rearing its haggard head anew under the auspices of General Harrison" — Tappan's action "comes at this time upon the enemy like an ava- lanche, burying the puny intrigues of Harrison and in- cendiarism in one common grave together." ^'^ Tap- pan's action, moreover, was applauded even by such a staunch Whig organ as the Cincinnati Daily Gazette, always eager to remain in harmony with its southern neighbors and to preserve its economic connections with the South. ''*
The vote of newly-arrived immigrants also became important in Ohio in the election of 1840. Between 1830 and 1850 large numbers of foreigners had come to Ohio. Most of the newcomers were Germans, Irish, and English. Although both parties angled for the sup- port of the newcomers, the Germans and Irish drifted into the ranks of the Democrats,^"' due partly to the sound of the party name; partly to the hard money tendencies of the Democrats; and partly to the effective- ness of the Democratic campaign to convince them that the Whigs retained the Federalist enmity toward for-
Washington Daily Globe, February 13, 1840. ' Ohio Statesman. February 10, 1840. Cincinnati Daily Ga::ctte, February 15, 1840. Ibid.. March 7," 1840.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18 481
eigners. In an effort to detach the foreigners from their democratic connections, fulsome compliments were paid to the Germans by the Whig press, the Ohio State Jour- nal declaring that there was not a "more honest, indus- trious and patriotic class of citizens than the Germans." The Journal did not fear the eft'ects of the foreign vote although many foreigners had been led astray by "skil- ful and corrupt demagogues. "^'"^ The Cincinnati Daily Gazette deplored the fact that there were 1200 German voters in Cincinnati in 1840 with no means to introduce them to sound Whig doctrines. '"" The Democrats had the advantage of German language newspapers like the Westbote in Cincinnati, and the Ohio Staats-Zcitung unci Volks-Adz'okat in Columbus. ^'^ Charged by the Cincinnati Volkshlatt with hostility to foreigners, John C. Wright, editor of the Daily Gazette, protested his sympathy for the foreign-born, and announced that he favored a short residence requirement for naturaliza- tion. ^-^ The Democrats accused Harrison of favoring a naturalization period of twenty years, and Harrison found it necessary to deny this report and to assert his sympathy with the foreigners in their efforts to become citizens. ^^** The Whigs also directed attention to Harri- son's efforts to amend the Land Law of 1800 to provide for the sale of smaller tracts of land. "The effects of General Harrison's exertions at that time," declared the Cincinnati Republican, "was to give every industrious German — every honest Irishman — who would receive it,
'"Ohio State Journal (Weekly), September 11, 1839.
=" Cincinnati Daily Gazette, June 3, 1840.
^^Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), June 7, 1839.
^ Cincinnati Daily Gazette, October 6, 1840.
'"Ibid., July 28, 1840.
Vol. XXXVII— 31.
482 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
the right to be a landholder and a land owner."''' The only danger of the defection of the foreign vote from the Democratic party came from Van Buren's policy in regard to American neutrality during the Canadian re- volt of 1837."' When William Lyon Mackenzie, one of the Canadian revolutionaries, was arrested and im- prisoned by New York authorities because of his viola- tion of American neutrality, '^^ William Dunbar, a Dem- ocratic leader of Canton, Ohio, warned Bela Latham, a state leader of the Ohio Democracy, that if Van Buren did not pardon Mackenzie the Irish and Germans of the Canton district would turn against the party. The Whigs apparently were taking full advantage of the strong anti-British feeling aroused by the Canadian re- bellion and consequent border troubles, and the Demo- cratic State Central Committee found it advisable to send an address to Van Buren urging the release of Mackenzie. ''* According to Whig accounts most of the foreign born voters remained in the ranks of the Demo- crats. The Cincinnati Daily Ga::ette charged Demo- cratic leaders with inciting foreigners to vote before they were naturalized, and denounced such as "revolu- tionary" and "disorganizing" tactics. The Whigs were advised to secure proper constitutional limitations upon voting privileges to prevent such abuses in the future."^
"' Cincinnati Republican quoted in Cincinnati Daily Gazette, October 9, 1840.
"" McMaster, op. cit., v. VI, pp. 434-442.
'"^Ibid., V. VI, p. 442.
'^William Dunbar to Bela Latham, February 10, 1840, Van Buren MSS., V. XXXVIII.
"^ In spite of predictions of trouble by the foreigners the election passed ofif in an orderly manner, a fact attributed by the Gazette to the activities of the influential men in both parties. Cincinnati Daily Gazette, October 12. 14, 1840.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 483
After the election was over, the native American spirit again manifested itself in the Whig- party press, the Cin- cinnati Daily Gazette quoting with approval an editorial from the Troy Mail to the effect that Americans were under obligations to maintain their political and social institutions undefiled and that foreigners should not set up arrogant claims or reveal a spirit of officiousness or dictation, but should be modest in their demands. ^'^'^
The outcome of the campaign of 1840 in Ohio de- pended on the ability of the Whigs to attract large num- bers of former Jackson Democrats. It was this consid- eration that had led to the rejection of their real leader, Henry Clay, in favor of Harrison. The old Jackson group never could have been induced to support Clay whom they accused of betraying their hero in the elec- tion of 1824. Conscious of this veneration for Jackson among the masses, Whig papers referred to Jackson with the utmost respect and emphasized Van Buren's alleged desertion of Jacksonian principles. A state rights element in Ohio led by John G. Miller, editor of the Oliio Confederate and Old School Republican, and his associate, Robert Ware, vaguely emphasized the need for reform in the Government, ^" and it was around this active organization of state rights men that the Whigs hoped to unite all who were discontented with Van Bur- en and once had been followers of Jackson. At a meet- ing of the State Rights Association of Columbus, in January, 1840, D. W. Deshler was chosen president, Isaac Taylor, vice-president, and George Jeffries, secre- tary. A resolutions committee, composed of N. M. Mil-
"" Troy Mail quoted in Cincinnati Daily Gazette, December 5, 1840. "' Ohio Confederate and Old School Republican, August 6, 1840.
484 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Puhlications
ler, Robert Ware, and Robert Neil pledged their support of Harrison as a representative of the Old School Re- publicans. The Van Buren administration was charged with violating "every principle that Republicans of the
EDITED BY THE
ExectUive Comrmttee of the Tippecanoe Club of Delaware County.
^Z^<^^01^''
" Union of the Ifkigs for the sake of the Union." FOR PRESIDENT.
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON,
OF OHIO. FOR V. PRESIDENT.
JOHN TYLER,
OF VIRGINIA.
LOG CABIN Illustration carried at the top of the editorial column of the Harrison Flag, a Whig campaign paper published in Delaware, Ohio, in 1840.
State Rights School have held to be fundamental to our system and conservative of our liberties. . . ." "' Jackson Reform Clubs, also sponsored by the Whigs, were organized. Columbus had a "Jackson Reform
"' Ohio Confederate and Old School Republican, quoted in Belmont Chronicle, February 11, 1840.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 485
True American Association" with John McElvain, a former follower of Jackson, as chairman. At the sug- gestion of the "Jackson Reform Club" of Newark, a State Convention of discontented Jacksonians was held on September 25th. "' In July, 1840, the State Rights organization and the defection movement of old Jack- sonians were merged in a meeting held at the State Capi- tol, and an address was drawn up commending the Jack- sonian principles of 1828 and declaring that Harrison rather than Van Buren now was the true exponent of these views. "" The Ohio Confederate and Old School Republican called upon the Jacksonians who had been deceived by Van Buren to redeem the Governmicnt from the spoilers. "' The State Convention of former Jack- sonians and States Rights men, on the 25th of Septem- ber, attracted about 7,000. Resolutions were adopted condemning the Van Buren administration. "'^ The Democrats, of course, attempted to minimize the extent of the defection in their ranks and labelled the deserters as disappointed office-seekers. "^
More important than the organized State Rights- Jackson movement, was the claim of the Whigs that they represented the ideals of Jefferson and were the real "bone and sinew" of the land. Democratic conventions were denounced as conventions of pampered office-hold- ers, and the campaign became a crusade to rid the Gov- ernment of the spoilers. "The Spoilers are in the temple of Liberty, and foul corruption has polluted the sacred altar of Freedom," "* declared the chairman at a con-
''' Ohio State Journal (Weekly), September 9, 1840.
"" Ibid., July 8, 1840.
"^ Ohio Confederate and Old Sehool Republican, September 3, 1840.
"'Ohio State Journal (Weekly), October 7, 1840.
'*" Ohio Statesman, March 6, 1840.
'" Cincinnati Daily Gazette, June 12, 1840.
486 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
vention of the Whigs on the Tippecanoe Battle-ground. In order to win the masses, and rid the party of any odious connection with FederaHsm, Whig leaders even denied the right of the Democrats to use the party name. "What odious cant is it," exclaimed the Cincinnati Ga- zette, "for the Locofocos to arrogate the title of the 'democracy' of the United States ! . . . What evi- dence have they given of their sympathies with the masses of the people? . . . Has not their opposi- tion to internal improvements of the country, by canals, turnpikes, and railroads, with their malignant attack on the credit of the States, thrown the class first named [laborers] out of employment, by hundreds and thou- sands? . . . Has not their incessant war upon the currency of the country depreciated the value of lands, reduced the price of proceeds two-thirds and rendered the farmer's occupation, hitherto one of independence and profit, a life of hardships and half-recompensing toil?""^ Van Buren, on account of his aristocratic tastes, was declared to be the real Federalist. "^
The suffering which followed in the Panic of 1837 and led to a deranged currency and falling prices, also proved a powerful argument for the Whigs in the cam- paign of 1840. "^ The Whigs promised to better the economic status of the common people, "^ and spread
"'Cincinnati Daily Gazette, May 1, 1840.
^*^ Ohio State Journal (for the period of the campaign).
"'. The "pampered office-holders," they said, were making no efforts to better these conditions, but were only interested in collecting gold and silver for their own use. The Whig press declared that all classes of people, impelled by the palpable ruin which faced them, were ready to join the cause of Harrison and reform. Belmont Clironicle, March 24, 1840 ; Ohio State Journal (Semi- weekly), February 8, 1840.
^*^ Ohio State Journal stressed this note throughout the campaign.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 487
broadcast over the State information about the high sal- aries paid to useless Government officials."" Harrison, the plain man, mingled with farmers and mechanics, and was interested in their welfare; \^an Buren, the aristocrat, enjoyed the "fat of the land" and spent most of his time "shut up in glittering halls, with a few- friends about him, of tastes, habits and character sim- ilar to his own.'' ^"' Whig journals contrasted the low wages of workingmen with the salary of the President, who "lived in a splendid palace supplied and furnished at the nation's expense" and rode "in an English coach, accompanied by liveried outriders and drawn by six blooded horses." ^''^ In creating this impression of pres- idential aristocracy, nothing was more effective than the famous speech of Representative Ogle of Pennsylvania on the civil and diplomatic Appropriation Bill (April 14, 1840). It disclosed alleged executive extravagances and was circulated throughout the State by the Whig papers under the caption, "On the Regal Splendor of the President's Palace." '" Medary confessed to Van Buren that the furore over the standing army and the Ogle ''omnibus of lies" were the most potent arguments of the Whigs. ^^^ One Whig paper explained that in the event of a re-election of Van Buren, twenty thousand dollars would be required to ''replenish the Turkish car- pets, re-polish the plate, candelabras and mirrors and enlarge the means of luxurious indulgence generally, which already exist in oriental profusion and magnifi-
'" Cincinnati Daily Gazette, June 11, 1840. '''Ibid., April 20, 1840. ^'^Ihid., March 5, 1840.
"^ Eaton Register, October 1, 1840; Cincinnati Daily Gasette, August 5, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 31, and September 1, 18, 1840.
"'Medary to Van Buren, August 18, 1840, Van Buren MSS., v. XL.
488 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
cence around the walks and apartments of our grand Loco Foco President." '"* An Ohio Whig leader frankly admitted that as long as the prices of farm products were high farmers were content to vote the Democratic ticket, but with prices reduced by one-half and debts and lawsuits accumulating the rural population was begin- ning to think about other things besides bank reform/'^ Therefore, the Whig emphasis upon the extravagances of the administration and their promise to restore pros- perity proved most timely and effective.'^*'
Each party tried to the fasten the taint of Federalism upon the other. The Democrats charged that Harrison had been a Federalist in his younger days, and the Whigs had to publish long lists of testimonials from men who had been Harrison's neighbors in those early years to prove that he had never worn the black cockade, and had always been a Jeffersonian Republican.'" The Whigs in turn described the Democratic leaders as the "rank- est old blue-light Federalists.'"'" Van Buren was accused
^''Harrison Flag (Delaware), April 28, 1840.
^^E. Howe to William Greene, January 27, 1840. Greene MSS.
^^'This mode of appeal is typified in a letter published in a Cincinnati paper from one who signed himself "A Workingman of Old Town." "We have," he said, "been imposed upon by a man who in 1836 received our votes, and made us promises of reform and improvement in our condition which have never been realized. Yes, fellow-workmen ! he promised us that the blessing of government, like the dew of heaven, should shower alike on the rich and poor . . . Fellow-workmen! what has he given us? Nothing but disaster and ruin. Our wives and children are in want and we are penniless." Cincinnati Daily Gazette, January 29, 1840.
^" In proof of the latter assertion they pointed out that he had been elected delegate to Congress from the Northwest Territory against Arthur St. Clair, supported by the Federalists. Cincinnati Daily Gazette, July 15, 1840.
^"^ Under the caption of "Choose Ye," comparisons of Harrison and Van Buren were made in the following vein : "General Harrison is the disciple of the immortal Jefferson, and the admired supporter of those prin-
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^,0 489
of sympathy with the Hartford Conventionists during the War of 1812, and it was charged that he had offered a resolution to the effect that the war was "impoHtic" and the use of the militia in an offensive war uncon- stitutional.'"^ Old Jacksonians, moreover, found it difficult to reconcile the suavity ,of Van Buren, the accomplished politician, with the brusqueness and direct- ness of their former leader. To stop the drift toward Harrison, Jackson, himself, issued a public letter sup- porting Van Buren's policies and reiterating his confi- dence in his protege. "Old Hickory" professed to see in the Whig party and its candidate dangerous tenden- cies toward centralization, and he had never admired General Harrison as a military man.'''*' But Jackson's reassurance was not sufficient to stem the tide. Leaders like John McElvain, of Columbus, Andrew Palmer, of Toledo, and Caleb Atwater, of Circleville, renounced Van Buren. The Democrats explained McElvain's de- fection by charging that he was under obligations to the banks, and had been bought by the corporate inter- ests; but McElvain insisted that he was opposed to the "bank destruction" policy of the Ohio Democrats and to the "monarchical" tendencies of the President,"' Andrew Palmer, of Toledo, "a merchant of the first respectability," refused to be a delegate to a Democratic district convention because the Van Buren administra-
ciples which genuine Democracy has ever sustained. Van Buren is both practically and theoretically the advocate and exponent of principles directly the adverse." Belmont Chronicle, February 4, 1840 ; Daily Political Tornado, October 23, 1840.
^^^ Evening Star quoted in the Eaton Register, February 6, 1840.
""Jackson's letter printed in Nashville Union and reprinted in Cincin- nati Daily Gazette, July 1, 1840.
"' Ohio Confederate and Old School Republican quoted in Cincinnati Daily Gazette, May 21, 1840.
490 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
tion had attempted to "unite the purse and the sword" and had attempted to reduce the circulating medium below the needs of the country.'*'" Atwater stumped the State for Harrison, promising that no member of Congress would be appointed to office; that no political speaker would receive official reward for his services; that neither Webster nor Ewing would be members of the cabinet ; that removals from office would be decided by the wishes of the people in the locality affected; that Harrison would not run for re-election; and that the use of the veto would be strictly limited."'^ The Whigs also claimed that most of the old soldiers were flocking to Harrison/"' although Vice-President R. M. Johnson, an officer in the War of 1812, toured the State in an attempt to hold them for Van Buren.'"'
Both parties appealed to the growing class of labor- ers and wage-earners, the Whigs by accusing the Dem- ocrats of responsibility for the financial depression of the period,'*"' and the Democrats by appealing to the class consciousness of the workers and charging a coali- tion between the corporations and the Whig Party. Therefore, the Whigs accused the Democrats of favor- ing agrarianism and the Belmont Chronicle (W) de- tected in the Democratic appeal "designs as fatal to the existence of our free institutions and to the interests of
"'"Letter of renunciation in Cincinnati Daily Ga::cttc, June 2, 1840.
'''Caleb Atwater to McLean, September 21, 1841, ^^IcLean MSS, v. X.
"'Cincinnati Daily Gazette, April 23, 1840.
''" Ohio Confederate and Old School Republican, August 20, 1840.
''" Referring to the bank policies of the Democrats and their proposals for an Independent Treasury, the Ohio State Journal declared that "in the meantinr-e, the blighting efifects of the war on credit and currency of the country, are everywhere felt with increasing force. Labor is sinking in value, the price of produce has fallen so low that it can get but little lower, business is at a standstill, canals and railroads whether constructed by the
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 491
the people at large as arsenic is to animal life." ^^^ Many Whigs viewed the contest as a struggle for the preserva- tion of our social institutions. The Cincinnati Daily Gazette appealed to the voters "to come out, and stay the onward march of the infidel and scoffer." The same organ (a paper dedicated to moral reform by its own admission) denounced the Democratic program as an attack on property by trying to abolish inheritance.'"*
Conservation of the status quo was the rational position for the Whigs to assume when we remember the origins and traditions of the party. Their expres- sions of sympathy with the people in opposition to the aristocracy was obviously intended to appeal to the masses and to get votes. It is doubtful whether it rep- resented their real attitude. This fear of change be- came a potent factor in the campaign. A Whig journal, in describing the Democratic program, predicted that "when that millenium of infidel radicalism'*''* shall arrive,
States or companies have mostly suspended — all, every interest is on the verge of ruin, apparently waiting some great coming event, some measure of reform that will meet expectation. They will wait in vain until the fall elections . . . The Government is severed from the people ; it has all it can do to take care of itself, without stopping to provide for the suffering mechanic, the merchant, the farmer, and the day laborer." Weekly Ohio State Journal, March 11, 1840. To the cry of the Whigs that they were making war on the credit of the State the Democrats answered that Ohio stocks were, at that time, higher in the London market than the stock of any other State and that this was to be attributed to the Democratic legis- lation compelling the Ohio banks to resume specie payments. Ohio States- man, March 31, 1840.
'"'Belmont Chronicle, February 26, 1&39.
'•''Cincinnati Daily Gazette, September 1, 1840.
'•^ The Whigs asserted that most of the clergy were Whigs and in favor of a United States Bank. The Ohio Statesmati admitted that most of the clergy favored monopolies and declared that "it is a little remarkable that there never was a despotism of any kind that did not find a large portion of the clergy in its support." Ohio Statesman, October 20, 1840.
492 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
all the civil and religious institutions shall be swept away — there shall be no more labor, nor wages, nor schools, nor sanctuaries, nor sound of the church-going bell, during life; and when death comes, your prop- erty, if you shall have been lucky enough to have preserved any in such a community, shall be taken from your wife and children, and divided among the pub- lic." ''" Senator William Allen (Democrat), who en- tered the Ohio campaign with great vigor, denounced the Whigs as allies of the banks and declared that the purpose of this coalition was to make the "masses of the people" the slaves of the "rich and well-born." Accord- ing to Ohio's Democratic Senator, the legal profession was bank controlled.^'^^ One of Allen's speeches at Carthage was described by the Whigs as "openly and undisguisedly disorganizing and Jacobinical. Its whole purpose was to array the poor against the rich, the trades against the professions, and to persuade the farmers and mechanics that they were suffering grievous oppression at the hands of the professional men." ^^" Late in September, 1840, Buchanan wrote Van Buren that it seemed as if the whole population of Ohio had "abandoned their ordinary business for the purpose of electioneering." '" Even Medary, a seasoned cam- paigner, testified that he had never witnessed anything like the log cabin campaign, "every man, woman, and child preferred politics to anything else," and he found it impossible to predict the result.''* When the August
° Cincinnati Daily Gazette, August 7, 1840.
Hbid., August 18, 1840.
^Ibid., August 29, 1840.
'Buchanan to Van Buren, September 5, 1840, Van Buren MSS., v. XL.
^Medary to Van Buren. August 18, 1840, Van Buren MSS., v. XL.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 493
elections began to register Whig victories all over the country, Ohio became important as a State where the disorganized Democrats would make a last stand."' But here, too, the fall elections for state offices blasted the hopes of the Democrats by placing Corwin in the governor's chair by a large majority, and giving the Whigs control of the Ohio House of Representatives/''' After the State election, the Whigs redoubled their efforts and, in November, Harrison carried the State by an even larger majority than Corwin had done a month before.
An analysis of the vote shows that the Democrats polled 27,864 more votes than they did in 1836. The Whig campaign was so effective, however, that it swept into the Harrison ranks 42,724 more votes than the party polled in 1836."' The Whig success in Ohio may be explained by the distress of the people, coupled with a general disposition to charge the Democrats with the responsibility for the trouble, and by the effectiveness with which all differences in the Whig ranks had been harmonized. The result was a manifestation of the frontier spirit of Democracy, and a tribute to the effi- cacy of campaign slogans, campaign songs, and political rallies. According to a contemporary, "the administra- tion was sung and stung to death." '" The Democrats attributed the defeat to shameless and open fraud. If we may believe their charges, the practice of coloniza- tion, by means of which large numbers of persons were
""New York Express quoted in Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), October 28, 1840.
"' Eaton Register, November 26, 1840.
'"0/ifo State Journal (Semi-weekly), November 18, 1840.
"* A. G. Riddle, "Recollections of the 47th General Assembly of Ohio, 1847-1848," in Magazine of Western History, v. VI, p. 153.
494 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
transferred from one precinct to another and voted by the connivance of Whig judges of election, was resorted to by the Whigs."' Others explained the Democratic defeat by a "foul coalition" between bankers, aboli- tionists, and the Whigs/'*'
The Whig victory was complete/'' It remained for the victorious party to cleanse the Augean stables, always a congenial task to the politicians, and to develop a constructive policy, a much more difficult procedure. The campaign had been won with no direct reference to real issues, like the national bank, a protective tariff, and internal improvements. To have emphasized these questions would have driven from the Whig ranks cer- tain elements of the party both in the South and North and endangered the Whig cause. Whig leaders had informed the South that the protective tariff was no longer an issue, that Clay would abide by the Compro- mise Tariff of 1833, that since the states had taken up the problem of internal improvements it was no longer necessary for the Federal Government to concern itself with that matter, and that a national bank would not be urged if the people wanted state banks. ''" In Ohio, as elsewhere, the Whigs had avoided all issues on which there might be disagreement. But victory in the elec- tions forced the party to assume responsibilities and evolve a constructive program — tasks fraught with the greatest difficulties and full of dangers for the hetero- geneous Whig organization.
"' Ohio Statesman, October 16, 27, 1840. •
"Vfc/i., October 20, 1840.
"' The Whigs also won twelve out of nineteen seats in Congress. Ohio Statesman, October 20, 1840.
'"A. C. Cole, The Whig Party in the South, p. 54.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^,0 495
CHAPTER II
BANKING AND CURRENCY IN OHIO POLITICS, I 840- I 850
Questions relating to banking and currency became a live, and at times an absorbing topic of political action in Ohio during the 'forties. These issues arose because of a period of financial stringency following the Panic of 1837, which was manifested all over the United States in the failure of banking and other corporations, and in the suspension of specie payments. The result was great loss to all concerned in banking operations, but the small note holder suffered most. The inevitable result of the distress was a popular demand for the control, and in some cases for the actual destruction of banks of issue. The present chapter is concerned with the effect of these questions on the political parties of the time and with the programs which they devised to deal with the situ- ation.^
There was no general banking law in Ohio before 1842 - and even under this law no banks were incorpo- rated.'' Consequently banks were chartered by the Legis- lature under a variety of special acts of incorporation. This led to confusion in the manner of operation, and corruption in the granting of acts of incorporation.
^ The financial and economic phases of Ohio banking have been well treated by C. C. Huntington, "A History of Banking and Currency in Ohio Before the Civil War," Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society Publica- tions, V. XXIV, pp. 235-539 ; and by E. L. Bogart's "Financial History of Ohio," in University of Illinois Studies in the Social Sciences, v. I. I have relied on these two studies to a large extent for explanations of the financial and economic problems of Ohio during the decade under discussion.
' Laws of Ohio, v. XLI, pp. 28-35.
' Laws of Ohio, V. XLHI, pp. 24-54.
496 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Moreover, banks had come to look upon these acts of incorporation as contracts enforceable in the courts and beyond the power of the General Assembly to change. Governor Thomas Corwin (Whig), in his annual message to the General Assembly in December, 1841, doubted whether the General Assembly could enforce regulations upon private corporations where provisions had not been made in their charters for such regulation. He held the view that the question could only be decided by the courts.'' The Democratic view was expressed in the Ohio Statesman, the state organ of the Democracy," and in resolutions by the Democrats of Sandusky County urging that those banks which had suspended specie payments "should unconditionally be put in a state of liquidation," and "that legislative bodies have a right to appeal or amend all acts of their predecessors, that are unconstitutional or in any manner subversive of the interests of the people. . ." '^
There is evident in these views a fundamental difference of opinion as to the ability of the General Assembly to deal with a problem which both Whigs and Democrats admitted to be pressing. In the late 'thirties, the Democrats had revealed their attitude on the cur- rency by legislative enactments to check the indiscrim- inate issuing of paper money, by prohibiting banks from issuing notes in smaller denominations than five dollars.^ It was maintained that bank profits came largely from small notes, and that bank failures thus resulted in losses to those portions of the community which could
* Ohio Executive Documents, 1841, v. VI, No. 1.
^Ohio Statesman, December 10, 1841.
Ubid., December 14, 1841.
'Lazt'^ 0/ 0/no, V. XXXIV, p. 42.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^,0 497
least afford them. The movement to check the issue of paper currency of small denominations had by no means been confined to Ohio. By October, 1836, fourteen states had taken similar action.^
Although the amount of capital in Ohio banks in- creased in 1837, the amount of circulation noticeably decreased,^ This decrease in the circulating medium coincided with a great increase in the volume of trade. Under these conditions a demand arose for the repeal of the small note law of 1836. In his annual message of December 5, 1837, Governor Joseph Vance (Whig) urged action by the General Assembly, declaring that "our commercial and agricultural wants require a circu- lation capable of expansion today and contraction to- morrow." " In March, 1838, the Legislature carried out the Governor's recommendation and repealed the small note law." An analysis of the vote shows that in the Senate every Whig voted for repeal and every Demo- crat but one voted against repeal. In the House also the measure was carried by a strict party vote.^"" Governor Vance's ideas on an elastic currency were in marked contrast with those of Wilson Shannon, his Democratic successor in 1838. Shannon had been elected on a policy of "Bank Reform," and in his annual message of Decem- ber, 1839, he pointed out "the injurious consequences to the community of a currency capable of great and sudden expansion." ^^ The Democratic majority of the General Assembly, in agreement with the Governor, in
"Niks' Register, v. LI, p. 80.
' Ohio Executive Documents, 1837, No. 30.
^"Ibid., 1838-1839, No. 1.
" Laws of Ohio, V. XXXVI, p. 56.
" Ohio Statesman, June 27, 1838.
" Ohio Executive Documents, 1839-1840, v. IV, part 1, No. 1, p. 7.
Vol. XXXVII— 32.
498 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
March, 1840, re-enacted the small note law, prohibiting anew the issue by Ohio banking corporations of notes less than five dollars, post notes, and notes not payable in specie."
C. C. Huntington has shown that the increase in land speculation which was one of the fundamental causes of the Panic of 1837, had been caused largely by a great increase in bank-note circulation. Loans of the Ohio banks doubled in the short period from January, 1835, to May, 1837.'^ This bubble of inflation was sud- denly pricked in 1836 by the famous "Specie Circular" of President Jackson, directing land agents of the gov- ernment to receive nothing but gold or silver in payment for public lands. Huntington attributes the panic mainly to the pyramiding of bank notes in feverish land specu- lation, but gives, as contributing causes, the sudden drop in western land sales, the bank entanglements caused by the federal act of June, 1836, distributing the proceeds from the sale of public lands, and a financial crisis in England which forced English creditors to call in many of their foreign loans.^^ The suspension of specie pay- ments by the Ohio banks, if we may believe their own statements, was caused by suspensions in neighboring states, a condition which made it impossible for the banks to convert their investments into coin." Because of a general suspension, the banks called a convention in Columbus in June, 1837, in order to devise some means of resuming specie payments.^^ But because re-
'*Lazvs of Ohio, V. XXXVIII, p. 113. *
'= C. C. Huntington, op. cit., p. 157.
'" Ihid., p. 159.
''Ibid., p. 157.
'" Dayton Journal, June 13, 1837.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1830 499
sumption was dependent upon the action of neighboring states, the banks of Ohio could arrive at no solution of the question. In the fall elections of 1837, the Demo- crats obtained control of the General Assembly and in March, 1838, a law was passed requiring all banks of the State to resume specie payments by July 4th of that year, provided the banks of New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore had done Hkewise by that time/'' The bankers of these cities met in July and agreed to resume specie payments by August 13, 1838,'° and the banks of Ohio were in a fair way toward resumption when the banks of Pennsylvania in 1839 again suspended specie payments. By November, 1839, the banks of Dayton, Xenia, Urbana, Wooster, and Cincinnati (with the ex- ception of the Commercial and the Hamilton banks) had again suspended payments."^
The Democratic press of Ohio attacked the banks unsparingly because of this suspension of specie pay- ments. The Whig press, in the main, defended the banks. The Ohio State Journal, chief Whig organ in the State, declared that a "fictitious" and "senseless" war had been waged against banks by a group incapable of understanding the operations of financial corpora- tions." Although James Allen, the editor of the Journal, and a former Jackson Democrat, made these criticisms, he was especially careful to disclaim any especial solici- tude for the welfare of the bankers.'^ This was obviously the strategic position to take because the hos-
'^ Lazvs of Ohio, v. XXXVI, p. 55. ""Huntington, op. cit., p. 162. "^Miles' Register, November 9, 1839.
^ (Weekly) October 23, 1839. All citations to the Ohio State Journal are taken from the daily numbers unless otherwise stated in the footnote. "^Ohio State Journal (Semi- weekly), May 24, 1839.
500 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
tility of the masses, who had suffered severely from bank suspensions, had been aroused and the voters were not disposed to deal leniently with the owners of banking capital.
The Democrats, already on record as favoring reg- ulation by the state, became more insistent upon this remedy as the number of suspensions rapidly increased in 1837 and 1838. As a result of this agitation, the Banking Commissioner Law of February 25, 1839, was passed,'* providing that no bank could at any time circu- late an amount of notes exceeding three times the specie actually belonging to the bank ; that in case of the issu- ance of an excess the directors and stockholders were liable to the amount of stock owned; that all banks must pay their own notes on demand either in gold or silver or in the current notes of other banks; and that in case of failure to carry out the latter provision they were to be closed. The law also created a Board of Bank Commissioners composed of three persons charged with the duty of examining the banks and making reg- ular reports on their condition.
The fall election of 1839 was virtually a popular referendum on the policies of the Democrats on banking and currency. The Whigs considered the Bank Com- missioner Law unconstitutional, and an infraction of the charter rights of corporations. It was charged that the main purpose of the Commission w^as not to correct abuses but to undermine confidence in the banks of the State, and to enable an unfriendly board, under cover of the law, to condemn the banks by official reports. The Whigs also insisted that the small note law, prohibiting
Ohio ExccHthc Documents, 1839, No. 22.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1830 501
Ohio bankers from issuing small notes, had filled the State with the unregulated small notes of other states with the result that the people of Ohio were victimized and the bankers of Ohio ruined."' But in spite of a vigorous assault on the Democratic position, the Whigs failed to regain control of the Legislature. The OJiio State Journal pessimistically exclaimed that all was lost in Ohio and that "Bank Reform [was] destined to reign in terror em, for another year." '"^
The newly created Bank Commission, composed of two Democrats, Eber W. Hubbard and George Mony- penny, and one Whig, William S. Hatch, rendered its first report December 16, 1839.'^ It was at once an explanation of the financial condition of the State and an indication of future Democratic policy concerning the regulation of banks. The tone of the report had been anticipated by the fiery attacks of Samuel Medary in the editorial columns of the Ohio Statesman. Medary led the Ohio Democrats of the 'forties, and his declara- tion of war on the banks is significant: "Created by the laws of your country . . . they [the banks] pre- sent every inducement to attract the confidence of the unwary and seduce into their grasp the most watchful and shrewd, by the convenience and safety they hold out to the public through a thousand pretenses of being the exclusive friends and engines of trade and commerce. They have even made the bold and daring avowal that they were the only safekeepers of the public treasury — ■ that they were the true exponents of the Constitution, the conservators of liberty — and under the broad term of
"^ Ohio State Journal, (Semi-weekly). June 4, ia39.
"^Ihid., October 11, 1839.
^ Ohio Executive Documents, 1839, No. 22.
502 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Whig they have attempted to seize upon the government of the Union and of the States, and make use of the revenues and loans upon the people's credit to uphold their villainy and grind the people to earth with oppres- sion. In these attempts these corporations have been supported by the powerful array of mercantile wealth — by city and county court lawyers largely in their pay — by the benighted and mercenary portion of the priest- hood— by village doctors who love the shade of an awn- ing better than the golden fields of the husbandman or workshop of the mechanic. . ."'® Thus the radical leader of the Democracy appealed to class consciousness at the opening of a decade when labor was beginning to feel the need of better organization. The oppression of the people by corporations was the note stressed by radical Democratic leaders throughout the decade.
The Democrats thus seemed to be determined on a definite program of reform. But the position taken by Governor Shannon, in his annual message of Decem- ber, 1839, produced indecision in the ranks and courage in the opposite camp. Shannon did not neglect to attack the banking system then in existence; it perhaps would not have been defended without cjualifications by a con- servative Whig. But the Governor failed to give the proper direction to the Democratic offensive. He pointed out that the stringency in the circulating medium was brought about by specie exportation and by bank con- traction; and contended that the ''present banking sys- tem [had] filled the country with a fluctuating, un- steady, and at times, a depreciated currency" ; and that a "perpetration of these wrongs by irresponsible cor-
Ohio Statesman, July 30, 1839.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^,0 503
porations" made the question of permitting them to con- tinue, a doubtful one. Since it was conceded that some sort of banking institutions were necessary, and since the charters of most of the banks would expire January 1, 1843, he advised that the General Assembly take action. Using a typical Whig argument, the Governor asserted that it would be better for Ohio to regulate her own currency rather than to allow the State to be flooded by the notes of foreign banks over which the General Assembly could exercise no control. The Governor con- cluded with the statement that "a system of independent banks properly restricted and limited in their powers, placed under the supervision of bank commissioners, and being at all times under the control of the Legislature, if not the best system that could be adopted, is perhaps the best within our reach, for the present, or for some time to come." ^^ Such a banking system should include lia- bility of the stockholder up to the amount of the stock owned, limitation of the note issues to an amount not greater than three times the amount of specie on hand, and compulsory specie payment.
Shannon's message was greeted without enthusiasm by the Democratic press, and to the Whigs it came as a real surprise. The Ohio State Journal reacted favor- ably to the Governor's proposal for a system of inde- pendent banks. ^"^ To ardent bank reform Democrats, like the venerable Moses Dawson of the Cincinnati Advertiser, the Governor seemed to have deserted the principles of his party. The attacks of the Advertiser were answered somewhat by John A. Bryan in the Ohio
Ohio Executive Documents, 1839-1840, v. IV, part 1, No. 1, p. 13. Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), December 7, 1839.
501- Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
State Bulletin (Columbus)/^ The Ohio State Bulletin had been founded as a central organ for the conservative Democrats who wished to displace Medary as a party leader, perhaps partly because of the disappointment of Bryan who had been prevented by the radical Demo- crats from becoming a state employee in 1839, because of his position as a bank official."' The attitude of the Governor, moreover, was not in accord with the prin- ciples of John Brough, of Fairfield County, a Democrat who served as joint editor, with his brother Charles, of the Cincinnati Ejiquircr. Brough had been elected auditor of state partially because of his advocacy of radical measures of bank reform. The Ohio Democratic delegation in Congress also represented the more ad- vanced views of the party on banking and currency. William Allen, in the Senate, had opposed a charter for the banks of the District of Columbia, declaring that they only wanted charters in order to legalize their vio- lation of the law, and pleading for a provision to make the District banks responsible for their issues of paper money/' Benjamin Tappan, who took his seat in the Senate in December, 1839,^* opposed the same measure on the ground that it contained no provision for the individual liability of stockholders for the debts of the banks.'' In the House, Alexander Duncan (D) of the First Ohio Congressional District believed with his col- leagues from Ohio that the "poor man had been robbed
'' Ohio State Bulletin, December 17, 1839, quoted in Ohio State Journal (Semi- weekly), December 21, 1839.
'^ Belmont Chronicle, April 30, 1839.
'' Congressional Globe, 26th Cong., 1st Sess., v. VIII, p. 506.
'^Ibid., 26th Cong., 1st Sess., v. VIII, p. 1.
^Congressional Globe, 26th Cong., 1st Sess., v. VIII, p. 468.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 505
of the fruits of his industry by the associated bank shavers." '*"
The attitude of the Democrats on banking and cur- rency was further revealed in the first annual report of the Board of Bank Commissioners. That body, which began its work on May 4, 1839, incurred hostility from the banks until the refusal of the State Supreme Court to grant an injunction against the examination, by the board, of the Lafayette Bank of Cincinnati led to a general acquiescence in the law. The Commission re- ported that "among the causes which have increased the drain of specie from the banks of this state and driven them to a rapid curtailment of their circulation [was] the hostile attitude they [had] assumed toward each other. This cause has operated to strengthen the dis- trust with which those institutions were viewed, by leav- ing the impression on the public mind that they placed no confidence in each other." ^'
The Commission found that in addition to the paper currency issued by authorized banks, a considerable amount had been put into circulation by the following firms: the Maumee Insurance Company, the Ohio Rail- road Company, Mechanics and Traders Association, the Orphan's Institute, the Washington Social Library
* Congressional Globe, 26th Cong., 1st Sess., v. VIII, p. 492.
" In the opinion of the commissioners there had been no ground for the previous suspension of specie payments. The report concluded that sudden expansions and contractions "has been the cause with the institutions fur- nishing our paper currency, and such will be their future history, until the strong arm of public opinion shall enforce and maintain the same degree of responsibility, which attaches itself to the transaction of private business. The report also urged the General Assembly to take action to prevent unreg- ulated foreign bank notes from flooding the State in order to "prevent the ruinous consequences of bankruptcy in a foreign institution from falling on our own citizens." Ohio Executive Documents, v. IV, part 1, No. 22.
506 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Society, the Franklin Silk Company, and the Monroe Falls Manufacturing Company. Over the paper issued by these banks the Commission had no authority, except insofar as that paper entered into the transactions of other banks. For example, the Bank of Cleveland had purchased $50,000.00 of the Ohio Railroad Company Stock and was receiving and redeeming the paper of that company.
Financial depression continued to grip Ohio in the period from 1839 to 1842, and low prices for farm products and ''hard times" for the whole community pre- vailed. The Bank Commissioners in 1840 attributed the low price level to overproduction in Ohio and in the neighboring states.^^ The amount of specie in the banks continued to decline, in the face of a great increase in the volume of trade. The specie in Ohio banks fell from $3,153,334.00 in 1837 to $1,052,767.00 in 1841 and in the same years bank circulation decreased from $9,247,- 296.00 to $3,584,341.00.^' This unsatisfactory condi- tion of the currency, the succession of bank failures with corresponding financial depressions, and the expi- ration of the charters of thirteen of the solvent banks on January 1, 1843, brought the matter of bank regula- tion forcibly to the attention of the political parties, and made this issue of major importance throughout the decade.
Banking and currency as an issue in party politics in the decade under consideration may be divided into four periods. The first marks the political supremacy of the Democrats when, after much division within its own ranks, that party worked out its solution of the
^^ Ohio Executive Documents, 1840, No. 21, p. 7.
'° Report of the Comptroller of the Currency, 1876, v. CXVI, p. 116.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 507
problem in the form of the Latham Banking Law of 1842. The second period is marked by the failure of the banks to incorporate under this law; the efforts of the Whigs to make the new law unpopular ; and the pas- sage by the Democrats of the slightly amended act of February, 1843. The third period is characterized by a bitter controversy over the efficacy of the Democratic banking scheme ; by the partial defeat of the Democrats in the fall elections of 1843; and their more decisive defeat in 1844. Thus the way was open for the Whigs to exercise their ingenuity on the problems of banking and currency and to provide an "adequate" and "safe" currency for the State. The fourth and final period tested the popularity of the Whig banking measure passed in February, 1845, and ended in the incorpora- tion of the Democratic ideas on banking and currency in the Constitution of 1851.
The history of party politics in the period from 1840 to 1850 opens with the Democrats in control of both branches of the General Assembly and the governorship, although the latter office under the first Constitution of Ohio really carried little power so far as legislation was concerned, since the executive was denied the veto. The Whigs, on the offensive throughout the United States, were able to take advantage of all vulnerable points in the armor of the Democrats, for the latter, due to the financial depression of the later 'thirties, were open to attack on many issues. The Democrats had been given power in Ohio in order to reform the banks and to provide a safe currency. But the promises of Demo- cratic orators had not been fulfilled and a succession of
508 Ofiio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
bank failures lent support to the Whig contention that the Democrats were ignorant of the intricacies of finance and were only crude meddlers and demagogues. If to this overwhelming advantage be added the fact that the Whigs, at last, were finding it possible to unite their various factions nationally, and to rally behind the Harrison banner, it becomes clear that the prospects for Whig success were promising indeed. Many of the political malcontents and large numbers of those who had been ruined by the panic of 1837 deserted the party of Van Buren and flocked to the standard of William Henry Harrison. The Whigs looked forward to their state campaign in Ohio with unusual zest.
The Democrats, on the other hand, were divided on the question of bank regulation. Governor Shannon led the conservative wing of the party, and, by his annual message of December, 1839, had lost favor among his more radical supporters. The party awaited with un- usual interest President Van Buren's annual message of December, 1839. Van Buren proposed an Independ- ent Treasury system and argued that his plan would re- move the evils of overbanking and end speculation with the money of the people. He declared that the system then in use induced the corporations to meddle in legis- lation, and to have their champions in Congress.**'
The Whig press of Ohio saw in this message a frank and bold avowal of "Locofocoism" and wondered how the "soft" money Democrats of Ohio could reconcile the recommendations of their national spokesman with those found in Governor Shannon's message of December 4th." In spite of discontent among the more radical
McMaster, op. cit., v. VI., pp. 541-542.
Ohio State Journal (Semi- weekly), January 4, 1840.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 509
portions of the party on banking and currency questions, the Democratic county conventions of December, 1839, generally instructed their delegates to support him for re-election.*' The more radical Democrats made some effort to secure the nomination of John Brough, audi- tor of state from Fairfield County and later from Ham- ilton County, but it was found that he could not meet the age qualification fixed in the Constitution. The Demo- cratic State Convention of January, 1840, restated its policy of bank reform and again chose Shannon as its standard bearer.*^ The radicals, in the language of Brough, threatened that "if we cannot reform, improve, and better these soulless banks, we will annihilate and exterminate them." Any court which stood in the way of bank reform would have to bow to the will of the people.**
The Whigs acted with great caution. The Journal advised against calling a State Convention until after the candidate and principles of the Democrats had been announced.*^ Indeed, there was some discussion of drafting Shannon as the Whig candidate in case of a split among the Democrats, so favorably was his annual message of December, 1839, received in Whig circles. Shannon's renomination by the Democrats and the union of the bank and anti-bank factions under his banner of course blocked this proposal. From January to Febru- ary 22, 1840, the date fixed for the Whig State Con- vention, feverish preparations were made for a whirl- wind campaign. Among possible Whig candidates for
'Ohio Statesman, December 11, 1839; January 8, 1840. Ibid., January 8, 9, 1840.
Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), January 11, 1840. Ibid., (Weekly) December 11, 1839.
510 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
governor were Thomas Corwin, of Warren; Moses H. Kirby, of Marion; Elisha Whittlesey, of Trumbull; Jacob Burnet, of Hamilton; Joseph Vance, of Cham- paign; and James Wilson, of Jefferson County/*^
Most delegates to the State Convention were unin- structed, a policy quite in harmony with the Whig desire to compromise in order to heal all breaches in the party. The Preble County Whig Convention met at Eaton, February 1, 1840, and declared, in most general terms, for a properly restricted banking system which would aft'ord at all times a circulating medium convert- ible into gold or silver at the will of the holder.*' The platform of the Whig Convention for the Second Con- gressional District was equally equivocal, and simply favored "the restoration of a sound currency. . ." " The Whig newspapers of the State were content to accuse the Democrats of intending to destroy, rather than reform the banks.
On February 21, 1840, there assembled at Columbus one of the most unique political gatherings ever wit- nessed in the State. It was significantly described as a "Great Convention of the People of Ohio, favorable to the election of Harrison and Tyler." The widespread desire for unity resulted in the evasion of principles as far as national questions were concerned, and it was only on state matters that the Whigs were able to formu- late anything like a definite program.*^ Judge James Wilson, of Steubenville, called the Convention to order
*^ Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), January 15, 1840. " Eaton Register, July 6, 1840. « Ibid., February 6, 1840.
*" The national phase of this Convention is treated in the chapter on 'The Election of 1840 in Ohio."
Party Politics in Ohio, i8^o-i8jo 511
and Reasin Beall, of Wayne County, was named chair- man. A committee of ten delegates from each congres- sional district submitted the name of Thomas Corwin as the choice of the party for governor, and he was enthusiastically approved. The candidate was favor- ably known as a representative in Congress and as an orator of great ability. He was eulogized as "Corwin, the Wagon Boy," because as a youth he had conveyed supplies to the troops. °° After drawing up a long list of reforms for the National Government, the Conven- tion turned its attention to state matters. Its resolu- tions promised a "safe and uniform currency" equally serviceable to the officeholder and the people, insofar as this could be done "without transcending the constitu- tional limits" of the government. This phrase obviously was placed in the platform in order to please the State Rights men of Ohio who objected to a loose construc- tion of the Constitution. The reference to a currency to be used by both office-holders and people was a direct thrust at the Democratic plea for the payment of taxes in gold or silver."
™ Thomas Corwin was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, July 29, 1794; elected to the Ohio General Assembly in 1822 and again in 1829; member of Congress 1831-1841. Randall and Ryan, op. cit., v. IV, pp. 26, 42-43.
'' W. B. Tizzard, editor of the Eaton Register, in referring to the ora- torical effects of the Whig leaders, commented — "Especially did the fre- quent allusions to the public life and noble services of General Harrison awaken the most holy emotions in the generous bosoms of the listening thousands. When they heard the simple story of their benefactor, their proud hearts melted under the influence of its exalted pathos, and the tender tear of gratitude started forth from the temple of its home, a sacred offer- ing to long neglected worth. Few indeed were they, who in that numerous throng, refused the Hero-Sage the 'tribute of a sigh.' " Describing the throngs at night, the same observer says "Around the respective Log Cabins in the several streets, were collected groups of perhaps five thousand per-
512 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Although the campaign of 1840 in Ohio was over- shadowed to a large extent by national considerations, the newspapers and batteries of local orators carried on an energetic battle over the banking and currency question. In the beginning of the campaign, radical Democrats were inclined to stress the pronunciamento of Van Uuren on banks and currency and to neglect Shannon's message; while conservative Democrats, led by John A. Bryan and Thomas L. Hamer, preferred the Shannon platform, ^^' but as the campaign progressed and Whig victory became more certain the Democracy tended to draw together in the face of impending disaster. The Whigs were decidedly on the offensive. They charged that the State Government had been as extravagantly managed as the National Government. Samuel Medary, the Democratic State Printer, was the object of special criticism. It was charged that he had received, during the years 1837-1840, a total of $59,320.38, some $17,000 more than his predecessor had received for the same length of time.'' The failure of the Democrats to cure the financial ills of the State was constantly kept before the voters. The Troy Times, referring to the small note law, asked, "What has been eft'ected by this great Re- forming Machine? All the small bills on good Ohio banks are being withdrawn from circulation, and in their place the country is flooded with Michigan paper. . . . We have before us a full exemplification of the beauties of Reform. . . . Every honest man will acknowledge
sons to each place, listening to the lively and spirited songs of the merry cottagers, as they chanted the rhapsodies of their Ploughman Bard, and hymned the doleful requiem of the departed Tin Pan." Ohio State Journal ( Semi-weekly), February 26, 1840; Eaton Register, March 5, 1840.
^^ Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), February 8, 1840.
''Ibid., (Weekly) July 29, 1840.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 513
that the currency in our State is now much worse than it was two years ago. Produce bears no proportion in price, whilst all our foreign goods, groceries, etc., have risen, and a universal pressure prevails." '"* The plea of the Democrats for bank reform was described as a war on the credit of the State, which would result in a fall in the price of labor and farm products and the cessation of all public construction.^^ The Democrats replied with the counter-charge that the stringency of the currency was due to the machinations of the "soul- less" bankers who hoped thereby to make the Democratic regime unpopular. This was accomplished, the Demo- crats contended, by the failure of the banks to issue as much paper as they were legally allowed to issue under the Banking Commissioner Law. Governor Shannon, on an earlier occasion, had directed attention to the failure of the banks to put into circulation as much paper as they were allowed under the Bank Commis- sioner Lav/,^*^ and a check of the report of the Bank Commissioners shows that the Governor's charges were correct. In some cases, banks refused to abide by the provisions of the law, while in other cases they might have issued far more paper money than they did."
The Whigs claimed that the Democratic party was agrarian in its aims and Jacobinical in its methods,^^ and the Bank Commissioner Law was denounced as a repudiation of contractual relations between the banks and the state. The whole Democratic movement sym- bolized, lo many Whig minds, danger to the stability of
"Troy Times quoted in Ohio State Journal (Weekly), August 12, 1840.
^Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), March 13, 1840.
^' Ohio Executive Documents, 1839, v. II, No. 1.
"'Ihid., V. V, No. 21, p. 45.
^ Belmont Chronicle, February 26, 1839.
Vol. XXXVII— 33.
514 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
society and property rights, and a denial of the Deity. The Ohio State Journal charged that the followers of Fanny Wright were high in the confidence of the Dem- ocratic party, which aimed at nothing less than "an entire subversion of the principles upon which society is now organized in all enlightened countries." For many opponents of Democracy it followed that a dis- beHef in all forms of religion must be a part of this levelling movement. The war of the Democrats on "Credit, Commerce, and Property, and Manufacturers" seemed prima facie evidence of collusion between the worst of the agrarians and the Democrats. °'' Moreover, the Whigs construed the Democratic "war" on credit as a direct thrust at the poor, who, they pointed out, would be helpless in the hands of the wealthy if they were denied credit.*"*
It is difficult to make a satisfactory analysis of the results of the fall elections of 1840, so far as state issues are concerned, because the whole campaign was domi- nated by the national candidates and national considera- tions. Both parties conducted a well-organized cam- paign, and, although the number of Democratic votes was larger than ever before, that party lost the govern- orship by a majority of over 16,000. It retained con- trol of the Senate, however. In the House, control passed to the Whigs by a considerable margin.*'^ The returns showed the extreme effectiveness of the "Log Cabin" campaign and it is impossible to say that the election represents a reaction against the Democratic scheme of bank reform, for large masses of voters were
'Ohio State Journal (Weekly), September 23, 1840. Ibid., October 7, 1840. Ibid., October 28, 1840.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 515
drawn into the Whig ranks by the momentum of the "Hard Cider" appeal and the fine promises of the Whigs that the admittedly bad conditions soon would be im- proved. The Whigs also demanded a more economical administration of the State government and a diminu- tion of expenditures on public works. Corwin carried such consistently Democratic counties as Hamilton, Bel- mont, and Jefferson. A Whig voter's analysis of his own vote may throw some light on the heterogeneous character of the party at the time. This particular Whig announced that he would place in the ballot-box a "Native American, Democratic, Republican, Whig, Anti- Despotic, Anti-Dictatorial, Anti-Cubean, Anti-Sub- Treasury, Anti-Destructive, Anti-Van Buren, Conser- vative, Harrison and Tyler vote." *^' To the Ohio Whigs, the election was above all else, a rebuke for the Demo- cratic policy of bank reform. *^^ The party press de- manded a sound and stable currency which would not suffer from the inroads of unregulated paper from other states.
With the Democrats in control of the Senate, the Whigs were prevented from carrying out any construc- tive program in regard to the banks. Governor Corwin, in his annual message of December, 1840, urged the General Assembly to establish a permanent system of banking, and suggested two plans. The first proposed a State bank with branches in the principal cities, and state ownership of a portion of the stock; the second provided for a re-chartering of the safest of the existing banks. As further safeguards, he proposed to limit the dividends which might accrue to stockholders, the state
Eaton Register, July 16, 1840.
Ohio State Journal (Weekly), November 25, 1840.
516 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
to retain any surplus above the amount permitted by law. The circulation of a bank, according to the Gov- ernor's views, should be limited by the amount of capital possessed by each bank.®"' The Cincinnati Daily Chron- icle (Whig) warned the Legislature not to make the banking and currency question a "football" between contending political parties, and urged the Whigs to provide adequate safeguards in any banking scheme which they might propose. "^ Somewhat later, the same organ declared that "the duty of the Legislature . . . is to recharter the banks, with such restrictions as shall make the non-performance of their duties (not the mere forfeiture of a charter) but the forfeiture of money enough to be felt by all its stockholders; then by some system bind them together so that they shall answer for their circulation to each other and to the public." "*"
In January, 1841, a bank bill was introduced into the House, but the Whigs were unable to obtain its pas- sage." The chief difficulty in the lower House seemed to turn around the question of what banking system was preferable. The majority of the Whigs leaned toward the New York safety fund system, which provided for a deposit by each bank to a fund under the direction of state officials, with provision for a somewhat larger amount of specie than New York required.*'^ The Demo-
" Ohio Executive Documents, 1840, v. Ill, No. 1.
'^ Cincinnati Daily Chronicle, December 5, 1840.
""Ibid., January 5, 1841.
" Cincinnati Daily Chronicle, January 27, 1841.
"" Ohio State Journal quoted in Niles' Register, v. LIX, p. 342.
The Cincinnati Chronicle pointed out that only two of the ten specie paying banks in the State had any appreciable circulation. "The circulating medium is literally destroyed, the people discontented and looking with anxiety to the Legislature for relief." The Ohio State Journal declared
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 517
crats proposed to engraft on the Whig banking pro- posals a provision for individual liability of stockholders and directors. To this, the Whigs objected on the ground that it would prevent the investment of banking capital and prevent any except the most wealthy from entering the banking business.*'' Charles Brough and Thomas W. Hartley in the House opposed the program of the Whigs and the Democratic majority of the Senate blocked it.'" But there were signs that the Demo- crats would not be able to hold such an uncompromising position on the banking and currency problem. In Brown County, Thomas L. Hamer, president of the last Democratic State Convention which nominated Shan- non, publicly declared in favor of the passage of some kind of banking law at this session of the General Assembly, and it became apparent that both parties would probably be forced to compromise.'^
Political conditions in the national arena, on the other hand, by this time seemed to favor the Democrats. A nationwide reaction had set in against the Whigs be- cause of their failure to bring prosperity. Their inability to carry out the promises of 1840 hastened the "sober second thought" of the electorate and threatened to sweep "Captain" Tyler's divided party from power. Fifteen of those states carried by Harrison in 1840 had changed to the Democratic column." The political re-
that for two years the people of the State had struggled against the in- troduction of foreign bank paper and that the Whigs of the House must take some action and leave the result with the Democrats. Cincinnati Daily Chronicle, January 18, 1841; Ohio State Journal (Semi- Weekly), Jan- uary 16, 1841.
^ Ohio State Journal (Semi-weekly), February 13, 1841.
'"Ibid., March 31, 1841.
'^Ibid., February 20, 1841.
''McMaster, op. cit., Vol. VII, p. 1.
518 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
action was apparent everywhere and the Whig machine suffered further from the lack of an intelligent distri- bution of patronage. The Whigs of Ohio generally supported Clay and his program in the impending battle with President Tyler, but prospects of victory three years hence seemed gloomy indeed. The bitterness of an over- whelming victory turned into defeat by the "traitorous" vetoes of the man chance had placed in the president's office, had a paralyzing effect among large groups in the Whig party.
Although there were vigorous attempts made to lash the party into action in time for the fall elections of 1841, the Whigs seemed to realize their impending de- feat in the State. The repetition of old charges against the Democrats lost its eft'ectiveness. The condition of the currency, moreover, favored the Democrats, for specie in the Ohio banks had fallen from $1,752,000.00 in 1840 to $827,000.00 in 1842." In 1841, the prejudice against them greatly increased, when the banks refused to make a report. In the October, 1841, elections, the Democrats gained control of both branches of the Gen- eral Assembly.'*
Throughout the State the exultant Democrats met in county conventions and prepared for a State Conven- tion to be held at Columbus on Jackson day. Triumph- antly, the party took possession of the Legislature and prepared to give effect to its ideas on banking and currency. The Democratic resolutions became more belligerent. Sandusky County Democrats, in formal resolutions, asserted "That banks, even when regulated by the most restricted and perfect system known in the
' Ohio Executive Documents, 1843, No. 38, p. 8. Ohio Statesman, December 28. 1841.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 519
United States, are fraught with incalculable mischief and evil" and "That the system of banking in practical operation in Ohio, is a system of fraud and plunder, without a solitary mitigating circumstance or redeeming feature to recommend it to the mercy of the people." The General Assembly was urged immediately to place those banks which had suspended specie payments during the past year in a state of liquidation. The right of the General Assembly to repeal any act of its predecessors was upheld, and the delegates to the State Convention were instructed to oppose any candidate for governor who was either a bank director or a bank stockholder.'' The resolutions of the Clermont County Democrats were not so strongly anti-bank, but urged that if the General Assembly should recharter any of the existing banks, provision should be made for individual liability of both stockholders and directors, and the revocation of charters in case the banks suspended specie payments. ^^ The Richland County Convention, a stronghold of the Democracy throughout the decade, on December 18, 1841, adopted resolutions urging legislative action to secure the resumption of specie payments "instanter" and ridiculing Governor Corwin's fear that unfavorable legislation would mean the withdrawal of foreign bank- ing capital from the State."
''^Ohio Statesman, December 14, 1841.
'"Ibid., December 24, 1841.
" Oliio Statesman, December 24, 1841 ; the Greene County Democrats urged the farmers to accept nothing but specie in payment of their produce, an idea which was probably borrowed from the action of the merchants of Macon, Georgia, who resolved to take the notes of specie paying banks at par and all others at a heavy discount. The "Macon Specific" spread rapidly and the farmers of Wisconsin decided not to take depreciated notes for their grain. Similar action was taken by the farmers of Michigan. Mc- Master, op. cit., v. VII, p. 6.
520 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
The condition of the currency became alarming and fear was felt in financial circles that the success of the Democrats in Ohio would mean the repudiation of state debts. '*' The Whig press emphasized the danger to pros- perity which would result from the expiration of the bank charters, and suggested their renewal or extension in order to allow them to conclude their business without demoralization.'" Corwin believed that the situation demanded an increase in the tariff rates, arguing that specie was being drained out of the country under the existing law. His interpretation was immediately rid- iculed by the Democratic press.'° It is evident from the action of county conventions and the tone of the party press that the Jacksonian Democrats were in control of the party in Ohio.
During December, 1841, a number of banks applied to the General Assembly for new charters. Their peti- tions were refused, evidently with the full approval of Democratic leaders like the editor of the Ohio States- man who were becoming increasingly hostile toward the banks.^^ A Senate resolution to repeal that section of the charter of the Dayton Watervliet and Xenia Turnpike Company which had been chartered by the General Assembly to build a road from Dayton to Xenia, which allowed the General Assembly to "alter, amend, or re- peal" the charter, was introduced by Joseph Barnet (W). All the Whisfs but one voted for the Barnet resolution
"Ives to Greene, December 27, 1841, Greene AISS.
" Ohio State Journal, quoted in Nilcs' Register, October 23, 1841.
'"Oliio Statesman, December 10, 1841. The Dayton Transcript held that the financial ills of the time were brought about by the suspension of specie payments and that the General Assembly had full power to compel resumption. Ohio Statesman, December 10, 1841.
''Ibid., December 20, 1841.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 521
on the ground that the Assembly had no right to alter any charter which had been granted by them. The Democrats voted against the Barnet resolution, contend- ing that the Assembly had the right to repeal any of the acts of its predecessors.^' This party alignment was shown even more strikingly in the vote on another reso- lution. By ram Leonard (W) moved to strike out the phrase "fairly and lawfully contracted" in a committee report which "Resolved, that it is the duty and deter- mination, without exception, of the good people of this State, to make ample provision for the payment of all debts due by this State, fairly and lawfully con- tracted." ®^ The amendment was lost by a strict party vote. The Whigs argued that the phrase "fairly and lawfully contracted" tended to raise doubts as to the intention of the State to pay its debts and that it was therefore a step in the direction of repudiation.®* It is a well-known fact that many states were deeply in debt during this period of financial confusion. Many of them were unable to meet even the interest on their indebtedness, and Mississippi had repudiated her debt.®^ The action of Mississippi led to a fall in the price of State stocks all over the country. Even Democrats like
''Ohio Senate Journals, 1841-1842, v. XL, Part 1, p. 73.
'^Ihid., 1841-1842, V. XL, Part I, p. 106.
^* Ohio Statesman, January 3, 1842.
^In that State, the issue of repudiation had been placed fairly before the people in the fall elections of 1841, with a victory for those who fa- vored repudiation. The Legislature accordingly repudiated a debt of five million dollars in bonds which had been sold by the Union Bank to Nicholas Biddle in August, 1838, on the ground that the sale of the bonds was "illegal, fraudulent, and unconstitutional." The Whig press of the country held Mississippi up to scorn, but the Democrats defended her action on the ground that the sale of the bonds had not been carried out in conformity with the State Constitution. McMaster, op. cit., Vol. VII, pp. 19-20.
522 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Judge Frederick Grimke of the Ohio Supreme Court feared that Ohio would repudiate the State debt, because of extraordinarily hard times.'" In the House of Rep- resentatives, a resolution, to the effect that that portion of the State debt which had been "arrogantly and unlaw- fully pledged to certain corporations" of Ohio should be repudiated, was defeated by a vote of 41-29, several Democrats voting with the Whigs to defeat the meas- ure.*' In 1843, when John Brough was attempting to sell Ohio State stock in the New York market, he found it advisable to issue a circular to show how completely the efforts of those who favored repudiation had failed.'" The bankruptcy of the German Bank of Wooster in September, 1841, precipitated another bitter fight be- tween the pro- and anti-bank parties. When the Legis- lature met in December, a committee was appointed to investigate the failure. It found that the German Bank of Wooster had "exploded" in March, 1818, and that, until 1838, it was "defacto defunct." In the latter year it had been resuscitated by Benjamin Bentley, of Wooster, who had been cashier at the time of the first failure twenty years earlier. The bank had existed to Septem- ber, 1831, without any state control over its operations. The investigating committee recommended that the Gen- eral Assembly repeal the charter and pnt the assets of the bank into the hands of commissioners to be liquidated for the benefit of its creditors.'" On January 14, 1842, the House repealed the bank's charter '° and six days
"" Frederick Grimke to William Greene, March 28, 1842, William Greene MSS.
" Ohio House Journals, 1841-1842, v. XL, Part I. p. 95. ^. Ohio Sfafc Journal. April 18, 1843.
"' Ohio House Journals, 1841-1842, v. XL, Part I, pp. 155-156. *^Ibid., 1841-1842, v. XL, Part I, pp. 250-251.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 523
later the Senate concurred."' In both Houses, some of the Whigs refused to vote, but the Democrats were unanimously for repeal.
Hostility toward banking corporations was shown in a more striking manner in the Cincinnati bank riot of January, 1842. Public indignation was aroused when the Miami Exporting Bank suspended payments and closed its doors. When its paper and the paper of the Cincinnati Bank were refused in the market, a run on the latter institution resulted, and its officials posted a notice of suspension. This so infuriated the people that a mob broke into the bank, tore up the furnishings, and scattered the contents of the offices over the street. The Exchange Bank was looted and $224,000.00 was taken from the vaults of the Miami Exporting Bank."' When the Germans were accused of responsibility for this out- break, they held a meeting of protest, and adopted reso- lutions denying their complicity, but at the same time opposing the granting of banking powers to corpora- tions."^ The riot won the open sympathy of the Ohio Statesman which declared that "for the last five years laws have been set at open defiance by these bankrob- bers — the morals of the community have been outraged — and the Legislative power of the country, in all its exertions to enforce honesty on these rag barons, has received but the contempt of magistrates and attorneys, who denounced them as the mere vagaries of the Dem- ocratic party — party measures and party legislation. By this means the whole Whig party has been made to play
" Ohio Senate Journals, 1841-1842, v. XL, Part I, p. 204. ®^ Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, January 12, 1842 ; Ohio Statesman, Jan- uary 14, 1842.
" Ohio Statesman, January 21, 1842.
524 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
a most iniquitous part in sustaining these swindling shops, and bringing upon the country these dire afflic- tions. We do hope that the people — a robbed, swindled and ruined people — will restrain their feelings under the outrages of these shin-plaster gamblers." °*
It was under these trying financial conditions that the Democratic State Convention met on January 8, 1842. The temper of the Convention was shown at the outset by the election of Dowty Utter, a radical from Clermont County, as president. Wilson Shannon, the first official enunciator of the Democratic banking pro- gram, was chosen as the candidate for governor.''^ By an appropriate set of resolutions the party endorsed Van Buren for president in 1844. The position of the party on state issues was set forth in two resolutions. One called upon the General Assembly to force the resump- tion of specie payments; the other cautioned that body "to guard with jealous care against making inconsid- erate grants of exclusive corporate privileges, and where such grants have been heretofore made, to promptly provide efficient remedies for the protection of the pub- lic." Another resolution, intended to silence charges of repudiation, declared it to be the duty of the state "to make adequate provisions to fulfill her engagements." Significantly, the thanks of the Democracy were ten- dered to Samuel Medary,""" the vigorous militant anti-
'' Ohio Statesman, January 13, 1842.
"^ His nomination was described by the Ohio State Journal in the fol- lowing declaration: "The agony is over. Wilson Shannon and Bank Reform are formally entered for the October races. One more attempt is to be made under false and specious pretexts, to cheat the people out of their senses, and inflict a fatal stab upon the public and private welfare of the State." Ohio State Journal (Weekly), January 12, 1842.
^®To the query of the Old School Republican (Tyler organ) as to
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 525
bank editor of the Ohio Statesman°^ With such anti- bank expressions the "unterrified" Democracy of Ohio entered the campaign of 1842, a year marked by the impotence of the Whigs in national affairs, and by in- creasing hard times and distress in financial circles. In the words of McMaster, "The fine promises of Whig journals and Whig orators had not been fulfilled. Wages had not increased; times had not grown better; the currency was still in disorder ; most of the banks re- fused to pay in specie; the debts of the States were still increasing; mills and factories were closing down; and in place of the promised 'two dollars a day and roast beef we have, said the Democrats 'ten cents a day and bean soup.' ".^^
The Whigs prepared for the campaign of 1842 by having county conventions select delegates to the State Convention of February 22, 1842, in the usual manner. Most of the county resolutions pertained to banks and the tariff. Democratic methods of "Bank Reform" were denounced as crude and dangerous, and a "safe" bank- ing system was endorsed to protect the bill holder and to encourage the capitalist to invest his savings. Corwin seemed to be the most promising candidate"^ and the State Convention, presided over by Joseph Vance of Champaign County, unanimously and by acclamation
whether he was in favor of an exclusively hard money currency, Medary declared that he was in favor of a constitutional currency and pointed to Article I, section 10 of the United States Constitution which provides that "No state shall ...coin money, emit bills of credit, or make anything but gold and silver a legal tender in payment of debts..." Ohio Statesman, January 7, 1842.
" Proceedings of the convention are taken from the Ohio Statesman, January 8, 9, 1842.
°' McMaster, op. cit.. Vol. VII, p. 1.
^'Ohio State Journal (V^eekly), February 23, 1842.
526 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
chose him as its candidate for governor. A resounding address to the people of Ohio again charged the Demo- crats with the responsibihty for the cohapse of credit and the consequent suspension of specie payments. The Convention also denied the right of the General Assem- bly to repeal a charter, declaring that "The doctrine is revolutionary in its nature," and predicting that if it were carried out it would "in the end uproot the very foundations of our social system, cause us to become a by-word and a reproach" and cause civilized countries to avoid contact with the State.'°° In spite of these vigor- ous resolutions there was a great deal of indecision among the Whigs as to the kind of banking system to endorse. Corwin preferred a state bank, as he had made clear in a previous message to the General Assembly, but he would not permit any "childish egotism" to cause him to reject any plan which would utilize the total amount of banking capital in the State and at the same time afford reasonable protection to the bill holder."^ On the other hand, Oran Follett, prominent leader of the Whig party, editor for a time of the Ohio State Journal and manager of Corwin's campaign for the presidential nom- ination in 1844, thought that it would be impossible to win in Ohio if the party openly advocated a state bank- ing system.^""
Before 1842, when certain specific laws were passed
^"'Ohio State Journal (Weekly), March 2, 1842. The following men were appointed as the State Central Committee for the ensuing year: Joseph Ridgway, Samuel Seltzer, John A. Lazell, John Greenwood, Lewis Heyl, A. F. Perry and C. H. Wing.
"'Corwin to Follett, November 12, 1842, quoted in "Selections from the Follett Papers, II," in loc. cit., v. IX, No. 3, p. 17.
"^ Follett to Corwin, November 4, 1842, quoted in "Selections from the Follett Papers, II," in loc. cit., v. IX, No. 3, p. 74.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 527
bv the Democrats, the chief difference between the two parties in Ohio was in their general attitude toward banking corporations. To the conservative banker, the Democracy seemed to favor "social revolution." Ac- cording to The Cincinnati Gazette, "If locofocoism such as we have seen and heard it, is to stand in this country, it must succeed only by a social revolution. It is essen- tially equalizing, levelling, and agrarian. It is but a thin and flimsy veil which separates a Benton or a Ken- dall from a Danton or a Condorcet."'"'' The Dorr Revo- lution, it will be recalled, was contemporaneous with the bank struggles in Ohio, and the result of an attempt to lower the suffrage qualifications in Rhode Island by means of a constitutional convention called without the acquiescence of the legally constituted authorities. The movement ended rather ignominiously for the revision- ists under the leadership of Thomas Dorr, but it did se- cure, finally, a more liberal suffrage qualification.^*^* The Whig papers of Ohio constantly referred to the Dorr Revolution to prove that the Ohio Democrats were rev- olutionaries and the Democratic press countered with the statement that the Dorrites were struggling for con- stitutional rights, jeopardized by the oppression of the wealthier classes.
During the summer of 1842, an act of the Whigs enabled the Democrats to bring the same charge of revolution against their opponents in the General As- sembly. At the end of the session, in the spring of 1842, Congress had passed an apportionment law making it obligatory on the states to adopt the single member dis-
Cincinnati Daily Gazette, March 19, 1841. 'McMaster, op. cit., v. VII, pp. 164-178.
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Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1830 529
trict plan in apportioning representatives to Congress."^ The General Assembly of Ohio, in a special adjoin-ned session tried to carry out the provisions of the new fed- eral law. A law proposed by the Democrats, who w^ere in control of both branches of the Legislature, was de- nounced by the Whigs as a brazen attempt to gerry- mander the State in the interest of the Democratic party. '°'' When it became apparent that the law would pass, the Whig members of both houses resigned in or- der to prevent a quorum and insure the defeat of the bill.^°' Their action was denounced as "absquatulation" by the Democratic press, and the party was accused of harboring revolutionary designs against the govern- ment. The natural result of this incident w^as to stress the "absquatulation" of the Whigs rather than the ques- tion of banking and currency as a campaign issue. Eli T. Tappan. editor of the Ohio Press (D) specifically charged Medary with responsibility for shifting the em- phasis of the Democrats from the "hard money" issue to "absquatulation." "^ Some interpreted the Demo- cratic victory in the fall of 1842 as a verdict against the
"= McMaster, 0/'. cif., v. VII, pp. 67-68.
^°^The Oliio State Journal complained that it laid out six congressional districts in which the Whig majorities would be very high, at the same time providing for from six to ten districts in which the Democrats would have a slight majority. Weekly Ohio State Journal, August 10, 1842.
^'^ Ohio Senate Journals, 1842, v. XL, part 2, pp. 417-419.
"' Medary, however, denied this charge and printed a letter from B. B. Taylor, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks and Currency, to support his statement. In this the writer denied that Medary was re- sponsible for the new issue, or that a majority of the Democrats favored "hard money," and that he (Taylor) and Caleb G. McNulty had drawn up the address issued by the Democratic members of the General Assembly when that body was broken up by the Whigs. Ohio Statesman, June 18, 1842; June 18, 1847.
530 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
''absquatulation" of the Whigs. But whatever may have been the more important issue in the fall of 1842, the Democrats, in February of that year, expressed their ideas on banking and currency in two enactments.
These laws reflected the views of the more radical wing of the party. The first was "an act to regulate banking in Ohio." "^' Its passage marked the end of the first phase of banking and currency as a political issue in the decade of the 'forties. This general banking law, the first of its kind in Ohio, provided that all banks hereafter incorporated were to come under its provi- sions. No bank was to begin operations until all of its capital stock had been paid in gold or silver and this payment certified by a register provided for in the act. Dividends could be declared only on profits arising from the bank's business; capital stock could not be with- drawn except by the consent of the General Assembly; no portion of the funds or property of any bank was to be applied to the purchase of shares of its own stock or the stock of any other bank, corporation, or company; no loans or discounts were to be made upon the pledge of its own stock as security or upon the pledge of the stock of any other company or corporation; and no stockholder or director was allowed to become liable in any form to the bank to an amount greater than one half the capital stock actually possessed by such officer or stockholder. This provision, and another limiting the amount which could be loaned to any person, was designed to stop favoritism by the banks, a charge con- stantly made by the Democrats. The most important
Laivs of Ohio (General), v. XL, pp. 39-^
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 531
sections provided for the individual liability of stock- holders and officers of the banks for losses to notehold- ers, and prescribed fines and imprisonment for officials of any bank who violated the provisions of the act. The second act of the same year was passed in March. It prohibited any corporation not expressly authorized to conduct banking business from issuing paper in- tended to circulate as money. This law was directed against those concerns, described above,'" which had been issuing paper currency over which the Bank Com- missioners had no control.'" The insistent Democratic demand for an enforced resumption of specie payment was also satisfied in a Specie Resumption Act, an amendment to the Bank Commissioner Law of Febru- ary 25, 1839, which provided that the charters and fran- chises of all banks which refused to redeem their notes should be forfeited. A portion of the same act held the president, directors and stockholders of the banks "jointly and severally liable in their individual and natural capacities" for any refusal to redeem the bank's notes. Other sections enabled the State, through the Bank Commissioners, to proceed in a legal manner against banks which refused to resume.""
These enactments were bitterly assailed by the Whigs. The general banking law, fathered by Bela Latham, soon became known over the State as "La- tham's Humbug," for the Whigs charged that it was made purposely so severe that bankers would not incor- porate under it. Although it tended to satisfy the con-
^'' Laws of Ohio (General), v. XL., p. " Ibid., V. XL, pp. 67-72. '^ Ibid., V. XL, pp. 13-25.
532 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
servative Democrats who wanted some kind of banks, the Whig press promptly appealed for the support of this group, pointing out that the radicals really were not in favor of any kind of banking."^ In spite of these assaults of the Whigs, the Democratic position on en- forced resumption of specie payments proved popular and Oran Follett could write with much truth that the Whigs made a tactical error in opposing resumption/" To the Democrats, the Whigs were the scheming friends of "swindling" bankers, who made use of credit given them by special acts of incorporation in order to tax the labor of the State.""'
The expiration, on January 1, 1843, of the charters of thirteen of the twenty-three solvent banks of the State added to the importance of the elections of 1842/'® Should these banks refuse to avail themselves of the opportunity to incorporate under the Democratic bank- ing law of February, 1842, there would be only ten banks left in the State. Most of the capital thus with- drawn from circulation would be taken outside the State, since it was owned to a large extent by foreign capitalists. Corwin had emphasized the dangerous effect of this withdrawal of capital upon the prosperity of the State,"^ and Whig leaders predicted the disruption of finances with consequent distress for the debtor classes."® As a matter of fact, State stock quoted in 1841 in the
'''Ohio State Journal (Weekly), March 2. 1842; October, 1842. ""Oran Follett to V. W. Smith, February 3, 1842, quoted in "Selec- tions from the Follett Papers, III" in loc. cit., v. X, No. 1, pp. 5-6. ^'^Ohio Statesman, March 2, 1842; October 17, 1842. ""Huntington, op. cit., pp. 180-181. ™ Ohio Executive Documents, v. VI, Part I, No. 1. »'0/m'o State Journal (Weekly), March 2, 1842.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 533
New York market at ninety cents on the dollar, had fallen to sixty cents, a condition which the Whigs attrib- uted to general distrust of the "Locofoco" majority of the General Assembly/^^ The bankers, either by collu- tion or otherwise, did not incorporate under the Demo- cratic banking law. According to Huntington their refusal to incorporate was due to their dislike of the individual liability clause and to their belief that the Whigs would soon provide a more favorable banking scheme/"" To the OJiio Statesman their failure to act indicated a widespread conspiracy of the corporations to defeat the Latham Act by intimidating the debtor classes/'^
The position taken by the Democratic party on bank- ing and currency at the January 8th Convention and the nature of the Latham Law and the Resumption Act led to a defection in the ranks of the party which had some effect in the elections of 1842. Thomas L. Hamer was one who refused to accept the dictation of the radical Democrats. He announced his position in a series of resolutions adopted by the malcontents at West Union, and in a letter addressed to Samuel Medary. The West Union resolutions favored a less severe banking law than the Latham Act. When the radical press, led by Medary, tried to turn Hamer out of the party, the latter charged Medary with wielding despotic power at the Capitol and playing on the sectional differences of the State in order to gain his point and to silence oppo- sition. Hamer declared that the Democratic policy of
'Ohio State Journal, (W^eekly), March 2, 1842. ' Huntington, op. cit., p. 178. Ohio Statesman, October 21, 1842.
534 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
"Bank Reform" had been changed to one of "bank de- struction" because of the influence of the "hard money" chque at the capitol, led by Medary of the Statesman and John Brough, auditor of state. This extraordi- nary letter closed with a personal attack and an open defiance of Medary's leadership/"'
In 1842, the Democrats were successful throughout the nation, and Ohio was no exception, in spite of a rather serious defection in the Democratic ranks in that State. Ten Democrats and twelve Whigs were returned to the Senate, but six of the twelve Whigs came from normally Whig counties whose representatives had re- signed, during the summer, in order to prevent the passage of a Democratic congressional apportionment law. There were ten Democrats and two Whigs held over from the last Senate; consequently there were twenty Democrats and fourteen Whigs in the Senate of 1843-1844. In the House of Representatives the Democrats won forty seats and the Whigs thirty-two. ^'^ Shannon defeated Corwin by a majority of 3,443; Cor- win's majority over Shannon in 1840 had been 16,130.'"* The vote showed a remarkable turn of the tide in favor of the Democrats. The latter had regained control of such counties as Hamilton, Jefferson, Lorain, Erie, Medina, Harrison, Belmont, and Henry, which were carried by the Whigs in 1840.
This popular verdict was variously construed. The Lower Sandusky Whig declared that "it is by the com- bined action of Loco Focoism, Abolitionism and Tyler-
'"-^Ohio State Journal (Weekly), July 20, 1842. '"^ Ohio Statesman, October 17, 1842. ''^Ibid.. November 8, 1842.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 535
ism, together with a lethargy on the part of the Whigs that this unexpected result has been brought about." ^'" B. B. Taylor interpreted the Democratic victory to the mistaken policy of the Whig members who had resigned from the General Assembly in the preceding summer/"" Whig journals in the East were inclined to attribute the defeat in Ohio to the same cause. Indeed, the elections in Ohio had been watched with a great deal of interest, because it was expected that the results would show the degree of Whig sentiment for Clay, who was likely to be the leader of the party in 1844. The OJiio State Journal, however, claimed that the resignation of the absquatulators was the only means by which the Whigs could have prevented Ohio from becoming permanently Democratic.^"' The Springfield (Ohio) Republic (Whig) attributed the Whig defeat to the superior discipline of the Democrats, to the foreign vote, and to the inroads of the Liberty party.^'^ The Scioto Gazette (Whig) explained the great increase of Democratic votes in Ross County by referring to the foreign vote, and advised the Whig leaders of Cincinnati to start a German paper and treat the foreigners more respectfully in the future.^'^ The Whigs, conscious of the necessity of reaching the Germans in Cincinnati, in December, 1842, started Der Deutsche Republicaner, edited by J. H. Schroeder. The
^^ Lower Sandusky Whig quoted in Ohiio State Journal (Weekly), October 26, 1842.
'"^ Ohio Statesman, June 18, 1847.
^^ New York Tribune, New York Courier and Enquirer, and Philadel- phia Forum quoted in Ohio State Journal (Weekly), November 2, 1842.
'* Springfield Republic quoted in Weekly Ohio State Journal, October 26, 1842.
^^ Scioto Gazette quoted in Ohio State Journal (Weekly), October 19, 1842.
536 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Ohio State Journal, in the hope that the Germans would favor the Whig tariff poHcy on account of their known attachment to the ideas of the Zollverein, advised the Whigs to give hberal support to the new paper. ^^° There is no doubt that a large proportion of the foreign voters were members of the Democratic party during the 'forties. This situation may be explained by the sympa- thy of the Democratic party of that day with the eco- nomic interests of the foreigners, by the attraction of the party name, by the popularity of Jefferson and Jack- son among such groups, and by the unfriendliness of the Whigs toward the foreigners. Certain Whigs com- plained that the Tyler vote of Ohio had gone to the Democrats, a liaison said to have been effected at the time of a State Democratic Young Men's Convention, and at the convention of Tyler's followers held in Colum- bus in August, 1842.^^^ Such a combination does not seem at all unlikely, since the Clay Whigs and the de- fenders of Tyler were engaged in a most acrimonious warfare. Another evidence pointing in the same direc- tion was the lavish praise of the Old School Republican, the Tyler organ, for Shannon's position on banking and currency, and the appointment of Shannon as minister to Mexico in April, 1844, adds further evidence in support of the Whig charge."' Nevertheless, this liaison alone could not have brought about the great change of votes, since Tyler's party was very weak in Ohio.
The vote may be interpreted as an approval of the
^'"Ohio State Journal (Weekly), December, 1842. "' Ibid., August 10, 1842.
"^Reeves, J. S., American Diplomacy under Tyler and Polk, pp. 169, 170.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 537
Democratic position on banking and currency. All dur- ing the summer and fall, local conventions of Democrats had adopted resolutions fully approving the Latham banking law as well as the specie resumption act while the Whigs had as emphatically voiced their disapproval. Moreover, the national disaster to the Whigs in Tyler's administration had had a depressing effect upon the party in Ohio. There was little enthusiasm in the ranks of Ohio Whiggery.^^" The Hard Cider campaign of 1840 could not be repeated, and the almost inevitable reaction brought the Democrats back into power.
In his annual message to the General Assembly, Cor- win called attention to the expiration of the bank char- ters in December, 1842, and urged the General Assembly to take some action, because the effect of the expiration of the bank charters would be "to increase existing em- barrassments, retard the payment of debts, sink still further the market value of property, impoverish the debtor class of the community, without any benefit to the creditor, and result only in advantage to the capi- talists, who will be enabled to speculate upon the wretched fortunes of debtors, who have only property wherewith to pay the demands against them." Corwin, of course, did not expect his recommendations to bear fruit and he advised the General Assembly, if it were determined to destroy the banks, to provide against the entrance into the State of the paper of other banks."*
The gloomy predictions of Corwin were not un- founded. Neither Shannon's first message to the Gen-
^^^ Corwin to Follett, November 12, 1842 quoted in "Selections from the Follett Papers, 11" in loc. cit., v. IX, No. 3, pp. 75-76.
"" Ohio Executive Documents, 1842-1843, v. VII, No. 1.
538 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
eral Assembly nor the report of the Banking Commis- sioners on December 17, 1842, gave the banks any en- couragement. On the other hand, neither the Governor nor the Commission openly favored a hard money cur- rency. After referring again to the fact that thirteen of the existing bank charters would soon expire, the Commission vaguely stated that "whatever may be the future policy of the State in regard to supplying the places of the expiring and broken banks, it would seem to be pretty clearly settled that public opinion is averse to the present unrestricted system of banking." ^^^ The Democrats stood firm on the Latham Law, and, on Jan- uary 1, 1843, thirteen of the solvent banks of Ohio went out of business, thus bringing to a close the second period in the history of the banking and currency prob- lem in Ohio in this decade. The bankers undoubtedly hoped, by their refusal to incorporate under the Latham Law, to obtain a less stringent enactment.
With the issue thus clearly drawn, sentiment devel- oped among the Democrats to revise the Latham Law in the direction of greater leniency for the banks. In February, 1843, the law was modified in order to satisfy the conservative Democrats and keep their support. The most important change in the law was the clause pro- viding for individual liability.^^'^ The amendment pro- tected those members of the bank's directors who wanted to abide by the law and yet might be outvoted by a possible majority. It will be seen that this was not a relaxation of the principles of the Latham Law. It was evident that the radical Democrats had revised the law,
Ohio Executive Documents, 1842-1843, v. VII, No. 15, pp. 1-6. Laws of Ohio, v. XLI, pp. 36-40.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 539
in the hope that a slight concession would prevent fur- ther relaxation. The Whigs denied that the new law constituted a relaxation or that it was the intention of the Democrats to have incorporations under it, and labeled the amendment another "humbug." The Demo- crats were assailed as ''bank destructionists" and the people advised that there would be no adequate currency until the "demagogues" were turned out of office and replaced by men who understood the mysteries of finance/"
The campaign of 1843 was waged on the currency issue, although it was somewhat complicated by the plans of friends of several candidates who aspired to the pres- idency in the following year."^ In spite of the party lash, a rather serious division appeared in the ranks of the Democracy, already apparent in the division of senti- ment in the Legislature during the consideration of T. W. Bartley's amendment to the Latham Law. Edson B. Olds, a conservative Democrat from Pickaway County, introduced a new banking law in 1843 which did not include the orthodox Democratic principle of individual liability for stockholders. It brought down on the head of its author the maledictions of the party press. The Columbus correspondent of the Kalida Ven- ture, a radical anti-bank paper, described Olds as a "would be high priest of Democracy, who is yet reeking with the filth and slime of Federalism," and declared that his avowed plan to read Democrats like Byington, McNulty, and Medary out of the party had failed
Ohio State Journal, March-October, 1843. See Chapter III.
540 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Utterly.""* Among the papers representing a vigorous anti-bank attitude were the Ohio Statesman, the New Lisbon Patriot, Steubenville Union, ChilHcothe Adver- tiser, Kalida Venture, Mt. Vernon Democratic Banner, Newark Advocate, Ohio Democrat, Mansfield Shield and Banner, and the Stark County Democrat.'''^'' The Marion County Democrats charged that certain mem- bers of the party were in collusion with the Whigs and called upon the "real Democracy" to stand firm on the banking question/" The Cincinnati Daily Enquirer favored a well regulated banking system and openly accused Medary, of the Statesman, of favoring an exclu- sively metallic currency. To similar attacks by the Zanesville Aurora, Medary replied that he never had opposed the rechartering of any of the sound banks of the State, although he doubted whether any sound ones were in existence. Medary opposed the rechartering of any bank except with the most rigid restrictions. If the bankers opposed such restrictions, he favored a re- turn to a metallic currency. "We have seen so much bank swindling," he said, "so much bank politics — for in 1840 nearly every bank was a Whig committee room — that when the issue must be made between unrestricted and unpenitentiared banking and no banking at all, we should be found foremost in the fight for no bank at all." ^*" In Hamilton County, David T. Disney, a bank
'''Ohio State Journal (Weekly), March 1, 1843.
"" Ohio Statesman, February 8, 1843.
'*'Ibid., February 8, 1843.
'*- The Dayton Western Empire, in defense of Medary, declared that the latter was accused of "advocating bank destruction" because he was opposed to the "rotten, corrupt and swindling shops known by the name of banks, which played upon the energies and labor of the industrious classes."
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 541
director, actually was nominated for the Legislature by the regular Democratic nominating convention. This led to the calling of a protest by the radicals. Disney attended in order to defend himself against charges of unorthodoxy and pointed out that he had, upon his nom- ination, resigned his office as bank director. Only the strenuous efforts of Charles Brough quieted the insur- gents and prevented the nomination of another candi- date."^
In other sections the conservatives were the insur- gents. In Chillicothe the True Democrat backed by Ed- son B. Olds, was launched to oppose the bank policy of the regular and more radical Democrats. The paper was promptly labeled by the Ohio Statesman as a "shin- plaster organ.""'' In Knox County the ''softs" were charged with unorthodoxy by the Knox County Demo- cratic Banner when they adopted resolutions in favor of a banking system without the individual liability prin- ciple."^ In the Seventh Congressional District, com- posed of Clermont, Brown and Highland Counties, state issues figured in the selection of a Democratic candidate for Congress. When the delegates from Brown and Highland agreed to support J. J. McDowell for that office, those from Clermont bolted the convention because McDoweh had been associated with Hamer in proposing
The Western Empire realized and deplored that the division among the Democrats of the General Assembly had been transferred to the party press of the State. Ohio Statesman, February 3, 1843. Dayton Western Empire quoted in Ohio Statesman, February 3, 1843.
"' Ohio State Journal, August 24, 1843.
'''Ibid., August 15, 1843.
"" Knox County Democratic Banner quoted in Ohio State Journal, June 15, 1843.
542 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
the West Union resolutions of the previous year. Cler- mont was the home of Buchanan, the radical Demo- cratic speaker of the last House of Representatives."® The defection was not disastrous to the Democrats, how- ever, since McDow^ell carried the district."^
Some of the Whigs were in favor of making an issue of the congressional apportionment law passed by the Democrats in the legislative session of 1842-1843, which the Ohio State Journal denounced as a "villainous fraud.""' It will be recalled that the efforts of the Democrats to pass an apportionment law in the previous summer had failed due to the resignation of the Whig members of the General Assembly and the consequent lack of a quorum. The Democrats carried out in 1843 what they had been unable to do in the extra session of 1842. The Whig press, although a unit in condemning the law, was divided as to the expediency of demanding its repeal and the Ohio State Journal soon concluded that the banking question was the real issue. "The question must be settled whether we are to have banks or not, and it must be settled now. The Statesman and its servile echoes, one and all, declare that the Loco Foco party have done all for the people in the way of providing a currency that they intend to. Everybody knows that they have destroyed the whole "system of banking, and it devolves upon the Whigs to repair the destruction. Keep them to their own issues. Banks or no banks — that's the question — the grand question in
''Weekly Ohio State Journal, August 30, 1843. " Ibid., October 18, 1843. ''Ibid., March 29, 1843.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 543
dispute, and it is only by the triumph of the Whigs, that it is ever to be brought to a successful termination." "'^
At the end of the 1842-1843 session of the Legisla- ture, the Whig members met in conclave in order to formulate a policy/'" An address to the people of Ohio condemned the Democratic apportionment law and the banking laws, and the Whig legislators endorsed the nomination of Henry Clay and John Davis for 1844. The convention also called attention to the importance of carrying the next General Assembly, for, in accord- ance with the State Constitution, it would become the duty of the next session to apportion the State for rep- resentative purposes.'"' Whig county conventions fol- lowed the lead of the Whig legislators, stressing the usual Whig arguments against the Democrats and the Democratic banking laws.'^"
The Democrats defended the bank legislation of the two previous winters which they considered genuine re- form legislation designed to correct the evils of irre- sponsible banking. The capitalists, they insisted, were not incorporating because they were unwilling to deal honestly with the people and their refusal to incorporate was proof positive of the swindling character of these "shinplaster" institutions. At a meeting of Democrats at Mount Vernon still more drastic resolutions were adopted, asserting that gold and silver were the only currency recognized by the constitution and "that all
"" Ohio State Journal, April 8, 1843.
^^'' Members of the State Central Committee for 1843-1844 were Joseph Ridgway, Robert Neil, John A. Lazell, Lewis F. Heyl, 0. W. Sherwood, William Armstrong, and John Greenwood.
'" Proceedings in Weekly Ohio State Journal, March 22, 1843.
"" Ohio State Journal, June 22, 1843.
544 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
substitutes therefor, hitherto invented by the avarice and cupidity of bank swindlers, have proved a gross fraud on the people, an enormous tax upon the honest industry of the country, a license and encouragement to unbounded rascality, and a fatal enemy to the morals, manliness, integrity and prosperity of the nation." They hailed "with inexpressible joy the downfall of the cheat- ing and thieving banking system, which is the inevitable result of the gradual restoration of the Constitutional currency." ^'^
The early months of 1843 were marked by a notice- able financial depression with consequent distress among small property owners and the laborers. The most characteristic evidences of this distress were the large numbers of foreclosures and sheriff's sales to meet the demands of creditors. ^^* In Cleveland, the workingmen protested against the custom of their employers of pay- ing their wages in goods from their stores but the con- tractors declared that they were forced to pay their laborers in this manner on account of the insufficient currency. In certain parts of Washington County the debtors banded together to prevent the sheriff from sell- ing their property.'"' The Whigs appealed to the laborers for support on the grounds that the "hard money" policy of the Democrats was the cause of the scarcity of mone}^'^'' Early in the summer, conditions improved, a change attributed at once by the Democrats
'"' Ohio State Journal. July 15, 1843.
^'^ Weekly Ohio State Journal (Supplement), January 25, February 1, 8, 15, 1843.
"' McConnellsville Whig Standard quoted in Weekly Ohio State Journal,
''' Weekly Ohio State Journal, April 12, 1843. April 12, 1843.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 545
to the benefits of their banking measures. The Western Empire (D) declared that the Whigs were "frightened to desperation" by the return of high prices for farm products and by the soundness of the currency/"' and these improved financial and economic conditions were hailed by the Ohio Statesman with the following edito- rial headline: 'Trices of produce going up while the Banks are going down — Whig predictions falsified by facts and experience. "^^^ The Zanesville Aurora even argued that a thirty per cent rise in the price of wheat was caused by the expiration of the bank charters. ^^^
The Whigs could not ignore the prosperity argu- ment of the Democrats, but the Ohio State Journal attributed the turn in the tide to the Whig tariff of 1842/^° and found additional reasons for the new pros- perity in the loans obtained by the Canal Fund Commis- sioners from New York and from the Ohio banks.^^^ But for the most part, the Whig leaders adhered to the charge that the Democrats really favored a "hard money" currency and that the laws of the last two years were aimed at the destruction of the banks."" Despite a vigorous newspaper contest, the Whigs were unable to develop any great enthusiasm in the fall cam- paign."^ The Whigs remained on the offensive against the Democratic bank legislation and the Democrats val-
^" Western Empire quoted in Ohio State Journal, June 20, 1843.
''' Ohio Statesman, June 16, 1843.
^^^ Zanesville Aurora quoted in Ohio State Jour)tal, June 20, 1843.
"=° Ohio State Journal, June 20, 1843.
"" Ibid., July 6, 1843.
'''Ibid., April 22, 1843.
'"^ McLean to Crittenden, September 22, 1843, Crittenden MSS., v. XL
Vol. XXXVII— 35.
546 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
iantly defended their admittedly severe legislation in the face of division within their own ranks."*
Repudiation and the issue of law and order also figured in the election of 1843. Indeed, these were often inseparable from the banking issue. In commenting on the nomination of Joseph Ridgway,"" by the Whigs, to represent the Tenth Congressional District, the Ohio State Journal declared that ''though not a violent par- tisan, he is no upstart bastard Democrat — no brawling, barn-burning, bank-destroying Locofoco — but a plain, honest Democrat of the ancient school of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and John Quincy Adams," and "one of the people.""'" The Democratic contention that the Legislature had no right to bind the State beyond the power of the popular wall, was denounced by the Whigs as "the germ of repealing charters and other contracts and grants, and repudiating public debts and obligations. . ." "^
The State election of October, 1843, resulted in a material gain for the Whigs. Although the Democrats retained control of the Senate by a majority of four votes, two of the four were independent Democrats elected in opposition to the radicals."^ The Whigs con-
'" See Chapter III.
^'^^ Ridgway had made a record as a consistent Whig in 1839-1840 when he represented the Eighth Congressional District in Congress. Cong. Globe, 26th Cong., 1st Sess., v. VIII, p. 43.
'"^Ohio State Journal, June 17. 1843.
'" Robert H. Ives, a prominent Whig outsider from Rhode Island, feared that the checks and balances of government were rapidly decaying and that the government was sinking into a pure democracy as a result of immigration, and wondered how far the Ohio "destructionists" were going. Ives to Greene, March, 1843. Greene MSS.
^^^ Ohio State Journal. August 29, 1843; Weekly Ohio State Journal, October 18, 1843.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 547
trolled the House of Representatives by a majority of six."^ On joint ballot of the two houses, the Whigs thus were able to control the election of state officers. On the other hand, the Democrats were in a position to defeat any Whig banking measure if the Democratic insurgents could be persuaded to fall in line. The Whig State Central Committee declared that the result was satisfactory enough to stop "corruption" and prophesied victory in 1844. The Democrats, however, obtained a majority of the Ohio congressional delegation, twelve Democrats and nine Whigs being returned to the Con- gress of 1843-1844. This defeat, the Whigs attributed to the inequalities of the last congressional apportion- ment law. More specifically, when Joseph Ridgway was defeated by Heman A. Moore in the Tenth Dis- trict, which included the counties of Franklin, Knox and Licking, the Whigs charged that Franklin had been added to the other counties in order to overcome a sub- stantial Whig majority in the former. The Ohio State Journal, however, attributed Ridgway's defeat to the Liberty Party vote.''" As in 1840, the Whigs declared that the people of Ohio had spoken in favor of a Whig banking scheme. But their plans were blocked by a Democratic Senate unless conservative Democrats should vote with them. The Piqua Register (W) urged the Whigs to pass some kind of a banking measure. If the Democratic Senate chose to oppose it, the blame for disregarding the wish of the people would rest squarely upon them.^'^
Weekly Ohio State Journal, October 25, 1843.
Ihid., October 18, 1843.
Piqua Register quoted in Ohio State Journal, March 15, 1843.
548 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
The situation was ominous for the Democrats. The election had returned to the Senate certain Democrats who were known to be in favor of a system of banking which did not differ greatly from the plans proposed by the Whigs. Moreover, the factions within the party were embittered by a fight to control the State delega- tion to the National Convention. At the head of the party was Wilson Shannon, a governor who had lost contact with his party entirely and who was even ac- cused of flirting with the despised Tylerites for Federal appointment.
In his annual message to the General Assembly in December, 1843, Shannon paved the way for further Democratic division by asserting that he believed a "well-guarded and well-restricted system of local banks, judiciously distributed in the State, with a fixed amount of capital, adequate to the business wants of the country, is the best and most practical system of banking that can, at this time, be adopted in this state." "^ Shan- non's position was practically an acceptance of the Whig program. The Governor's message made no mention of the finality of the Latham and Bartley Laws as might have been expected from a governor representing the dominant element in the Democratic party. The effect of Shannon's message soon was seen in an at- tempt to modify the Latham Law so as to exempt the Bank of Wooster from its operation. This was favored by certain conservative Democrats in spite of an urgent warning from the Ohio Statesman that there should be no more ''tinkering" with the banking laws. Pointing
'Ohio Executive Documents, 1843, v. VIII, No. 1, p. 7.
POLITICAL CARTOON Coon Dissector — Issue of June 7, 1844. (549)
550 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
to new evidences of prosperity, the Statesman thought there should be no more banks "to again demorahze the country, and spread ruin, robbery and swindhng broad- cast over the land." '"" Hazeltine (D), in the Senate, opposed the plan to exempt the Bank of Wooster and asserted that had it not been for the fact that a few Democrats were connected with the Bank no attempt would have been made to disturb the general acquies- cence in the Latham and Bartley Laws.'"* Samuel Lahm (D) of Stark County, who favored exemption, declared that it would not mean an abandonment of the Latham Law. Lahm was connected with the Bank of Wooster in an official capacity, and as a conservative Democrat supported Cass for the Democratic nomina- tion in 1844.'''
It was mainly through the efforts of Joseph S. Lake and Benjamin Jones, directors of the Wooster Bank, that four Democratic senators, among them Samuel Lahm, were induced to vote with the Whigs to exempt the Wooster Bank from the provisions of the general banking laws.''*' On February 15, 1844, the charter of the Bank of Wooster was extended to January 1, 1850, and that part of the Latham and Bartley Laws which applied to the Bank of Wooster repealed. Other pro- visions made the stockholders of the bank individually liable for the debts of the bank, lim!'ted the power of the directors to obtain loans to one-half of the capital
'■' Ohio Statesman, February 13, 1844. ^
"'Ibid., February 15, 1844.
'"H. C Whitman to William Allen, November 23, 1845. Allen MSS., V. VIII.
"" Charles Wolcott, J. M. Cooper, M. A. Goodfellow, and others to Allen, March 11, 1845, Allen MSS., v. VIII.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 551
stock possessed by such persons, compelled the Wooster Bank to keep one dollar in gold and silver for every three dollars in circulation, and applied the same privi- leges and conditions to the Lafayette Bank of Cincin- nati and the Bank of Xenia/" This action marks the first break in the hitherto solid front of the Democrats on banking questions and before the end of the session the same privileges were extended to the Bank of San- dusky and the Bank of Norwalk/'^ The Democrats yielded in the face of a bitter fight between the conserva- tives, supporting Cass, and the radicals, supporting Van Buren.
The Whigs of the House were not content with these compromises, however, and, soon after the organiza- tion of the General Assembly, introduced a bill to repeal the Latham and Bartley Laws and to extend the char- ters of the Bank of Geauga and the Commercial Bank of Cincinnati. The party was eager to secure a bank- ing measure before the charters of two other banks would expire on January 1, 1844. By uninterrupted sessions, the bill was forced through the house, Decem- ber 22nd, by a strict party vote except that Green, a con- servative Democrat of Fairfield County, joined the Whigs.'''' This bill was drafted as a political manifesto, for it was clear that the Democratic Senate would not support it. It was a bit of Whig strategy to widen the breach between the Shannon Democrats and the defend- ers of the Latham Law. It was clear also, by this time, that Tyler was irretrievably lost to his party, and the favorable comments on Shannon's policy from the Ty-
"' Lazvs of Ohio, v. XLII, pp. 41-42. "' Laws of Ohio, v. XLII, pp. 41-42. "' Weekly Ohio State Journal, December 27. 1843.
552 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
ler press showed an alliance between the States Rights men and the conservative Democrats. In November,
1843, in a letter to a committee of Tyler men in Cleve- land, published in the Old School Republican, Shannon endorsed the Democracy of Tyler and asserted that he was worthy of the support of the Democrats/'" The Democratic schism became evident to all when Shannon was made minister co Mexico in 1844/"' Furthermore, Shannon had mortally offended the radicals of his party by commending- those Democratic senators who had joined the Whigs in giving special concessions to the Bank of Wooster/'" The attacks of radical Democrats on Shannon became so sharp that in February, 1844, Shannon published a defense in the St. Clairsville Ga- :;cttc. His views on banking were commended by the Ohio State Journal as good Whig doctrine. ^"'^
The Democrats met in State Convention January 8,
1844, and nominated David Tod for governor on a strong anti-bank platform. ^^^ To make his position per- fectly clear. Tod, a few days after his nomination, an- nounced his support of the Bartley Law, in a speech in Columbus. There is some evidence to show that pressure w^as brought to bear on Tod by the conserva- tives to get him to modify his views on banking and currency. On January 27th, in a letter to the Demo- cratic Central Committee of Cuyahoga County, the can- didate admitted the necessity of banks and declared
^'" Old School Republican, a reprint of letter in Weekly Ohio State Journal, November 29, 1843.
^" Reeves, op. cit., pp. 1G9, 170.
"' Ohio State Journal, June 7, 1843.
'^ Weekly Ohio State Journal, February 28, 1844.
'^Ohio Statesman, January 8, 9, 1844.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 553
himself in favor of the old system with some modifica- tions/^^ although these modifications deviated but little from the principles of the Bartley Law. The Whigs attempted to construe his new pronunciamento as con- trary to the platform of January 8th/^*' but the Cincin- nati Daily Enquirer (D) saw no evidence, in the letter, of Tod's abandonment of his former principles. From the comments of the Enquirer the Ohio State Journal concluded that the purpose of the letter was to deceive the bank Democrats and that Tod was really a "destruc- tive." ^"
Early in December, the Whig State Central Com- mittee issued a call for a State Convention, on January 10, 1844, to select a candidate for governor and to ap- point delegates to the Whig National Convention. Re- form of the state government was the main note sounded in the official call.^^^ Thomas Corwin, chairman of the Whig State Convention, was lauded by Henry Stan- bery,'*' of Lancaster, as the first choice of the party for governor, but he firmly declined another nomination. Jeremiah Morrow, of Warren, and Seabury Ford,''"' of Geauga, were named as delegates to the National Con-
'"" Ohio State Journal, June 6, 1844.
''' Weekly Ohio State Journal, March 13, 1844.
''' Ibid. March 27, 1844.
''' WeeJily Oliio State Journal, December 20, 1843.
^'^ Stanbery attained prominence later as United States Attorney-Gen- eral in Johnson's administration and as counsel for Johnson in the impeach- ment proceedings. John Spencer Bassett, A Short History of the United States, 1492-1920, p. 615.
""Ford represented Geauga County in the General Assembly as senator in 1842-1844, Ohio Senate Journals, 1842-1843, v. XLI, p. 4; represented Fairfield County in same body as representative in 1835-1836, Ohio House Journals, 1835-1836, v. XXXIV, p. 1; was elected governor 1848 but did not take office until early part of 1849.
554 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
vention. The Convention urged greater economy in the State government and an adequate currency. For the governorship the Whigs nominated David Spangler of Coshocton."^ The latter was not present at the Conven- tion, and when notified of his nomination, promptly de- clined on personal and private grounds/''" Spangler's declination disrupted the Whig plans, and a second Whig Convention, which was much more fully attended and more enthusiastic than the first, nominated Morde- cai Bartley,^^^ of Richland County, for governor."*
The state elections of 1844 were fought out in the midst of the national campaign between Polk and Clay. The Ohio Whigs united under the leadership of Clay, but the Ohio Democrats fought long and valiantly in the Baltimore Convention in behalf of Van Buren and ac- quiesced in the final selection of Polk with bad grace. The radicals, however, found solace in the defeat of Cass. Solidarity on national issues was a distinct aid to the Whigs of Ohio in the state election. On the other hand, the Democratic slogan for the "Re-annexation of Texas and the Re-occupation of Oregon" appealed to the naturally imperialistic and expansionist Northwest.
In the course of the campaign personal attacks were
"' Weekly Ohio State Journal, January 17, 1844.
"-V?7;W., January 24, 1844.
^*' Hartley was a native of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. In 1809 he settled in Jefferson County, Ohio, and in the War of 1812 he joined the army as captain. He later served under Harrison on the Maumee. In 1814 he moved to Richland County. In 1818 he was elected to the Senate and four years later to Congress. He was in Congress eight years and at the end of that time declined renomination. While in Congress he gave his influence in behalf of river and harbor appropriations for the lake region. In 1842 he was admitted to the bar. Weekly Ohio State Journal, Febru- ary 28, 1844.
"" Ohio State Journal, February 22, 1844.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 555
made on David Tod. He was accused of "Rank Infi- delity" because of his alleged association with men of irreligious character and because he had opposed a bill in the General Assembly prohibiting the sale of liquor around Methodist camp meetings. ^"^ Tod was also charged with a lack of patriotic sentiment. It was re- ported that in connection with an incident in Philadel- phia, in which an Irish mob tore down an American flag, Tod had said that if he had been present he would have aided in trampling that flag into the dust.""
In spite of these attempts to muddle the issue, the problem of banking and currency would not down as the chief issue of the state campaign. The Xenia Torch- Light (W) reminded the voters that the currency ques- tion was unsettled, and argued that 'The cry of 'Bank Reform' with which the Locofoco leaders have so long been deluding their followers, has been fully proved to be a shameless fraud. They are now known to be Bank destructionists. Their legislation has kept us dependent upon the scanty and unsafe circulating medium which is now in use in this State. It is all-important that we should have a Whig Legislature, therefore, in order that we may get a safe and sufficient banking system.""^ Thompson's Bank Note Reporter declared that "The people of Ohio care little about Clay or Polk, and less about Texas, and less still about distribution. They
"= Xenia Torch-Light, August 8, 1844.
^""Ihid., August 15, 1844.
'" The Whig press of the State reported the old charge that the Demo- cratic plan to reform the banks was only an excuse to demolish them. Xenia Torch-Light, September 19, 1844; Ohio State Journal, September 21, 1844.
X
«
."2
a
Q.2
so
O >,-
(556)
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 557
feel the want of a circulating medium, in which they can have confidence. . ."^'''
The refusal of the banks to incorporate under the general banking laws in existence resulted in an invasion of Ohio by foreign bank paper. By December, 1844, ac- cording to the report of the Bank Commissioners, the foreign bank paper in Ohio amounted to $7,473,483.00, much of which was not based upon good security.^''" The natural result of this situation was a reaction against the Democrats. This was accentuated by the indiffer- ence of some of the Democratic voters to the national ticket led by Polk and by the division within their ranks over the matter of banking and currency. Many radical Democrats remained dissatisfied with Tod's stand on the currency. The Kalida Venture, a radical paper through- out the decade, declared that Tod had shown the "cloven foot" and that the voters must choose "whether they will have David Tod or Mordecai Bartley to pro- mulgate the monstrous bank heresies from the chair of State." The same organ actually took down the name of Tod from its editorial column on the ground that he had succumbed to a "time-serving weakness. "'"^ Tod was caught between two forces in the Democratic party. On the one hand, were the conservatives who would re- fuse to support him if he took a radical position on the problems of banking and currency. On the other hand, there were the radical Democrats who insisted upon Tod's support of the Bartley Law as a price of their
""Thompson's Bank Note Reporter quoted in Ohio State Journal, August 29, 1844.
'"'Ohio Executire Documents, 1844, No. 55.
"^ Kalida Venture quoted in Weekly Ohio State Journal, April 3, 1844
558 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
votes. When he first announced himself in favor of the Bartley Law, Delazon Smith, a conservative ]3emocratic leader of Dayton, rejected his nomination and in a letter published in the Dayton Miamian condemned the "hard money clique" at the Capitol. He declared that Medary, Allen, Brough, McNulty, Weller, and Medill met in a caucus in 1843 to determine the succession to the higher offices. If anyone were bold enough to question their decision he was promptly cast into political oblivion. Smith charged it was determined at this conference to elect Tod governor and send Medary to the United States Senate in case the Democrats won control of the Legislature in October, 1845.'"
The result of all these complications In the election of 1844, was to give the Whigs control of the General Assembly and to elect Mordecai Bartley governor of the State.'"" The incoming Whig governor referred in gen- eral terms to the need of an adecjuate banking system and left the working out of the details of the Whig pro- gram to the leaders of the party in the Legislature.""^ The Whigs, in control of both branches of the General Assembly, were free to carry out their policies. In evolving their plan no one was more active than Alfred Kelley, a member of the Canal Fund Commission since 1841.'"' Elected to the Ohio Senate in the fall elections of 1844, Kelley was appointed chairman of the Senate Committee on the Currency. On January 7, 1845, this committee introduced a banking measure known as a
^^ Reprint of the letter in Weekly Ohio State Journal, January 31, 1844.
=»" Weekly Ohio State Journal, October 23, 1844.
"^^ Ohio Executive Documents, 1844, v. IX, No. 2.
^^ James L. Bates, Alfred Kelley, His Life and Work, 1888, p. 102.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 559
bill "To incorporate the State Bank of Ohio and other banking companies."
The Kelley Bank Bill, as it was called, expressed the Whig notions of a proper banking system and became the central issue on banking and currency matters for the remainder of the decade. Its passage in 1845 marks the end of another period in the history of banking and currency in Ohio politics. It was the Whig answer to a series of Democratic laws. Because the Whigs felt the necessity of some safeguard for banking operations, they did not neglect to put into the law numerous re- strictions which had not been found proper in the days of unregulated banking. Thus the Democratic plea for the popular control of corporate wealth bore some fruit in the plan put forth by their opponents.
An examination of the Kelley Banking Law shows that in addition to the old banks already in existence, it provided for two new classes, the State Bank of Ohio, and independent banks. Five or more persons were au- thorized to form a banking company, and the total stock of all banks, not including the stock of banks already in existence, was not to exceed $6,150,000.00. In order to prevent any section of Ohio from monopolizing the banking capital, the State was divided into twelve dis- tricts and a limitation was placed on the number of banks and the amount of capital in each district. All applica- tions for the establishment of a bank were to be pre- sented to a Board of Control,""^ composed, after one year, of the Auditor of State, the Treasurer, and the Secretary of State. A maximum of $500,000 and a
^° The first members of the Board of Control were John W. Allen, Joseph Olds, Daniel Kilgore, Alexander Grimes, and Gustavus Swan.
560 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
minimum of $100,000 capital stock was fixed for each branch of the State Bank, while a minimum of $50,000 was fixed for independent banks. The State Bank could be organized by the qualification of seven branch banks and the appointment by each of a representative to the Board of Control, whose function was the general supervision of the member banks.
The popular demand for specie payment was met by the provision that all notes were payable on demand in gold or silver. The Democratic clamor for limitation of note issue was answered in the provision that the circu- lation of each bank was dependent on its capital stock.'"" Every branch bank had to pay to the Board of Control ten per cent of the amount of notes it received to be held by the Board of Control as a circulating safety fund which could be invested either in State stock, United States stock, or in first mortgage real estate bonds. Branch banks were to receive interest on their portion of the funds invested.
The Whigs did not meet the popular demand for in- dividual liability. By the new law, the stockholders of any bank were not liable as debtors or sureties to the bank for an amount exceeding one-third of their paid-in capital stock. This was a distinct compromise on an im- portant issue and was designed to enable the capitalists of the State to invest in banks without so much danger to their property as existed under the Latham and Bart-
^°°0n the first $100,000.00 of capital stock the bank was allowed to issue twice as many notes ; on the second 1100,000.00 one and one-fourth times as many notes ; while on the fourth $100,000.00 or any amount beyond the bank could issue only three-fourths that amount in notes. It will be observed that the Democratic plea to limit the note issue by the amount of specie actually in the bank was not a feature of the Kelley Law.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- i8jo 561
ley Laws. Director's liabilities were limited to one- fourth of their paid-in stock. '°^
Provisions were made also for independent banks. The chief difference between the two systems consisted in the means by which each was safeguarded against frauds. The independent banks were protected from failure by that portion of the Kelley Law which forced them to deposit state or United States stock with the Treasurer of Ohio to be used by that official as a fund to redeem the notes of the banks. The responsibility of stockholders and directors of independent banks for loss to noteholders was even less than the liability of similar officials of the State banks for such occurrences.
Other clauses provided that any branch of the State Bank could be closed at any time with the consent of the Board of Control ; that every bank was to keep on hand at all times gold or silver equal to thirty per cent of its circulation; that six per cent of the bank dividends were to be paid to the State as taxes, and that the amount which could be loaned to any one person or firm be lim- ited.'°^ Another provision, whereby banks were taxed only upon their profits, became a topic of bitter political controversy during the latter half of the decade. A sup- plementary act was passed by the Whigs in March to prohibit unauthorized banking and unauthorized bank paper.'"" This was intended to keep worthless foreign bank paper out of Ohio.
""' Any branch bank became insolvent when it refused to redeem its notes in '-pecie. In that case, a receiver was to be appointed by the Board of Control, and the stocks in the safety fund offered for sale to enable the insolvent bank to meet its payments.
'"'Lazus of Ohio, v. XLIII, pp. 24-55.
'^Ibid., V. XLIII, p. 121.
Vol. XXXVII— 36.
562 Ohio Arch, mid Hist. Society Publications
The Kelley Bank Law was attacked from the first by the Democrats as an invitation to the "shinplaster" institutions again to rob the people by a wholesale issue of worthless paper. It was defended by the Whigs as a piece of constructive legislation necessary for the wel- fare of the State."^" As a matter of fact, the Kelley Law did not satisfy all the Whigs, many of whom wanted to return to a system of unrestricted banking."^^ Fears that the regulatory provisions of the new law would prevent the investment of capitalists in banking proved un- founded. By July, 1845, the seven branch banks re- quired for the organization of a State Bank were in- corporated and the banking machinery as outlined by the Kelley Law went into operation."^' At the same time eight other corporations had organized as independ- ent banks.'" The number of banks in the State grad- ually increased throughout the period under investiga- tion. In 1845, Governor Mordecai Bartley, in a message to the Legislature, declared that "already the people of Ohio begin to feel the influence of this system in the restoration of confidence, the revival of business, the in- crease of the wages of labor, and the rising prosperity of the State."'"
In the meantime, the radical Democrats were making plans to destroy the political influence of the conserva- tives in their party. The former were led by the im- petuous and "shaggy haired" H. C. Whitman, of Lan- caster, the adroit, fiery, and energetic Samuel Medary,
'''"Ohio Statesman, April — October, 1845; Ohio State Journal, April- October, 1845.
'"Xenia Torch-Light, January 23, 1845.
'''Ibid., July 3, 1845.
'''Ibid., July 3, 1845.
^" Ohio Executive Documents, 1845, v. I, p. 3.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 563
of the Ohio Statesman, and Thomas W. Bartley, author of the last Democratic banking measure. They accused the conservatives of betraying the party by yielding to the bankers. Control of the Federal patronage proved a powerful weapon in this internal party struggle, and the radicals, who seemed to have the confidence of the Polk administration, proceeded to wield this power for their own ends. William Allen, Democratic Senator from Ohio, was chairman of the important Senate Com- mittee on Foreign Affairs,'^^ and, in March, 1845, ten of the leading Democrats of Wayne County urged him to warn the Administration against the appointments of "softs" to Federal offices. The defection and consequent defeat of the Democrats in Wayne County and through- out the State were charged to the "softs. ""^*' Whitman assured Allen that the conservatives must be "crushed."^^^
Chief among the conservatives or "softs" was Gov- ernor Shannon who had been instrumental in the pas- sage of the law exempting the Bank of Wooster from the Bartley Law. The radical Democrats, through Allen, defeated the appointment of Shannon to the office of district attorney for Ohio, and secured this political plum for T. W. Bartley, as a reward for his services against the banks.^'^ William Smith, a "soft" money Democrat endorsed by Cass and the Ohio conservatives, lost the collectorship of the port of Cleveland to Dr. Smith In-
^^ McGrane, Reginald C, William Allen, A Study in Western Democracy.
"""Wolcott, Cooper, Goodfellow, and others to Allen, March 11, 1845, Allen MSS., v. VII.
^'Whitman to Allen, November 23, 1845, Allen MSS., v. VIII.
=^ Dunbar and Gotshall to Allen, March 11, 1845. Allen MSS., v. VII.
564 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
g-lehart."^'* In the midst of this division in the ranks of the Ohio Democracy, Medary sold the Ohio Statesman to C. C. Hazewell, of Rhode Island. This transaction and the course subsecjuently pursued by the new owner tended to accentuate the bitterness between the two fac- tions of the Democrats."" So effective was the cam- paign against the "softs" that by December, 1845, T. J. Morgan, editor of the Ohio Patriot (New Lisbon, Ohio), could write to Allen that 'The advance of radical doctrines has never been so rapid in Ohio as within the last three months. Almost a score of papers have taken open hard money ground . . . the avowed softs in Ohio are evidently becoming alarmed and cry out for compromise.""^
The campaign of 1845 was one of the most important in the history of the banking controversy. The Demo- crats met in Columbus July 4, 1845, ostensibly to devise means for the better organization of the party. But the Convention took a strong position on banking. The res- olution on the currency stated that the Democracy of
"'Medary to Allen, April 29, 1845, Allen MSS., v. VIII.
"■* Hazewell, a native of Rhode Island, had begun his newspaper career by writing for the Boston Post. Later, he had taken charge of the Nan- tucket Islander. It appeared from the testimony of his enemies in Massa- chusetts, including Marcus Morton, that Hazewell had been none too successful in this and other newspaper ventures in that State. This infor- mation concerning Hazewell was collected by Tappan, in the hope of so discrediting him among the radical Democrats that they would support Tappan in his proposal to start a radical newspaper at the capitol to counteract the influence of the Ohio Statesman. Unsigned note of Marcus Morton attached to letter of Tappan to Allen, August 12, 1845, Allen MSS.. V. VIII; Cong. Globe, 26th Cong., 1st Sess., v. VIII, p. 1; Martin to Allen, January 5, 1846, Allen MSS., v. X.
*-"' Morgan to Allen, December 2, 1845, Allen MSS., v. VIII. During Polk's administration, federal funds were withdrawn from the Bank of Wooster at the request of the radical Democracy of Ohio — Ohio State Journal, August 28, 1845.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 565
Ohio must endeavor "to maintain the freedom and inde- pendence of the State, and dehver it from the bondage of a corrupt, irresponsible, and swindhng- system of mo- nopoHes, by the immediate repeal of the act passed by the FederaHsts in the last Legislature" and also "provide safe and efficient remedies for the people against fraud- ulent banking institutions, and other corporations by re- storing the laws repealed by the Federalists, or by pass- ing other efficient laws for the purpose." ''" These reso- lution clearly meant the repeal of the Kelley Banking Law and the restoration of the Latham Law or another of its kind, should the Democrats be returned to power. In March, 1845, the Whig Legislature passed a new revenue law, taxing all property according to its cash valuation. This was attacked immediately by the Dem- ocrats, chiefly because it carried no special provision for taxing the banks."''' According to the Kelley Banking Law, banks were taxable at the rate of six per cent upon their net dividends."* The Democrats claimed that bank stock should be taxed at the same rate as all other prop- erty, and denounced the law as burdensome and oppres- sive and as special legislation. The Whigs countered with the claim that a change in the method of taxation would be a violation of the bank charters which were to be considered as contracts. The decisions of John Mar- shall on the inviolabilities of charters and contracts had become almost as sacred as the Constitution itself, in the minds of conservative Whigs of the 'forties. They claimed, furthermore, that banks were paying more revenue into the State treasury under their charters than
■Ohio Statesman, July 7, 1845. ' Ohio Statesman, July 7, 1845. ' Laws of Ohio, v. XLIII, pp. 24-55.
566 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
they would if they were on the regular tax duplicate."" The Democrats replied that if this were true the banks should petition to be placed on the regular tax dupli- cate."'" The Whigs eagerly accepted the issue as out- lined by the Democratic State Convention."'^ The OJiio State Journal appealed to the voters of the State to pre- serve the credit of the government, and denounced the Democrats as "experimenters" and "disorganizers.""'^ The same organ charged that the scarcity of banking institutions in the eastern part of the State was attrib- utable to the destructive policy of the Democrats w^hich forced the people of that section to depend on foreign bankers for their circulating medium."''
The Democratic press was equally vigorous. The OJiio Statesman condemned, as dangerous, the "powers given the Board of Control, of making money scarce when they wish to buy, and plenty when they wish to sell — of contracting today and expanding it tomorrow . . ." "'*", and, a week later, contrasted the privileges of the people with the privileges of the bankers under the new Whig law. It was pointed out that one dollar of
•^ The whole question of taxation in Ohio from the financial point of view is well treated in E. L. Bogart's "Financial History of Ohio," Uni- versity of Illinois Studies in the Social Sciences, v. I, pp. 181-256.
'■'Ohio Statesman, April-May, 1845.
"' The Xenia Torch-Light declared that "The State, if it is possible, is again to become the plunder-ground of the 'red-dog' and wild-cat institu- tions of other States, over which the people of Ohio have no control, and from the circulation of whose paper they derive no profit, while they are
liable to sustain great losses The season of prosperity which has
just commenced to dawn upon us is to be darkened — the new Banks are to be knocked in the head, and the impracticable 'Latham-humbug' and 'Bartley amendments' are to take their places." Xenia Torch-Light, July 17, 1845.
"^ Xenia Torch-Light, July 8, 1845.
"° Ohio State Journal, July 12, 1845.
"""Ohio Statesman, July 7, 1845.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 567
specie allowed the banker to issue three dollars of notes while the people had to conduct business on the principle of "dollar for dollar." Under the Kelley Law, bankers obtained interest on what they owed, while the people paid interest under the same circumstances. A long list of grievances concluded with the statement that "The people have been bound hand and foot. A brainless aristocracy of money is about riding 'booted and spurred' over them, and their rights filched from them.'"''
Many radical Democrats, who resented the leader- ship of Hazewell, refused to accept such anti-bank ex- pressions as indicative of the new editor's real position, charging that he was too lenient toward the Bank of Wooster."'' The American Union of Steubenville, Tap- pan's organ, joined the attack on Hazewell, asserting that he was a conservative and that he would not be faithful to the party."'' Hazewell defended himself vig- orously in the Statesman but he failed to receive the confidence of his party which had begun to feel the need of Medary's guiding hand.
Although weakened by party dissensions, the Dem- ocrats carried on an energetic campaign in their county and district conventions. Marion County Democrats raised the "standard of repeal" and charged that the Kelley Banking Law benefited the privileged aristocracy only."* The Medina County Democrats demanded the passage of a new banking law like the Democratic bank- ing laws of 1842 and 1843."' The Democratic Sena-
==' Ohio Statesman, July 14. 1845.
"^-Ohio State Journal, August 28, 1845.
^ Ohio Statesman, August 18, September 3, 1845.
'^ Ohio Statesman, September 1, 1845.
"^Ibid., September 24, 1845.
568 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
torial Convention for the counties of Allen, Williams, Mercer, Henry, Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert, and De- fiance took an even more radical position. In violent language the Democracy of those counties declared that they had no compromise to offer to the banks and that they would "henceforth advocate nothing short of the total expiration of the entire system, under whatever form proposed.'"'*" Such opinions from the Ohio Dem- ocrats led the Baltimore American to comment, "The principles of Locofocoism in Ohio are set forth with a naked ultraism which disdains all reserve or conceal- ment,"'" and the Ohio State Journal accused the Demo- crats of trying to "stir up the baser passions, to array one class against another, and to awaken jealousies, heartburnings and strife.""^® The OJiio Statesman turned the charge on the Whigs, and accused them of arraying one portion of society against another "by giv- ing to the few special privileges by which they garner up the greater portion of the results of industry and skill of the masses.'"'"
Although, in the northeastern section of the State, greater emphasis was placed on national issues like slavery in the District of Columbia, and the annexation of Texas,""*" most of the Whig county conventions ap- proved the new Whig banking law and condemned the proposals of the Democrats to repeal it.'" The Cuya- hoga County Whigs approved the Kelley Law because it was "well calculated to give us a safe and sound paper
' Ohio Statesman, September 24, 1845.
■ Baltimore American quoted in Ohio State Journal, September 30, 1845.
Ohio State Journal, September 11, 1845. ' Ohio Statesman, September 12, 1845. 'Ohio State Journal, October 4, 1845.
Ibid., September 23, 1845.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 569
currency, convertible into specie at the will of the bill holder, and while it gives security to the pubHc, at the same time yields to the banker fair and reasonable prof- its.'"^" The orthodox Whig argument for banks as a necessity to modern civilization was shown in the reso- lutions of the Hamilton County Whigs, which urged that a hard money system was an adjunct of monarchical government, a characteristic of savagery, and a burden on the labouring classes.'*^ Other considerations fig- ured in the election of October, 1845. The Democrats appealed to the German vote by accusing the Whigs of an alliance with the native Americans, who favored ex- tending the period of naturalization t o twenty-one years."*"" The Whigs appealed to the ultra-religiously minded by charging Benjamin Tappan, former Demo- cratic Senator from Ohio, as being a "boasting infidel," and the Ohio State Journal questioned whether men ''thus reckless of morality, decency, and truth" are "fit persons to legislate for a Christian Nation.""*^
The election ended in a victory for the Whigs. In the Senate twelve Whigs and six Democrats held over and six Whigs and six Democrats were returned. In the House there were thirty-eight Whigs and twenty- two Democrats."**' Among the most prominent members of this General Assembly were Alfred Kelley (W) ; William L. Perkins (W), destined to be more prominent in the election of 1848; Seabury Ford who later became governor of the State; and Clement L. Vallandigham,
'*''Ohw State Journal, October 4, 1845. ^ Ibid., October 9, 1845.
*** Dayton Western Empire quoted in Ohio State Joiirival, October 9, 1845.
^October 13, 1845.
^'Ohio Statesman, October 20, 1845.
570 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
who became a recognized leader of the Democratic party in the State during the 'forties and during the Civil War, attained national prominence as a Peace Democrat.'" The Whigs interpreted the results as an endorsement of their banking policies and the Ohio State Journal de- clared that "No issue has ever been more distinctly pre- sented to the people of this State at an election, than that of the Currency and Banks at that which has just passed . . . They, the Democrats, have been most signally rebuked by the people, and the truth stands proclaimed . . . that the property holders, the business men of the State — the Farmers, Merchants and Mechanics, will not suffer the produce of their toil, the earnings of their industry, to be depressed and carried off under the wasteful influence of a vitiated currency furnished by speculators and shavers from abroad.""*^ It appears that the Whig victory in 1845 was a result of divisions within the ranks of the Democrats; of a systematic pro- gram of intimidation on the part of the Whigs; of the conservative appeal to the fear of change; and of an unwillingness on the part of the electorate to change a system which promised to save them from an invasion of foreign bank paper over which they had no control. Undaunted by their serious reverses In October, the radical anti-bank Democrats laid plans to capture the next State Convention to be held at Columbus, January 8, 1846,^*^ for it was clear already that the election of
^" Personnel of the General Assembly given in Ohio Statesman, Octo- ber 22, 1845.
^ Ohio State Journal, October 28, 1845.
^■*°As a result of party pressure and the fear of competition from Tappan's proposed radical paper at the Capitol, Hazewell of the Statesman gradually came around to a more complete anti-bank position. Ohio States- man, December, 1845 — ^January, 1846.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 571
1846 would be another referendum on the bank ques- tion. Throughout December, Democratic county con- ventions urged David Tod for governor in 1846.'^° As early as November, 1845, H. C. Whitman, the arch- enemy of the banks, took pains to ascertain the opinions of Tod on banks and the currency. It will be recalled that Tod had attempted, in 1844, to secure the votes of both wings of his party and Whitman's letter was writ- ten to assure Tod that he could not get the support of the hard money Democrats without taking a more ad- vanced position. This letter throws a flood of light on Ohio politics in this period and warrants extended quo- tation. The letter was addressed to Senator Allen to be referred by him to Tod and is as follows : "I write to ask you a favor — which is — if you feel authorized to assure me on the point as to David Tod's present views on the currency question. He is represented indirectly by a late number of the Trumbull Democrat, to be in favor of banks still. If his views are sound and for the 'hard' and he is willing to avow himself so, I shall take measures to allow him to express himself publicly before the 8th Jany. At the present time he could not receive the nomination by the votes of the Hards. It will be a very great favor indeed if I can learn from you his present views, as, if they are not sound, I do not wish him to express himself publicly as it would but aid the conservatives. If he is not sound, I am in favor of [Edwin M.] Stanton ... I feel Col. More than usual anxiety about Tod's views for the following rea- sons. The conservatives . . . care not a copper for the currency question save as a means to their po-
Ohio Statesman, December 10-31, 1845.
572 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
liticai ends. They have conspired, banded together to crush the True Men in Ohio, to enable them to lead the party and obtain a Cass delegation in 1848. In my opinion the election of President in 1848 depends ma- terially on what the Ohio delegation in the National Convention will do. If that delegation shall be made of true and stern men, Lewis Cass may be defeated if the right man is nominated in opposition to him before the Con — If the true men fail and are divided and the Conservatives prevail on the 8, Ohio is lost for Cass. Some suspicion now exists against Tod among the True Men. Before that Con [vention] meets, all must be ar- ranged and understood. If Tod will come out straight
for the Hards, we can ostracise any d d corrupt
rascal in the Conservative Ranks. The hour has come. Shannon must be crushed. They are well organized, unscrupulous, desperate, playing as men do the game of Revolution for their very heads. Our men are not roused, not organized, and the Ranks must be filled up, discipline and order restored before the 8, or the Hards there will appear a faction, Shannon and Co., the party. Tod's views we must know. I for one will not vote for any man who is in favor of monopolies of any kind."'^^
'^^ Benjamin Tappan and other radical Democrats were equally anxious to know whether Tod would come out boldly for the principles avowed in Whitman's letter. According to Medary, Tod's position had been miscon- strued because his views on the currency question had been misrepresented by the Ohio Patriot. This paper, edited by T. J. Morgan, who claimed to have the confidence of both wings of the party, had now "put itself right." Medary thought that "softism since the President message [was] the poorest of God's creation, not worthy of anyone's worship or even tamper- ing with." Medary's confidence was reflected in the tone of another letter from Whitman to Allen on the 10th of December informing Allen that he need not reply to his former letter of inquiry. Others were not so confi- dent, however. Rufus E. Hart, State Democratic senator and member of the Senate Committee on Federal Relations, wrote that "there seems to be
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 573
Thus political lines were being drawn in 1845 and 1846 to determine the choice of Ohio for president in 1848, and, as in 1844, the conservative Democrats were identi- fied with the Cass movement while the radical wing of the party still clung to Van Buren as the representative of true Jacksonian anti-bank principles.
There was a movement among the conservative Dem- ocrats to substitute Thomas L. Hamer for Tod as the candidate in 1846. It was claimed that Tod's nomina- tion was being manipulated in secret by a clique of rad- icals and that it lacked popular approval. Tod's sup- porters replied that their favorite was the choice of many county conventions, and that the Hamer move-
the Devil to pay amongst the Ohio Democrats on the subject of the cur- rency." The division soon became so evident that the Ohio Statesman was forced to admit its existence, although it contended that the difiference was not fundamental but merely one of means and not of ends. That organ furthermore pointed to the resolutions of the Columbiana County Democrats as the proper ground for the party to assume at that time. These resolu- tions, written by T. J. Morgan, protested against "any effort ... on the one hand to drive the party forward with impetuosity, or on the other hand, to retard its steady progress by an unworthy abandonment of the ground already assumed." Hazewell's position on the currency question is shown by the fact that he selected for publication only those parts of the Colum- biana County resolutions which supported a middle ground position. Mor- gan, who was anxious not to ruin Tod's candidacy by being interpreted as a bank conservative, protested against Hazewell's selection and pointed to the remainder of the resolutions, as more truly representative of the attitude of the party. Other resolutions approved a "discreet and persevering agita- tion" of the currency question in order to hasten the day when the Consti- tution of Ohio would be remodeled and the issue of paper money by corporations or individuals forbidden by the fundamental law of the State. Morgan took occasion to regret that Hazewell had not taken such a strong ground on the currency question as his predecessor, Medary. H. C. Whit- man to Allen, November 23, 1845, Allen MSS. ; Tappan to Allen, November 30, 1845 ; T. J. Morgan to ?, December 2, 1845 ; Medary to Allen, Decem- ber 9, 1845; Whitman to Allen, December 10, 1845; Hart to Allen, De- cember 20, 1845, Allen MSS., vols. V, VIII, IX. Ohio Statesman, No- vember 26, 1845; Ohio Statesman, October 26, 1845; Ohio Patriot quoted in Ohio State Journal, December 23, 1845.
574 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
ment was the work of revengeful, disgruntled traitors who had been refused appointments under the Polk ad- ministration.'^' There probably was some truth in this statement, for the radicals were in control of the Fed- eral patronage in Ohio and were using it to force ad- herence to their policies on state matters.
The policy of the Whig majority in the Legislature helped, to some degree, to unify the Democrats. The Ohio State Journal had advised, at the beginning of the session, against further experimentation, and had pronounced the Kelley banking plan the best system in operation anywhere in the United States. "If the Loco- focos," this paper continued, "want to test it, let them. The sooner the better. If they want individual liability when the public are already secured beyond possible hazard, let them propose it, and then vote it down with- out any talk or noise.""'^ But the issue of banking and currency would not down. When the lower House pre- pared to elect a speaker, Charles Reemelin, a German hard money Democrat from Cincinnati, offered a reso- lution that no bank officer would be eligible to that office. His proposal was rejected by a strict party alignment."^* During the course of a debate in the Senate on state stocks, Alfred P. Edgerton (D) had expressed a desire to depreciate the value of the Ohio state stocks if thereby he might strike a blow at the banks.''" In spite of at- tempts by conservative Democrats, like Dowty Utter, a
^''Conclusion taken from letters in Ohio Statesman, November 14, 24, 1844.
^°' Ohio State Journal, December 9, 1845 ; Ohio Execxdive Documents, 1845, V. X, part 1, No. 1, pp. 5-6 ; Ohio Statesman, December 3, 1845.
^* Ohio Statesman, December 1, 1845.
^^ Ohio State Journal. December 11, 1845; Kalida Venture, December 23, 1845, quoted in Ohio State Journal, December 31, 1845.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 575
veteran political leader from Clermont County, and prominently mentioned for the governorship, to suppress the issue, the Democrats insisted on making it the lead- ing question in the next campaign. "^^
In the fall of 1845, the Democratic State Central Committee sounded the call for another State Convention, reminding the party that "A system of un- equal laws, extensive immunities, and aristocratic privi- leges [had been] established, through the most magnifi- cent and corrupting, if not the most fraudulent scheme of banking, for the benefit of one class, while oppressive taxes and its train of attendant evils [had been] re- served for another.""" Most of the delegates selected in the county conventions were instructed for Tod, and the resolutions adopted were practically unanimous in condemning the Kelley Banking Law.'^® The control of the State Convention by the radicals was evidenced by the choice of Samuel Medary as president. At the psy- chological moment, Medary introduced a letter from Tod, who had a majority of the instructed delegates, revealing Tod as an extreme anti-bank man. Whitman had done his work well. The conservatives attempted to prevent the reading of the letter, but amid a great deal of confusion, the "views" of the already selected can- didate were made known."^^ After dwelling upon the iniquities of the Whig banking scheme. Tod declared that, although he had once thought banks might "be so guarded and restricted by legislative provisions, as to be of sufficient benefit to tolerate their existence, subse-
'"* Letter from Utter printed in Georgetown Standard, January 8, 1846, and reprinted in Ohio State Journal, January 13, 1846. =^' Ohio Statesman, November 24, 1845. '^Ibid., December 1, 1845; January 8, 1846. "^'Xenia Torch-Light, January 15, 1846; Ohio Press, May 19, 1847.
576 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
quent reflection and experience" had convinced him that "any system of banking that can be devised, must be based upon unequal privileges by which the few gain wealth and power at the expense of the many." Ac- cordingly, past experience seemed to indicate the neces- sity of a State Convention to amend the Constitution so as to prohibit the "granting of all charters and exclusive privileges." Indeed, the restriction of monopolies and special privileges was a part of the general reform movement in Ohio which culminated in the Constitu- tional Convention of 1851.''"
Radical Democrats like Samuel Medary, H. C. Whit- man, T. W. Bartley and Alfred P. Edgerton welcomed the Tod letter with grim joy, for it meant the defeat of their opponents and the triumph of Van Buren princi- ples in the State.'"'
In spite of opposition from the conservatives, the Convention resolved, "That the Democracy of Ohio are opposed to all paper currency, and are resolved to return to the constitutional currency of gold and silver." Un- compromising hostility was declared for all chartered and special privileges. At the same time, the right of the United States to all territory on the Pacific Coast to fifty-four degrees and forty minutes was asserted in
^" See Chapter VII.
'^^ They had laid their plans well and the Convention carried them out. According to Matthias Martin, Benjamin Tappan was as "uncompromising upon hard money as the Rock of Gibraltar" and wanted to make it the sole issue. Martin differed because he felt that the party could not unite on this single issue, but that the accumulation of Whig crimes since 1840 should be listed against them. Utter argued that nine-tenths of the party favored dropping the currency question until the next or even a later cam- paign. Martin to Allen, Columbus, (Ohio), January 5, 184(), Allen MSS., V. X ; Utter to the Georgetown Standard, January 8, 1846, reprinted in Ohio State Journal, January 13, 1846.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 S77
vigorous terms and the Administration was commended for serving notice on England of the termination of joint occupancy of the Oregon country.'*'" Edwin M. Stanton, a rising young lawyer and ardent radical Dem- ocrat of Steubenville, who had been prominently men- tioned by the radicals as a possible candidate in 1846 in case Tod should not take strong enough grounds on the currency question,""^ regarded Tod's nomination as a tri- umph of principle."*'* H. C. Whitman was jubilant. He wrote Allen that the "work"' was finished "most glori- ously." "A different result," he boasted, "would have obtained had not some hundred young men like myself gone up from the various quarters of Ohio determined to fight it out. We had a small fight in the beginning. Some five or six w^ere choked and dragged out of the pulpit. We ended harmoniously and the Democratic party of Ohio is at last placed on the high ground you assumed ... in 1837 in your Anti-Bank speech."'*'^ The Whig papers, however, denied that the proceedings ended so harmoniously, the Ohio State Joiirua! describ- ing the Convention as a scene of confusion unequalled for its "utter regardlessness of propriety, order, de- cency" and "untamed wildness," in any political assem- blage ever seen.'*'*' The Whig press greeted the reso- lutions of the Democratic Convention with derision. The Cincinnati Gazette saw in them a "spirit of inno-
^'''" Full proceedings of the Convention are in the Ohio Statesman, Jan- uary 8, 9, 1846.
^nVhitman to Allen, November 23, 1845, Allen MSS., v. VIII.
=" Stanton to Chase, November 30, 1846, Chase MSS., v. II, in Penn- sylvania Historical Society Library. Hereafter, when citations to the Chase manuscripts are made, it is understood that they are taken from the col- lection in the Library of Congress unless otherwise stated.
^Whitman to Allen, January 26, 1846, Allen MSS., v. X.
=*' Ohio State Journal, January 9, 1846.
Vol. XXXVII— 37.
578 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
vation — of unsteadiness — of bank destruction" and asked when the interests of the State would cease to be torn and divided for the sport of a faction.'"^ The Ohio State Journal foresaw a continued war on the currency and the subjection of the prosperity of the State to the caprices of the "destructives."'"^
A portion of the Democratic press of the State also received the platform with some misgiving, but the Ohio Statesman and the Sandusky Democrat gave it ardent support. The Democrat saw in it a return to constitutional currency. "The people," it asserted, "have been cursed and defrauded by banks long enough, if there were no other objections against the system. They have borne the wrong and injustice originating from the banking system, until forbearance has ceased to be a virtue. ""'° At first, it seemed as if the party would accept the platform and the candidate with enthusiasm, but a lack of enthusiasm among some of the party lead- ers of the State soon became noticeable. Medary at- tributed it to factional strife between the leaders over the question of the succession.'"" In Richland County, a Democratic meeting adopted resolutions condemning the nomination of Tod and the severe anti-bank resolu- tions of the State Convention."'^ The Wayne County Standard tore Tod's name from its editorial columns, '^^ and the conservative Democrats of Muskingum County
^"Cincinnati Daily Gacctfc, January 13, 1846.
""■'Ohio State Journal, January 10, 1846.
^^ Editorial of Sandusky Democrat quoted in Cincinnati Daily Gazette, February 6, 1846.
-''" Medary to Allen, January 26, 1846, Allen MSS., v. X.
"'^ Ohio Statesman, January 19, 1846.
^^ Wayne County Standard quoted in Xenia Torch-Light, January 29, 1846, and in Cincinnati Daily Gazette, February 14, 1846.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1830 579
favored a proposal of the "softs" for a state convention to name another candidate for governor. "'' In spite of the fact that the conservative insurgent movement reached alarming proportions, the hard money Demo- crats did not abandon their radical demands. The Mont- gomery County Democrats wanted to banish paper money forever from the State.'"* The Hamilton County Democrats approved of the "repeal of the act to incor- porate the state bank of Ohio, and other banking com- panies, thereby intending to destroy every institution now organized under it, and to prevent any organiza- tion in the future. The heads of the hydra must be cut off, and its blood staunched in order to subdue the ven- omous monster.'"'^
In the meantime, the opposition prepared to join issue with the Democrats on the matter of the Kelley Law. In their county conventions the Whigs adopted resolutions upholding the Whig banking measure. The Muskingum County Whigs took the orthodox party po- sition on both the banks and the tariff.'"^ The Licking Whigs specifically favored a "mixed currency, com- posed of gold and silver, and paper, convertible into gold and silver.""" The Medina County Whigs argued that the Democratic policy on the banks would make the "rich richer, and the poor poorer.""'^ Among those mentioned for governor were Benjamin F. Wade,""'' of
Zanesville Aurora quoted in Ohio State Journal, April 2, 1846. Ohio Statesman, January 30, 1846. Ohio State Journal, January 24, 1846. ' Ibid., January 27, 1846. Ibid., January 26, 1846. Ibid., January 27, 1846. Ibid., February 2, 1846.
580 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Ashtabula County, William Bebb,''° David Fisher,'*' James Collier,'*" of Steubenville, and Calvary Morris, of Athens County. William Bebb w as finally nominated for governor by the Whig State Convention. "Wm. Bebb and a Home Currency against David Tod and Pot Metal" became the Whig campaign slogan.'*' The Con- vention condemned, in vigorous terms, a currency com- posed entirely of gold and silver, and Whig orators ar- gued that the payment of taxes in specie would work a hardship on the labouring man, and would tend to pro- duce one kind of currency for the office holder and another for the people.'** A Whig Young Men's Rati- fying Convention under the leadership of John Teesdale, at one time editor of the Ohio State Journal, also passed resolutions throwing down the gauntlet to the Demo- crats."*^
The tactics of the Democrats in the General Assem- bly in February, 1846, were designed to bring the con- servative insurgents into line and to bring their position forcefully before the voters of the State in the coming campaign. In the House, the Democrats reported a bill to repeal the Kelley Bank Law and to prohibit the issue of bank notes intended to circulate as money.'*° Two Democrats voted with the Whigs on this question, but the adroit Edson B. Olds of Pickaway felt it necessary to support his party in spite of the fact that he had ob- tained Whig votes in the fall elections of 1845 by prom-
^^ Ohio State Journal, February 2, 1846.
^^Ibid., January 29, 1846. •
^"-Ihid., January 26, 1846.
''Ibid., February 4, 1846.
'^* Proceedings in Ohio State Journal, February 4, 5, 1846.
"= Ibid., February 4, 1846.
**'Xenia Torch-Light, February 26, 1846.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 581
ises not to disturb the existing situation.'®^ The vote on this proposal was at once a challenge to the Whigs and an evidence that the Democrats intended to abide by the platform of their State Convention. As the campaign progressed, the Democrats felt it more expedient to con- centrate on the "iniquities" of the new Whig taxation law passed in the session of 1845-1846. By this act the principles of the general property tax were applied to all property and industry in the State, with the exception of the capital of banks, merchants, manufacturers, and other corporations.'** The Democrats attacked this law as a special privilege for the bankers who already had an overwhelming influence in the government. Forceful appeals were made, as has been pointed out, to farmers and laborers on the ground that the banks were taxed only on the profits they might make, while the farmer and mechanic were taxed on their capital, whether they made a profit or not. The Whigs realized the force of these attacks and the chief Whig organ of the State freely admitted that it did not wholly approve of the law, although it believed increased taxation was necessary. It was pointed out that since the new enactment placed a large amount of property hitherto untaxed on the tax duplicate, the taxes of the farmer would be decreased.'*'' The Whigs represented the Democratic attack on the tax law as a subtle warfare of the "destructives" on the banks."^'' When all other arguments failed, the Whigs returned to the principle of the inviolability of contracts,
-""Xenia Torch-Light, February 26, 1846.
""'E. L. Bogart, op. cit., p. 281.
^^ Ohio State Journal, February 20, 1846; speech of Benjamin S. Cowen to the people of Belmont County in August, 1846, in Xenia Torch-Light, August 20, 1846.
^° Xenia Torch-Light, July 16, 1846.
582 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
and argued that, since the banks were already taxed by charters, any provision by the General Assembly for another method of taxation would be a violation of their charter rights.
The continuance of the Kelley Law and the tax law of 1846 depended on the outcome of the fall elections of 1846. The Ohio Statesman reminded its readers just before the election "That every vote cast * * * against Mr. Bebb * * ''' is a vote for maintaining the constitutional rights of the people, and preserving their best interests, from the violation of federal power, and the oppression of federal Whig laws, that are made to grind down the laboring and producing classes of the State, and to enrich, pamper and uphold opulent bankers and speculating capitalists." "''^
The election of 1846 was won by the Whigs, although they secured only a tie in the Senate. The Whigs con- trolled the House by a majority of eight, and Bebb was elected governor by a small majority. '^" The party also won a majority of the congressional delegation from Ohio. Medary was a candidate for Congress from the Tenth District, but he lost to Daniel Duncan, a Tyler Whig.'"^ Medary, who had failed to gain a Federal ap- pointment as he had hoped,'"* became discontented with the game of active politics after losing the race for Con-
="' Ohio Statesman, October 12, 1846.
"^'Ibid.. October 19, 1846.
'''Ibid., October 23, 1846.
®'In 1863, when relations between Tod and Medary became strained, Medary asserted that Tod had promised him the Brazilian mission if he would take charge of the Ohio Statesman again. Medary, in 1846, carried out his part of the promise but when Tod failed in the race for governor in 1846, he took the mission himself. The Crisis (Columbus), May 13, 1863.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 583
gress and in November, 1846, he was back at the helm of the Ohio Statesman.'^'"
Encouraged by the check they could exercise over the power of the Whigs in the Senate, the Democrats renewed the fight against "unequaled privileges," in the 1846-1847 session of the Legislature, by demanding that banks be taxed in the same manner as other property. A bill to this effect was introduced in the Senate. It in- cluded a tax on money invested in state stocks and jew- g|j.y 296 'pj^g Whigs opposed the bill, in the words of Seabury Ford, Whig senator from Geauga, because the proposal was "a bill to alter and amend, and in effect and principle to repeal the charters of all the banks in Ohio," because it would force upon the banks "a different mode of taxation than that provided for, and guaranteed to them in the law by which they were created. . . " Ford denied the right of the General Assembly to invali- date a charter, and denounced the bill as an attempt of the Democrats under their old cry of "Bank Reform" to reduce the State to dependence on a gold and silver currency.'^^ The Ohio State Journal declared the pro-
"^^Ohio Statesman, November 9, 1846.
^ Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, December 22, 1846.
®^ Ohio State Journal, January 8, 1847. At the beginning of the session the Auditor of State in his annual report had stated that the banks paid more revenue to the State by the charter tax than they would if they were taxed on their capital stock at the same rate as other property. The Demo- crats felt that the statement was made for political effect and Charles Reemelin introduced a resolution in the Senate asking the Auditor for a statement of the amount which would be returned to the State under each method. The report made by the Auditor (given in Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, January 16, 1847) did not bear out his previous statement. The Democrats then introduced a resolution to print five thousand extra copies for distribution. The resolution was sent to the Committee on Public Printing where it remained. A Democratic motion asking for a report from this committee was defeated by a strict party vote. Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, January 27, 1847.
584 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
posal was an "ultra measure of repudiation and revolu- tion."^""^
The Democratic strategy clearly was to keep the cjuestion before the people, for they knew their proposal could not pass. The newspapers of both parties also kept the issue alive. The Ohio Statcsiiian, again under the control of the redoubtable Medary, kept up a running fire of stinging comments on the "iniquities" of the banking system, while the Cincinnati Daily Enquirer made the inequalities of the tax law its specialty. The Ohio State Journal defended the banks, claiming that the prosperity of the State was due to the beneficent effects of the banking system. The Democrats claimed the credit for this new prosperity for the Walker Tariff of 1846,"'"" and to the increase of tolls from the State's canals. "°° In the columns of the Western Empire (Dayton), Clement L. Vallandigham argued forcefully for "taxation equally and properly and justly apportioned," the payment of all the "just debts" and the abolition of paper currency, and special privileges.""^
Although the relative importance of banking and currency as issues began to fade toward the close of the decade, because of the attacks of the Whigs on the Mexi- can War, the Democrats allowed no opportimity to pass without condemning the Kelley Banking Law and the revenue measure of 1846, and at State meetings and county conventions they issued the usual resolutions con- demning the banking and taxing system of the State,
^* The Cincinnati Daily Enquirer upheld the right of the General Assembly to repeal any act of its predecessor. Ohio State Journal, Janu- ary 7, 1847.
""^ Ohio Statesman, September 14, 1847.
™ Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, September 15, 1847.
^" Western Empire quoted in Ohio Statesman, June 25, 1847.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 585
while the Whigs as eagerly defended the systems they had created.'"" The new issues over slavery in the ter- ritories acquired from Mexico tended to overshadow other questions. Many political leaders probably wel- comed an opportunity to discuss slavery and the rights of the North as opposed to the Southern Slavocracy, in order to dodge embarrassing questions relating to labour and the rights of the common man. The political ener- gies of the people were directed to new questions of national importance.
The elections of October, 1847, gave the Whigs a majority of two in each branch of the General xA^ssem- bly,^°^ apparently another mandate that Ohio should "be a faith-abiding, covenant-keeping State." "°* In his an- nual message to the General Assembly, Governor Bebb interpreted the results as an approval of Whig banking principles, and he praised the Kelley Law for affording to the people a "convenient, sound and convertible cur- rency . . ." '"' In the selection of candidates for governor in 1848, both parties were influenced largely by national issues, w^hich are to be treated more at length in another chapter.'"'^ The Whigs nominated Seabury Ford for governor, and, although most of their resolu- tions dealt with the origin and conduct of the Mexican War, they also announced their adherence to a protec- tive tariff, a system of internal improvements, and to "a
^"^-Ohio Statesman, January 11, August 16, September 16, 30, 1847; Ohio State Journal, July— October, 1847. ^"^Ohio Statesman, October 16, 1847. ="* Ohio State Journal, October 16, 1847.
^ Ohio Executive Documents, 1847, v. XII, part 1, pp. 10-11. '°° See Chapter V,
586 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
sound and uniform currency" and their opposition to the Sub-Treasury and "Executive usurpations." ^^^
Long before the meeting of the Democratic State Convention, in 1848, it was evident that John B. Weller was the choice of the party for governor. He had been active in his party and had rendered meritorious service in the army during the Mexican War. An unpleasant situation which had developed between Weller and Tap- pan before the Convention w^as satisfactorily ironed out, and Weller agreed to support the anti-bank policies of the Democrats, as well as the Wilmot Proviso, which forbade slavery in any territory which might be ac- quired from Mexico as a result of the War.^°^ The se- lection of Weller may be considered as a victory for the administration forces since he had shown himself sub- servient to the wishes of the powers at Washington. ^''^ The resolutions of the Convention condemned the reve- nue system because it did not tax bank stock and the Board of Control because it was alleged to possess irre- sponsible banking powers.^"
There was a general tendency toward a democratiza- tion in 1848. It manifested itself in Ohio in expressions of sympathy by every county convention with revolu- tionary movements then in progress in Europe. Ohio felt this same movement in the 1840's in the direction of greater democracy. Although this movement became entangled in the slavery controversy at the close of the decade, it nevertheless helped to break up conservative control and enabled the radical elements of the Free Soil
Ohio State Journal, January 20, 1848. Ibid., January 6, 1847. Ohio Statesman, January 11, 1848. Ohio Statesman, January 11, 1848.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 587
and Democratic parties to bring about important re- forms in the new Constitution of 185 1."*'' The reaction in Ohio against special privileges was nowhere shown more clearly than in the struggle for a new constitu- tion. The Whigs at last were forced to allow the people to vote on the proposition of calling for a constitutional convention. This issue figured in the fall elections of 1849, and the Whigs supported the movement for a new constitution rather half-heartedly. The feeling en- gendered against banking institutions during these struggles of the 1840's was an important factor in the demand for a new constitution. Reform seemed to be in the air. The conservative forces of the State could not resist the demand for a change in the fundamental law of the land and the people approved the calling of a constitutional convention by a majority of nearly three to one.^^"
In the fall of 1849 and to the convening of the Con- stituent assembly, the Democrats of Ohio continued to express their hatred of Whig banking and revenue laws, in much the same language as that used in earlier cam- paigns.^''' The Whigs defended their bank and tax schemes^", and revived the old charges of repudiation and destruction in order to frighten the timid. But
'" See Chapters VI and VII.
'" Ohio Statesman, October 27, 1849.
''" The Knox County Democrats, in August, 1849, declared that banks of circulation were not only unconstitutional but were "aristocratic, oppres- sive, and corrupting in their influences, and diametrically opposed to the principles of equality, upon which the Democratic party is based." The Democrats of Ross and Pickaway counties were opposed to all forms of circulating mediums except a "constitutional currency" and avowed great fear of "gigantic state monopolies." Ohio Statesman, August 24, Septem- ber 22, 1849.
"'^Ohio State Journal, September 10, 1849, February 17, 1850.
588 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
there were signs that the Whigs were no longer united in the defense of their system. Part of the younger Whigs felt that the Board of Control exercised arbitrary power over the banking system to benefit the select few/'^ and others favored a free system of banking and equal taxation of all forms of property, including bank capital.'''
The result of the election of delegates was favorable to the Democrats. The Second Constitutional Conven- tion of Ohio was organized by the election of William Medill (D) as president.''^ The Democrats, who were in control, then proceeded to put into effect their ideas on banking and currency, although the "Hard money" Democrats did not secure the adoption of their princi- ples without modification or compromise. Section I of Article VIII prohibited the General Assembly from passing any special act of incorporation. Section 2 of the same article set forth the Democratic doctrine that the General Assembly might alter or repeal general acts of incorporation which might be chartered there- after. The third section contained the familiar Demo- cratic principle of individual liability for stock-holders. The fourth section carried out the principles of the De- mocracy in regard to bank taxation, by providing that the property of corporations, then existing or thereafter created, should be subject to the same taxation as the
'■"""Ohio Statesman, July 7, 1847.
'■"" Ohio State Journal, August 29, 1849.
^" Report of the Debates and Proceedings of the Ohio State Convention, called to Alter, Revise or Amend the Constitution of the State, 1850-1851, J. V. Smith, reporter to the Convention, Columbus, 1851. Medary, printer, 2 vols. The reports of the Convention contain a copy of the Constitution as adopted.
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840- 1850 589
property of individuals."^ In order to guarantee equal taxation for all forms of property, Section 2 of Article XII made it mandatory for the General Assembly to pass laws "taxing by a uniform rule, all moneys, credits, investments in banks, stocks, joint stock companies, or otherwise . . . " Section 3 of the same article provided that all property employed in banking should be taxed according to the uniform rule.""'^
The forces working for the Democratic ideas of re- form had at last won out, and had incorporated in the fundamental law of the State most of their principles on banking and currency. Indeed, in the election of dele- gates to the Convention, the Democrats had reaped the advantage of having for several years advocated a change in the Constitution, while the Whigs were either hostile or lukewarm toward the proposal. The Free Soilers were inclined to support the Democrats on the issue of constitutional reform, and the Whigs were still suffering from the breach in their ranks which had occurred during the national campaign of 1848. But not all members of the Whig party were reactionary. A
'^- Ibid., V. II, p. 863. The principle that all forms of wealth should be taxed in the same proportion has formed a part of the Ohio revenue system to the present day (1928), but there is now a movement to discard this principle on the ground that intangible wealth should be taxed at a lower rate than tangible wealth. Under the present system such forms of wealth as stocks and bonds, which the framers of the Constitution of 1851 were anxious should be reached in the same manner as other property, largely escape taxation simply by reason of the failure of the citizen to place them on his tax return. Those who demand a change insist that if the tax on such wealth is lowered and enforcement of the law made more efficient there will be practically no evasion of the revenue laws. The result, they say, will be a higher revenue from intangibles, which will enable the State to lower the tax on tangible property. Ohio State Journal, January 26, 1928, editorial.
'" Ibid., V. II, p. 863.
590 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
large portion consisted of farmers and day labourers, and the party, in its appeal for support throughout the decade, had never lost sight of the needs of the common man. Nevertheless, the Whig program was essentially conservative. The Whig leaders were generally men of wealth and standing in their own communities, who imagined themselves and their property menaced by the radicalism of the common mechanic and day labourer. Agrarianism, repudiation, and Jacobinism are terms that adequately describe their ideas of the significance of the Democratic movement, and their fear is comparable, to a degree, to that prevailing in certain circles today about communism or socialism. Throughout the decade the Whig party generally favored the status quo. The one exception was their demand for the repeal of the Black Laws, but this involved no immediate problem of eco- nomics, and the Whig orator, with perfect equanimity, could appeal to the sympathies of his constituency for the wrongs of the negro, without in any way raising the issue of the economic relationship of the masses of the people.
After 1848, the Whig organization was hopelessly broken and the forces tending toward democratization were allowed to work themselves out in the new Consti- tution. Although there were conservatives and reac- tionaries as well as progressives in the ranks of the Democrats, as has been shown, the leaders of the party were devoted to the Jacksonian program, as far as eco- nomic issues were involved. Their hostility to paper currency was the result of sad experiences with banking institutions which they, themselves, had set up. At times they went further in their program of reform than was
Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-18^0 591
wise, but, in the main, their proposals were financially sound and their political principles those of the masses. In the last analysis the banking question in Ohio was the result of a lack of adequate state regulation of corpora- tions and the distrust of corporate and privileged inter- ests by the frontier democracy, still dominant in the State.
(To he continued in the Quarterly for January, ip2p)
OHIO STATE ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
REVIEWS, NOTES, AND COMMENTS
BY THE EDITOR
UNVEILING OF MEMORIAL TO ELIZABETH ZANE
An event of more than passing Interest in the pioneer history of the Ohio Valley was appropriately celebrated at Walnut Grove Cemetery, Martins Ferry, Ohio, May 30, 1928. This was the unveiling of a statue as a me- morial to Elizabeth Zane — Heroine of Fort Henry.
Fort Henry, named in honor of Patrick Henry, was built on a hill within the present city limits of Wheeling, West Virginia. It was unsuccessfully attacked by the Indians the year it was built, in 1781, and again by the British and Indians September 11, 1782. This last at- tack and successful defense by garrison has sometimes been called the last battle of the Revolutionary War. In the final siege, we are told "the supply of powder having run low in the fort, Elizabeth Zane ran several hundred yards to the powder house and brought back a supplv sufficient to save the fort."
The story of this heroic deed, according to Henry Howe, "has been published a thousand times." He might have added "and in varied version and detail." In volume 13 of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society Publications, the writer of the contribution en- titled "Zane's Trace," makes brief mention of this ex- ploit by Elizabeth Zane, familiarly known as Betty Zane, the young sister of Ebenezer Zane. In that contri- bution is published in full the poem entitled "Elizabeth
(592)
Reviews, Notes and CommcJits
593
Zane" by John S. Adams, which first appeared in St. Nicholas. According to the poem, Elizabeth Zane was in the fort at the time of the siege, and as already stated made the trip, not of "several hundred yards" but of
ELIZABETH ZANE Statue unveiled at Martins Ferry, Ohio, May 30, 1928.
about "sixty yards" to the powder magazine and re- turned with a supply of powder to the fort.
Other accounts, however, are to the effect that Eliz- abeth Zane brought the powder from the fort to the home of her brother. Colonel Ebenezer Zane. We quote from History of the Early Settlement and Indian Wars of Western Virginia, by Wills De Hass. Beginning on page 269, we find the following:
Vol. XXXVII— 38.
594 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
As we have already stated, Colonel Zane remained in his cabin near the fort, during the whole siege. Finding that his supply of powder was likely to run out, he proposed to those present, that some one of them would have to visit the fort and re- new the stock. It was known to be a hazardous undertaking, and unwilling to order either of the white men to so perilous an enterprise, Colonel Zane submitted the matter to their own de- votion and courage. One of them instantly proffered his services, but a female member of Col. Zane's family came forward and said, "No ! I will go ; should I be killed, I can be better spared than one of these men." That woman, according to the tradi- tionary accounts of the country, was Elizabeth Zane, sister to Colonel Zane. She is represented to have been a young woman of great resolution and much energy of character, and those who knew her intimately say unhesitatingly, that she was just the person for such an exploit. Preparing herself for the feat, the intrepid girl stepped from the cabin and bounded to the fort with the speed of a deer. A number of Indians concealed in the neighborhood, saw her emerge from the cabin, but did not attempt to shoot, only exclaiming with contemptuous epithets, "Squaw, squaw." She reached the fort, and tying about her person eight or ten pounds of powder, again ventured forth and moved rapidly towards the cabin of Colonel Zane. Suspecting all was not right, the savages opened upon her a volley of rifle balls, but unscathed, the courageous girl bounded into the arms of those who stood ready to receive her.
That act of the heroic and single-hearted female saved the inmates of Colonel Zane's house from certain destruction. Their ammunition had been exhausted, and every soul w^ould have fallen a sure prey to the fury of the savages, had not a supply been obtained.
A different version is quoted from Wither's Border Warfare in Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio, vol. 1, pages 314-315:
When Lynn, the ranger, gave the alarm that an Indian army was approaching, the fort having been for some time unoccupied by a garrison, and Colonel Zane's house having been used for a magazine, those who retired into the fortress had to take with them a supply of ammunition for its defense. The supply of powder, deemed ample at the time, was now almost exhausted, by reason of the long continuance of the siege, and the repeated en- deavors of the savages to take the fort by storm; a few rounds
Revieivs, Notes and Co nun cuts 595
only remained. In this emergency it became necessary to renew their stock from an abundant store which was deposited in Colonel Zane's house. Accordingly, it was proposed that one of the fleetest men should endeavor to reach the house, obtain a supply of powder, and return with it to the fort. It was an enter- prise full of danger; but many of the heroic spirits shut up in the fort were willing to encounter the hazard. Among those who volunteered to go on this enterprise was Elizabeth, the sister of Colonel E. Zane. She was young, active and athletic, with cour- age to dare the danger, and fortitude to sustain her through it. Disdaining to weigh the hazard of her own life against that of others, when told that a man would encounter less danger by rea- son of his greater fleetness, she replied, "and should he fall, his loss will be more severely felt ; you have not one man to spare ; a woman will not be missed in the defense of the fort." Her serv- ices were then accepted. Divesting herself of some of her gar- ments, as tending to impede her progress, she stood prepared for the hazardous adventure ; and when the gate was thrown open, bounded forth with the buoyancy of hope, and in the confi- dence of success. Wrapt in amazement, the Indians beheld her springing forward, and only exclaiming, "a squaw," "a squaw," no attempt was made to interrupt her progress ; arrived at the door, she proclaimed her errand. Colonel Silas Zane fastened a table-cloth around her waist, and emptying into it a keg of powder, again she ventured forth. The Indians were no longer passive. Ball after ball whizzed by, several of which passed through her clothes ; she reached the gate, and entered the fort in safety ; and thus was the garrison again saved by female in- trepidity. This heroine had but recently returned from Phila- delphia, where she had received her education, and was wholly unused to such scenes as were daily passing on the frontiers. The distance she had to run was about forty yards.
The honor of this heroic exploit has also been claimed for another young woman by the name of Molly Scott. The claim in her behalf is set forth on pages 280-281 in the work by De Hass, from which quotation has already been made. The claim of Miss Zane, however, is well established. It is supported by "a cloud of witnesses," quoted in the History of Belmont and Jefferson Coun- ties, by J. A. Caldwell. Among these witnesses are per-
596 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
sons present on the occasion of the daring deed, by de- scendants of EHzabeth Zane, who had frequently heard her relate the incident, and by a grandson of Molly Scott, Mr. J. S. Scott, who made the following statement :
She [his grandmother] has told me, and in my presence, many times, about the exploit of Betty Zane carrying the powder in her apron from Colonel Zane's dwelling to the fort, during the siege, and of the courage and intrepidity with which the act was performed, as well as the narrow escape she had from the bullets of the Indians. She always told me the same story and never gave any other name than Elizabeth or Betty Zane, as she called her, as the one who carried the powder.
Early newspaper accounts sustain the claim of Elizabeth Zane. The almost uniform testimony is also to the effect that the powder was brought from the house of Colonel Zane to the fort. The attack appears to have been suddenly made and sufficient powder for the defense of the fort had not been transferred to it before it was surrounded,
Elizabeth Zane was born in Berkeley County, Vir- ginia, in 1759. She died in St. Clairsville, Ohio, in 1847. She was twice married; first to a Mr. McLaughlin, and after his death to a Mr. Clark. She is reported to have been "a beautiful girl and throughout long life an ac- complished and handsome woman, and withal modest and unassuming." A number of her descendants are now living.
The following is quoted from the Program of the Dedicatory Exercises at Martins Eerry:
"When the founders of Wheeling, and the heroine of Vir- ginia, were interred in the soil of Ohio, the place selected was not then the terminus of a busy thoroughfare, but was a secluded spot where majestic trees towered and commanded a view of the sweeping Ohio, as well as all of the territory that Col. Eb- enezer Zane had owned.
Reviezvs, Notes and Comments 597
In thinking of the seemingly inappropriate burial place of the man who had owned the whole upper section of Wheeling, the customs of that day must not be ignored, nor the realiza- tion of the tenacity of family ties.
Family burial plots that were located on farms of the owners was the custom then rather than the cemeteries of today."
With the succeeding years came progress and the memory of this Heroine was somewhat denied. The burial place did not receive the attention necessary to keep it attractive and after the cyclone of 1887, which destroyed many of the beautiful trees, VValnut Grove Cemetery was a spot seldom visited, perhaps only on Decoration Day when flowers were placed on the graves of those sleeping there.
A few years ago the people of Martins Ferry realizing that a fitting memorial should be erected here to designate the burial place of Elizabeth Zane, called together representatives of about twenty of its fraternal, civic and social organizations of this city with the hope of furthering the plans initiated by the public schools of our city for a suitable monument to the memory of our pioneer citizen.
Mr. O. H. Kinney was elected president of the organization and to him goes the credit of fathering this movement through the years, keeping it ever before the boys and girls until in 1922 the first funds were placed to the credit of the Memorial Com- mittee by the various schools. Through bazaars, entertainments and contributions the fund steadily grew until at present there is about $3800 available for this purpose.
The school children are happy in the realization of their dream and the various teachers, principals and superintendents who had a part in this project are proud of the cooperation in this community which brought success to their efiforts.
A prominent feature of the program was an Histori- cal Pag-eant staged by the school children of Martins Ferry. At the exercises at the monument in the after- noon, H. E. Koehnlein, chairman of the Memorial Com- mittee, presided, and W. L. Kocher, superintendent of schools, served as master of ceremonies. After Invo- cation by Rev. J. E. Priestly, there was a flag raising with music — "The Star Spangled Banner" — by the High School Band; Remarks to Descendants of EHzabeth
598 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Zane, by W. O. McCluskey ; Unveiling of Monument, by Mrs. Catherine Long, granddaughter of Elizabeth Zane; followed by addresses by Howard F. Sedgwick and Ma- jor H. A. Dargue, both of Washington, D. C. The pro- gram concluded with the singing of "America."
CELEBRATION AT CAMPUS MARTIUS
In 1917, the General Assembly of Ohio passed an act authorizing the purchase, from Miss Minerva Tupper Nye, of the portion of the old Campus Martins site in Marietta on which the Rufus Putnam house is still standing. By the terms of this act this lot was to pass into the custody of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society. Later the provisions of the act were complied with and the property passed into the posses- sion of the state.
The Putnam House has recently been repaired. A new roof has been provided and the framework has been substantially strengthened. The walls of the rooms have been papered, electric lights and plumbing for city water have been installed. The permanent preservation of this historical building on its original site is now as- sured.
The state acquired a part only of the original site in the purchase from Miss Nye. Recently an additional plot of ground lying within the site and bordering on the portion already owned by the state was offered for sale. It was about to pass into private hands to be im- proved for residence purpose. No money was available for its purchase by the state and the opportunity to ac- quire and add it to the lot on which the Putnam House stands seemed about to be lost.
Reviews, Notes and Comments 599
In this emergency the pubUc-spirited women of Marietta came to the rescue. The Marietta Local Circle of Colonial Dames in the State of Ohio, The Washing- ton County Pioneer Association, The Woman's Centen- nial Association of Washington County and the Mari- etta Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, organized under the leader- ship of Mrs. C. K. Sloan, Mrs. Arthur G. Beach, Miss Willia D. Cotton and others, inaugurated a cam- paign to raise money by subscriptions to purchase the lot offered for sale. This campaign was successful, the money was promptly raised, the lot was purchased and cc-nveyed to the State in the custody of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society.
The celebration, on June 12, 1928, was incident to the formal transfer of the deed to the Director of that So- ciety. The following excellent account of the celebra- tion is copied from the Marietta Times of June 13 :
Pomp and ceremony befitting an occasion of state, yet tem- pered with those primary elements that make for democracy upon which the race has builded an empire, attended the Campus ]\Iar- tius celebration in Marietta on Tuesday. It was a most success- ful affair, and historians will give it recognition along with other notable events that have occurred in the "City of the Pioneers." Hundreds of sons and daughters of the Northwest Territory par- ticipated.
The occasion centered about the passing to the state of title to additional lands on which the pioneers centered their activities more than a century ago, and upon which and in the midst of which there will be built a historical museum. In this building, for which Tuesday's ceremonial brought the turning of the first soil, will be housed a priceless array of relics of the original set- tlers, heirlooms of the families that launched civil government in the wilderness of the Northwest, and its time-resisting roof and protecting walls will preserve to posterity the Rufus Putnam House, a shrine for coming generations.
A dual celebration was held on Tuesday, starting on the site
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of Campus Martius and concluding at the Betsey Mills Club, Putnam Street. It brought together men and women who have won fame in the community, the state and the nation, and a pro- gram replete with patriotic reverence and historical lore was pre- sented.
The Rufus Putnam House has been restored and a portion at least of its original furnishings are back within its walls. Its doors were thrown open to the public on Tuesday afternoon and at 2 o'clock a public reception was held. In the receiving line were representatives of Marietta historical and patriotic societies, among them descendants of a number of the pioneers including several who trace their lineage back to General Putnam himself.
While this reception was in progress, the patriotic, fraternal and civic organizations of the city were massing in City Park and from there at 3 130 o'clock a parade moved to Campus Martius State Park at Washington and Second Streets. The open air cere- monies attending the transfer of title to the state took place on the Second Street front of Campus Martius Park and began at 4 o'clock. Musical numbers appropriate to the occasion featured the program.
Hon. John W. Gray, mayor of Marietta, made a welcoming address, and a response was given by Arthur C. Johnson, Sr., Columbus newspaper publisher, and president of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, which collaborated with the following Marietta societies in the ceremonies of the day: Marietta Local Circle of Colonial Dames in the State of Ohio, The Washington County Pioneer Association, The Woman's Cen- tennial Association of Washington County, and the Marietta Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the Amer- ican Revolution.
Masonry was represented in the ceremonies, and Rev. Ed- ward B. Townsend, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, ap- peared on behalf of Earl Stewart, grand master of the Grand Lodge of Ohio.
A feature of the occasion was the appearance in tribal cos- tume of Ralph W. Allen, of Oklahoma, a full-blooded Pawnee Indian, who sang very beautifully and very appropriately a num- ber of songs. He is a student at Ohio State University and was selected recently to be the model for a life-size figure of the orig- inal Moundbuilder, a work of art that the Archaeological Society has completed in Columbus. His repertoire included a number of Indian songs as well as numbers from some of the old masters.
Formal tendering to the State of Ohio, as a gift from certain Marietta citizens, of a deed for that portion of Campus Martius
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upon which Blockhouse No. 3 was located, was made on behalf of the donors by Representative O. S. Creighton, and its accept- ance on behalf of the state by Lieutenant Governor William G. Pickrel, of Dayton, climaxed the afternoon ceremonies.
Lieutenant Governor Pickrel made his first visit to Marietta and by his masterful historical address, splendidly delivered, won admiration.
The ceremonial was fittingly concluded by the reading of an original poem on "Campus Martins," by its author. Charles B. Galbreath, secretary, librarian and editor of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society.
The evening program opened at the Betsey Mills Club at 6:30 o'clock and was attended by a representative audience of Ohio people. It was sponsored by the Marietta societies that had collaborated in the day's ceremonies, and no finer affair of the kind ever has been held in the city.
The spacious auditorium of the club was in festive array for the occasion. On the stage were miniature reproductions of the Rufus Putnam House and the Ohio Company Land Of- fice. American flags and summer flowers in rare profusion rounded out the decorative scheme. A fine dinner was served by the club organization.
Hon. George White, of Marietta, was master of ceremonies and the invocation was by Dr. Edward S. Parsons, president of Marietta College. A string trio, Mary Lou Hall, violinist, Mar- garet Bourquard, 'cellist, and Mary Ward, pianist, presented a delightful program of numbers during the serving of the dinner.
Thomas J. Summers, president of the Marietta Chamber of Commerce, said Marietta is both a pioneer and an historical city, and education, morality and religion were the basic principles upon which it was founded nearly 150 years ago. Straight think- ing and right acting are the cardinal principles of its modern being, he said, and while he spoke as a business representative, he welcomed the guests in the spirit of a society organization com- mitted to giving the best that it has for the best that there is in comnumity development.
Telegrams of regret were read from Hon. Claude IMeeker. of Columbus, a trustee of the Archaeological Society, and from United States Senator Cyrus Locher, who was detained by a previous engagement at the annual commencement exercises of Ohio Wesleyan University, where his class is observing its twen- ty-fifth anniversary.
Arthur C. Johnson, Sr., president of the State Society, re- plied to the welcome address and brought greetings from his or- ganization. He paid fine tribute to the women who did such fine
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work in arranging the Marietta part of the celebration, and in paving the way for a realization of the community interest in Campus Martins Park. They are Mrs. Helen Hill Sloan, Mrs. Arthur G. Beach, Miss Rowena Buell, Miss Kathryn Parr Nye, Miss Willia D. Cotton and Mrs. Edward S. Parsons.
He enlarged somewhat upon the workings of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, which is devoting its inter- ests to the creation of state parks and memorials and the proper marking of all historical points in Ohio. He advocated more play grounds for the public and predicted the opening of a great state park along the Muskingum valley in the future as part of the system that will swing over other sections of the state.
Mrs. Walter L. Tobey, of Hamilton. D. A. R. state vice regent, brought greetings from her association, and this led to the singing of a group of songs by Ralph W. Allen. Miss Mary Helen Stanley, of Marietta, was his accompanist and shared honors with him.
Dr. E. LeFever, of Glouster, state senator, who has had a prominent part, along with Representative O. S. Creighton, in getting through the Legislature the acts that have made possible the Campus Martins improvement, was signally honored by his many friends.
He spoke briefly but to the point, enlarging a bit upon the growth of organized government that has sprung from the Campus Martins group of nearly a century and a half ago. He promised further effort on behalf of Ohio recognition and pre- dicted that other states will join in making Campus Martins a shrine for all of the Northwest Territory.
Herbert B. Briggs, state architect, who designed the pro- posed building, spoke at some length on the memorial to be built here, detailing the plans for same. He said that the build- ing will be of colonial design and announced that Attorney General Turner had only this week given final approval to the contract awarded for building the historical museum section of the memorial so that actual building operations can start at once.
Miss Rowena Buell, representing the Colonial Dames of America, responded to a toast and presented as her "jewels" Mrs. E. H. Matthews and ■^Irs. Alter of Cincinnati, detailed here as official representatives of the society at the meeting.
Miss Buell told briefly of the collection of relics and heir- looms, officially begun during the centennial year, 1888, and pledged united efforts to accomplish their final transfer into the new memorial. She pleaded for further community interest.
Mrs. William McGee Wilson, of Xenia, past state regent
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and ex-national vice-regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution, responded in happy vein to the toast, "Beautiful Ohio." Our lives are made up of pictures, she said, and Ma- rietta afifords a wonderful volume of them. She told of previous visits to Marietta and declared this to be the shrine of all that vast territory that has grown from the pioneer settlement on the banks of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers.
Frank Ford, of Waterford, president of the Pioneer Society of Washington County, represented his organization and spoke of the purpose that animates its being. He urged more concen- tration on keeping alive the memories of the past; a more gen- erous tribute to those that made today possible.
Prof. Charles B. Galbreath. of Columbus, reviewed the pur- chase by the State of the Rufus Putnam House and grounds, which made possible the restoration of Campus Martius. He paid tribute to Miss Cotton, G. E. Hayward and B. B. Putnam and others. He warmly praised Senator LeFever and Representa- tive Creighton.
Mrs. Lewis C. Laylin, one of the distinguished guests present for the celebration, gave one of the most interesting talks of the evening. She referred to the efforts of her late husband. Sec- retary of State Lewis C. Laylin, who helped to get through the bill for the purchase of Campus Martius, and told briefly of her associations with different people who have been actively in the work now so happily culminating.
Mrs. Laylin came here first in 1888, when she and Mr. Laylin were members of the Ohio Centennial Commission and were quartered here for a week as members of the Governor Foraker official party. Then on numerous occasions since, she has enjoyed the hospitality of the Mrs. Lucy Nye Davis home, Fourth Street, where she is a guest this week, and she compli- mented Mrs. Davis in her talk. She concluded with a fine eulogy of Mrs. Helen Hill Sloan, to whose tireless efforts the major portion of the success of this celebration is attributed.
Mrs. Laylin, whose reminiscent talk on Tuesday evening stirred feelings of patriotic pride in all who heard her, has de- voted many years of her active effort to the welfare of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society. She long has been chair- man of the legislative committee of that association*, and has done much to make the name Laylin a household term in the state.
* Mrs. Laylin has been chairman of the legislative committee of the Daughters of the American Revolution for Ohio.
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Mrs. Sloan was presented at the conclusion of Mrs. Laylin's address and modestly appeared to recognize the outburst of ap- plause that greeted her introduction by Chairman White.
Miss Willia D. Cotton spoke briefly, announcing that she was substituting for the Hon. Beman G. Dawes, who is chairman of the Campus Martins Committee. She announced that the committee has to date expended $2700 in rehabilitating the Rufus Putnam House.
Miss Kathryn Parr Nye told in brief the story of the Campus Martins House which was owned for many years by her late cousin. Miss Minerva Tupper Nye, and her recital of the latter's efforts to have it made a permanent shrine in the Northwest Territory was most interesting.
THE DEATH AND FUNERAL OF PRESIDENT WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON
BY REV. EDWARD S. LEWIS
One of the most notable campaigns for the presi- dency of the United States was that of 1840, in which Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison con- tended for that high office. This was perhaps the most picturescjue of the presidential campaigns. The Demo- crats were strong and confident. Harrison, the Whig candidate, was ridiculed by them as being only a west- ern soldier, living in a log cabin and fond of hard cider. But his western friends saw great campaign possibilities in this and they straightway raised the slogan "Our log-cabin and hard-cider candidate," and went enthusi- astically into the campaign, fighting hilariously for "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." The young country was stirred from east to west and from north to south by the astonishing vote of two hundred and thirty-four in the electoral college for Harrison, to sixty votes for Van Buren. It is recorded that the joy of the Whigs over this astonishing result was little short of delirium. The interval from the election to the inauguration was one long jollification.
As inauguration day approached, President-elect Harrison made a long, fatiguing journey to Washing- ton. The fourth of March was bleak and cold. Gen- eral Harrison was sixty-eight years of age and not at
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all well. He was warned by his friends to avoid all possible exposure, but considered this unworthy of a soldier's hardihood. So, rejecting overcoat and gloves, he rode on horseback for two hours in the inauguration parade, and stood another hour in the open air reading his inaugural address.
The new president was a kind-hearted man and he had many friends. Visitors thronged upon him in the White House, where he entertained them until long after midnight. In spite of this, he would arise very early in the morning and take long walks in the cold March air. He was almost overwhelmed by office seek- ers, whom he was too kind to keep within bounds.
A severe illness set in, which yielded, however, to medical treatment. But early in April there came a relapse. On Saturday, the third day of that month, from one to two o'clock in the afternoon, he seemed to be getting better. But at three o'clock his symptoms became alarming. His family and friends, and even the doctors, began to doubt his getting well. At six o'clock the members of his cabinet were summoned. At eight forty-five. Dr. Worthington was at his bedside. Har- rison said (and it is presumed he was addressing Gov- ernor Tyler), "Sir, I wish you to undertake the true principles of the government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more." This was the dying injunction of the good old man, made in a strong tone of voice. At 12:27 on the morning of April fourth, he breathed his last, and without a struggle. He had been insensible for a long while, and his last words were to Dr. Worth- ington.
At one o'clock, a. m., the members of the cabinet,
Death and Funeral of President IVm. H. Harrison 607
after performing their last mournful duties, prepared a letter to the Vice-President officially announcing the fact of the President's death. The funeral was solemnized
Tomb of William Henry Harrison North Bend, Ohio.
on Wednesday, April seventh, at noon, according to the usages of the Episcopal Church, in which church Presi- dent Harrison usually worshipped.
At 11:30 the Reverend Mr. Hawley, rector of St. John's Church, arose and said that the Bible (covered with black silk) which lay on the table before him was
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purchased by the President on the fifth of March, and that he read it daily. He attended church, kneeled for prayer and joined audibly in the service. He said that had the President lived and been in good health he would have attended Holy Communion on the following Sun- day.
At twelve o'clock, musicians who had been marched up in front of the portico of the White House played the Portuguese Hymn, during which the body was moved and placed on the car which was out in front. This was drawn by six white horses. The coffin was covered with rich velvet. The procession was two full miles in length, and was marshalled on its way by offi- cers on horseback carrying white batons with black tassels. The utmost order prevailed throughout. After the funeral service the casket was taken to the Congres- sional Burying-Ground and placed in the receiving tomb.
Washington was draped with black crape, even to door-knobs and knockers. Across the casket were placed two swords, and a scroll of the constitution with a wreath around it. People came to the city from miles around and it seemed as though more was made of the funeral than of the inauguration.
The Daily Gazette published the sad news to the people of Cincinnati on Friday morning, April 9, 1841, thus: "General William Henry Harrison died at the President's House in Washington on the fourth day of April, 1841, at thirty-three minutes before one o'clock in the morning." This was prior to the days of the electric telegraph, the first use of which, by the way, was to announce in Washington the nomination in Bal-
Death and Funeral of President Wm. H. Harrison 609
timore of James K. Polk, in 1844. The Gazette also carried this notice:
Old Soldiers, Attention ! The officers and soldiers now in this city and vicinity, who served under General Harrison in the last war, are requested to meet at the Henrie House this day at ten o'clock, a. m., to adopt suitable measures relative to the recent afflicting dispensation of Providence, by which their be- loved Old Commander has been removed by death.
The next day the Gazette printed the following :
Yesterday most of our stores were closed — the arm of labor rested — bells tolled at intervals throughout the day — minute guns were fired — our public schools were dismissed — and our city was given up to an expression, felt keenly and openly indulged, of profoundest sorrow.
All classes partake in this feeling, yet all bow submissively to the inscrutable dispensation of Him who chastens whom He loves.
In the issue of April 26 appeared this:
It has been suggested that the day set apart by the President as a day of humiliation and prayer, on account of the national bereavement, would be the most suitable day for appropriate funeral honors in this city, and we have been requested to call the attention of the committee to the subject, and to that day, the 14th of May, 1841.
On May 14 this announcement was made:
The eulogium on the character and services of our lamented and illustrious fellow-citizen, the late President of the United States, will be delivered at the Wesleyan Chapel on Fifth Street.
The order of the exercise will be as follows :
1. Solemn music by the Eclectic Academy, to commence at seven, and continue at intervals until seven and one-half o'clock, p. m.
2. Prayer, to commence at seven and one-half o'clock pre- cisely.
3. Solemn music, to continue five minutes.
4. The eulogium, by E. D. Mansfield, Esq.
5. Solemn music, to continue five minutes.
6. The benediction.
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The clergy of all denominations ; the Mayor, Council and city authorities ; all officers of the United States, and the State of Ohio; the citizens generally and such strangers as may be sojourning here, are respectfully invited to attend.
Seats will be reserved for the Clergy and the guests who were invited by special invitations, who will be admitted by the private entrance at the side of the chapel.
The services will commence at half past seven o'clock pre- cisely, previous to which those who may desire to be present on this interesting occasion are earnestly requested to attend, so that as httle interruption as possible may occur during the solemn exercises of the evening.
The committee will be in attendance to aid in accommodating as many as possible with seats.
James Hall, Chairman.
The committee and detachment of United States Marines arrived at the wharf in Cincinnati with the remains of the late President about three o'clock on the morning of July 5. About eight, the body was con- veyed to the residence of Colonel W. H. H. Taylor, fol- lowed by the committee and a number of old and emi- nent friends of the deceased. The funeral at Cincin- nati was on Wednesday morning, July 7, 1841. The boat left Cincinnati for North Bend at about one o'clock that afternoon.
The hearse which bore the body from the residence of Colonel Taylor to the steamboat that conveyed it to North Bend was preceded by the company of dragoons, and the several military companies which arrived from the Louisville encampment in time to join in the pro- cession.
The procession moved to solemn music from the residence of Colonel Taylor on Sixth street west to Race street, thence south to Fourth, thence east to Broadway, thence down Broadway to the wharf at the south end of Main street.
Death and Funeral of President Wm. H. Harrison 611
The steamer Raritan left the wharf for the Bend about one o'clock, carrying with the remains the com- mittees, the detachment of United States Marines, and relatives of the deceased. By special invitation, the Reverend John T. Brooke went down to perform the funeral service of the Church of England at the tomb.
The family of Harrison wished the entombment to be private and with as little ostentation as possible. But people from miles and miles around came to Mt. Nebo to the burial. This was to be regretted, but it showed the feeling of the people for the President. The Rari- tan landed about a mile above the Harrison dwelling, where the remains of General Harrison were taken ashore. The relatives and committees formed in pro- cession after them. As they wound slowly and sol- emnly toward the tomb, many others who were assem- bled fell into the line. Others, more anxious to get a look at the coffin which incased the body of the late president, took position ahead, where it was known the funeral train would pass, and thus skirted the entire way.
The casket was transferred from the steamer to a hearse, and the funeral procession passed through the principal streets, preceded and followed by bands of musicians rendering funeral dirges, which contributed to make the occasion still more sorrowful. It was a dismal, rainy day, and for the time being the sun re- fused to shine. All nature seemed to assume a somber hue; the sky was fringed in its darkest drapery. Every- thing visible in creation gave signs of general sorrow.
At the tomb a prayer was offered by the Reverend Joshua L. Wilson, of the First Presbyterian Church of
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Cincinnati, and the burial service of the Episcopal Church was read by the Reverend John T. Brooke of Christ Church.
The tomb of General Harrison is on an elevatea knoll of rare beauty, some three hundred yards from the Ohio River, and about the same distance from the log cabin about which so much was said and sung- in the campaign of 1840. Within a very few weeks after the President's demise his cabin home was burned, in- volving the irreparable loss of his numerous papers, the possession of which would be of great value to the his- torian. But the house was rebuilt, and the premises have been a shrine of patriotism for years.
The limestone tomb that enclosed the remains of the illustrious dead was neglected for many years, and be- came dilapidated. But public-spirited citizens have now erected a suitable memorial in its place. A stately mon- ument, sixty feet high, and worthily inscribed, crowns Mt. Nebo, and is visible for many miles. The grounds have been beautified as a public park, which is much frequented by visitors. Just below the monument the majestic river rolls toward the Mississippi, and many miles of the great Bend are in full view. Across it are the fair hills of Kentucky, and all around, the lovely landscape of Ohio. Those who visit this charming spot are stirred not only by its beauty and solemnity, but by the thought that the spot where President Harrison sleeps is the one he loved best in his mortal life.
JAMES GALLOWAY, SR.
In the January issue of the Quarterly in the con- tribution entitled, "Revolutionary War Soldiers Buried in Clark County, Ohio," there is on pages 95-96, a sketch of James Galloway, Sr., which contains a number of errors. These are due evidently for the most part to errors in previous sketches in county histories and to a confusion of the name of James Galloway, Sr., with other Galloways by the name of James. The following sketch is by Dr. W. A. Galloway, of Xenia, and is authentic in every particular :
James Galloway, Sr., was born in Cumberland County, Penn- sylvania, May 1st, 1750, and resided there until the War of the American Revolution. The monument marking his grave gives 1775 as the date of his removal from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, where he settled on lands adjacent to Stony Creek in the present bounds of Fayette County.
The military record in the War of the Revolution shows three enlistments: 1776, 1777 and 1779, all of which were served under Pennsylvania officers. For these services he sub- sequently drew a United States pension.
He was married in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, to Rebekah Junkin on October 29, 1779. Seven children of this union survived, one of whom was given the name of James. The suffixes "Sr." and "Jr.," designating them, became necessary be- cause of their later extensive public relations. James Galloway, Sr., was Treasurer of Greene County, Ohio, from the date of its organization, 1803 to iSi'O. His son, James Galloway, Jr., was Deputy Surveyor, by appointment, for Virginia Military Lands which lay between the Scioto and Little Miami Rivers.
James Galloway, Sr., participated in many Kentucky Indian skirmishes, the most notable of which was the disastrous battle of Big Blue Licks, August 19, 1782. In October following, he joined General George Rogers Clark's punitive expedition against the Shawnees at Old Chillicothe. Considerable "Indian prop-
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erty" was destroyed, but no lives on either side were lost during this expedition. He and his friends first saw the fine lands of the Miami valley in 1782, and determined to settle there perma- nently when safe to do so. After the Treaty of Greenville, 1795, these lands became available for safe settlement.
James Galloway, Sr., and the other first settlers near Old Chillicothe were Scotch Associate Presbyterians (Seceders) who were not in harmony with Kentucky policy of human slavery. For this reason, he, with his family, moved from Kentucky in 1797, and established the permanent family home five miles north of Xenia, Ohio, on the present Springfield and Xenia road. This location was a short distance north of Old Chillicothe, the prin- cipal Shawonoese ( Shawnee) Indian village on the Little Miami River. From 1797 to the date of his death, he resided at this place. He and his wife are buried in the Massie's Creek Scotch Associate graveyard, usually called the Stevenson cemetery, four and one half miles northeast of Xenia, Ohio, On the memorial tablet is the following inscription :
In memory of James Galloway, born in Pennsylvania, May 1st, 1750, died near Xenia, Ohio, August 6th, 1838, aged 88 years, 8 months, 5 days. He was a pioneer in Kentucky in 1775, a soldier of the Revolution in 1776, an honest man and a pious Christian.
Upon an adjoining stone tablet is the simple inscription, part of which time has effaced:
Rebekah Galloway
Born Oct. 2nd, 1759. Died August 31st, 1812,
Aged 52 years and — months.
CAMP CHARLOTTE SITE MARKED
A granite monument erected near the site of Camp Charlotte bears a bronze tablet with the following in- scription:
CAMP CHARLOTTE
Near this spot — the famous Treaty was made between Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, and Chief Cornstalk of the Shawnees and Allied Tribes, in October — 1774.
This Camp was named "Charlotte" after the Queen of England.
Erected by the Pickaway Plains Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. 1774 1928
This monument was erected by the Pickaway Plains Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. It was unveiled with appropriate ceremonies on the after- noon of July 11, 1928, by Miss Ann Gill, whose father had for many years owned the land upon which it stands. It is now the property of Mr. C. E. Morris. The camp was located about eight miles east of Circleville on the Adelphi Pike.
After the unveiling the audience joined in singing the Star-Spangled Banner. Reverend Franklin McEl- fresh gave the invocation. Mrs. O. D. Dailey of Al- bany, Ohio, State Chairman of the Committee of the D. A. R. on the Marking and Preservation of Historical Spots in Ohio, expressed her appreciation of the marker and patriotic service of the Pickaway Plains Chapter in placing it there. The principal address was made by Mrs. Orson D. Dryer of Columbus, who spoke as follows :
As far back as 1667 the Shawnee tribes of Indians were known to be in Ohio.
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The Indians were very much dissatisfied with the first treaty which was concluded in 1764. By that treaty Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania were given to the Indians for their hunting grounds, but when the whites began to encroach upon their territory trouble commenced and murders followed. The first murder committed by the Indians on the Virginia border was in 1753.
About 1773 trouble started between the Virginians on the border and the Indians, which was kept up until in the fall of 1774. Lord Dunmore, who was the last Colonial governor of Virginia, came with about twelve hundred men from Virginia to Camp Charlotte. Dunmore was a short, sturdy Scotchman, who during the campaign of 1774 shared the hardships with the pri- vates, marching on foot and carrying his own knapsack. He held that his first allegiance was due the Crown and he sup- ported his sovereign, King George, but was also eager to cham- pion the cause of Virginia against either the Indians, or sister colonists.
On their way to Camp Charlotte, after untold hardships, marching through unbroken timber, fording streams, and sur- rounded by hostile Indians, they were met by a messenger who told them of the victory of General Andrew Lewis at Point Pleasant, which caused great joy. Two days later a messenger from Cornstalk, the Shawnee chief, came suing for peace, but the next day they continued their journey to Camp Charlotte. Upon arriving here Lord Dunmore peeled a white oak, in the center of the camp, and wrote with red chalk "Camp Charlotte," honoring either his queen or his vi^ife, both named Charlotte.
Three days after their arrival at the camp, about the middle of October, eight Indian chiefs, with Cornstalk at their head, came to camp with an interpreter. When he learned who Corn- stalk was, Dunmore, from written memoranda, recited various infractions on the part of the Indians, of former treaties made and murders committed. Cornstalk replied, mixing a great deal of recrimination with the defense of the red brethren.
When he had concluded, a time was set for the chiefs of different nations to meet at the camp to negotiate a treaty. Be- fore the arrival of that period Cornstalk came alone to camp and told the Governor that none of the Mingoes would come and he was apprehensive that a full council could not be con- vened. Dunmore then requested him to bring as many of the other nations as possible, as he was anxious to close the war peaceably. Meantime, two interpreters were dispatched to Logan, a Mingo chief, who was encamped near the Logan Elm.
Camp Charlotte Site Marked 617
He replied he was a warrior and not a councillor, and would not come.
Shortly after the return of the interpreter to Camp Char- lotte, Cornstalk and two other chiefs made their appearance and entered into negotiations which terminated in an agreement to forbear further hostilities, to give up prisoners, and to be at Pittsburgh with as many Indian chiefs as could be prevailed upon to meet the Commissioners from Virginia, the ensuing summer, where the treaty was to be concluded and ratified.
Dunmore required hostages to guarantee the performance of the stipulations on the part of the Indians. By this treaty the war of 1774 was concluded.
If Cornstalk, at Point Pleasant, displayed the generalship of a mighty captain, at the negotiations at Camp Charlotte he dis- played the skill of a statesman, joined to powers of oratory rarely, if ever, surpassed.
Aly great grandfather, Colonel Benjamin Wilson, was then an officer in Dunmore's army, and his narrative of the campaign furnished the facts which were recorded in Withers' Chronicles of Border Warfare. When the speeches were delivered, he sat immediately behind and close to Dunmore. In remarking on the appearance and manner of Cornstalk while speaking, he says : "When he arose, he was in no wise confused or daunted, but spoke in a distinct and audible voice, without stammering or rep- etition, and with peculiar emphasis. His looks, while addressing Dunmore, were truly grand and majestic, yet graceful and attrac- tive. I have heard the first orators in Virginia, Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, but never have I heard one whose powers of delivery surpassed those of Cornstalk on that occasion." If that speech had been preserved it might have been equally famous with Logan's.
The Circleville Chapter, D. A. R., are to be congratulated on placing this monument and bronze tablet here to mark the spot where the famous treaty of 1774 was held. The ground of the camp, comprising some ten or twelve acres, should be owned and kept up by the great state of Ohio.
The program closed with the singing of America and benediction by Reverend Dr. McElfresh. After the exercises a number of those in attendance at the attendance at the ceremonies were pleasantly entertained at the home of Mrs. Clark K. Hunsicker, 146 West Union Street, Circleville, Ohio.
REVIEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS
BY THE EDITOR
THE NATION'S HISTORY
A new edition of The Nation's History by two Ohio authors, Arthur R. Leonard, head of the Department of History in the Central High School, and Bertha E. Jacobs of the North High School, of Columbus, Ohio, has just been issued by Henry Holt and Company of New York City.
The content of the volume of 648 pages with ad- denda, including Z? pages of biography, a list of im- portant dates in 1789, and a copy of the Constitution of the United States, is up to date in every particular. It includes an account of the flight of Lindbergh to Paris and his good-will flights to Central and South America. It is copiously and judiciously illustrated and contains some interesting plates in color.
In their "Preface to the New Edition" the authors make the following statement :
The necessity for making new plates has made possible a careful revision of the text in the interest of simpHfication and teachableness. The helpful suggestions of teachers who have used the earlier edition have determined the direction of all changes made. The earlier chapters of the book have been shortened to make room for a fuller treatment of the Industrial Revolution and recent history. New thought-provoking prob- lems have been added, and the unit organization of the book has been emphasized by previews and self tests.
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Reviews, Notes and Comments 619
The authors hope that in its new dress the book may be more useful than before in helping boys and girls to an intelligent understanding and appreciation of our Nation's History.
While this work was written especially to meet the demands for a seventh and eighth grade text-book in American history, the interesting matter and style of the work commend it to a much wider patronage. Open it at almost any page and you will find it so interesting that you will reluctantly lay it aside. Great care has been exercised in the statement of facts and judgments of the writers are just and free from bias.
This book was reviewed in a previous number of the Quarterly. We can only add that the new edition fulfills the promise set forth in the preface quoted above, and is a very worthy addition to the literature of the history of the United States.
INTERESTING AND VALUABLE CHRONICLES OF SCIOTO COUNTY
Henry T. Bannon, former congressman and emi- nent lawyer of Portsmouth, Ohio, has published a real contribution to the history of Ohio in Stories Old and Often Told, Being Chronicles of Scioto County, Ohio. While these stories are old and some of them have been frequently told, the author presents them in a new light and an attractive style. We quote from his introduc- tion. It is a statement of his method and a plea for the writing of local history.
Many were the books that were read, many were the library catalogues examined, many were the volumes thumbed through, that this simple book might be made. The doing of it has been a joy. That the effort may prove wasted, is a fear. These chronicles are faithful ; as thorough as the writer's diligence and perseverance could make them. Mistakes there may be, but the
620 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
salient outstanding facts are here. There has been no yielding to temptations either to state conclusions or to make forecasts. History must live in the past; a man, never.
The study of history is a stimulus to youth. Such was the inspiration for Longfellow's lines, beginning, "Lives of great men oft remind us." The history of a nation can deal only with the very few who have attained the pinnacles of fame. But the lives of the outstanding men of any community, men known in per- son, or by their works, to the youthful reader, are better reminders to such readers that they, too. may make their lives sublime ; and, departing, leave behind them their footprints on the sands of time. It is the age old struggle with oblivion. Genius is a germ either present or absent at birth. If present, it will grow. If not, it cannot be acquired. But persistence, applica- tion, economy, and integrity will make useful men and women of us all. What such men and women may accomplish, the community accomplishes ; no more, no less. Many are they, unmentioned here, who have done much to make Scioto County notable. To tell of each is impossible ; to discriminate is un- thinkable. Our development is due to the concerted efforts of bankers who knew credits ; merchants versed in salesmanship ; farmers who rotated crops ; manufacturers who knew their costs ; artisans, skilled and earnest ; lawyers, learned and alert ; physi- cians, sympathetic and wise ; teachers, patient and thorough ; statesmen, logical and foresighted. All are merged into a narra- tion of events creative of our common weal. The youth of Scioto County can, and they will carry on the work of those men and women who have done the things set down in this book.
The work throughout bears evidence of the state- ment of the author, "These chronicles are faithful; as thorough as the writer's diligence and perseverance could make them." Every page bears testimony to the consultation of authorities, and the exercise of good judgment in weighing testimony and in the winnowing of the material of real importance from the mess of authorities consulted. As evidence of his judicious han- dling of conflicting sources, we quote his statement on the French claim that La Salle discovered the Ohio River. On this subject he says:
Reviews, Notes and Comments 621
La Salle is known to history as an early explorer of the Great Lakes region, the Mississippi Valley, and the Ohio River. There is documentary proof that La Salle descended the Ohio River to "the falls'' (now Louisville) in 1670. This proof is not without elements of weakness, however, and some historians refuse to accord him that honor. Parkman bases his conclusion that La Salle discovered the Ohio upon a memorial written by the explorer in 1677, in which he states that he made such dis- covery and, also, upon the fact that his rival, Joliet, recorded upon his map, dated 1674, that La Salle followed the route of the Ohio. It is conceded that he knew of the existence of the river and was searching for it. The intensity of his courage and determination add much weight to the claims made in his favor. But it is certain that La Salle made a voyage on the Mississippi. By virtue of this voyage, France claimed all the region drained by the Mississippi River. This, of course, included the Ohio Valley.
The book is an excellent example in typography, paper and illustrations of first-class modern book-mak- ers' art. The illustration are appropriate. They include facsimiles of manuscripts and maps not usually found in one volume. Some of the chapters scarcely belong exclusively to "Stories Old." Among the chapters that have a very distinct reference to later time are "The Clay Products Industry," "The Shoe Industry" and Poets of Scioto County." An appendix of 38 pages is devoted to weather reports, flood and low water stages, plants, birds and the origin of place names, all of which are distinct additions to the value of the work.
THE JOURNAL OF NICHOLAS CRESSWELL 1774-1777
There has recently come into the possession of the library of this Society The Journal of Nicholas Cress- well. Cresswell came to America in 1774 and remained until 1777. He came intending to purchase land in the
622 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Illinois country. Shortly after he reached America, the Revolution began and he could not return to his native country, England. He was a faithful subject of the King and was not in sympathy with the Revolution. He was regarded with suspicion by the American patriots and experienced all the difficulties of a Tory during the greater part of his enforced sojourn in this country. In 1775 he made a journey down the Ohio River accom- panied by seven men, who like himself, were interested in the purchase of land. This ranks with other impor- tant early voyages down that historic waterway.
He was well educated, as his Journal of 287 pages attests. The observations that he has faithfully re- corded constitute a valuable account of conditions in America in the early years of the Revolution and the period of unrest immediately preceding it, from the point of view of a loyal subject of King George III of England. He met some of the men who figure prom- inently in the history of the time and is frank in his opinions of their actions and character. He is equally frank in regard to his own activities and opinions. When we understand that he was in entire sympathy with the Tories, we may readily admit that from his point of view his Journal is a record of facts as he saw them and a sincere expression of his judgment.
His observations on the life and character of "Gen- eral Washington" are full of interest and not altogether to the discredit of 'The Father of his Country." We quote briefly:
The General seems by nature calculated for the post he is in; he has a manner and behaviour peculiar to himself and particu- larly adapted to his present station and rank in life. It is said
Reviews, Notes and Comments 623
(and I believe with great truth) that he never had an intimate, particular bosom friend, or an open professed enemy in his Hfe. By this method of behaviour he in a great measure prevents all parties and factions, and raises a spirit of emulation amongst his officers and men. As there is no favourite to pay their court to and pave their way to preferment, and the General, I believe, is proof against bribery, they have no way to advance themselves but by merit alone. His private character is amiable, he is much beloved and respected by all his acquaintances. [Page 256],
Again he said:
He certainly deserves some merit as a General, that he with his Banditti, can keep General Howe dancing from one town to another for two years together, with such an Army as he has. Confound the great Chucclehead, he will not unmuzzle the mas- tiffs, or they would eat him and his ragged crew in a little time were they properly conducted with a man of resolution and spirit. Washington, my Enemy as he is, I should be sorry if he should be brought to an ignominious death. [Page 257].
It is remarkable that this Journal should have been carefully preserved in private hands in almost perfect condition for one hundred and forty-seven years before its publication. The Foreword to the book is written by Samuel Thornely of West Sussex, England. Mr. Thornely is the great-grandson of Joseph Cresswell, the youngest brother of Nicholas Cresswell. The book is published by The Dial Press, New York City.
POPULATION MAP OF OHIO, 1920 Mr. Guy-Harold Smith of the Ohio State Univer- sity has contributed to the Geographical Review of July, 1928, a very valuable and illuminating monograph entitled, A Population Map of Ohio for ig20. The text is concise and comprehensive. No words are wasted. Much information is compressed in the seven pages of printed matter. The two maps, the "Physiographic
624 Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications
Provinces of Ohio" and the "Population of Ohio, 1920," are illuminating and tell their story at a glance.
CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA The Old Free State, a Contribution to the History of Lunenburg County and Southside Virginia, is the title of a very interesting and valuable addition that has recently been made to the library of the Society. This work in two volumes by Landon C. Bell contains a wealth of historical and genealogical material gleaned by faithful and painstaking research from original sources. A review of this important contribution to the history of "The Old Dominion" will appear in a future issue of the Quarterly.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We are under obligation to Mr. B. A. Aughinbaugh, Ohio Department of Education, for use of a photograph from which the cut of the tomb of William Henry Har- rison has been made for this issue.
INDEX TO VOLUME XXXVII
A. I. U. Building, 136-142. Abolition: Democrats oppose reading of petitions, 458; resolutions of Morris, 473; the "gag" resolutions condemned by Ohio Whigs, 473-474; press wel- comes Harrison's nomination, 474; decision of Anti-slavery Society, 475; Ohio branch disagrees, 476; Cincin- nati Gazette opposes petitions, etc., 476; National Liberty party formed, 476; its aim, 477; varieties of opinion; separate Ohio branch formed, 477-478; Whig anxieties, 478-479; charges against Tappan, 479-480; Harrison's stand, 477-480.
Adams, Charles F., 299.
Adams, President John, 445, 450.
Adams, President John Q., 464.
Adams, John S., 593.
Adams, Samuel, 93.
Albin, Cyrus, 90.
Albin, Gabriel, 90.
Albin, George, 90.
Albin, John, 87, 90.
Albin. William, 90.
Alder, Jonathan, 168, 180-181.
Alger, Russell A., 37.5. 394.
Allen, James, edits Republican paper, 448; edits Ohio State Journal. 448; cited, 448, 499.
Allen, John W.. 5.59.
Allen, Ralph W., Pawnee Indian: poses for figure of original Mound-builder 600; sings at Marietta Celebration 600, 601.
Allen, Governor William: campaign, 278 280; cited, 297; defeated for second term, 299; mentioned, 300, 301, 306 346, 558. 564; supports Van Buren 457; denounces Whigs, 492; opposes banks, 504; opposes Shannon, 563; let- ter to Whitman re Tod, 571.
Allen, William (Quaker), 76-78, 81.
"Allen County Movement," 275-276.
Allison, Senator William B., 374, 392.
Alter, Mrs., 602.
"Amalgamationism," 479-480.
American Journal of Science and Arts, cited, 132-133.
Anderson, Governor Charles, 164.
Anderson, Mrs. L. C, 203.
Anderson, Colonel Richard C, 164, 166, 178.
Anderson, Major Robert, 164.
Anderson, William M., i03.
Andrews, John W., 463.
Anthony, Charles, 99, 462.
Anthony, Christopher, ,39.
Anti-slavery: troubles of Wade and Cox, 234-237; Hayes' view, 243; disrupts party lines, 324; in the campaign of 1840, 462, 472-480; positions of Cal- houn and Morris; the "gag" resolution, 473; Giddings and Wade, 475; Ameri- can Anti-slavery Society, 476; National Liberty party, 476-477; Harrison ac- cused of abolitionism, 477-479; Whigs disavow connection with the cause, 478-479; Tappan under the ban, 479.
Arbuckle, Honorable John, 116.
Armstrong, Jeremiah. 168, 169.
Armstrong, Robert, 168, 171.
Armstrong, William, 171, 543.
Armstrong, William D., 227.
Arnold, Jane (Linton), 55.
Arnold. Reverend O. O., 159.
Arthur, Chester A., loses collectorship, 330; nominated for vice-president, 336; Sherman's opinion, 339; retaliates, 376.
Ashley, Honorable James M., 243, 266, 272.
Atwater, Caleb, 489-490.
B., D., quoted, 131.
Bacon, Captain Richard, 87.
Bailey, Captain. 96.
Bailey, Dr. Gamaliel, 477, 478.
Bailey, Mary, 53.
Baird, Dorothy (Camerer), 90-E
Baird, William. 87, 90-91.
Baker, Donald, 91.
Baker, Jonathan, 91.
Baker, Mary A., (Mills), 208.
Baker, Melyn, 87, 91.
Ballentine family, 171.
"Ballot-box scheme," 382-384.
Bancroft, Amasa, 92.
Bancroft, Anna (Walters), 92.
Bancroft, Lieutenant John, 87, 91-1
Bancroft, Lawson, 92.
Bancroft, Lewis, 92.
Bancroft, Mary, 91-92.
Bancroft, Moses, 91-92.
Bancroft, Nancy, 91-92.
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626
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications.
Banking Commissioner Law, passed, 500; considered unconstitutional by Whigs, 500; first report of Board, 501, 505-506; denounced by Whigs, 513-514.
Banks and banking: primary object of the National Bank, 247; financial issue of paramount importance, 247-249, 297; project of Pendleton and the Enquirer —"the Ohio idea,"— 250-252; Sherman in opposition, 252; his ideas, 252-257; political significance of the "Ohio idea," 257-258; national Democratic convention adopts "Ohio idea," but it eventually loses, 260-261; the Specie Payments Law, 294; Resumption Act passed, 297-298; Republican victory, 299; financial causes for Hayes' elec- tion, 303-304; attacks upon Resump- tion, 305; Bland bill, 306; Ewing leads fight for repeal of Resumption Law, 306-307, 317; Sherman for free silver, 307-312; Hayes' delicate position, 312-313; platforms of 1877, 316; the National party, 316-317; Thurman's change of base, 317-318; further agita- tion of financial topics discouraged, 319; Sherman's ambitions, and their basis, 324-331; Garfield on finance, 342-343; tariff an issue, 387; reasons for McKinley's availability, 394-397; "free silver" issue gains momentum, 406 et seq.; McKinley for bimetallism, 417-418; Jackson wars against national bank, 445; Whigs defeated on banking issue, 452; anti-bank faction controls Democrats in Ohio, 455; Van Buren's stand, 455-456; Shannon elected on bank reform plank, 456; the Demo- cratic platform, 458; issue paramount under Tyler, 462; resolutions of Whig convention, 462-463; Harrison non-com- mittal, 467; stand of John McElvain, 489; Panic of 1837; demand for bank control, 495; differences of opinion, 496; repeal of small note law, 497; re- enactment under Shannon, 498; Pres. Jackson's "Specie Circular"; its ef- fect, 498; a bank convention, 498-499; a new law; many banks suspend, 499; Democrats demand state regulation, 500; Banking Commissioner Law passed, 500; condemned by Whigs, 500- 501; first report of Bank Commissioner Board, 501; Medary's war on banks, 501-502; Shannon's surprising Message,
502-503; arouses criticism, 503-504; at- titude of Democrats, 505; financial de- pression, 506; four periods of banking and currency issue in Ohio, 506-f< scq.; Democrats in control, 507; failure in fulfilling promises, 507-508; many Dem- ocrats leave party, 508; Democrats, themselves, disagree, 508; Van Buren for an Independent Treasury, 508; Shannon renominated, banking ques- tion looms large in campaign, 509-514; Corwin elected, 514-516; popular dis- content with Whig failure to bring prosperity, 517; Democrats favored by condition of currency, 518; action of Sandusky Co. Democrats, 518-519; and of other counties, 519; Corwin's ideas on tariff ridiculed by Democratic press, 520; the Barnet resolution, 520- 521; repudiation, 521-522; bankruptcy of German Bank of Wooster, 522-523; Cincinnati bank riot, 523-524; resump- tion of specie payments urged, 524; increasing hard times, 525; banking issues the chief point of party diverg- ence, 526-527; first general banking law in Ohio, — the Latham Law, 530- 532; bitterly assailed by Whigs, 531- 532; Ohio stock falls, 532-533; bankers refuse to cooperate with Latham Law, 533; Hamer's defection, 533-534; Demo- cratic victories ascribed to banking and currency question, 536-537; more Ohio banks fail, 538; movement to re- vise Latham Law, 538-539; sentiment divided, 539; Olds banking bill, 539- 540; attitude of Ohio press, 540-541; strife on banking issues, 542-544; finan- cial depression, 544-545; an ominous situation, 548; Shannon's Message, 548-549; first Democratic break on bank- ing question, 551; Shannon defends himself, 552; Tod nominated on anti- bank platform, 552-553; reaction against Democrats — Bartley elected, 557-558; rise of Alfred Kelley— the Kelley Bank Law, 559-562; movement in Democratic party to destroy conservatives, 563- 564; campaign of 1845, 564-569; a vic- tory for the Whigs, 569-570; Tod runs again — his position questioned, 571-573; the campaign, 575, 582; Bebb elected, 582; Democrats keep issue before peo- ple, 584; condemn Kelley Banking Law whenever possible, 584; Law praised
Index
627
by governor, 585; reaction against spe- cial privileges, 587; banking institu- tions a leading factor in demand for constitutional convention, 587; election of delegates favors Democrats, 588; their influence on the new Constitu- tion, 588-589; their ideas of reform win at last, 589-590. Bannon, Henry T., Stories Old and Often
Told, 619-621. Bardwell, Simeon, 87. Bareis, George F., 211. Barker, S. A., 458. Barnet, Joseph, 520. Barnet resolution, 520-521. Barr, Samuel, 189. Barthman, H. E., 144. Bartley, Governor Mordecai, 554, 557;
elected, 558; cited, 562. Bartley, Governor Thomas W., opposes Whigs, 517; amends Latham Law, 539; appointed district attorney, 563; men- tioned, 576. Bartley Law: ignored in Message, 548; effort to repeal, 551; supported by Tod, 552, 553, 557-558; compared with Kel- ley Law, 560; Wooster Bank exempted from, 563; criticized, 576. Bateman, Warner M., criticized, 335; re- ports Republican Convention, 336-338; aids Sherman, 366; remarks on Repub- lican Convention of 1888, 366-367. Bayley (or Bailey), Timothy, 87, 92. Bayley (or Bailey), William, 92. Beach, Mrs. Arthur G., 599, 602. Beall, General Reasin, 452, 461, 511. Bear, John W., 467-468. Beardsley, Elijah, 87, 92-93. Beardsley, Sally (Hubbell), 92. Beasley, John 167, 178. Beatty, General John, 168, 176, 319. Bebb, Governor William, 680, 582, 585. Bedford, Peter, 75. Belcher, Edwin, 338.
Bell, Landon C, Old Free State, a Con- tribution to the History of Lunen- burg County and Southside Virginia, 624. Belmont, August, 317. Bennett, Justice, 36. Bennett, Martha T., 203. Bentley, Benjamin, 522. Benton, Thomas H., 527. Bible in the public schools, 290, 298, 300. Bickham, W. D., 226, 333.
Birney, James G. 476-477.
Bishop, Governor William M., 314, 318, 347.
"Blacksmith, The Buckeye," 467-468.
Blaine, Honorable James G. : campaign for the presidency, 302-304, 331-332, 333, 335-336; his magnetism, 327; friend of Garfield, 341; made secretary of state, 350; another attempt, 366, 370-371, 374- 375; third futile attempt, 389, 391- 392; mentioned, 381.
Blair, John, 171.
Bland Bill, 305-307, 309; vetoed, 319.
Blee, Robert, 404.
Blose, John H., 98.
Boies, Governor Horace, 405.
Bolster, Captain Isaac, 91.
Bond, L. H., 268.
Bookwalter, John W., 353-354.
"Boomer," 152, 154.
Boone, Daniel, mentioned, 91 ; lauds Ken- tucky, 163, 167; visits Ohio, 168.
Boone Rock, 3, 32.
"Boston Tea Party," 93, 98-99.
Bourquard, Margaret, 601.
Bowdin, George E., 338.
Boy Scouts, 23-27.
Boyd, John, 171.
Boynton, General Henry V., 359.
Brady, Honorable James D., 338.
Brannon, Peter A., 219.
Brice, Senator Calvin S., 389, 401-410.
Brickie, John, 169.
Bridge, Benjamin, 88, 93.
Briggs, Caleb, 116, 118-119, 127.
Briggs, Herbert B., 602.
Brinkerhoff, Roeliff, 278.
Brisbane, Arthur, 154.
Bristow, Benjamin, 302.
Brittle, John, 171.
Brooke, Reverend John T., 611, 612.
Brough, Charles, 504, 517.
Brough, Governor John: supports Van Buren, 457; not in harmony with Shannon, 504; suggested for governor — too young: 509; seeks sale for Ohio stock, 522; accused by Hamer, 534; by Smith, 558. Brown, Captain, 150.
Brown, Aaron, 42.
Brown, Charles E., 219. Brown, Frederick, 88, 93. Brown, Henry, 189. Brown, John, 80. Brown, Dr. Marcus, 203.
628
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Socictv Publications.
Brown, Mary, 99.
Brown, Mary (Walker), 66.
Brown, Morris, 171.
Browne, Charles F., 227.
Bryan, John A., 503, 512.
Bryan, Honorable William J.; first nomi- nation for presidency, 410-412; the campaign, 420; defeat, 420-421.
Buchanan, Thomas J., 542.
Buchwalter, Morris, 203.
Buckeye and Cincinnati Mirror, cited, 109, 130, 132.
"Buckeye Blacksmith," 467-468.
Buechly, E. M., 158, 159.
Buell, Rowena, 602.
Burnet, Jacob, 452, 510.
Bushnell, Captain Asa S., 90.
Butler, Amos W., 219.
Butler, Blanche, 198.
Butler, Grace I., 198.
Butler, Harriet V. (Ingersoll), 198.
Butler, Henry A., 198.
Butler, Joseph, 193.
Butler, Joseph G., 193.
Butler, Joseph G., Jr., 193-198.
Butler, Temperance (Orwig), 193.
Butler, Colonel Thomas, 193.
Butler Art Institute, 197.
Butterworth, Senator Benjamin, his work for Sherman, 336, 338, 373; Butter- worth and Foraker, 367; mentioned, 379, 380.
Butterworth, Clarkson, cited, 51-56.
Butterworth, General Daniel, 84.
Buxton, Olive, 218.
Buzzard Rock, 3, 32.
Byington, Le Grand, 528, 539.
C. O. D. party, 364.
Caldwell, John A., 595.
Calhoun, John C, 287.
"Calico CharTie," 322.
Camerer, Dorothy, 90.
Cameron, Senator Simon, 331, 332, 339.
"Camp Charlotte Site Marked," 615-617:
unveiling of monument erected by
Pickaway Plains chapter, D. A. R. ;
remarks by Mrs. O. D. Dryer, 615-
617. Campaign uf 1840, 459-494. Campaign of 1845, 564-570. Campbell, Esther, 55. Campbell, J. K., 178. Campbell, Governor James E. : campaign.
381-384; "ballot-bo.x scheme," 382-384; renominated, 3S7; defeated, 404; again a nominee, 4(J6; declares for free sil- ver, 408; defeated by "sixteen-to-one" men, 410; mentioned, 99, 176.
Campus Martius, Celebration at, 598-604.
Canals, Ohio, 442-443.
Cannon, Honorable Joseph G., 83-84.
Canterbury, Archbishop of, 105-106.
Carlisle, John G., 360, 405.
Caroline (steamer): burned, 446; war averted by Van Buren, 447.
Carolus, John, 203.
Carpenter, Frank G., 403.
Carroll, Governor William, 457.
Cary, Samuel F., opens independent cam- paign, 263-264; criticized by Thurman, 297; extreme views, 299; Greenback leader, 343.
Cass, General Lewis: 550; supported by conservatives, 551; defeated, 554; en- dorses Smith, 563; discussed in let- ter, 572.
Cassidy, George W., 338.
Catchings, Honorable Thomas C, 408.
Catholic church, 290, 298, 300.
Centennial History of Lancaster, cited, 191-192.
Certain Mounds and Village Sites in Ohio, 3. 5.
Chaddock, Robert E., cited, 444.
Chandler, Enoch, 56.
Chandler, Senator Zachariah, 377, 404.
Charles II, King of England, 71.
Chase, Governor Salmon P. : endorses Geological survey, 134; fails to win nomination, 260; hopes much from Cincinnati, 266; praises Vallandigham, 270; defeats Wade, 346; slow in join- ing Liberty party, 478; mentioned, 235, 355.
Chenoweth, Elijah, 171.
"Chest, An old Dutch," 101-106.
Chew. Andrew, 169.
Christie, (Beardsley), 92.
Christie, James S., 92.
Christie, Lieutenant Jesse, 88, 93.
Christie, Major Robert, 93.
Chronicles of Border Warfare, cited, 594- 595.
Cincinnati: Alliance convention, 399; Daily Gazette, 499, 4.50; bank, 523; Day of humiliation and prayer, 609; funeral services for President Harrison, 609- 610.
Indej
629
Circleville, O., dedicates marker, 615-617.
Citadel, A. I. U., 136-142.
"Citadel, Ode to the," 142.
"Citadel, The," 141-142.
Civil service law, 319, 330, 357.
Civil war: problems brought to the front, 220-221; Ohio and reconstruction, 221 changing character of agriculture, 223 224; bitterness of party strife, 230 peace idea gives advantage to Demo crats, 232-233; problems of the day: anti-slavery, 234; negro suffrage, 234 236; 242-244; 258; economic and indus trial interests, 244-247; financial ques tions, 247-262; war issues dismissed by "New Departure," 269.
Clark, , 596.
Clark, Mrs. C. M., 86.
Clark, Dr. Thomas, 115.
Clark County, O. : description of, 151; mentioned, 153, 155; first railroad, 154.
Clarkson, James S., 394.
Clarkson, Thomas, 78.
Clay, Henry : counsel for Lyne Starling, 172; compared with Gov. Allen, 279; with Garfield, 340; unites East and West for high tariff, 445; friends in Ohio; supported by Cincinnati Gas- ette, 449; dropped for expediency's sake; Harrison leaders seek to lessen his defeat; the "corrupt bargain," 450; supported by five papers, 452; definitely eliminated, 453-454, 483; stand on "gag" resolutions condemned, 474; mentioned, 327, 448, 494.
Claypool, Isaac, 171.
Clearey, William, 171.
Cleaveland, Moses, 169.
Cleaver, Abigail, 55.
Cleaver, Ezekiel, 54, 55.
Clendenon, Amy (Hodgin), 59.
Cleveland, President Grover: elected, 361; renominated, 363; defeated by Harri- son, 376-377; again victorious, 395; the silver question, 416; mentioned, 404, 405, 406, 408.
Cleveland, O.: strategic position, 224; political importance, 225; leading newspapers, 227, 228; development of party machinery, 229; compared with Eastern cities, 287.
Clinton, Governor De Witt, 153.
Cloud, Joseph, 53.
Cole, A. C, 478-479.
Cole, A. N., 332.
Collier, James, 580.
Collins, Isaac C, 278.
Colonial Dames of America, 599, 600, 602.
Commgs, A. G., 199.
Comly, General James M., 228.
Condorcet, marquis de, 527.
Conger, Edwin H., 367, 372.
Conkling, Roscoe: aspires to presidency, .302; supports Grant, 331; defeated, 332; hopes for vice-presidency, 336-337; wants Morton advanced, 350; at war with Republican leaders, 352, 376; mentioned, 330.
Connor, Joseph, 169.
Constitutional convention: demanded; a vote on the question, 587; meets, 588; Democratic ideas win out, 589-590.
Contributors and Contributions: Shetrone, H. C, "Some Ohio Caves and Rock Shelters bearing Evidence of Human Occupancy," 1-34; Smith, H. E., "The Quakers, their Migration to the Upper Ohio, their Customs and Discipline," 35-85; Slager, A. L., "Revolutionary War Soldiers buried in Clark County, Ohio," 86-100; Van Tassel, C. S., "Story of an Old Dutch Chest," 101- 106; Stoddard, P. W., "Story of the First Geological Survey of Ohio, 1835- 1842," 107-135; Galbreath, C. B.: "Ohio's Tallest Building," 136-142; "National Old Trails Road in Ohio," 143147; "Railroad Discussion not For- bidden by Lancaster School Board," 148-155; Wilson, F. E., "Dedication of Bronze Tablets to Major John Mills and Tecumseh," 156-160; Galbreath, C. B., "Lucas Sullivant Tablet Dedi- cated," 161-176; Rodgers, A. D., "Lu- cas Sullivant and the Founding of Columbus," 162-176; Sullivant, J. D., "Lucas Sullivant — his Personality and Adventures," 177-189; "Verily the World Do Move," 190-191; "Dr. Her- vey Scott," 191-192; Quartermaster's Record Book— 1793, 192-193; Galbreath, C. B.: "Joseph Green Butler, Jr.," 193-198; "Prof. Azariah S. Root," 198- 200; "William P. Palmer," 200-201; "Death of Dr. William C. Mills," 201; "Ross County Historical Soci- ety," 201-203; Museum Echoes. 204; "William Corless Mills: In Memori- am," 205-219; Moore, C. H., "Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896," 220-427;
630
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications.
Contributors and Contributions — Concl. Galbreath, C. B., "Newly Elected Of- ficers and Employes": Henry C. She- trone, 428-430; Harlow Lindley— Li- brarian at Spiegel Grove, 430-431; E F. Greenman, 431-432; "Death of Sen- ator Frank B. Willis," 433-434; "Just Judgments," 434-437; "Ohio. Scctiic and Historic," 437-438; Holt, E. A., "Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850," 439-591; Galbreath, C. B.: "Unveiling of Memorial to Elizabeth Zane," 592- 598; "Celebration at Campus Martius," 598-604; Lewis, Reverend E. S., "Death and Funeral of President William Henry Harrison," 605-612; Galloway, Dr. W. A., "James Galloway, Sr.," 613-614; Galbreath, C. B., "Camp Charlotte Site Marked," 615-617; Dry- er, Mrs. O. D., "Camp Charlotte," 615-617.
Convict labor: law authorizing, 472; law used against Harrison, 472, 474-475.
Cook, Amos, 55.
Cook, Ann (Frazier), 55.
Cook, Dinah, 55.
Cook, Elizabeth (Townsend), 55.
Cook, Levi, 55.
Cook, Theodore, 297.
Cooke, H. D., 257.
Cooke, Jay, 280.
Coolidge, President Calvin, 84.
Cooper, Peter, 316.
Cooperdale, Fay, 219.
Cope, Charles, 66.
Cope, Samuel, 56.
Coppock, Edwin, 76, 80-83.
Corless, Lucy, 205.
Cornell, Governor Alonzo B., 332.
Cornstalk, Shawnee chief, 616-617.
Corwin, Judge George, 202, 203.
Corwin, Governor Thomas: urges Geo- logical survey, 125; influence, 230; partnership with Durbin Ward, 355; nominated for governor, 461, 510; rec- ord, 461-462; defends Harrison, 462- 464; ridicules General Crary, 464; elected governor, 493, 515; first mes- sage, 496; eulogized, 511; ridiculed, 519, 520; renominated, 525; ideas on state banks, 526; issues warning, 532; defeated by Shannon, 534; last annual message, 537; refuses to run again, 533.
Cotton, Willia D., on campaign commit- tee to finance Putnam House, 599;
praised, 602, 603; speaks for Commit- tee, 604.
Cowles, Edwin, 227, 30O.
Cox, George B., 416.
Cox, Helen (Finney), 235.
Cox, General Jacob D. : gubernatorial campaign, 234-237; stand on negro question, 234-236; defeated for second term, 241-242; resigns seat in Cabi- net, 267; his successor, 275; elected to Congress, 281; mentioned, 273, 281.
Cox, Mary, 55.
Cox, Tamar, 55.
Cox, Thomas, 55.
Craig, John S., 88, 94.
Craighead, S., 366.
Crane, C. Howard, 136.
Crary, General Isaac, 464.
Crawford, Noble, 171.
Crawford, Colonel William, 168.
Creed, Sec McCreed.
Creighton, Representative O. S., 601, 602.
Creighton, William, 172.
Cresswell, Nicholas, Journal of Nicholas Crcssivcll, 621-623.
Croghan, Colonel George, 168.
Croly, Herbert, 375.
Cromwell, Oliver, 71.
Cunningham, T. E., 275.
Curry, Honorable Otway, 115.
Curtis, William E., 374.
Gushing, Honorable W. V. H., 1H.
Cutler, Reverend Manasseh, 165.
Cuyahoga County, Whigs endorse Kelley Law, 568-569.
Daggett, Albert, 338.
Dailey, Mrs. O. D., 615.
Dane, Nathan, 165.
Danton, Georges-Jacques. 527.
Dargue, Major H. A., 598.
Darusmont, Frances (Wright), 514.
Daughters of the American Colonists—
Old Trails chapter, 143, 144, 145. Daughters of the American Revolution,
Ohio society: Fort Greenville chapter,
157, 159; Lagonda chapter, 86, 90;
Marietta chapter, 599, 600; Pickaway
Plains chapter, 615-617. Davis, Honorable James J., 138. Davis, Jefferson, 398. Davis, John, 543. Davis, Lucy (Nye), 603. Dawes, Honorable Beman G., 604.
Indej
631
Dawson, Elizabeth, 94.
Dawson, George, 94.
Dawson, Harriett, 94.
Dawson, Lieutenant Henry, 88, 94.
Dawson, John, 94.
Dawson, Moses, 457, 503.
Dawson, Richard, 94.
Dearduff family, 171.
"Death and Funeral of President William Henry Harrison," 605-612.
"Death of Senator Frank B. Willis," 433- 434.
"Dedication of Bronze Tablets to Major John Mills and Tecumseh," 156-160.
De Golyer scandals, 340.
De Hass, Wills, 594, 595.
Delano, Columbus, 275.
De Lashmutt, Elias N., 189.
Democratic party: leading Ohio papers, 1865-1896, 227-228; party alignment, 230; favored by peace ideas, 232-233; reviled by Wade, 234; state conven- tions, 1865 and 1866, 236-238; Vallan- digham, 238, 240, 259, et seq. ; Pendle- ton, 239, 240, 251, et seq.; Thurman, 239-240, 243, 264, et seq.; a virtual vic- tory, 244; Republicans alarmed, 252, 262; the "Ohio idea," 251-257, 260, 300-301, 408, 410; National convention, 257-260; stampede to Seymour, 260-261; "New Departure," 265, 268-269; an impasse, 273-274; Allen County move- ment, 275-276; the "Greeley deal," 276- 277; state convention, 278-280; the coup of 1873, 282-283; the subject of finance, 295; the "Rag-baby" faction, 295; "Old Bill Allen," 299; Demo- crats encouraged, 299-300; but lose through school question, 300; Tilden nominated for president, 301-302; the result, 304-305; the Bland Act, 306- 308; wins governor, 314; faces dilem- ma, 317; opposes "Calico Charlie," 322; Thurman defeated, 331; Jewett, Payne, Thurman, 344-347; nomination of Hancock and English, 347-348; the "kid element," 353; Bookwalter nomi- nated, but defeated, 353-354; Ward vs. Hoadly, 354-355; the Payne scheme, 355-356; Hoadly and Payne elected, 356-357; bribery, 357-359; National Convention, 361; election of Cleve- land; charges of corruption, 361-362; defeated on renomination, 363-364; re- elected in 1884, 376-377; Campbell
nominated for governor, 382; the "bal- lot-box scheme," 382-383; vindication, 384; Campbell elected, 384-385; rise of Calvin Brice, 401-410; Campbell de- feated by "16 to 1," 410; McLean recognized as "favorite son," 410; Bryan and "the first battle," 410-422; diflferent racial strains in, 444-445; op- position to, in Western Reserve, 445; efiFect of Panic on, 445; blamed by Whigs for results of Panic, 445-446; charged with being pro-British, 447; reaction sets in; the Party wins state elections, 447; Van Buren opposed by Harrison, 447-448; favors bank reform, 452; party cleavage, 454; renomination of Van Buren, 455; election of Gov- ernor Shannon, 456; enthusiasm for Independent Treasury Law, 457; the National Convention, 457-458; the plat- form; abolition petitions; immigrants, etc., 458-459; Van Buren re-nominated, 458-459: the campaign of 1840, 459-494; dissatisfied Jacksonians leave party, 459; sneers at Harrison, 461, 464; de- rides Whig convention, 463; claims of, 468; work for Independent Treasury, 469; pass their bill, 469-470; party strength wanes, 470; accuses Harrison of having "muzzling committee," 471; other charges, 471-472, 488; opposes abolition, 474-475; and abolition work- ers, 477, 478; attracts foreigners to itself, 480; seeks foreign vote, 482; is accused of irregularity, 482; discon- tented Jacksonians meet, 485; criti- cized for use of name, 486; Democratic president criticized, 487, 489; Jackson to the rescue, 489; many desert Van Buren, 489; accused of agrarianism, 490, 513; whole program denounced, 492; meets defeat, 493; party attitude toward banking, 496-497; press attacks banks, 499; favor state regulation, 500; fiery attacks on banks, 501-502; deter- mined on reform, 502; Shannon on banks, 503; delegation in Congress, 504; further views on banks, 505; political supremacy of party, 506-507; controls Ohio, 507; criticized by Whigs, 508; malcontents leave party, 508; ac- cused of intending to destroy banks, 510; campaign of 1840: Medary criti- cized, 512; accused of disbelief in re- ligion, 514; "war" on credit de-
632
Ohio ArcJi. and Hist. Society Publications.
Democratic Party — Concluded.
nounced, 514; many leave party, 515; forced to compromise, 517; gains 15 states, 517; favored by condition of currency, 518; again in charge of As- sembly, 518; Sandusky Co. resolutions, 518-519; Clermont Co.— Richland Co., 519; ridicules Corwin, 520; opposes Barnet resolution, 521; State Conven- tion, 524; thanks to Medary, 524-525; bank reform methods denounced, 525; charged with collapse of credit, 526; what it stood for, 527; Ohio Demo- crats and the Dorr revolution, 527; charges Whigs with revolution, 527- 529; passes an act "to regulate bank- ing in Ohio," 530-531; "Latham's humbug," 531; loses adherents, 533; disaffection of Hamer, 533-534; turn in favor of party, 534; reasons for it, 534-537; firm on Latham Law, 538; law is modified, 538-539; the Olds Bill. 539-540; new paper started to oppose bank policy, 541; congressional appor- tionment law denounced, 542-543; blamed for hard times, 544; loses in state elections, 546; gain in Congres- sional, 547; an ominous situation; Shannon's message; its effect, 548; meets defeat on banking question, 551; a Democratic schism; Shannon criti- cized, 552; State convention, 552-553; fight at National convention, for Van Buren, 554; reaction against Demo- crats, 557; dissatisfaction with Tod, 557; party meets defeat, 558; Kelley bank Law attacked, 562; radicals fight conservatives, 562-563; they defeat Shannon for district attorney, 563; Democratic convention of 1845, 564- 565; activity of press, 566-567; Sena- torial convention takes radical stand, 567-568; the German vote, 569; defeat, 570; Tod urged for governor, 571; con- servatives for Hamer, 573; banks the chief issue, 575; State convention, 575- 576; radicals in control, 575; Tod let- ter brings party victory, 576; plat- form causes misgiving, 578; opposi- tion to Tod, 578-579; and Democratic bank policy, 579-580; party attacks Whig taxation law, 581; Tod defeated by Bebb, 582; party renews fight on "privileges," 583; condemns Kelley Law, 584; State convention nominates
Weller, 586; continues to fight bank- ing and revenue laws, .588; wins out in Constitutional convention, 588.
De Mortie, M. R., 338.
Dennison, Governor William: favors Ohio Geological Survey, 134; praises Gar- field's attitude at Convention of 1880, 335; supports Sherman, 336; mentioned, 338.
Depew, Senator Chauncey M., 374, 391.
Deshler, David W., 483.
Dew, Joseph. 42, 46.
Dicks, Zachariah, 49-51.
Dill, John, 171.
Discipline and Doctrine, cited, 7C.
Disney, David T., 540-541.
Dixon, Joseph, 171.
Dixon, Robert, 169.
Dombrosky, J. L., 136.
Domigan, William, 171.
Donavin, Colonel S. K., 358.
Doolittle, Senator James R., 360, 362.
Dorr, Thomas W., 527.
Dorr rebellion, 527.
Dorrance, Frances, 219.
Douglas, Stephen A., 346.
Douglass, Samuel, 449.
Dryer, Mrs. Orson D., Address at Dedi- cation of Marker at Camp Charlotte, 615-617.
Dumont, A. J., 338.
Dunbar, William, 4S2.
Duncan, Honorable Alexander, cited, 505.
Duncan, Daniel, 582.
Dunlop, William. 171.
Dunmore, John M., Earl of, 202, 616-617.
Dunne, Finley P., cited, 377.
Dwight, Timothy, 355. »
Dyer, C. S., 335.
Earle, Thomas, 476.
Ebersole, Jacob, 88. 94.
Echo Cave, 4. 6-8, 16-21.
Edgerton, Alfred P., 574, 576.
Edison, Thomas A., 191.
Edmiston, Dr. John M., 171, 187.
Edmunds, Senator George F., 331, 332.
Education, Quakers and, 75.
Edwards, Jonathan, 355.
Elections: "Ohio in national politics, 1865-
1896," 220-422; "the election of 1840 in
Ohio," 442-494. Eliot, President Charles W., 79. Elizabeth, Queen of England, 105-106.
Index.
633
Elkins, Senator Stephen B., 381.
Ellis, John, 169.
Emerson, Ralph W., 284.
English, William, 348.
Entrekin, John C, 371.
Evans, Benjamin, 55.
Evans, Hannah, 55.
Evans, Lyle S., 203.
Everett, S. T., 338.
Ewing, General Thomas, on Wade, 234; at Harrison celebration, 465.
Ewing, Honorable Thomas: mentioned, 190; defends Pendleton, 251; candidate for governor, 281 ; opposes Resump- tion, 306, 317, 318; defeated by Fos- ter, 343; mentioned, 354; promises of exclusion from Cabinet, 490.
Extravagance: government accused of, 487; President also, 487-488; Ohio Democrats charged with, 512.
F
Faran, James J., 300-301, 458.
Farnum (or Farnsworth), John S., 88, 95.
Faulkner, David, 52, 56.
Fearing, B. D., 333.
Federalism, Harrison accused of, 467; Van Buren also, 486, 488.
Fell, Margaret, 35, 76.
Fell, Rachel, 35.
Fell, Sarah, 35.
Fenton, Governor Reuben E., 332.
Ferry, Senator Thomas W., 294.
Fess, Senator Simeon D., 138.
Fessenden, Honorable Samuel, 381.
Fessenden, Senator William P., 394.
"Fifty-four forty or fight," 576-577.
Finley, John, 163.
Finley, Samuel, 171.
Finney, Helen, 235.
First aerial lighthouse in America, 136.
First bank in Franklin County, 174.
"First Battle," The, 410-421.
First blast-furnace in the Mahoning Val- ley, 195.
First bridge in Franklin County, 174, 186,
First Democratic president since Civi War, 361.
First Geological Survey of Ohio, 107-135
First Harrison paper in Ohio, 448.
First Hundred Years of American Geol- ogy, cited, 128.
First printed newspaper in Columbus, 174,
First steam-engine in America, 153.
First steel company in the Mahoning Val
ley, 195. First use of telegraph, 608-609. Fisher. David, 580. Fisher, Michael, 171. Flag, U. S., 555. Fleming, William, 171. Flood, George H., 451. Flourence, John, 169. Follett, Oran, 451, 526, 532. Foos, General Joseph, 171, 173, 175. Foraker, Senator Joseph B.: defeats Hoadly for governorship, 365; ambi- tions, 366-367; again elected governor, 370; relations with Sherman, 370-371, 375; at the Republican Convention of 1888, 379-390; 393-394; controls Ohio State Convention in 1895, 416. Ford, Mrs. Blanche (Butler), 198. Ford, Frank, 603.
Ford. Governor Seabury: 122; delegate to Whig national convention, 553; elected representative, 569; cited, 583; nomi- nated for governor, 585. Fort Henry, 592. Fort Meigs, 465. Fort Schlosser, 446. Fort Washington, 192.
Foster, Governor Charles: entraps Judge Taft, 298; campaign for governor, 319-322; Foster and Sherman, 331; am- bitions, 333-336; success, 343; seeks re- election, 352; supported by Sherman, 353; reelected, 354; Democrats seek to destroy his "machine," 357; still high- er ambitions, 364-365; attends confer- ence, 371; Foster and Brice, 403; men- tioned, 370, 373, 375, 380, 404. Foster, Dr. J. N., 116, 118, 127. Fox, George: "Father of the Quaker meeting," his wife; growth of the So- ciety of Friends, 35-36; travels in America, 36; tercentenary celebrated, 49-56; tribute to, 51-52; cited, 65-66, 69; growth of Society in England before his death, 71; Fox and education, 75; and philanthropy, 75; mentioned, 48, 76, 81.
Fox, Margaret ( ) [Fell], 35, 78.
Franklin, Benjamin, 170, 171.
Franklin County Pioneer association, 161.
162. Franklinton, Founder of, 161. Frantz, Benjamin, 88, 95. "Fraud of 1876," 344. Frazier, Ann, 55.
634
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications.
Friends, Society of: Rise of, in England, 35; why called Friends, and Quakers, 36; in America, 36-39; reasons for rapid spread, 38-40; rise of coloniza- tion societies, 40-41; reasons for seek- ing new homes, 40-42; committees visit Ohio, 42; the northern trek, 43-56; names of first settlers, 52-55; the church organization, 56-59; marriage ceremony, 59-62; quarterly and yearly meetings, 62-64, 67-68; records of mem- bership, 64-67; the Quaker's religion, C9-74; causes of persecution, 71-72; their sufferings, 72; code of morals, 72-74; Quakers and education, philan- thropy, slavery, etc., 74-85; famous Quakers, 75-84; Lundy, 79-80; Garri- son, 80; Coppock, 80-83; Stanton, Dolly Madison, Mifflin, West, Whittier, Cannon, Butterworth, Hoover, 79-84; influence of Quakers, 84-85; in Ohio, 444.
Fry, Elizabeth, 76.
Frye, Senator William P., 336, 358-359.
Furnas, Davis, 51.
Furnas, Hannah (Wilson), 55.
Furnas, Robert, 55.
"Gag" rule, passage, 458, 473; protests against, 473-474; Whig opinions, 476.
Galbraith, Dr. Johns, 203.
Galbreath, C. B.: speaks at Ter-centenary of birth of George Fox, 49-51; men- tioned, 85, 165; "Ohio's tallest build- ing-the A. I. U. citadel," 136-142; "National Old Trails Road in Ohio," 143-147; "Railroad discussion not for- bidden by Lancaster school board," 148-155; addresses Ross County his- torical society, 202-203; "William Cor- less Mills— in Memoriam," 205-219; Notes on "Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896," 334, 335, 338, 340-341, 368, 380-381; "Newly Elected Officers and Employes; Henry Clyde Shetrone, 428-430; Harlow Lindley — Librarian at Spiegel Grove, 430-431; Emerson F. Greenman," 431-432; "Death of Sena- tor Frank Bartlette Willis," 433-434; "Just Judgments," 434-437; "Ohio Scenic and Historic," 437-438; reads original poem at Marietta Celebration, 601; speaks on purchase of Rufus Put- nam House; eulogizes Marietta work-
ers, 603; "Camp Charlotte Site Marked," 615-617.
Galloway, James, 88, 95-96, 613-614.
Galloway, James, Jr., 95.
Galloway, Rebecca, 96.
Galloway, Rebekah (Junkin), 613.
Galloway, Dr. W. A., "James Galloway, Sr.," 613-614.
Garfield, President James A.: stand on money question, 257; in the Senate, 331; at the Republican National Con- vention, 331-343; his administration, 349-354; mentioned, 370.
Garlough, John H., 88.
Garrison, William L., 80.
Garwood, Jane (Mills), 206.
Garwood, William, 206.
Gary, James A., 338.
Gaskill, Honorable D. L., 159.
Genealogy and Family Memorial, cited, 177-189.
Genius of Universal Emancipation, 80.
"Gentleman George," 239.
Geological Features of Ohio, and . . . a Geological Survey, cited, 110.
Geological Survey of Ohio, Story of the, 107-135.
German bank of Wooster: fails; history of, 522; charter repealed, 522-523; at- tempt to exempt from operation of Latham Law, 548, 551.
Germans in Ohio, 444, 480, 481.
Gerry, Governor Elbridge, 528.
Gerrymander, 528, 529.
Gibson, General William H., 380.
Giddings, Joshua R., 475.
Gift Street, Columbus, 170.
Gill, Ann, 615.
Gill, John, and Sons, 136.
Girty, Simon, 95, 98.
Gist, Christopher, 168.
Good Shepherd, House of the, 161.
Goodale, Lincoln, 189.
Goodwin, William B., 104.
Gorman, Senator Arthur P., 405, 408
Goslin, Robert, 27.
Gower, Charlotte D., 219.
Graham, Albert A., 210.
"Grandaddy Lane," 97.
Grant, President Ulysses S.: the logical nominee, 261; elected, 261-262; break with Sumner, 263; Grant and Cox, 267; and Ashley, 272; the second cam- paign, 273-274; opposition, 275, 280,
Index.
635
334; Republican National Convention of 1880, 331-332; mentioned, 330, 338.
Gray, Governor Isaac P., 364,
Gray, John W., 600.
"Greatest liar of the age," 468.
Greave. David, 43, 53.
Greaves, Mrs. Albert, 86.
Greeley, Horace, nominated for president, 273-274; defeated by Grant, 276-277; "crow-pie," 302.
Greenback movement: origin, 248-250; ob- jections, 251-257; resolution concerning, 270; promoted by Ewing, 281; Con- gressional discussions, 293; vetoed by president, 293-294; causes much trouble in party, 295-296, 306; Thurman's views, 317-318; party becomes influen- tial, 324; progress of the movement, 325-327.
Greene, Jacob, 551.
Greene, William, 448-449.
Greenman, Emerson F., 431-432.
Greenville, Treaty of. 169.
Greenville Historical society, 156-160.
Greenwood, John, 526, 543.
Gregg, David, cited, 69-70.
Gregory, Moses, 203.
Grifiith, Jacob, 53.
Grimes, Ale.xander, 559.
Grimke, Judge Frederick, 522.
Grisell, Thomas, 56.
Griswold, S. A., 154.
Grosvenor, Charles H., criticizes Hanna, 394; opposes Payne, — his testimony, 400-402; mentioned, 379, 380.
Grubb, Jacob, 171.
Gunckel, Colonel George I., 86.
Guthe, Carl E., 219.
Gwynne, David, 471. H
Hahn, William M., 388.
Haines, Eliza, 53.
Haines, Noah, 53.
Haines, Seth S., 53.
Hale, Senator Eugene, 336.
Hale and Ayer Co., 195.
Hall, James, 610.
Hall, Mary L., 601.
Halstead, Murat: foremost Ohio editor, 226; cited, 370; irritated by Campbell, 383; makes a blunder, 383-384; apolo- gizes, 384.
Hamer, Thomas L., 512, 617; accuses Medary, 533-534; opposed by Clermont County, 541-542; movement to nomi-
nate for governor, 573.
Hamilton, Alexander, 299.
Hamilton County, Democrats on repeal of bank law, 579.
Hamlin, A. C, 336.
Hammond, Charles, 449, 471.
Hammond, James H., 287.
Hancock, General Winfield S., 347.
Hanna, Senator Marcus A., a newcomer in national politics, 368; Hanna and Sherman, 368, 372; work at the Re- publican National Convention of 1SS8, 372-375, 378-395; Hanna and Brice, 402-403; Hanna and McKinley, 412- 419; mentioned, 371, 407.
Harriman, Stephen, 88, 96.
Harris, J. M., 338.
Harris, W. M., 97.
Harrison, President Benjamin; the Re- publican National Convention of 1888, 374-376; nominated, elected, 376; re- nominated, 390-393; defeated by Cleve- land, 394-395; Harrison and Foster, 404.
Harrison, Jefferson, 79.
Harrison, General William H. : friend of soldier, 98; at Franklinton, 173; averts war, 184; at treaty of peace with In- dians, 186; second army under, at Franklinton, 189; initial candidacy for president, 447-448; Ohio press not unanimous, 448-451; makes no pledges, 449; nominated for president, 453; en- thusiasm for, 453-454, 460-461; defended by Corwin, 462-464; "Harrison reform clubs," 463; military prowess chal- lenged by Democrats, 464; great meet- ing at Ft. Meigs, 465-466; favors single term, 466; reticence on banks, 467; ap- points "Buckeye Blacksmith" to of- fice, 468; damaging charges, 470-472; Harrison and abolition, 477-479; fa- vored by Jackson Democrats, 483-485; Democratic charges, 488-489; endorsed by veterans, 490; heavy Ohio vote for, 493; those ruined in Panic of 1837 flock to him, 508; appreciation of, 511- 512, foot-note; description of a Harri- son ballot, 515; how sentiment changed in a year, 517; death and funeral, 605- 612: cause of illness, 605-606; death, 606; funeral service in Washington, 607-608; in Cincinnati, 608-610; at North Bend, 611-612; destruction of the log-cabin, 612.
636
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications.
Hart, Professor Albert B., 138141.
Hart, Rufus E., 572.
Hartranft, Governor John F., 302.
Hartwell, J. W., 267.
Hassaurek, Fred, 267, 268, 278.
Hatch, William S., 501.
Hawkins, Sarah, 55.
Hawley, Reverend , 607-608.
Haworth, George, 53.
Hay, John, writes The Brcad-lViiincrs, 287; cited, 359, 362; on Sherman's chances, 375-376.
Hayes, President Rutherford B.: accom- plishes establishment of 2d Geological Survey, 134; elected governor of Ohio, 241-244; attitude on negro enfranchise- ment, 242-243; nominated for president, 298; the campaign, 298-305; troubles of his administration, 305-314, 319-324; cited, 340, 361; mentioned, 321, 329, 330, 341, 350, 352, 376, 417.
Hayes Memorial Library, 199-200, 430-431.
Haynes, Charles M., 203.
Hayward, G. E., 603.
Hazeltine, Senator Robert, 550.
Hazewell, C. C, buys Ohio Statesman, 564; disliked by radical Democrats, 567; changes attitude, 570, 573.
Hearst, William R., 408.
Hedges, Charles, cited, 364.
Hedges, Henry C, 380.
Hempleman, George, 88.
Henderson, J. P., 199.
Henry II, King of England, 193.
Henry, Patrick, 617.
Heyl, Lewis F., on State Central com- mittee, 449, 463, 526, 543.
Hildreth. Samuel P.: on Geological Sur- vey committee, 113; made member of Survey, 117; report of, 127, 131; res- ignation, 133.
Hill, 338.
Hill, David B., 404, 405.
Hinsdale, Burke A., 340.
Hinsdale, W. B., 219.
Historic Highways, cited, 147.
Historical Collections of Ohio, cited, 592, 594-595.
History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, 595.
History of Columbus, cited, 144.
History of Fairfield County, 192.
History of Lancaster and Fairfield Coun- ty, cited, 149-150.
"History of National Road in Ohio," 144-
147: work initiated by Jonathan Knight, 144; survey completed, 144; disagreement as to route, 144-145; He- bron route chosen; bids received, 145; appropriation for work, 145-146; de- scription of road; benefit to Ohio, 146; railroads cause its disuse, 146-147; giv- en over to counties; stages, taverns, etc., time required for trips, 147.
History of the Early Settlement and In- dian IVars of Western Virginia, cited, 594.
History of Youngstown and the Maho- ning Valley, cited, 197.
Hoadly, Governor George: seeks to re- form his party, 267; conspicuous at Liberal Convention, 273; becomes Democratic governor, 2S1, 355-856; candidate for presidency, 361; defeat- ed in renomination for governor, 363; Foraker his opponent, 365.
Hoar, Senator George F., 334, 340, 358.
Hodge, Orlando J., 402.
Hodgin, Amy, 59.
Hodgin, Mary, 59.
Hogan, William, 45.
Hoge, Reverend James, 173.
Holden, Liberty E., 406.
Holland, W. H., 338.
Holloway, David, 53.
Holmes, Joseph, 471.
Holt, Edgar Allan, "Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850," 439-591.
I'Hommedieu, S. S., 467.
Hoover, Honorable Herbert, 84.
Horner, Anna, 55.
Horner, Thomas, 55.
Hosack, Adam, 171.
Hotchkiss, Niles, 471.
House of the Good Shepherd, 161.
Howard, Horton, 42, 56.
Howe, Henry, cited, 592, 594-595.
Howe, General Sir William, 623.
Howells, William C, 79.
Howells, William D., 79.
Hoyt, James M., 339.
Hubbard, Eber W., 501.
Hughes, Honorable James, 122.
Hulbert, Archer B., cited, 147.
Hull, General William, 185, 188, 189.
Humphreys, Honorable Isaac, 115.
Hunsicker, Mrs. Clark K., 617.
Hunter, Captain Joseph, 168.
Huntington, C. C, 498, 533.
Hurd, Frank, 269, 360.
Index.
637
Hynaman, John,
Illustrations: Map of
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
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Fig. 21.
Fig. 22. Fig. 23. Fig. 24.
Ohio showing Location of
Chief Caverns and Shel- ters, facing 2. View of Echo Cave, 6. View of Indian Cave, 7. Portions of Woven Fabric
from Echo Cave, 9. Vest-like Garment of Rushes
from Burial in Echo Cave,
10. Pouch, or Bag, and Bone
Awls from Echo Cave, 11. Carrying Basket, from Echo
Cave, 12. Sandal from Echo Cave, 13. Types of Sandals from Echo
Cave, 14. Portion of Fish Net, from
Indian Cave, 15. Fragments of Leather and
Cord from Indian Cave, 15, Types of Arrow Points from
Canter's Caves, 17. Fragments of Pottery-ware
from Canter's Caves, 18. Typical Bone Awls and Per- forators from Canter's
Caves, 19. Reed, Wedge, Twigs, etc.,
from Echo Cave, 20. Dried Plants of Nolina
georgiana, 21. View of Kettle Hill Cave, 22. Interior of Kettle Hill Cave,
looking West, 24. Eastern End of Kettle Hill
Cave, 25. Partially Mummified Burial
from Kettle Hill Cave, 26. Sandstone Slab bearing Pic-
tographs — from Kettle Hill
Cave, 29. Sandal woven from Bast
Fibre— from Kettle Hill
Cave, 30. Feather Neck Ornament —
from Kettle Hill Cave, 30. Objects of Wood and Bone
from Kettle Hill Cave, 31. Vegetable Fibers, for Weav- ing — From Kettle Hill
Cave, 33. Fig. 25. Cord and Fabric from Kettle
Hill Cave, 33. Fig. 26. Fragments of Basketry and
Cord — from Kettle Hill
Cave, 34. Ann Todd Smith, 37. New Garden Meeting-house — North
Carolina, 40. Samuel and Ada P. Lewis, 44. Elisha and Sally Todd, 46. Chesterhill Friends' Meeting-house, 48. Residence of John and Anna Bundy,
50. Amy (Hodgin) Clendenon, 59. Type of Bonnet worn by Mary H.
Stanton, 61. Hat worn by Joseph' Stanton about
1858, 61. Quaker Marriage Certificate, facing
Old Stillwater Meeting-house, 63. Stillwater Meeting-house, East side, 64. Mount Pleasant Yearly Meeting-house,
65. Map of Meetings composing Ohio
Yearly Meeting of Friends,
66. Carpenter Hall, Earlham College, 74. Friends' Boarding School, 76. Mount Pleasant Boarding-School, 77. Westtown Boarding School, 78. Edwin M. Stanton, 82. The Old Willoughby Chest, 102. A. I. U. Citadel, 137. John J. Lentz, 140. Unveiling of Tablet to National Old
Trails Road, 143. Bronze Tablet on Broad Street Bridge,
145. Van A. Snider, 149. Monument and Tablet to Major John
Mills, Greenville, 157. Tecumseh Memorial at Greenville, 158. Tablet marking Site of Home of Lucas
Sullivant, 161. Lucas Sullivant, 178. Joseph G. Butler, Jr., 194. William C. Mills-facing 205. William C. Mills at the age of 12
years, 207. William C. Mills at the age of 17
years, 207. William C. Mills, from photograph
taken in 1898, 211.
638
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications.
Illustrations — Concl.
William C. Mills, from photograph taken in 1921, 213.
Benjamin F. Wade, 239.
Jacob D. Cox, 241.
John R. McLean, 265.
Charles Foster, 321.
John Sherman, 323.
Rutherford B. Hayes, 329.
Allen G. Thurman, 337.
William Allen, 337.
George H. Pendleton, 337.
Henry B. Payne, 345.
James A. Garfield, 351.
James E. Campbell, 383.
Joseph B. Foraker, 387.
Calvin S. Brice, 401.
Marcus A. Hanna, 407.
William McKinley, 409,
Popular Vote in Presidential Elec- tions, 1864-1896, 411.
Election of 1896, in Ohio, 415.
Political Status of Ohio in Congress, 1869-1897, 419.
Henry C. Shetrone, 429.
Harlow Lindley, 431.
Emerson F. Greenman, 432.
Political Cartoon used during the Log- Cabin Campaign, 484.
Cartoon — The Gerrymander, from Day- ton Journal. 1842, 528.
Political Cartoon— The Coon Dissector, 549.
The Coon Dissector, 556.
Elizabeth Zane — Statue at Martins Ferry, 593. Immigrants: sympathy for, 458, 481; vote
of grovifing importance, 480-481; Har- rison on, 481; Van Buren endangers
vote, 482; rebuked, 483. Imperialism, 368-369. Independent Treasury Law: Democrats
instructed to support, 457; condemned
by Whigs, 463, 469-470. I. O. O. F., Grand Lodge, 600. Indian Cave, 4, 8-21. Industrial depression, 291-293. Ingersoll, Harriet B., 198. Inglehart, Dr. Smith, 563-564. Insurance, Life: Dedication of A. I. U.
Citadel, 136-142. Irish people, and the flag, 555. Irwin, Colonel William, 98. Ives, Robert H., 546.
Jackson, President Andrew, 250; influ- ences early politics in Ohio, 445; de- feated partly by Clay, 450; followers attracted to Whigs, 483; "Jackson re- form clubs," 484-485; the State Rights Jackson movement, 485; "Old Hick- ory" publicly supports Van Buren, 489; Jacksonian Democrats control party, 520.
Jackson Day, 240.
Jacobs, Bertha E., The Nation's History, cited, 618-619.
James, Honorable John, 113.
Jay, Eli, 51.
Jay Elizabeth (Mills) 65,
Jay, Layton, 55.
Jay, Lydia, 55.
Jay, Mary, 55.
Jefferson, President Thomas, influence on Ohio politics, 444, 445; Whig claims concerning, 485; Harrison a true fol- lower, 488.
Jeffries, George, 483.
Jenkins, Warren, 449.
Jewell, Marshall, 302.
Jewett, Hugh J., 260, 331, 344-345.
Johnson, President Andrew: beginning of trouble, 233; upheld by Democrats, 236-237; a fatal eulogy, 242; cited. 243; impeached, 261, 272, 325; mentioned, 313, 553.
Johnson, Ann (Mills), 206.
Johnson, Arthur C, Sr., speaks at meet- ing of Ross County historical society, 201-202; responds to greetings, 600, 601; speaks at Campus Martius cele- bration, 601-602.
Johnson, Isaiah, 206.
Johnson, James, 175.
Johnson, John, 452.
Johnson, Richard M., 490.
Tohnson, William, 39, 171.
Johnston, General Joseph E., 144.
Jones, Benjamin, 88, 550.
Jones, Dr. R. M., cited, 36.
Jones, Sam ("Golden Rule"), 224.
Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, cited, 622- 623.
Junkin, Rebekah, 613.
"Just Judgments," 434-437. K
Katzenberger, George A., 159.
Kauffman, Peter, 458.
hide.]
639
Keifer, General J. Warren, 98.
Keller, John, 88.
Kelley, Alfred, chairman State Central committee, 449, 463; travels with Har- rison, 465; prominent in Whig coun- cils, 558; elected State senator, 569.
Kelley, James, 88, 97.
Kelley Bank Law: introduced, 558-560; provisions, 561; attacked by Demo- crats, 562, 575, 584; efforts to repeal, 565-568, 580; endorsed, 568, 574; Whigs support. Democrats oppose, 579-582; endorsed by the governor, 585.
Kelly, Anna, 55.
Kelly, Hannah (Pearson), 55.
Kelly, Robert, 52, 55.
Kelly, Samuel, 55, 56.
Kelly, Sarah (Patty), 55.
Kendall, Amos, 527.
Kent, James, 167.
Kenton, Simon, 91.
Kentucky in 1780, 163.
Kerr, John, 175.
Kettle Hill Cave, 21-34; location, 21; ren- dezvous of thieves, 23; dimensions, 23; discoveries of Boy Scouts, 23-27; na- ture of the cave, 27-28; objects un- earthed, 27-34; vegetable remains, 32; occupants doubtless Algonquins, 32.
Keyes, Charles R., 219.
Kidder, A. O., 219.
Kilgore, Daniel, 559.
Kindley, Edward, 55.
Kindley, Margaret, 55.
King, Jacob, 171.
King, Judge John, 144.
King, Leicester, 478.
Kinney, O. H., 597.
Kirby, Moses H., 510.
Kirby family, 35.
Kirtland, Dr. Jared P., 116, 118.
Knight, Jonathan, 144.
Knox, John J., 388.
Kocher, W. L., 597.
Koehnlein, H. E., 597.
Kohlsaat, Herman H., 413, 414, 418.
Kooken, Billy, 153.
Krogman, Wilton M., 219.
Kumler, John P., 330.
Labor question: spirit of unrest, 275, 285- 287, 391-293; "Murphy movement," 313; efforts of leaders, 315-317; 397-
Lahm, Samuel, 550.
Lake, Joseph S., 550.
Lambeth Palace, London, 104-105.
Lamme, James L., 88.
Lancaster, Ohio, and public debates, 148-
155; a well-worn story concerning, 148-
155; the story refuted, 151-155; 190-
191. Lancaster American Democrat, 192. Lancaster Daily Eagle, cited, 148, 151-152,
190-191. Lancaster Gazette, 153, 192. Lancaster School Board, 148-155, 190-191. "Lane, Grandaddy," 97. Lane (or Laing), Robert, 89, 97. Lapham, J. A., cited, 112, 113. Larned, Colonel Eben, 91. La Salle, Sieur Robert de, 168. 620-621. "Last Battle of the Revolutionary War,"
592. Latham, Bela, 482, 531. Latham Law: first passing, 531; influence,
533; approved by Democrats, 537, 538-
539, 569; ignored in Message, 548;
Whigs seek to repeal, 551; mentioned,
560, 566. "Latham's Humbug," 531, 566. Laylin, Lewis C, 603. Laylin, Mrs. Lewis C, "History of the
National Road in Ohio," 143, 144-147;
speaks at Marietta Celebration, 603. Lazell, John A., 526. 543. Leadbetter, Honorable D. P.. 473. Lee, Alfred E., 146. Lee, Charles, 172. Lee, Richard H., 617. Le Fever, Senator Everett, 602. Lentz, Honorable John J., 138, 139-141. Leonard, Arthur R., The Nation's History,
618-619. Leonard, Byram, 521. Lewis, General Andrew, 616. Lewis, Dr. Dio, 289. Lewis, Reverend Edward S., "The Death
and Funeral of President William
Henry Harrison," 605-612. Lewis, Henry, 53-54. Lewis, Joseph, 169. Lewis, Samuel, 44, 478. 'Liar, Greatest, of the Age," 468. Liberal Republicans: call for convention,
273; defeat of ticket, 274; condemned
by Democrats, 276; meaning of the
movement, 280-282. Liberty, 149.
640
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications.
Liberty party: organization, officers, 476; Ohio's stand, 470-477; formation of Ohio Liberty party, 477; later leaders slow in joining, 478.
Lincoln, Abraham: Lincoln and Stanton, 83; and Garfield, 334, 340; mentioned, 196, 262.
Lindbergh, Colonel Charles A., 191, 618.
"Lindley, Harlow — Librarian at Spiegel Grove," 430-431.
Linton, 79, 343.
Linton, David, 55.
Linton, Elizabeth, 55.
Linton, James, 55.
Linton, Jane, 55.
Linton, Mahlon, 56.
Linton, Nathan, 55.
Linton, Samuel, 55.
Lippencott, Obadiah, 97.
Lippencott, Samuel, 89, 97.
Liquor traffic, 289-290, 354.
"Little Daddy Vicory," 100.
Locher, Senator Cyrus, 601.
Locke, David R., 227, 330
Locke, John: writes on geology, 109; on Geological Survey committee, 113; re- ports of, 115, 123.
Lodge, Senator Henry C, 418.
"Log-Cabin campaign," 447-494.
Logan, James, Mingo chief, 202, 616-617.
Logan, Senator John A., 294, 332.
Long, Mrs. Catherine, 598.
Ley, Clara (Mills), 208.
Lucas, Governor Robert, urges Geologi- cal survey, 107-108. 113, 123.
''Lucas Sullivant and the Founding of Columbus," 162-176; task of the pio- neers, 162; their distribution, 163; Lu- cas Sullivant's arrival, 163; Ordinance of 1787, 164-165; early surveying and surveyors, 164-169; their hardships, 169; The platting of Franklinton. 170- 171; early purchasers, 171-172; mar- riage of Lucas Sullivant, 171; arrival of Lyne Starling, 172-175; Ohio be- comes a State, 172; Columbus made the capital, 173; improvements made by Sullivant, 173-174; first newspaper, first bridge, etc., 174; Harrison-Tarhe peace treaty, 174; progress since that time, 174-175.
"Lucas Sullivant — his Personality and Adventures," 177-187: birth, 177; early life; becomes a surveyor, 178; ex- periences in the wilderness, 179-183;
I pioneer life in the Ohio Valley, 179-
186; Jonathan Alder, 180-181; narrow escapes, 181-184; early travel, mills, etc., 184; General Harrison and the Indians, 184-186; the Peace of 1813, 186; Lucas Sullivant's toll-bridge, 186; personal characteristics, 187; death, eulogy, 187.
"Lucas Sullivant Tablet Dedicated," 161- 176: location of home of Sullivant, 161-162; presentation by Frank Tall- madge, 162; address by Andrew D. Rodgers, III, 162-176.
Lundy, Benjamin: Lundy and slavery, 76; forms Abolition society, 79; his influence; forms "Union Humane So- ciety," 79; edits the Genius of Uni- versal Emancipation; effect of his work, 80-81.
Lyman, Honorable Darius, 111.
Lynde, Nathaniel, 104.
Lynde, Susanna (Willoughby), 104, 106.
Lynn, the ranger, 594.
Lysle, John, 171.
M
McArthur, Governor Duncan, 167, 178.
McCleave, Benjamin, 97, 98.
McCleave, Elizabeth, 97, 98.
McCleave, George, 89, 97-98.
McCleave, John, 97, 98.
McCleave, Mary, 97, 98.
McClure, J. S., 368.
McClure, James, 169.
McCluskey, W. O., 598.
McCook, General George W., 270.
McCoy, R. W., 189.
McCreed, Honorable John, 110-111.
McCulloch, Honorable Hugh, 252-253, 308.
McDonald, Colonel John, 167.
McDowell, J. J., 541-542.
McElfresh, Reverend Franklin, 615, 617.
McElwain, Andrew, 171.
McElwain, John, 485, 489.
McGraw, Grace (Butler), 198.
Mclntire, William, 89, 98.
Mack, I. F., 367.
Mackenzie, William L., 482.
McKinley, William, Sr., 194.
McKinley, President William: classmate of Joseph G. Butler, 194-195; McKin- ley and Sherman, 366-368; ambitions, 370-371; at the Republican National Convention of 1888, 374-375, 378; Wood on, 379, footnote; McKinley and For-
Index.
641
aker, 381; on Ways and Means com- mittee, 3So; McKinley and Hanna, 3S6- 395, 412-420; is defeated, 3S6; governor of Ohio, 405; the campaign of 1S96, 408- 422; re-elected governor, 414; the "McKinley Boom," 414 ct seq.
McKinley Memorial, 197.
McLaughlin, 596.
McLaughlin, Alexander, 175.
MacLean, Reverend J. P., 159.
McLean, John R., edits Cincinnati En- quirer, 226, 265; leader of "Kid" element, 353; McLean and Pendleton, 356, 357; at Democratic National Con- vention, 361; opposes ISIcKinley, 389; at the zenith of his power, 410; men- tioned, 269.
McLean, Washington, 226, 356.
McMaster, John B., cited, 525.
McNulty, Caleb J., delegate at Democratic National Convention, 458; accused by Smith, 558; mentioned, 529, 539.
McPherson, Edward, 283.
MacWhorter, L. V., 159.
Madeira, Colonel John, 203.
Madison, Dolly (Payne) [Todd], 83.
Madison, President James, 83.
Mahone, Senator William, 3S0.
Makers of the American Republic, cited,
Malloy, A. G., 338.
Mansfield, Edward D., 609.
Marietta: celebrates purchase of Rufus Putnam House, 598-604: purchase of house by State, 598, and by citizens of Marietta, through efforts of the women, 599; deed transferred to Ohio State Arch. & Hist, society, 599-601; recep- tion, addresses, music, etc., 600-601; dinner, speeches, telegrams, tributes, etc., 601-604.
"Marietta doctrine," 308-309.
Marietta Times, cited, 599-604.
Marion County Democrats oppose Kelley Law, 567.
Marriage ceremony, Quaker, 59-63.
Marshall, James, 171.
Marshall, John, 565.
Martin, Frank C, 147.
Martin, Mrs. Frank C, 147.
Martin, Matthias, 576.
Martin, Oscar T., 90.
Martins Ferry, Ohio, dedicates monument to Betty Zane, 592-598.
Mason, Eleanor P., 200.
Mason, Honorable Samson, 472.
Masonry, 455.
Massie, Nathaniel, 167, 168, 178.
Mather, Cotton, 117.
Mather, William W.: 117, 125, 126-127.
Matthews, Mrs. E. H., 602.
Matthews, Hon. Stanley: seeks to reform his party, 267; conspicuous at Liberal Convention, 273; in Senate and on the Bench, 281, 352; Matthews and silver, 306-307, 311; Matthews and Foster, 321; opposes Taft, 321-322; mentioned 268, 313, 344.
Medary, Samuel, 457; at Democratic National convention, 458; defends Joel Poinsett, 470; cited, 487, 492; attacks banking system, 501-502; movement against, 504; criticized, 512; thanked by Democracy, 524-525; censured by Tappan, 529; hostile to Hamer, 533- 534; mentioned, 539; accused, opposes bank re-chartering, 540; criticized by D. Smith, 558; leads Democrats, 562- 563; sells Ohio Statesman, 564; men- tioned, 567, 572; president of Demo- cratic state convention, 575, 576, 578; candidate for Congress, 582; takes up Statesman again, 582-583; flays bank- ing system, 584.
Medill, Joseph, 293, 558.
Medill, Honorable William, 473, 488.
Medina County Democrats demand new banking law, 567; Whigs oppose them, 579.
Meeker, Honorable Claude, 601.
Meigs, Governor Return J., 185.
Mendenhall, Alice H., cited, 75, 77.
Mendenhall, Thomas C, cited, 174.
Merrill, G. P., cited, 128.
Merrimon, Honorable Augustus S., 294.
Metcalf, Anna M., 200.
Mexican War, 585-586.
Miami e.xporting bank, 523.
Mifflin, Governor Thomas, 83.
Miller, George N., 5.
Miller, John G., member of Logan his- torical society, 203; leads State Rights men against Van Buren, 454; on Whig State central committee, 463; leads for reform, 483.
Miller, N. M., 483-484.
Miller, Warner, 394.
Mills, Ann, 205, 206.
Mills, Dr. C. W., 203.
Mills. Clara, 208.
642
Oliio Arch, and Hist. Socictx rubUcat'wns.
Mills, Elizabeth, 54, 55, 206, 208.
Mills, Grace, 205.
Mills, Helen M., 218.
Mills, Henry, 53, 206.
Mills, James, 52, 54, 55.
Mills, Jane, 205, 206.
Mills, Major John, 156-158.
Mills, John, 205, 206.
Mills, John Singer, 206.
Mills, Joseph, 206.
Mills, Joshua, 205, 206.
Mills, Joshua, Jr., 206, 208.
Mills, Lucy, 206.
Mills, Lucy (Corless), 205.
Mills, Lydia (Jay), 55.
Mills, Mary (Richard), 54.
Mills, Mary Ann, 208.
Mills, Mary Ann (Mundhenk), 208.
Mills, Mary Ann (Singer), 206.
Mills, May, 205.
Mills, Olive (Bu.xton), 218.
Mills, Rachel, 205, 206.
Mills, Rebecca, 205.
Mills, Rebecca Jane, 206.
Mills, Sarah, 205.
Mills, William, 54, 205.
Mills, William C, 206.
Mills, Dr. William C: explores Ohio rock-shelters, 3, 5, 32; passes away, 201; sketch of life-work, 205-219; birth and ancestry, 205; grandfather, 206; parents, 206-208; early life and educa- tion, 208-209; first interest in arch- aeology, and collections, 209-210; makes interesting discovery, 209-210; elected curator of Ohio Archaeological and Historical Museum, 210-212; first loca- tion of Museum; removal to new building, 212; rapid expansion of the work. 212-213; dedication of first wing- World War Memorial, 213; chosen director of the Museum; establishes department of natural history, 214; resolutions of appreciation, 1923, 214- 215; waning health and courageous fight for life; the closing scene, 215; resolution of respect and tribute to his memory, 215-216; societies to which he belonged, 216-217; writings; work at expositions, 217; as president of O. S. U. athletic association; marriage and family, 218; editorials on, 218- 219; letter from National research council, 219.
Milton, William, 191.
Miner, John L., 463. Mingo Indians, 616. Ministers (of the gospel) , generally
Whigs, 491. Mitchell, John, 171. Montgomery, Hugh, 171. Montgomery, Captain Samuel, 98. Montgomery, T. J., 96. Monypenny, George, 501. Moore, Clifford H., "Ohio in National
Politics, 1865-1896," 220-427. Moore, Colonel Daniel, 93. Moore, Heman A., 547. Moore, Mrs. W. C, 143. Mooseheart, Governor of, 139. Morehead, James T., 451. Morgan, General George W., candidate
for governor, 236; influence, 260; cited,
300; mentioned, 273. Morgan, T. J., 564, 572, 573. Morgan, William D., 264. Morris, C. E., 615. Morris, Calvary, 580. Morris, Senator Thomas, 477, 480. Morrison Bill, 360-361. Morrow, Jeremiah, 553. Morton, Honorable Levi P., 373. Morton, Marcus, 564. Morton, Senator Oliver P.: arouses
enmity, 279; Morton and Thurman,
294; candidate for president, 302;
mentioned, 303, 350. Mother Mary of St. Agnes, 161. Moulton, Colonel C. W., 366, 367. Mueller, Lieutenant-Governor Jacob, 273. Mullin, John, 55. Mundhenk, Augustus, 208. Mundhenk, Daniel, 208. Mundhenk, Mary Ann, 208. Murray, 182.
Myers, Allan O., 402-403. Nasby, Petroleum V., pseud. See Locke,
D. R.
N. National McKinley Birthplace Memorial.
197. "National Old Trails Road in Ohio," 143-
147: unveiling of bronze tablet, 143-
144; address of Mrs. Lewis C. Lay-
lin, 144-147. National road, 174. The Nation's History, 618-619 Nauman, Thomas, 89, 98-99. Neal, Lawrence T., 404, 405.
Index
643
Negro suffrage: a direct issue, 232-236; difficulties of Wade and Cox, 234-236; Unionists sidestep; "Visible Admix ture" Law, 242; attitude of Hayes, 243; the Amendment defeated, 242-244: "Visible Admixture" Law passed 258; ignored by "New Departure,'
Neil, Robert, 463, 484, 543.
Neil, William, 147.
Neutrality, 447, 482.
"New Departure": attempted, 265; inaug- urated by Vallandigham, 268; defined 269; futility, 271, 273; another at- tempt, 275, 280-282.
New England, political influence on Ohio, 445.
Newberry, John S., cited, 128.
Nichol, T. M., 336, 352.
Nixon, W. P., 333-334.
Norton, Robert, 338.
Notes on "Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896," 334, 335, 338, 340-341, 368,
Noyes, General Edwar^ F., 271. Nye, Kathryn P., 604.
O'Bannon, John. 167, 168, 178.
"O'Connor legislation," 319.
Odell, 343.
Ogle, Honorable Charles, 487.
O'Harra, Arthur, 171.
Ohio: prominence of, at Inauguration ceremonies, 349; the election of 1840, 442-494; the Ordinance of 1787; rapid growth, 442; difference between north- ern and southern Ohio, 442-443; grow- ing wealth and development, 443; racial components, 444-445; early poli- tics, 445-446; increasing strength of Whigs; the Panic of 1837, 445-446; Democrats win on policy of bank re- form; rise of William Henry Harrison, 447; Ohio Whigs incline toward Clay or Webster, 447-448; desire for unifi- cation, 448; press falls into line for Harrison, 450; strong sentiment for him, 452; Whig National Convention, Ohio solid for Harrison, 452-453; Democratic issue, 455; Shannon elected governor, 456; re-elected, 456- 457; Democrats of state support Van Buren, 457; and Independent Treasury Law, 457-458; Whig State Convention,
459-460, 461-463; Corwin nominated for governor, 461-462 ;resolutions, 462-463; the campaign in Ohio, 464-467; the "Buckeye Blacksmith," 467-468; the press, 468; General Assembly urges Independent Treasury, 469; Whigs oppose, 469-470; Harrison's record in- vestigated, 472; Thomas Morris; the "gag" resolutions, 473-474; Ohio papers on the "gag" resolutions, 474-475; Anti-slavery question, 475-476; meet- ings of Anti-Slavery Society, 476- 477; formation of Ohio Liberty party, 477; Harrison's attitude, 478; Ohio Whigs cautious on anti-slavery ques- tion, 478-479; a resort to camouflage, 479-480; Tappan's course, 479-480; the question of immigrants and their votes, 480-482; the McKenzie incident; a threat, 482; anti-foreign spirit, 482- 483; state rights, 483; Ohio "Jackson reform" clubs, 484-485; Democratic extravagance emphasized, 4S7-488; leading Ohio Democrats renounce the party, 489; entire State busy in cam- paign, 492-493; Harrison successful, 493; banking question, 495-501; popu- lation map, 623-624.
"Ohio before 1850," cited, 444.
Ohio House Journal, cited, 110-111.
"Ohio idea," new program for national currency, 251-257; safely launched, 260; used for political ends, 300-301; mentioned, 408, 410.
"Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896": post-war problems, 220-221; Ohio's significance; population, 221; leader- ship, 222-223; passing of agricultural frontier, 223-224; importance of lake traffic, 224; important cities, 224-225; leading newspapers, 226-228; racial components, 229-230; party strife, 230-231; Reconstruction, 232-233; cause of Wade's political downfall, 234; Cox's narrow escape, 234-235; Dem- ocrats declare for State rights; nomi- nate Morgan for governor, 236; Cox wins election, 236; National Union Club convention, 237; rise of Vallan- digham, 238; of Pendleton, 239; of Thurman, 239-240; Jackson's Day, 1867, 240-241; Unionists eliminate Cox, nominate Hayes, 241-242; the campaign and the negro, 242-244; Hayes elected governor, 244; Democ-
644
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Socictx Publications.
'Ohio in National Politics"— Concluded, racy encouraged by results, 244; eco- nomic results of the war, 244-245; labor and the national debt, 246-247; finan- cial questions, the "greenback move- ment," 248-249; banking interests of paramount importance, 250; Pendleton's scheme, the "Ohio idea," 250-252; Sherman urged to counteract its ef- fect, 252; launches his plan, 252-257; Fourteenth Amendment looms up; Visible Admixture Law reconsidered and passed, 258; popularity of Val- landigham, 259; his defeat, 259-260; plans revenge, 260-261; Republicans elect Grant, 261; Hayes, renominated, defeats Pendleton for governor, 262; president's actions cause criticism, 263; Gary's independent campaign, 263- 264; Thurman made Senator,— Val- landigham's retort, 264; Gincinnati fer- tile in new political ideas, 266-267; a Republican council; its objective, 267- 268; Vallandigham appears again; the "New Departure," 268-269; various opinions, 270; death of Vallandigham, 271; General Noyes elected governor, 271-272; Ashley's coup, 272-273; Sher- man's re-election, 273; Liberal Gonven- tion, 273-274; the "Allen Gounty move- ment," 275-276; State conventions, 276- 280; election of Allen and Thurman, 280; significance of Liberal movement, 280-281; influence of Democratic coup of 1873, 282; the Republican party- characterized, 283-284; labor and capi- tal, 286; general social conditions, 286- 291; the liquor traffic; temperance crusade, 289-290; sectarianism in pub- lic schools, 290; Panic of 1873, 291- 292; industrial depression, 292-293; Gongress seeks to solve the problem, 293-294; Specie Payments Law, 294; Democrats in ascendancy, 295; "Rag- baby" faction, 295; Thurman on the platform, 296-297; Resumption Act passed, 297; Republican State conven- tion, 298; nomination of Hayes, his election, 299; sectarianism and its in- fluence, 300; Democrats nominate Til- den, 301-302; the contest, and election of Hayes, 302-304; the President's dif- ficulties, 304-306; free silver, 306-314; problems of a new decade, 314, et scq.; agricultural problems, 315-316; activity
of labor leaders, 316-317; financial is- sues; positions of Ewing and Thur man, 317-318; the Stalwarts, 319; rise of Foster; his campaign and success, 319-322; John Sherman; his ability, ambitions, etc., 323-324; his financial views, 325-328; opposition, 328-330; "Ohio's favorite son," 331; Republi- can National convention, 331-339; in- creasing prominence of Garfield, 332- 335; his nomination, 335-333"; his rec- ord, 340-344; plans of the Democracy, 344; possible candidates, 344-345; Thurman, 344-347; the Payne machine, 345-347; Garfield nominated, 349; as- sassinated, 350; changes in Gabinet and Senate, 351-352; Foster's re- nomination, 353; schism in the Demo- cratic party, 353; nomination of Book- waiter, 353-354; Foster elected; im- portance of Prohibition vote, 354; Ward and Hoadly in factional war, 354-356; Hoadly 's nomination, 356; Pendleton vs. Payne, and victory of the latter, 356-357; the Donavin letter, 358; charges of bribery dropped, 358- 359; Hoadly 's administration a party disaster, 361; Democratic National convention, 361; Cleveland's election, 362; Thurman in the Senate, 364; Sherman looms up again, 364; For- aker made governor through Payne machine, 364-365; Sherman's hopes, 366-377; censure of McKinley, 367-368; rise of Hanna to prominence, 368; Sherman in the South, 368; Republi- can National Convention of 1888, 370- 380;; Hanna at the convention, 372; work of Piatt and Quay, 372-373; nomination of Harrison, 374-375; rea- sons for Sherman's defeat, 376; elec- tion of Harrison, 376; Hanna as a political leader, 378-379; break between Foraker and Sherman forces, 379-380; between Foraker and Hanna, 380; Campbell nominated by Democrats, 381-382; a bitter campaign; the "Topp letter," the ballot-box scheme, 382-384; Campbell vindicated and elected, 384; McKinley and Hanna, 386; election of 1891; Campbell defeated by McKinley, 387-390; Republican National Conven- tion of 1892, 390-395; election of Mc- Kinley, 391-394; Ohio a pivotal state^ 395; '96 campaign— its importance, 394-
Index.
645
397; widespread discontent, 397-399; rise of Brice; his methods, his charity, 401-408; "Free silver," 408- 410; Brice and Campbell defeated, 410; Democratic National Convention and the "First Battle," 410-422; Mc- Kinley and Hanna, 413-414; McKin- ley's re-election, 414; Foraker made senator, 416; McKinley's record, 416- 417; his views on silver, 417-418; the Bryan movement, 420; his defeat, 420- 421.
Ohio Land Company, 165.
Ohio Patriot, 564; cited, 572.
Ohio, Scenic and Historic, 437-438.
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, given custody of Rufus Put- nam house at Marietta, 598-604; Pub- lications, cited, 163.
Ohio State Board of Control, 559.
Ohio State Journal, cited, 144, 448, 450. 566, 568, 577, 578.
Ohio Steel Company, 195.
"Ohio's Tallest Building: the A. I. U Citadel, at Columbus," 136-142; propor tions, builders, 136; dedicatory exer cises, 138-142; address by A. B Hart, 138-141; poem by Mrs. M. W Vandegrift, 141-142; poem by C. H Orr, 142.
"Old Bandanna," 239-240.
Old ChilHcothe, 614.
The Old Free State, a Contribution to the History of Lunenburg County and Southside Virginia, 624.
"Old Hunkers' paradise," 225.
Old National Stage Company, 147.
Oldfield, Honorable William, 203.
Olds, Edson B., 539, 541, 580.
Olds, Joseph, 559.
O'Neall, Abijah, 52, 54, 55.
O'Neall, Abijah P., 54.
O'Neall, Anna C. F., 53.
O'Neall, Anna (Kelly), 54, 55.
O'Neall, George, 54.
O'Neall, William, 54.
"Ordinance of 1787, its Origin and Author- ship," cited, 165.
Oregon country, 577.
Orr, Charles H., 142.
Orton, Professor Edward, 210.
Orton, General Edward, Jr., 214, 215-216.
Otstott, Mrs. E. E., 86.
Overdier, Jacob, 171.
P.
Page, (Beardsley), 92.
Page, Ira, 92.
Paige, David R., 345.
1 ainter, David, 52.
I: aimer, Andrew, 489-490.
Palmer, Eleanor (Mason), 200.
Palmer, James S., 200.
Palmer, William P., 200-201.
Panic of 1837: blamed on Van Buren administration, 447; causes suffering, 486, 495; land speculation a cause, 498; many losers become Whigs, 508.
Parrish, Honorable Isaac, 473.
Parsons, Edward S., 601.
Parsons, John, 89.
"Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850," 439- 591: preface, 439-441; Ohio and the Ordinance of 1787, 442; its rapid progress, 442; expanding markets, 442- 443; canals; value of products, 443; racial origins, 443-444; Scotch-Irish, Germans, Quakers, New Englanders, 444-445; influence of Democratic party, 445-446; problems of the Whigs, 446; burning of the Caroline, 446-447; can- didacy of William Henry Harrison, 447-448; Webster for Cabinet, 449; Whigs support Harrison, 449-450; Clay's waning strength, 450; Scott boom insignificant, 451-452; havoc in the Whig ranks, 452; the National con- vention, 452-453; nomination of Har- rison and Tyler, 453; satisfaction in consequence, 454; criticism by the Democrats, 454-455; re-nomination of Van Buren, 455, 458-459; Whig press on Van Buren, and on Shannon, 456; Democratic State convention, 456; Dem- ocratic National convention of 1840, 457-458; platform, 458; "gag" rule adopted; bid for foreign vote, 458-459; the Log-Cabin campaign, 459-493; election of Harrison, 493-494; banking and currency in Ohio politics, 495-591.
Patten, William, 45.
Patterson, Carl, 70-71.
Patterson, George A., 66.
Patton, John M., author of "gag" rule, 458, 473; protests against rule, 473- 474; Whig opinions, 476.
Patty, Charles, 55.
Patty, Mary (Jay), 55.
Patty, Sarah, 55.
646
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications.
Payne, Dolly, 83.
Payne, Senator Henry B.: his "boom," 344-348, 356; his election, how accom- plished, 357-361, 384, 400-401; cited, 360-362; mentioned, 394, 400-401, 404.
Payne, Nathan, 347.
Payne, Colonel Oliver H.: opposes Thur- man, 347; leads "Kid" element, 353; evidence of irregularities, 358-359.
Pearson, Ada, 44, 45.
Pearson, Hannah, 55.
Pendleton, George H.: a gifted political leader, 239; urged for president, 240; stand on currency question, 251; aided by the "Ohio Idea," 257; his cam- paign, 258-261, 268-272; Pendleton and the "Rag baby" faction, 295; elected to the U. S. Senate, 314; Pendleton and Payne, 346; Pendleton and Thur- man lead "mossbacks," 353; seeks re- election to Senate, 355; Pendleton and the McLeans, 356; defeated by Payne, 356; Pendleton and the Civil Service Reform Law, 357; supported by Thur- man, 357-358; mentioned, 262, 264, 268, 352.
Pendleton, N. G., 453.
Penn, William: In Pennsylvania, 38; cited, 60; opinion of prisons, 76; his spirit, 81.
Perkins, Honorable Isaac S., 115.
Perkins, William L., 569.
Perry, A. F., 526.
Philanthropist, The, 79.
Philanthropy, Quakers and, 75-79.
Pickerel, Lieutenant-Governor William G., 601.
Pioneer Period and Pioneer People of Fairfield County, 0., cited, 155.
Piatt, Honorable Thomas C. : Piatt and Garfield, 350; in the Republican Na- tional Convention of 1888, 373-376, 418; hostility to Harrison, 389; cited, 413-414; mentioned, 391, 394.
Poinsett, Joel R., 466, 470.
Poland, John A., 202, 203.
Polk, President James K., 609.
Pool, William, 89.
Poore, Benjamin P., cited, 240.
Population Map of Ohio for 1920, 623-624.
Powell, Thomas E., 361, 363.
Presidential campaigns: "Ohio in national politics, 1865-1896," 220-422; "The election of 1840 in Ohio," 442-494.
Presidential term: Whigs favor single
term, 462; Harrison also, 466.
Press: chief medium of influence, 225- 226; leading Ohio papers, 226-229; comments on Vallandigham coup, 270-271; the "Allen County" move- ment, 275-276; the servant question, 287; the school question, 300; the "Ohio idea," 300-301; the Hayes-Tilden elec- tion, 305; free coinage of silver, 309, 311-312, 406; on Thurman, 318; Jewett, 345; Pendleton and Ward, 355-356; bribery, 358; Campbell, 383-384; Har- rison, 447-448, 449, 450, 452, 453-454, 460, 461, 464, 468, 471; Clay, 450, 452; Scott, 451-452; taxation, 581; Whigs, 452, 545, 570; Van Buren, 454, 456, 457, 470; Shannon, 456, 536; Independ- ent Treasury Law, 457, 469, 470; Cam- paign of 1840, 459; horse-racing, 460; abolition, 462, 473-480; Medary, 468; the foreign vote, 480-483; reform, 483, 4S5; Democratic party, 486, 514, 527 534, 535, 539, 547, 555, 566, 568, 569- 570, 577-578; official extravagance, 487- 488; banks and banking, 496, 499, 501, 503-504, 512, 516, 520, 523-524, 533, 536, 540, 541, 542, 545, 547, 552, 555-557, 564,566,570,574,578,583-584; on Cor- win, 520; Olds, 539; Congressional Ap- pointment Law, 542; Ridgway, 546; 547; Tyler, 552; Tod, 553, 557, 571, 578; Hazewell, 567; Bebb, 582; Tap- pan, 569.
Price, Honorable William, 113.
Priestly, J. E., 597.
Prison reform, Quakers and, 76.
Proctor, General Henry A., 185, 189.
Prohibition, 354.
"Prophet, The," Memorial to, 158.
Pugh, Achilles, 54.
Pugh, Ellis, 55.
Pugh, George E., 260.
Pugh, Phebe, 55.
Putnam, B. B., 603.
Putnam, Rufus: House of, purchased, 598-604; restored, 600; transferred to custody of Ohio State Arch, and Hist. Society, 599-604.
"The Quakers: their Migration to the Upper Ohio, their Customs and Dis- cipline," 35-85.
Quartermaster's Record Book, 192-193.
Quay, Senator Matthew S.: works for
Index.
647
Sherman, 373-374; Quay and Harri- son, 389, 391; Quay and Brice, 404. Quincy, Josiah, 93.
R.
"Rag baby" faction: 295, 299, 306.
"Railroad Discussion not Forbidden by Lancaster School Board," 148-155; a well-worn story, 148-152; contradictions, explanations, fixing the responsibility, 153-154; South Charleston the source of the story, 151-154.
Railroads: prophecies concerning, 148- 155; Credit Mobilier scandal, 275, 277; political influence of, 375; growth, 396; Brice's success, 403.
"Rainbow chaser," 404.
Randall, Honorable Emilius O., 79, 210-211.
Randall, Honorable Samuel K., 347.
Raritan (steamer), 611.
Raum, General Green B., 372, 380.
Raymond, Sarah (Lynde), 104.
Raymond, Theodore, 104.
Reconstruction: a burning question, 232- 236; Democrats oppose negro suffrage, 241; Unionists endorse, 242; stand of General Hayes, 243; his election, 243- 244; condemned by Democrats, 260; ignored by "New Departure," 269.
Reddish, Mary (McCleave), 97, 98.
Reed, Honorable Samuel, 203.
Reemelin, Charles, 574, 583.
Reeves, Owen T., 203.
Religious issues: the question of the Bible in the schools, 290, 298, 300; charges of infidelity, 569.
Remarks on the Geological Features of Ohio, etc., cited, 110.
Renick, Felix, 203.
Republican party: Murat Halstead, 221; Ohio papers, 227-228; Ohio party alignment, 229-230; stand on financial questions, 252-257; Grant's election, 261- 262; party policies, 263; Reunion and Reform Association, 267-268; election of General Noyes, 271-272; re-election of Sherman, 272-273; Liberal Conven- tion, 273; Liberal ticket defeated, 274; The Liberals condemned, 276; Noyes defeated by Allen, 279-280; leading Liberals, 281; characterization of the party, 283-284; passage of Resumption Act, 297; Hayes nominated for gov- ernor, 298; a memorable campaign.
299; causes of Republican victory, 300; the presidential campaign, 302- 304; election of Hayes, 304-305; schism in the party, 305-306; aids in passing Bland Bill, 306; Sherman's views on silver, 307-309; the Resumption Law, 306, 309-310; Convention takes stand on Labor question, 313; party de- feated, in Ohio, 314; campaign of 1879; election of Foster, 319-322; presidential campaign; Sherman's am- bitions, 324 — ct seq. ; the convention, and nomination of Garfield, 331-343; Republican victory, 348-350; Sherman elected senator, 362; rise of Foraker, 365; Sherman again hopeful, 365-376; the Convention — nomination and elec- tion of Harrison, 366-377; reasons for Republican victory, 377; Hanna in the Convention of 1888, 378-395; For- aker's defeat, 379-384; Hanna and Mc- Kinley, 385-394; 413-416; Harrison re- nominated, 390-393; defeated, 394-395; the campaign of 1896, 411-421; McKin- ley elected, 420; importance of the contest, 421.
Resumption Act: passed, 297; ignored in Convention, 303; attacked, 305, 308, 309, 311; Ewing heads opposition, 306, 317, 318; Sherman defends, 309-310, 324; Thurman attacks, 311, 317-318; used by Sherman to promote candidacy, 327; opposed in Democratic platform, 343; an expedient gesture, 348.
"Reunion and reform association," 267.
Reviews, Notes and Comments, by the Editor: "Verily the World Do Move," 190-191; Dr. Hervey Scott, 191- 192; Quartermaster's Record Book — 1793, 192-193; Joseph Green Butler, Jr., 193-198; Prof. Azariah Smith Root, 198-200; William Pendleton Palmer, 200-201; death of Dr. William C. Mills, 201; Ross County Historical Society, 201-203; Museum Echoes, 204; Notes on "Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896," 334, 335, 338, 340-341, 368, 380-381; Newly elected Officers and Employes: Henry Clyde Shetrone, 428-430; Harlow Lindley— Librarian at Spiegel Grove, 4.30-431; Emerson F. Greenman, 431-432; Death of Senator Frank Bartlette Willis, 433-434; Just Judgments, 434-437; Ohio, Scenic and Historic, 437-438;
648
Ohio Arcli. and Hist. Society Publications.
Reviews, Notes and Comments — Concluded Unveiling of Memorial to Elizabeth Zane, 592-598; Celebration at Campus Martius, 598-604; The Nation's His- tory, 618-619; Interesting and Val- uable Chronicles of Scioto County, 619-621; The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, 1774-1777, 621-623; Popula- tion Map of Ohio, 1920, 623-624; Con- tribution to the History of Virginia, 624. "Revolutionary War Soldiers buried in Clark County, Ohio," 86-100: part of S. A. R. and D. A. R. in securing data and placing markers, 86-87, 89- 90; roster of soldiers, 87-89; historical data, 90-100.
Rhodes, James F., 292.
Rice, Americus, 318.
Richards, Lydia, 53, 54.
Richards, Mary, 54
Richards, Rowland, 53, 54.
Richards, William, 195.
Riddell, John L., cited, 110; appointed to report on Geological Survey, 113; report presented, 115; endorsed, 132.
Ridgway, Joseph, on State Central Com- mittee, 449, 463, 526, 543; character- ized, 546; defeated, 547.
Ridpath, John C, cited, 93.
Riots, Cincinnati, 523.
Rise and Progress of an American State, cited, 79.
'■Roaring Bill Allen," 27
Robinson, James, 171.
Robinson, Samuel, 169.
Robinson, Thomas, 366.
Rodgers, Andrew Denny, III, 162-176, 177.
Rodgers, William, 89.
Rogers, Empson, 54.
Rogers, W. B., 109.
Rolston, Andrew, 171.
Roosevelt, Presiuent Theodore, 327.
Root, Anna M. (Metcalf), 20O.
Root, Anna (Smith), 198.
Root, Professor Azariah S., 198-200.
Root, Francis M., 20O.
Root, Marian, 200.
Root, Solomon F., 198.
Rosecrans, General William S., 262, 265.
Ross County historical society, 201-203.
Rosser, Mrs. Aurelia, 159.
Roy, Andrew, 317.
Rubsam, Dora, 86.
Runyan, Forrest M., 90. Russell, Charles E., 374. Russell, Howard H., 199. Russell, O. H., 338. Ryan, Honorable Daniel J., 79.
St. Clair, General Arthur, 160, 172. Saline Springs, 4-5. Salsbury, E. E., 105. Salsbury, Mrs. E. E., 105. Sanderson, Edward, 338. "Sarah Starling Sullivant," 188-189; Lucas Sullivant's wife, her experiences in the wilderness, 188; her character and good deeds, 189; her death, 189. Satterthwaite, Elizabeth (Linton), 55. Sawyer, Senator Philetus, 391. Scarlett, 367. Schaffner, J. H., 19, 32. Schenck, Honorable Robert C, 266, 528. Schools: Bible reading in, 290, 298, 30O;
division of funds, 290, 298, 300. Schroeder, J. H., 535.
Schurz, Honorable Carl: promotes "re- union and reform," 267; enters politi- cal fight against Allen, 299; cited, 350. Scioto County, O., Book on, 619-621. Scotch Associate Presbyterians, 614. Scotch-Irish in Ohio, 444. Scott, Dr. Bay, 151. Scott, Effie S., 203. Scott, Dr. Hervey, 148-155; 191-192. Scott, J. S., cited, 596. Scott, Molly, 595, 596. Scott, Tom, 313. Scott, Sir Walter, 287. Scott, Will, 148-154, 190-191. Scott, William L., 363. Scott, General Winfield, 450-451. Seceders, 614.
Sectarianism, 290, 298, 300. Sedgwick, Howard F., 598. Sells, Ludwig, 171. Seltzer, Samuel, 526. Servants, 287. Servase, William, 89. Seymour, Governor Horatio, 261, 264,
302. Shannon, Governor Wilson: elected, 456; ideas on currency, 497, 502-503, 508; renominated, 509, 524; criticizes banks, 513; defeats Corwin, 534; made min- ister to Mexico, 536; annual messages,
Index.
649
537-538, 548; accused of party dis- loyalty, 548; criticized, 552; his defense, 552; work for banks, 563; defeated for district attorney, 563; "must be crushed," 572.
Sharp, Honorable George, 113.
Sharpless, Isaac, cited, 71.
Shawnee Indians, 613, 614, 615-616.
Shelby, Governor Isaac, 189.
Shepard, Abram, 167.
Sherman, Senator John: cited, 252, 253- 256, 307-308; financial policy, 252-257; schemes of opponents, 272-273; Specie Payments Law, 294; in Hayes cam- paign, 299; Resumption Act, 303, 305, 306, 309, 310-311; the "Bloody Shirt," 303; in Garfield's cabinet, 307; the Bland Bill, 307; an unhappy situation, 308- 309; presidential aspirations, 324-339; the Republican National Convention of 1880, 331-339; Sherman and Blaine, 350; in the Senate, 351-352, 362; Sherman and Foster, 352-353; senator- ial contest, 362-363; again an aspirant to the presidency, 366-393; mentioned, 275, 280, 287, 406.
Sherman, Walter J.: his connection with an ancient chest, 101-102; descendant of Colonel William Willoughby, 103; a legacy from the chest, 105-106.
Sherman, Mrs. Walter J., 105.
Sherman, General William T., 190.
Sherwood, General Isaac W., 343.
Sherwood, O. W., 543.
Shetrone, Henry C, "Some Ohio Caves and Rock Shelters Bearing Evidence of Human Occupancy," 1-34; speaks before Ross County historical society, 201; sketch of life, 428-430: birth, edu- cation; chosen assistant curator of archaeology, 428; writings, 428-429;; in War with Spain, 429; work for Cuban government, 429-430; elected curator of archaeology, and later director of Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society, 430.
Silliman, Benjamin, 117, 129, 130.
Silver question: Bland Bill passed, 305- 306; favored by Matthews, 307-308 President advised against veto, 309 Ebth favored and criticized by Sher- man, 310; opposed by Hayes, 310; silver sentiment sweeps state, 311 press on the issue, 311-312; labor lead- ers declare for remonetization, 316 Thurman's activity, 317-318; Bland
Bill vetoed by President, 319.
Singer, Mary A., 206.
Skidmore, George, 171.
Skillings, Lewis, 94.
Slager, A. L., "Revolutionary War Sol- diers Buried in Clark County, Ohio," 86-100.
Slavery, 585, 586; Quaker attitude to- ward, 39-41; 76-81.
Sloan, Helen (Hill) : on committee to finance Putnam House, 599; praised, 602, 603, 604.
Sloane, Rush R., cited, 272.
Smith, 333.
Smith, Abram, 53.
Smith, Amos, 338, 366.
Smith, Ann (Todd), 37.
Smith, Delazon, 558.
Smith, Elizabeth (McCleave), 97-98.
Smith, Guy-Harold, 623-624.
Smith, H. E., "The Quakers: their Mi- gration to the Upper Ohio, their Cus- toms and Discipline," 35-85.
Smith, James, 168.
Smith, Peter, 98.
Smith, Reuben S., 338.
Smith, Richard ("Dick"): edits Cincin- nati Gazette, 226; supports Judge Taft, 298; edits Toledo Commercial; opposes Foraker, 380, 384; mentioned, 339.
Smith, Samuel, 97-98.
Smith, William, 37, 563.
Smith, William H., 375, 386.
Smucker, Honorable Isaac, 122, 123.
Snider. Judge Van A., 148, 149, 191.
"Some Ohio Caves and Rock Shelters Bearing Evidence of Human Occu- pancy," 1-34; need for caves, 1-2; abundance of, in Ohio, 2-3; explora- tion of, 3; Canter's Caves; location, 4; description, 5-21; Echo Cave: di- mensions, 6-8; contents, 8-21; burials, 8-9; pouches, baskets, sandals, nets, weapons, utensils, bones, etc., 9-21; Indian Cave, 8; objects found in both caves, 16-20; textiles, 19-20; Kettle Hill Cave: location, 21-23; a rob- bers' rendezvous, 23; dimensions, 23; work of the Boy Scouts, 23-27; official examination, and its results, 27-34.
Some Social Aspects of the Society of Friends, cited, 75-77.
Sons of the Revolution. Ohio society. George Rogers Clark chapter, 86, 96.
650
OJiio Arcli. and Hist. Society Publications.
South, The; Quakers trek to southward, 38; dislike slavery and emigrate to northern states, 39-41; reconstruction, 232-262; "the solid South," 30O, 304; Hayes' southern policy, 305, 312; at- titude of Republicans toward, 325; Sherman's conciliatory speech, 368-369; how Hanna won votes for McKinley, 413-414.
South Charleston, Ohio, 151-155; 191-192.
Southern Quakers and Slavery, cited, 38, 47.
Spangler, David, 554.
Spencer, O. M., 471.
Spetnagel, Albert C, 203.
Spray, Mary (Wilson), 55.
Spray, Naomi, 55.
Spray, Samuel, 55.
Standard Oil Company: 358-359, 361.
Stanley, Mary H., 602.
Stanton, Borden, 45-46.
Stanton, Edwin M. : illustration of, 82; reared a Friend, 83; mentioned, 571; endorses Tod's nomination, 577.
Stanton, Joseph, 61, 82.
Stanton, Mary (Hodgin), 59, 61; facing 62.
Stanton, William H., 85.
Stanton, William M., 63.
Stark, General John, 96.
Starling, Lyne: arrives at Franklinton; wins victory in contested title case, 172; hopes as to Ohio's capital, 173; settles Lucas Sullivant's estate, 174; mentioned, 175. 189; on Whig State Central Committee, 463.
Starling, Mrs. Susanna, 188.
Starling, Sir William, 171.
Starling, Colonel William, 164, 188.
State Central committee. Names of, 449, 463, 526, 543.
State Rights association: meets in Co- lumbus, 483-484; merges with old Jacksonians; meets, condemns Van Buren administration, 485.
Stephenson, Colonel Hugh, 167, 170.
Stephenson, Richard; Lucas Sullivant's land deals with heirs of, 167; Ohio lands entered for him, 168, 170; mis- take concerning, corrected, 171-172.
Stevenson Cemetery, Xenia, Ohio, 614.
Stewart, Earl, 600.
Stewart, Francis, 463.
Stoddard, Paul W., "Story of the First Geological Survey of Ohio," 107-135.
Stokes family, 171.
Stoops, Adam, 54.
Storer, Bellamy, 467.
Stories Old and Often Told, cited, 619- 621.
Story, A Well-worn, 148-155.
"Story of an Old Dutch Chest," 101-106: The Spanish Armada, 101-103; the "Armada chests," 103-106; saved from the sea, 103; one in Hartford, 104; the other in London, 104-105; contents of one chest, 105-106; W. J. Sherman, a descendant, and beneficiary, 103-106.
"Story of the First Geological Survey of Ohio, 1835-1842," 107-135: introduction, 107; appeal of Governor Lucas for a Survey, 107-108; other states ahead of Ohio, 108-109; need for Survey urged, 109-115; discussed in Ohio House of Representatives, 110-113; committees appointed. 111; also in Senate, 112, committees, 113; Survey postponed; again urged by governor, 113; committee reports, 114; new com- mittees; a bitter fight, 115; bill is passed, 116; officials begin work, 116- 117; personnel of First Survey, 117- 119; Governor's Message of 1838, 119; its effect; Geological act amended; passed by Senate, 120; defeated; in- fluence of Panic of 1S37; other rea- sons for defeat; work of Governor Vance, 121; new committees, 122; Professor Mather's plea, 122-123; urged by committee, 123-124; bill tabled, 124; death-knell of the Survey, 124-125; Governor Corwin vainly urges its con- tinuance, 125; reasons for discontinu- ance, 125-129; value of the reports, 126-130; results of discontinuance of Survey, 129-130; attitude of scientists and the press, toward the Survey, 130- 133; renewed efforts to secure, 133-134; success at last, 134.
Strong, William L., 330.
"Strongheart," Yakima Indian, 159. ' Stroup, Michael, 171.
Sturgeon, 343.
Suffrage legislation: negro suffrage, 242- 244, 258, 269; disfranchisement of students and soldiers, 258.
Sullivant, Hannah (Lucas), 163.
Sullivant, Jane D., "Lucas Sullivant— His Personality and Adventures," 177-189.
Index.
651
Sullivant, Joseph, 174, 175, 177; Genealogy and Family Memorial, cited, 177-189.
Sullivant, Lucas, Sketch of, 163-175, 177- 189.
Sullivant, Michael, 174.
Sullivant, Sarah (Starling), 171, 188-189.
Sullivant, William, 174.
Summers, Thomas J., 601.
Sumner, Honorable Charles, 263, 340.
Sutphen, Lang, 153.
Swan, Honorable Gustavus, 203, 559.
Swayne, Noah H., 203.
Sweeney, Honorable George, 473.
Taft, Judge Alphonso, 298, 321-322.
Taft, Chief Justice William H., cited, 75, 362.
Tallmadge, Frank, 162.
Tappan, Honorable Benjamin, cited, 109- 110, 112; supports Van Buren on banking questions, 457; accused by Whigs of being an "amalgamationist," 479-480; refuses to present abolition petitions, 480; opposes bank charters, 504; attacks Hazewell, 567; accused of infidelity, 569; stand on hard money, 576; mentioned, 572, 586.
Tappan, Eli T., 529.
Tarhe, "the Crane," 174, 186.
Tariff, 360, 400, 494.
Taverns of Columbus: Columbus Inn, Four-Mile House, Globe, Golden Lamb, Lion and Eagle, Neil House, Pike's Tavern, White Horse Tavern, 147.
Taxation: of banks, 561; law of 1845, 565; law of 1846, 581, 582, 584; condemned by Democrats, 584, 586.
Taylor, Ann, 56.
Taylor, B. B., 529, 535.
Taylor, Colonel E. L., 176.
Taylor, Isaac, 483.
Taylor, Jonathan, 45, 56.
Taylor, Honorable Jonathan, 473.
Taylor, Shelby,, 275, 389.
Taylor, Colonel William H. H., 610.
Tecumseh: anecdote of, 96; memorial to, 158-159; influence, 184; death, 189.
Teel, William R., 219.
Teesdale, John, 580.
Temperance Crusade, 289-290.
Tenney, H. M., 199.
Tenskwatawa, "The Prophet," 158, 184.
Thames, Battle of the, 189.
Thomas, cited, 70.
Thomas, Mayor James J., 138, 143, 162.
Thomas, Samuel, 403.
Thompson, Colonel, 359, 379.
Thompson, "Old Jake," 365.
Thompson, Honorable Joseph, Jr., 116.
Thornely, Samuel, 623.
Thrall, William B., 203.
Throckmorton, James W., 343.
Thurman, Senator Allen G. : characteris- tics, 239-240; candidate for governor, 259; elected senator, 264; opposes "Allen County movement," 275-278; re-elected senator, 280; attacked, 295; opens campaign, 296; position on finance, 317-318; thwarted ambitions, 318; succeeded in Senate by Garfield, 331; renewed hopes, 344; defeated by Payne intrigue, 344-349; opposes Brice, 353, 361, 410; nominated for vice- president, 363, 377; defeated, 364; cited, 274, 294; mentioned, 260, 271, 301, 314, 353, 361, 410.
Thurman. Allen W., 406.
Tilden, Honorable Samuel J. : nominated for president, 301-302; the campaign, 302-305; mentioned, 331, 344, 347, 355.
"Tin bucket brigade," 264.
Tippecanoe, Battle of, 184.
Tizzard, W. B., cited, 511-512.
Tobey, Mrs. Walter L., 602.
Tod, Governor David, 195, 196; nominated for governor, 552; position on banks, 552-553, 557; accusations of, 554-555; Tod and the flag, 555; mentioned, 558; defeated, 558; urged for governor, 571- 573; delegates for, 575; revealed as opposed to banks, 575-576, 578, 580; relations with Medary, 582.
Tod letters, 575-576.
Todd, Ann, 37.
Todd, Dolly (Payne), 83.
Todd, Elisha, 46.
Todd, Sally, 46.
Toland, John C, 89, 99.
"Topp letter," 382.
Townsend, Reverend Edward B., 600.
Townsend, Elizabeth, 55.
Townsend, Joseph, 53.
Trabue, John, 168.
Treaty of Camp Charlotte, 615-617.
Trimble, William, 171.
Turner, Attorney General Edward B., 602.
Tuttle, Mary (Brown), 99.
Tuttle, Sylvanus, 89, 99-100.
652
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications.
Tivo Centuries of Pennsylvania History, cited, 71.
Tyler, President John: nominated for vice-president; enthusiasm for, 453; removes "Buckeye Blacksmith" from oiSce, 468;; divides Whig party, 517; gloomy prospects, 518; party dissen- sion, 536-537; is lost to his party, 551; his Democracy endorsed, 552.
U.
"Union Humane Society," 79.
U. S. army: proposal to increase, 4G6, 470, 490.
Utter, Dowty, elected president Demo- ccratic state convention, 524; seeks to suppress banking question as cam- paign issue, 574-575, 576.
Utts, Reverend L. D., 159.
V.
Vallandigham, Clement L. : prominence in party, 238; popularity, 259-260; political finesse, 264; the "New Depar- ture," 268-270; death, 271; mentioned, 240, 414; elected to Ohio House of Representatives, 569-570; cited, 584.
Van Buren, President Martin: unpopu- larity, 445; suspected of being a tool of the British, 446; averts war with England, 447; condemned for use of veto, 453; administration unsatisfac- tory to many, 454; renominated, 455, 458; ideas on banking, 455, 457, 508; effect, 456; endorsed by Democrats, 457; condemned for army measure, 466, 470, 489-490; injured by Harrison papers, 468; policy concerning neu- trality, 482; threats and appeals, 482- 483; his administration condemned, 485; declared a Federalist, 486, 488; "an aristocrat," 487-488; renounced by leaders, 489; "sung to death," 493; defeated. 494, 508.
Vance, Governor Joseph: urges Ohio Geological Survey, 113; presents re- port to Legislature, 115; citation from, on Survey, 116-117; again urges sup- port of Survey, 121-122; early settler at Franklinton, 171; cited on banking question, 497; mentioned, 510; pre- sides at Whig convention, 525.
Vance, Captain Robert, 168, 170.
Vandegrift, Marie W., 141-142.
Vanderbilt family, 403.
Vanmetre, Honorable John I., 203.
Van Tassel, C. S., "Story of an Old Dutch Chest," 101-106.
Vegetable remains, in caves, 31-32.
Veto, use of, condemned, 453, 462; pledge concerning, 490.
Vicory, Merrifield, 89, 100.
Virginia in 17S0, 163, 164, 165.
"Virginia Military District," 166-167.
Visible Admixture Law, repealed, 242; re- tracted, passed, 258; declared uncon- stitutional, 258.
W.
Waddle, Honorable Alexander, 122.
Wade, Senator Benjamin F. : anti-slavery leader, 234; vindictive attitude, 258; defeats Payne for Senate, 346; men- tioned, 238, 240, 244; cited, 234, foot- note; defeated for Congress, 475; slow in joining Liberty party, 478; men- tioned for governor, 579.
Wade, Edward, 478.
Waggoner, Ralph, 227.
Walden, Edward, 167, 169.
Walker, Mary, 66.
Walker Law, 584.
War, Quaker attitude toward, 38.
Ward, Honorable Durbin: supported by Ohio for vice-president, 347-348; rival of Hoadly for gubernatorial nomina- tion, 354-355; supported by Cincinnati Enquirer, 356; result, 356-357; can- didate for senator, 356-357; defeated, 357; supports Hoadly for president 361.
Ward, James, 195, 197.
Ward, Mary, 601.
Ward, William, 195.
Ware, Robert, 484.
Waring, Roger J., 136.
Warner, General Adoniram J., 406.
Warner, Buck, 338.
Washington, President George, 163, 171, 622-623.
Washington County pioneer association, 599, 600, 603.
Watterson, Colonel Henry, 360, 405.
Wayne, General Anthony, 156-157, 169, 192.
Wayne County, leading Democrats act in currency discussion; and are defeated, 563.
Weaver, 144.
Weaver, Honorable James B., 342.
Webster, Daniel, 279; mentioned for president; opposed, 448; Harrison on.
Index.
653
449; exclusion from Cabinet pledged, 490.
Weed, Thurlow, 449.
Weeks, John B. : delegate to Democratic National Convention, 458; votes for "gag" resolution, 473; nominated for governor, 586.
Wellington, Lord, 78.
Wellman, Walter, 371.
Wells, Alexander, 155.
Wells, William, 155.
Wenis, Edwin S., 202, 203.
West, Benjamin, 83.
West, William, 171.
Western Pioneer, cited, 99.
Wetzler, Ed, 151.
Whigs: blame Panic on Democrats, 445- 446; seek to unite disaffected groups, 446-447; incident of the "Caroline" ; party accuses Democrats of being pro- British, 446-447; defeated in elections, 447; promote candidacy of Harrison, endorsed by State Convention, 447; State Central Committee supports Harrison, 449; majority of Whig papers in Ohio for Harrison, 451-452; suffer defeat on banking issues, 452; National convention, 452-453; Harri- son and Tyler nominated, 453; enthus- iasm, 454; Whig press on Van Buren, 456; many dissatisfied Jacksonians for Harrison, 459; State convention, 4.59- 463; enthusiasm for ticket, 460-468; nomination of Corwin, 461-462; key- note, and resolutions, 462-463; the Fort Meigs gathering, 465-466; other meet- ings in the State, 466-467; the "Buck- eye Blacksmith," 467-468; campaign papers, 468; Whig opposition to In- dependent Treasury, 469; defend Har- rison against Democratic aspersions, 471-472; oppose "gag" resolutions, 473; the subject of abolition, 474-475; anx- ious for support of abolitionists, 477; attack Tappan, 479-480; desire for- eign vote, 481; cite Harrison as for- eigners' friend, 481-482; party hopes to attract Jackson Democrats, 483; State-Rights convention, 483-484; claim supremacy, 485; promise to improve conditions of common people, 486-487; party organs criticize White House extravagance, 487-488; prove Harrison to be true Republican, 488; promises and threats, 490-492; criticisms of Sen-
ator Allen, 492; victorious in national elections, 493; causes of success in Ohio, 493-494; vote for repeal of small note law, 497; press defends banks, 499; doclare Bank Commissioner Law unconstitutional, 500; fail to con- trol Legislature, 501; surprised at Governor's Message, 503; banking and currency become an issue in party politics, 506; .State convention, 509; Preble County convention, 510; criti- cize extravagance in State affairs; attack on State printer, 512; regain control of House, 514; win many votes; one voter's ballot, 515; unable to pass bank bill, 516; reaction against party, 517; defeated in 1841 elections, 518; vote on Barnet reso- lution, 520; the Whigs and the Cincin- nati bank riot, 523-524; accused of not keeping promises, 525; State conven- tion of 1842, 525-526; accused of be- ing revolutionaries, 527-529; in turn, they assail Democratic banking law, 531-532; in minority in State Legis- lature, 534; reasons assigned, 534-535; start German paper, 535-536; effect of national defeat, on party, 537; Whigs and the Apportionment Law, 542-554; endorse Clay and Davis, 543; the money question, 544-546; Joseph Ridgway nominated, 546; encouraged by State election, 546-547; Dut Demo- crats again predominate in Ohio Con- gressional delegation, 547; seek to re- peal banking laws, 551; hold State convention, 553-554; Mordecai Bartley nominated for governor, 554; win gov- ernor and control of Legislature, 558; the Kelley Law, 558-562; the Law at- tacked by the Democrats, 562; pass new revenue law, 565-567; Democrats seek its repeal, 568; law defended by Whig press, 568-569; again victorious in State elections, 569-570; nominate Bebb for governor, 580; Whigs elect governor, and control House, 582; bank taxation introduced by Demo- crats, 583; elections of 1847 give Whigs control of Legislature; they nominate Ford for governor, 585; new constitution called for, 587; Second Constitutional Convention, controlled by Democrats, 588-589; Whig organi- zation disintegrating, 590.
654
Ohio Arch, and Hist. Socict\ Publications.
White, Honorable George, 601. White, Hugh L., 467. White, Philo N., 203. Whitlock, Honorable Brand, cited, 284. Whitman, H. C. : leader of radical Democrats, 562; "arch-enemy of banks," 571; underhand work, 575,
576; cited, 563, 577; mentioned, 572. Whitney, (Payne), 347. Whitney, William C, 347, 359, 405. Whittier, John G., 83. Whittlesey, Charles, 119, 127. Whittlesey, Elisha, 510. "Wicked Seven, The," 343. Wilberforce, William, 78. "William Corless Mills: in Memoriam,"
205-219. Williams, John S., 203. Williams, T. C, 389. Willis, Senator Frank B., Death of, 433-
434. Willoughby, Sir Francis. 102-106. Willoughby, Susanna, 104, 106. Willoughby, Colonel William, 103. Wilmot Proviso. 586. Wilson, Colonel Benjamin, 617. Wilson, Christopher, 55. Wilson, Dinah (Cook), 55. Wilson, Frazer E., "Dedication of
Bronze Tablets to Major John Mills
and Tecumseh," 156-160; presents
gift to Society, 192. Wilson, Hannah. 55. Wilson, Isaac, 89.
Wilson, Judge James, 461, 462, 510. Wilson, Jehu, 55. Wilson, Reverend Joshua L., 611. Wilson, Mary, 55. Wilson, Mary (Cox), 55. Wilson, Sarah (Hawkins), 65.
Wilson, Mrs. William M., 602-603.
Winchester, General James, 185.
Windom, Honorable William, 351.
Wing, C. H., 526.
Wing, J. R., 272.
Wiseman, C. M. L., 155, 191.
Withers, Alexander S., cited, 594-595, 617.
Wittke, Carl, 440.
Woltz, John W., 338.
Woman's centennial association of Wash- ington County, 599, 60O.
W. C. T. U., 290.
Women: of Marietta, and Putnam House, 599.
Wood, E. E., 375; cited, 379.
Woolcutt, John 171.
Wooley, C. W., 381.
Woolman, John, 76, 79.
Wooster, German bank of. See German Bank of Wooster.
Worley, George W., 192.
Worley, James, 192.
Worthington, Dr., 606.
Wright, Mrs. A. A., 86.
Wright, Mrs. Frances. See Darusmont.
Wright, Dr. George F., 210.
Wright, Joel, 173. Wright, John C, 471, 481. Wright, Lot, 363. Wright Brothers, 191.
Y.
Young Men's ratifying convention, 580.
Z.
Zane, Colonel Ebenezer, 168, 592-596.
Zane, Elizabeth (or Betty), Story of heroism, 592-596; sketch of life, 596s monument erected in honor of,
Zane, Silas, 595.
"Zane's Trace," 168, 692.